Have you ever wondered what it takes to turn a personal struggle into a thriving business? In this episode of The Angel Next Door Podcast, Marcia discusses with Vicky and Charisse Pasche their entrepreneurial journey, which transformed their frustration with ill-fitting fashion into the revolutionary brand Dapper Boi. Vicky Pasche, with a background in casino marketing, and Charisse Pasche, with experience in higher education and sales, founded Dapper Boi—a brand that defies traditional fashion norms and prioritizes fit and function over gender. Dapper Boi was conceived from Vicky's personal struggle with finding clothes that fit her body comfortably and stylishly. The couple’s commitment to solving this issue was so strong that they even launched the business during their honeymoon, turning their initial business idea into their "first baby." In this episode, listeners will hear about the inception of Dapper Boi, from the initial concept to its growth, fueled by a strong sense of community and inclusive marketing. Vicky and Charisse talk about their journey of appearing on Shark Tank, managing inventory in a startup, and the emotional stories from their customers whose lives have been changed by their products. This episode is a must-listen for anyone interested in entrepreneurship, fashion, and the power of inclusivity. It stands as a testament to how dedication, creativity, and genuine connection with customers can build not just a brand but a movement.
Have you ever wondered what it takes to turn a personal struggle into a thriving business? In this episode of The Angel Next Door Podcast, Marcia discusses with Vicky and Charisse Pasche their entrepreneurial journey, which transformed their frustration with ill-fitting fashion into the revolutionary brand Dapper Boi.
Vicky Pasche, with a background in casino marketing, and Charisse Pasche, with experience in higher education and sales, founded Dapper Boi—a brand that defies traditional fashion norms and prioritizes fit and function over gender. Dapper Boi was conceived from Vicky's personal struggle with finding clothes that fit her body comfortably and stylishly. The couple’s commitment to solving this issue was so strong that they even launched the business during their honeymoon, turning their initial business idea into their "first baby."
In this episode, listeners will hear about the inception of Dapper Boi, from the initial concept to its growth, fueled by a strong sense of community and inclusive marketing. Vicky and Charisse talk about their journey of appearing on Shark Tank, managing inventory in a startup, and the emotional stories from their customers whose lives have been changed by their products. This episode is a must-listen for anyone interested in entrepreneurship, fashion, and the power of inclusivity. It stands as a testament to how dedication, creativity, and genuine connection with customers can build not just a brand but a movement.
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LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/vickypasche/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/charisse-pasche-b578a790/
https://www.instagram.com/dapperboi/
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Marcia Dawood
Well, Vicki and Charisse, welcome to the show.
Vicky Pasche
Thank you. We're so excited to be here.
Marcia Dawood
Oh, I am so excited. And I feel so honored to have both of you here from Dapper Boi. Okay, so let's just start out a little bit about backgrounds before Dapper Boi, and then we'll get into the whole thing about show her the money movie and all that kind of stuff. So maybe, Vicki, you want to start? Tell us a little bit about your background prior to dapper Boi, and then we'll hear from Teresa.
Vicky Pasche
Yeah, sure. So I definitely have a marketing background. I actually worked in the casino industry for ten, little over ten years, starting as on the casino floor as a players club ambassador, signing folks for the club card, but really working my way up to the department to managing an entire marketing team. Yeah. So that was my experience in that. It's interesting because it has nothing to do with fashion whatsoever, but it also was the segway to fashion because as I raised up through the ranks, I was wearing suits. And so that's when I was transitioning to my most confident self, shopping in the men's department. And it took that experience for this to all begin.
Marcia Dawood
Amazing.
Vicky Pasche
Yeah.
Charisse Pasche
And prior to dapper Boi, most recently, I was in higher education sales. So think, like, university Phoenix. Very similar to that. So helping adult learners go back to school in the online format. And then before that, I work for every single cell phone company. Verizon, singular at and t and sprint.
Marcia Dawood
Wow.
Charisse Pasche
Sales is in my bones. I love it. But I love sales when it has, like, a mission and a purpose driven behind it. So when Vicki and I first started dating, we started with. I had this, like, business idea and I heard of this marketing genius, Vicki through. So we started meeting and chatting and then we fell in love.
Vicky Pasche
But we were business first.
Charisse Pasche
Yeah, we were business first and then. So it's like, really cool that it's been a natural, full circle evolution moment for us to be working on dapper boi together.
