Lisa Riggs is the founder and CEO of Spirit Sox USA. Known as the “Sock Queen,” Lisa founded her company to make a difference in the world with each pair of customized socks. By collaborating with her customers to design unique socks and incorporating their branding, Lisa has found a niche that allows her to use her background in fundraising, HR, and management.
As a mom of two college-aged children, Lisa has been involved in fundraisers for a variety of their activities and sports. After creating a sock fundraiser for her daughter’s school, Lisa realized this success could be replicated in other businesses and Spirit Sox USA was born. Lisa has helped hundreds of businesses with branded socks that can be sold, provided as a corporate gift, or offered as a customer giveaway.
Spirit Sox USA helps customers make positive impacts across their audiences with fun and customizable gear. Listen to this episode of Mitlin Money Mindset™ for some takeaways about Lisa’s journey as an entrepreneur and the incredible ways she strives to give back to her community.
You will want to hear this episode if you are interested in…
- Learn more about “Sock Queen” Lisa Riggs [3:11]
- How Lisa earned the title “The Sock Queen” [4:52]
- Lisa’s journey to becoming an entrepreneur [7:16]
- Learn more about Lisa’s company, Spirit Sox USA [12:11]
- How Lisa leverages LinkedIn to grow her brand [15:38]
- Using her teaching personality to help others [18:47]
- How Lisa’s authenticity has helped her business grow [20:55]
- Fighting the objectification of women on LinkedIn [25:21]
- Why it’s important to have non-negotiables in your life [28:34]
- What’s happening next for Lisa and Spirit Sox USA [31:12]
- What Lisa did today that brought her joy [31:53]
Learn more about “Sock Queen” Lisa Riggs
Lisa started her career as an HR Manager in Silicon Valley. Once she had her kids, it became evident that her company didn’t share her family-focused values. So after her second child was born, she stayed home with her children, which was the perfect training to become an entrepreneur.
She co-founded a neighborhood association and volunteered in every role possible in her community and children’s schools. She came up with the idea to create customized socks for a fundraiser. It was wildly successful. It was then that she realized she could turn her idea into a thriving business. Spirit Sox USA customizes a wide variety of socks (crew socks, bamboo socks, dress socks, fuzzy socks, and more).
Lisa has the flexibility to be creative with their designs so the end user loves it. Lisa is passionate about making the world a better place. She’s worked with nonprofits to raise money for animal shelters, fight cancer, and fund research. The sky’s the limit when it comes to socks.
Lisa’s journey to becoming an entrepreneur
Lisa has always been passionate about improving her community and adding value wherever possible. She gave up her career when she was on track to be a director at age 30 and VP within 4–5 years. She felt like, succeed or fail, she was setting a good example for her kids by going after a dream. It was the initial motivation for her business.
How Lisa leverages LinkedIn to grow her brand
Lisa admits she was initially terrified of LinkedIn. But she wanted to grow her company from fundraising to a full-blown custom sock company. So she learned how to make videos and do content marketing. It helped her become confident about posting and what to talk about, with a goal to always add value. She’s grown both personally and professionally and it’s led to numerous opportunities. But it’s also allowed her to use her voice to stand up for what she believes in.
How Lisa’s authenticity has helped her business grow
Lisa has beliefs that she will always stand up for and she never backs down from a conversation. She speaks up for equality for women because she has been treated differently numerous times because of her gender. Lisa emphasizes that “The more we talk about this, the more we can hopefully empathize and understand and build each other up and find a spot where it is more equal.”
And when women are objectified, the judgment of who they are stops at their looks. Lisa wants to be perceived as and treated like a professional. She’s on LinkedIn to support others and grow her business. So when people reach out and treat the network like a dating app, it’s offensive—and she isn’t afraid to say it.
Resources & People Mentioned
Connect with Lisa Riggs
Bio
Lisa Riggs, known as the Sock Queen, is the founder of Spirit Sox USA, a company focused on making a difference in the world with each pair of its customized socks. By collaborating with her customers to design unique socks and incorporating their branding, Lisa has found a niche that allows her to use her background in fundraising, HR, and management.
As a mom of two college-aged children, Lisa has been involved in fundraisers for a variety of their activities and sports. After creating a sock fundraiser for her daughter’s school, Lisa realized this success could be replicated in other businesses and Spirit Sox USA was born. To date, Lisa has helped hundreds of businesses with branded socks that can be sold, provided as a corporate gift, or offered as a customer giveaway.
Lisa, a lifelong resident of California, has been married for 25 years and has two college-age children. With two dogs, a 30-year-old box turtle, and an active lifestyle, Lisa and her family enjoy spending time at the beach, going hiking, and playing sports.
Guests on the Mitlin Money Mindset Show are not affiliated with CWM, LLC, and opinions expressed herein may not be representative of CWM, LLC. CWM, LLC is not responsible for the guest’s content linked on this site.
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