Today we are joined by Romy Samuel and Sophia Chang, the founders of Common Ace, the one-stop shop marketplace for women’s sneakers.
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Timestamps:
0:29 Introduction to Romy Samuel and Sophia Chang
7:21 What similarities have you both been able to find within your journeys through footwear being from two completely different parts of the world?
8:26 Commonace was founded in 2018, what was it like when you initially launched?
10:20 Why the name Common Ace?
13:43 How do you balance your friendship and working together as partners?
16:08 How do you both navigate being a voice and vessel for the female market and making sure that you are creating a space for all women and not just some?
19:35 You’ve been conducting surveys this past year, are there any findings that have surprised you?
22:39 Romy, you jumped from the tech industry to the footwear industry. What spurred that for you and how have you navigated them?
25:39 Sophia, you worked for Jeff Staple as a project manager for Staple Design. Can you tell us a little bit about that and how you originally connected with Jeff?
33:42 Is there an experience that you had that stood out to you the most to drive you to create Commonace and fill this void in the industry?
36:12 Sophia, in 2014 you released your “brooklynite” collection with Puma. How did it feel as a collector to have that moment and what was the creative process like for you?
40:17 Recently this year you both hosted the first-ever livestream Nike has done on SNKRS for Air Max Day. What did it feel like to make history on one of the most important holidays in sneakers?
45:29 A sneaker collection can be as unique as a fingerprint, what’s the biggest difference between your collections?
46:46 What are some different ways you have been able to clear out your sneaker collections without resorting to resale methods?
48:51 How would you describe one another by referencing only one sneaker?