Marcia Dawood
That is incredible. So I love the concept of dapper boi because it is so inclusive in so many ways. So maybe talk to us a little bit about how did you come up with the original idea and then how did it come to be?
Vicky Pasche
Yeah, so it really started with my own personal struggle, shopping in the men's department. When I first tried on men's clothing, I remember specifically, it was at Old Navy, and I was so nervous to go over to the men's section. It was like social anxiety. What were people going to think about me? All those things. But when I tried on those first pair of men's jeans. I remember feeling so confident because it was me when I was, it just started this. Like, all of a sudden, I started caring about fashion. Like, before that, when I was shopping in the women's department, I hated shop things, like something I despised, actually.
Vicky Pasche
It was just so uncomfortable. I felt frumpy, unseen, all of those things. And so, fast forward a few years later, I had realized that, yes, I love men's fashion. However, those clothes never really fit my body. And I never really thought about it. I just thought I just didn't really belong. And I'm just going to have to accept it. This is what it is, because if you think about it, you walk into a department store, and there's the men's section and the women's section, and they're really just embedded with these societal rules and norms based on your gender.
Vicky Pasche
And so, like, breaking down this whole binary way of thinking has been such an interesting thing to do here. And so when we started the brand, it really was just because I cared so much. And I realized so many of my friends had the same exact problem I did. And I'm like, why don't we just try to solve this problem? And we went to that first pair of jeans. It's jeans. Jeans is that everyday product that so many people wear that have a struggle fitting into. A lot of the time, we believe that fashion should be based on style preference and body type and leaving gender out of the equation. But this is a big undertaking because it is.
Vicky Pasche
Once you start questioning, wait, why do women's jeans not have function like pockets? It's like, we were so it's just normal or programmed, but once you start, like, really tearing down, like, this one pair of men's jeans and women's jeans that we literally look at the microscope like fine tooth comb we were going through and seeing a lot of differences in the fit, in the function, in the fabric, all those things.
Charisse Pasche
And then when we were dating, there was, like, some, like, outfits that she'd be wearing. I'm like, oh, that's. That looks a little sloppy. Let me go shopping for her. And I remember shopping, and I would pick out all these clothes, take them home, and she would try them on, thinking, okay, I'm going to be our stylist from now on. And nothing fit. And it's a privilege, like me to be able to take clothes off the rack, and it fits me right? And so for someone like Vicki with curves, it, like, broke my heart. Being somebody that, like, really loves fashion to see her, like, be discouraged every time, and that's, like, that's crushing, right? You want to present yourself in the most confident way.
Charisse Pasche
Vicki actually approached me on our honeymoon and said, I have this idea, and I don't. Every time I know Vicki, every time she starts with, I have an idea, our life is about to change. So on our honeymoon, when she said, I had this idea for dapper boi, and she talked to me about it. We joke all the time on people's honeymoons. Usually they conceive their first child, and we truly did. Dapper boi is, like, our first baby. So when I said, yes, I'm in. I had no idea exactly what I was signing up for.
Charisse Pasche
But it's been, like, such a cool journey to do this together.
Marcia Dawood
That is amazing. You have such a fierce following. Like, the loyalty of your customers, I think, is what separates you from. You're not just any type of retail that investors could look at and be like, eh, okay, so it's something else. No, this is really very different. So talk about that type of loyalty that they have.
Vicky Pasche
Yeah. It really started with just connecting with folks, and that really, the marketing background really came in clutch, because that's what this is about. It's connecting. It's relating to a problem. And so initially, it was our videos, and I feel we were before our time when doing these crazy cell phone videos of just, like, us and our friends, like, having the problem of, like, the chest gap with the buttoned up shirts and it not fitting properly, but making it in this very light hearted way where you just want to be our friend, but at the same time, it's like a thumb stop where it's just like, you're addressing a big problem here. So we created this following just by. It was just a lot of content. And really we created FoMO.
Vicky Pasche
So what we would do, this is how we had to bootstrap the brand here is we would put out a video. We literally had two samples, and we would have our friends wearing these samples, and we would say, hey, everybody, get in on this campaign. For this one color shirt. We have three weeks only at intro pricing. And so they knew we had just built this, trained our customers. We went from launching maybe one product every couple of months to every month to every week. It was like that. And so people were just waiting for the next drop.
Vicky Pasche
They would, we would sell out within that timeframe most times, and people were just waiting for the next product. So that's how we were, like, building up that fomo, as well as building up their wardrobes?
