Image courtesy of True Fit
Jessica Murphy ’00, co-founder and chief customer officer of True Fit, discusses pitfalls and pure entrepreneurial joy with B-Lab 2019 cohort
Jessica Murphy ’00 spends most of her time racing from airport to airport on her way to solve problems on a global scale for True Fit Corporation. Understandable, considering the company boasts offices from Boston to London to Mumbai.
True Fit began as an idea during Murphy’s time as an MBA candidate at Babson College, prior to which she studied international commerce at Brown and spent a few years’ stint as a buyer for Filene’s (the department store later succeeded by Macy’s). After enough time on the work force and in business school, Murphy was ready to go “all-in” with True Fit. She threw everything she had at the idea — including $5,000 in repurposed student loans — and chose to forgo the typical post-MBA route.
It paid off. True Fit came into its own as one of the first data platforms for enhancing style and comfort in the retail clothing experience. Most recently, it secured a Series C round of funding for $60 million, no doubt due to Murphy’s combination of business acumen and pure grit.
Murphy visited the Nelson Center’s new Thayer Street building last week to deliver the keynote presentation to this summer’s Breakthrough Lab cohort on the opening day of the program.
Her extensive technical knowledge was evident as she fielded questions encompassing everything from the viability of startups in nascent markets, to evolving your solution through countless iterations. Yet the key takeaway of Murphy’s presentation was what appears to be the secret to her success: a seemingly innate understanding of the emotional workings of both consumer and employee.
“What is that pain point you’ll be focusing on?” she asked the audience of young venture founders. The pain point. The issue that ruins your customer’s whole day. The heart of the consumer’s problem that you can’t lose sight of.
The pain point at the center of True Fit after all these years? To “help people find clothes and shoes they’ll love and keep.” It’s a broad stroke mission statement that speaks to how shoppers’ self-image is affected by the struggle to fit into inconsistent, unrealistic sizing. Perhaps it’s this human desire for affirmation, granted by True Fit, that has enabled it to grow to its current user base of over 100 million worldwide.
Jessica Murphy ’00 with our 2019 Breakthrough Lab cohort
“I’m here to be transparent with you,” assured Murphy. And that she was. Moving on from her self-described “brag slides” that list the impressive numbers behind True Fit, Murphy described both joyous accomplishments and dark days as a leader responsible for the livelihoods of hundreds of employees. “It had to work,” she stated. “I had no choice.” From forgoing a salary for years to the challenges of attracting early investors for survival, there was no hardship of the entrepreneurial lifestyle that could not be broached. As a result, Murphy’s audience hung onto every word, eager for more of her candor.
In response to one B-Lab founder’s question, Murphy transitioned to personal challenges. She discussed the culture shock of arriving at Brown, feeling unprepared coming from a single-parent household, often moving from apartment to apartment while growing up in a blue-collar Massachusetts town. Today, these difficulties serve as reminders of where her family came from — something deeply embedded in the fabric of True Fit. Murphy shared, for instance, that her sales presentations to retailers often begin with a photograph of her grandfather who migrated from Colombia to Central Falls, Rhode Island, to work as a loom repairman. Her anecdote illustrates a lineage of builders adept at piecing solutions together — whether that solution is a piece of machinery or a way of reimagining the modern fitting room experience.
Murphy also keeps her immediate family close amidst the ever-present puzzle of work-life balance, another hurdle for entrepreneurs she touched upon. She lovingly refers to her husband (then-boyfriend) as her “first angel investor,” and jokes, “True Fit is my first baby. And then I had three real ones.” When asked what will come after her first brain child, Murphy said, “After True Fit’s eventual end… I will never not be an entrepreneur. It’s just too fun.”