This Friday Underlines talks to Greg Taylor, a Sydney-based entrepreneur who founded the cult underwear brand, Step One in 2017. Greg turned Step One it into a publicly listed company doing over $70M in revenue and $10M in profit in under 5 years., achieving this without ANY outside funding and as a sole shareholder.
Greg floated Step One on the ASX in November 2021 for just under $300M, selling 30% of the business for just under $85M. His business quickly grew to $300 million in value and then crashed. Crediting the great product that has 65% repeat buyers, clever digital ads and the use of AI, Step One is now back to $200 Million. Now stocked exclusively at John Lewis Online in the UK, a pair of Step Ones sold around every 8 seconds in Australia, the UK and the USA.
Your background prior to launching Step One?
Before launching Step One, I tried my hand at launching several different businesses. One was called Clipp, which is a POS-integrated cross-platform App that enables consumers to open, share and pay their restaurant tab from their phones. I also launched e-coffee Card, which is an app that stores loyalty cards, so you have them all in one place. I was always very interested in tech. I am now in e-commerce, so my tech background has helped amplify Step One and navigate around the technical aspect of e-commerce.
My wife, Sophie launched her silk shirt brand The Fable, and could see it really was the future of retailing. I decided that the next business I was going to launch would be in the e-commerce space, but it took me a while to come up with the right product.
Back in the day, I represented Australia at the U23 World Rowing Championships on three occasions. Rowing is a great sport to teach discipline, time management and hard work. These days I am more into hiking, swimming and boxing.
Why underwear?
Step One was born out of a true problem-solving situation. I was on a multi-day hike in NZ with my wife Sophie, when on day one, I started experiencing excruciating chafing. The rest of the trip was just agony. When I came back home, I started looking for a product that I could wear for my next hike, but I couldn’t find anything. I didn’t want to wear bike pants because the fabric is typically synthetic, like compression wear and I’d get incredibly sweaty in it.
There was no product on the market so I started working on a solution. I experimented with creating panels out of various fabrics that could sit between my thighs. I tried a few different fabrics and had them sewn into bike pants. After a few weeks of prototyping, I decided that if I could solve the chafing problem for my fellow chafers, then I would be onto a winning product. It was important to me that the product I made was ethical and environmentally friendly. That
is why I decided to go with an organic viscose made from bamboo fabric that is sustainable and it is also naturally moisture-wicking, antibacterial and antifungal. I made sure all the factories I met with were BSCI-certified factories and to personally check out their operation. Our packaging is also biodegradable.
Step One is an end-to-end FSC® supply chain, the first clothing company in Australia and I believe one of if not the first underwear company in the world to achieve this three year long process.
Where do you get your ideas?
Originally my ideas were all problem-solution. Once we solved the problem that we wanted to solve, we launched a range of popular colours that were no-brainers for people to buy. Then one day my team decided to launch a hot pink pair for a laugh. To our surprise it sold out within a week. After that we started launching fun colours, prints and occasion pairs.
We launched a women’s body short range a few years ago, but due to demand, last year we launched a bikini brief and Smooth Fit range. The Smooth Fit range sold 30k pairs in less than a week. We are so focused on product that we ONLY release products when we know they are best in class and the growth of our women’s product is testament to that.
Some of our ideas come from brainstorming. Others come from our customers.
What is different about the underwear market?
Unlike outerwear, where people want to wear something different every day, underwear is a category where you are likely to get a loyal customer base. If a customer loves your product, they feel good and they look good, a customer will usually stock up and keep coming back for more. Over 60% of daily purchases come from existing customers , and that is because we worked hard on perfecting our product and over the years we have listened to feedback.
A typical week?
There is no typical week for me. I wake up with my family, walk my dogs to work, and from there I could be reporting to the ASX, securing deals, working on innovation, marketing, you name it. I’ve recently become a father and spending time with my son is my favourite thing to do when I have time.
Who is your target consumer?
We are a body-positive brand that started as a solution for people who struggled with chafing. We quickly found that athletes also loved our product too, both because of our UltraGlyde panels and because of the moisture-wicking qualities of the bamboo viscose fabric that we use. From there women started asking us to create several ranges for them too. I would say we have a few target markets, but the person who chafes would be the key one.
Who else do you admire in the underwear industry?
You’d have to admire CK, they really re-invented the ‘brand’ of underwear and made it cool to have a waistband hanging out the back of your jeans, they have done a great job marketing their brand.
Any other ambitions for the brand?
I always have a few things cooking up my sleeve, but due to being listed on the stock market, I can’t say too much.
Proudest moment to date?
Ringing the bell when we listed on the ASX. I listed Step One as a sole shareholder, which is rare for a company, so I am very proud of that. It was quite weird standing there on your own ringing the bell!
Worst move so far?
We had some challenging times in our first year as a listed company. I have learned a lot from that experience. In my personal life I would have had kids earlier if I’d know they changed your life in such a positive way.
Time out?
I enjoy hanging out with my wife and kids outside of work. My wife and I love to go hiking when we can, but as we have young kids, a lot of our “hiking” is around the neighbourhood with our dogs. I’ve recently got into SailGP and follow that keenly and whatever I am doing, watching TV, walking through the streets, I’m always thinking to myself ‘how can I make Step One better’ my brain never sleeps!
Pet Hate?
People who are late. I love watches and the main reason being is that they are the keeper of time and time is our single most precious commodity…is time. Once it’s gone, you can’t beg, steal, find or buy it back. It’s gone.
I’d also say people with no manners. It costs nothing to say please or thank-you. We are all humans and no one is above another.