Charisse Pasche
Yeah, I think even more, like, on the marketing side, I think we were ahead of our time with content creation and doing videos. Like, we did them in 2015 and 2016. And we. When people would see the videos, well, we only had our friends. We didn't have enough money to pay people to be in these videos, so we just had our friends. And people would, like, almost get, like, a cult following for a specific model that they saw. This is my body shape. What is Celeste wearing? Or what is Vicki wearing? Because I have her body type.
Charisse Pasche
So we weren't picking these models that were, like, super skinny. And what would normally see on these ads for h and m or express, we were picking our friends that were plus size and having a good time and showing more confidence so people could see themselves in our clothing. And I think that's what we did differently. And it wasn't like, a serious problem. We brought a lot of humor to it and made our brand very approachable. I think that's what people really liked. Yeah.
Vicky Pasche
And it was constant communication. We felt. I feel like our customers feel like we are just, no matter how big we get, that we are within reach personally. And I think that's what's important about also being small business, even thinking big picture here. Our goal is to be the next Levi's of all gender fashion. That's really going to happen here. And I always want our customers to feel like they are just part of us. It's that community.
Vicky Pasche
It's the community build. And at the same time, what was happening was really interesting because at first we called ourselves androgynous, androgynous clothing. But what was happening really was there were people from all walks of life sizes, gender diverse people coming to us saying, vicki, you're solving my problem, too. We have straight cisgendered men that have the same exact problem as me shopping in the men's department. But again, they're. They're just not. They're just used to just not fitting in. It's just like how it is until they started wearing our jeans.
Vicky Pasche
And that changed their lives, literally. We're not just clothing. We're changing people's lives. We have people telling us that they are able to get the job they never thought they could get. Because of this newfound confidence, this wag about them. We even had. I've been telling this story often because it's that important here, but we had a mom reach out to us. This is years ago, but it's always like something that we keep top of mind.
Vicky Pasche
Had a 14 year old child suicidal, and they wanted to thank us because this child saw one of our ads and was like, wow, that is me. I feel like I belong. And they started smiling again. So like those things. Yes, it's a heavy, you know, weight to hold, but this is why it's so important. It's not just clothing. We're breaking this binary way of thinking and making it people feel like they belong, and when they feel like they belong and have confidence, like nothing can stop people, this makes a more productive society. This is bigger than just clothes.
Marcia Dawood
Absolutely. Sometimes we become such creatures of habit. Why is it okay, why do we go into some of these places? We're like, well, I guess it's just what we have to deal with. And you know what? Your website is so approachable, and I just think it's so easy for people to navigate. You have so many different sizes, so it's not like you, oh, this is only for bigger people or something? No, you have everything, and everybody is included in that. So from a standpoint of inventory control and things like that, I know in the film you show her the money, which you guys are a big feature of. You do talk a little bit about how there's some pieces of clothing in certain brands that once you get up into the bigger sizes, like the material changes and all that kind of stuff. So you were super intentional about making sure that didn't happen with dapper boi.
Marcia Dawood
How do you manage all of the sizes and skus and all those type of things?
Vicky Pasche
Yeah, well, to back it up just a little bit, being size inclusive was so important. Especially I'm a plus size person in particular. So for me, it's funny because we did this test even just recently going into a mainstream store. Like, I am at the top of the size in men's bottoms, and I'm like, typically an XL or two XL and men's, like, button up shirts, but I can barely button paste my chest. I just have to leave it out like it's a style past my stomach. And then for the pants, I have to buy size two sizes too big, which is, like, unflattering. But those sizes aren't even available. So when I go to the plus size men's store, the styles just aren't that awesome or, like, trendy.
Vicky Pasche
And it is like different fabrics, different everything. And the fit is just totally off on the smallest size, and it's still down to my knees, so it's like, literally I have nowhere to fit in. So for us, it was so important and what we did different, which we didn't know because we didn't have a fashion background, is Shareese and I were the base models to create our patterns. And so it was easy for us to grade off of that, like, grading the sizes up or down based on our sizes, where typically we heard this from as we were developing this. Well, typically, the middle ground size is, like, much smaller, and so it just doesn't grade the right way. You don't. If you're going up, if your starting size is a 30 in the middle or 34 or whatever, grading up your sleeves will be long. Like, all those things are just off.
Vicky Pasche
So it does change pattern in general. And there's obviously, like, a lot more to this here. But, like, for us, that's what we learned as, like, newbies. It was interesting that we were starting, like, as a base size, like, being a plus size person.
Marcia Dawood
And that makes so much sense because just because it's a bigger size in certain areas, you don't want the sleeves to be, like, from here to the wall. You don't want them so incredibly long. They're, like, dangling off your hands.
Vicky Pasche
Yeah. There are, like, grading rules. Like, once you get to a certain size, it doesn't go further, but it does work out that way. And it's just my own personal experience when I shop in a plus size store in general.
Charisse Pasche
But, yeah, the shirts go down to your knees. And we actually did this exercise for shark Tank to show what the problem was. And it was interesting that when we started the brand in 2015, and today, there's still the same calls. Nothing has changed.
Marcia Dawood
Nothing's changed. Yeah. So how do you manage the inventory then, when you have all these different views?
Vicky Pasche
Yeah. So it was really just due to these years. So we started back in 2015, and it was every single pre order campaign that we launched, we put in the order after the products were ordered, so we were able to really gauge year after year. Okay. We only need maybe five of the smallest size for this batch. And luckily, we've created really great relationships with our manufacturers that we are able to do that. So if we have a minimum of 300, we could say, okay, we'll only take five of an extra small. And if those sell out, we might order more next time.
Vicky Pasche
So we're always in that. We're. Our goal is to get at least two seasons ahead so that we can scale efficiently and not get too ahead of ourselves at the same time. Because I also think there's something to say about FOMO and selling out of product, because people just will be back over and over again.
Charisse Pasche
Exactly.
Marcia Dawood
Yeah, exactly. Wow. So, all right, so you are. You have it down now. You've got the clothes, you've got the styles. People are loving it, and now things are, like, really starting to happen. Right. People are starting to really take notice.
Marcia Dawood
Yeah.
Vicky Pasche
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Charisse Pasche
So we were on shark tank, which obviously brought. I feel like it brings a level of. There's legitimacy to your business. Right. And the LGBT community or the plus size, size inclusive community, but the mainstream community, that was huge for us. And then also in addition to that, I feel like we're getting maybe some bigger names noticing us. We have customers that are pretty well known. Actors order from us because it's cool.
Charisse Pasche
Some former football players. It's just really cool. We were at a fashion show, and they pointed us out, and they're like, I order from you guys, and I love your chinos, and I love hearing that.
Marcia Dawood
Yeah.
Charisse Pasche
A list actor, it's. Wow. They have the same problem. It doesn't matter if you're an A list actor or you're a normal person. Everyone has struggle buying a pair of jeans, and we love hearing that confidence from everybody.
Vicky Pasche
Yeah. And beyond that, it's exciting right now, too. And some avenues that we hadn't even thought about. Opportunities coming up here with the hospitality industry needing uniforms. There are some main, like, uniform companies that are used everywhere, and only a very few of them. And there's still that problem with fit. And it's funny because when this was brought to my attention, I remember back in the casino days, my first job in the casino, I had to wear one of the uniforms, and it didn't fit me properly then. And again, I didn't even question.
Vicky Pasche
I didn't have to think about it until right now, just recently. Yeah, you're right. That did not fit me. And so we've had a couple of very mainstream folks from the industry come to us and say, this could solve our problem. And so we're going through just having these initial conversations and what we could bring to the table, large scale here from these hospitality industries, which is very exciting.
Marcia Dawood
That is super cool. So is anyone else thinking the way that you're thinking about this, or. I know there's certain competitors out there, I'm sure, but who's really thinking about it like this?
Vicky Pasche
There are some. And this handful of us from the LGBTQ community here are having these conversations and launching these kind of products from a mainstream perspective. The conversations are being had, and there's a lot more, if you notice, like, gender neutral clothing options. Out there. However, it's not focused on fit. It could be oversized sweatshirts and things like that that are, like, cool and trendy, and they are, and I love them, too. However, the fit is still not there. So I think we're happy to be the pioneers for this.
Vicky Pasche
And this is why we're going. Luckily, right now, we're getting a ton of pr and press and things like that to get us up in mainstream. And Shark tank was huge for that reason, too. So we're trudging through here to be the pioneers for this. And that's why we always say the next Levi's of all gender fashion. And I say Levi's in particular because that is such a staple denim brand that is just lifelong, like, long lived brand. And that's where I see us. If anyone knows any Levi's folks, let me know, because I'd love to have that conversation.
Charisse Pasche
Well, I think the thing that we said on Shark Tank, which is, like, a little bit intimidating, you have five sharks, and they're sharks staring at you. And we did push back a little bit. Vicki, he always says being owners, but we're not a lesbian brand. Our brand is not only for the lesbian community or niche community. We are for everybody, because we truly believe when you're so exclusive, you're no longer inclusive.
Marcia Dawood
Right.
Charisse Pasche
And so we feel like we want people to look at our brand at first glance and feel like they belong.
Marcia Dawood
Yeah. And I think your marketing really states that beautifully because I don't look at your marketing and think anything, but include all people, because you have so many different shapes and sizes and gender and color and everything. You're really trying to make sure that everyone's represented. And I think that just you and all of the different types of body shapes that you have really make a difference so that people can, like you say, see themselves in it.
Vicky Pasche
Yes. Yeah. Thank you very much. We're working on some other really cool product lines, too. Right now, we're focused on everyday wear. So jeans or t shirts and button ups. It's interesting, too, because, like, our t shirts are one of our top sellers, and it's a simple t. However, there are some, like, very big differences between men's and women's t shirts.
Vicky Pasche
If I were to go buy a men's t shirt, it's gonna suction to my stomach in all the wrong places, even though that's the look I'm going for. But the women's, maybe the sleeves are just, like, a little too high, or I'm having a scoop neck or something like that. It just doesn't work for me. And so we think about with every item of clothing, whether it's function or fit or both. But yeah, just adding that waist measurement so it's not doing that. Like, those are such a huge selling product. But as for upcoming stuff, we've launched swimwear in the past that is a huge hit for us that we will plan to do a hybrid of with like, workout apparel as well. I'm a former athlete plus size person now, and the gym can be an intimidating place, even though you know what you're doing, especially for someone.
Vicky Pasche
And so I think it's also a huge deal to have size inclusive workout apparel. So I'm excited to show my own vulnerable journey down that road as my journey to health.
Charisse Pasche
Even talking about vulnerability, I think as we're going to some of the 50 city tour locations for shower the money, it was very nerve wracking for us to put our story out there because in the eyes of social, I love social media, but also with what comes with social media, sometimes people only put the best 5 seconds of their life. Right? And same thing with the documentary, like knowing that we're going to show all of the ups and downs of the business. And on Shark Tank, that was very vulnerable. So with dapper boi, I feel like with marketing, we were always like, very lighthearted. We showed the behind the scenes of the brand, but now we're taking it a step further and showing what with the power of storytelling and really showing what it takes to run a brand and more importantly, why this mission and this purpose is so important to us and showing what we're really willing to do to have the brand keep going. We did go through some pretty tough times, but we wanted to show that we wanted, we were able to invest in ourselves by selling our home as well.
Marcia Dawood
Yes. You guys have done so many things right, even though the struggles and the obstacles that have been put in your way have been huge. One of the things that you were just talking about adding new lines, I think that's awesome. And you are at a point where you can do that, but you were so great about being super focused, hyper focused on these are the things that are going to make a difference for our customers. The jeans, the t shirts you go on your website, you're not looking at hundreds and hundreds of different things, which is perfectly fine because you're getting that customer base, you're building that customer loyalty because of the basics that they really want. And if you had too many things, you would. You would end up as a startup or you'd be unfocused, and then who knows what could happen? But because of that hyper focus and being able to really just have those couple of things at the beginning, I think especially the genes, is really what has put you guys skyrocketing.
Vicky Pasche
Thank you. Yeah, it's exciting because we've literally had just those two styles of jeans since the beginning. It was like slim straight jeans for a long time. Then we launched the slim, and actually, we're excited now. This is nine years in, but we're about to launch the super skinnies, and those are going to be a big hit and really hit a whole different demographic of people that we're solving a problem for. So thank you for saying that. And it's true. We have to stay hyper focused because we haven't even touched the iceberg with where we can go within our own folks.
Vicky Pasche
So it's exciting, super exciting.
Marcia Dawood
Things ahead for dapper boi. Well, thank you both so much for coming on. And we'll make sure to put all of the links so that people can buy and check out and do all the things. And especially follow you guys on social media because you do put out some of the greatest content. It is so crying with laughter. It's so funny and so good, and it's just all good. You two are marketing geniuses. All right, thanks so much.
Vicky Pasche
Thank you for having us. Bye.