Wang Empowers Women in the Workplace Through Fashion — The Heights

Phoebe Jon it may sound like another student’s name in a large lecture class in a Boston College class. But it’s not people, it’s a start-up fashion line created by women, for women. Manyqi Wang, BC 20, is the woman behind the brand.

The brand name is meant to feel like a friend with a feminine energy, said Wang, who is pursuing an MBA in BC. Jon’s name was added in homage to his favorite literary character, Jonathan from Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach.

Wang’s degree in philosophy on the Perspectives track may not seem like paving the way for a career as an entrepreneur, but it actually led him to follow his long-standing interest in fashion, he said.

Switching to mode is a bit easy for me because, I mean, [the Perspectives track] talks a lot about this, finding the intersection of the three: what you love, what you’re good at, and what you can do for the world, he says. And for me something that comes intuitively is fashion.

Wang is a member of the Executive Board for the Fashion Club. He also volunteered for the Appalachia Volunteer Program for two years, participated in Ascend, and was in [email protected] Program with the Shea Center for Entrepreneurship.

It was at the Shea Center where he developed a business plan for Phoebe Jon. Through this program, Wang is fortunate enough to be able to connect with many judges from case competitions in the corporate world, he said.

The Shea Center is also where Christie Lau, CSOM 22, met Wang and became director of business development for Phoebe Jons. The two linked up at the Shea Center Startup & Entrepreneurship Fair last year, where Lau realized that Phoebe Jon combined her two interests in fashion and startup. Soon after, she started helping Wang expand Phoebe Jons’ brand and customer base, which she did for over a year.

Phoebe Jon specifically focuses on women’s workwear. money is inspired by his mother, who is a 5-foot-4-inch business woman who works between 6-foot-tall men and who wears 3-inch heels to travel, work, and attend events, according to the brand’s website.

Because of his mother, Wang saw a deficit in the fashion sector and started building his brand. During her time at SM, Wang spoke to over 50 women across different ages and industries about women’s fashion. She found these women by developing a strong network of mentors through participation in startup accelerators, pitch competitions, and networking events while in BC, she says.

She then leverages these diverse BC mentors and their connections to glean valuable customer insights into women’s workwear. He sent out an email survey, which also asked if the individual would be willing to speak to him by phone for more in-depth data. Many women answer that today’s workwear choices are not the right size, uncomfortable, or too expensive, she says.

Many companies, when they launch a fashion line, are very focused on aesthetics, especially for the women’s line, Wang said. I don’t like it’s rare when they think about it,

Oh yeah, let’s go for a super comfortable material or let’s pick some designs where we can imagine women’s clothing for work.

Wang believes that her way of crafting Phoebe Jona’s subtle balance between fashion as an artistic expression and fashion as a functional part of everyday life makes her designs unique. According to Wang, other companies don’t think enough about the user experience in terms of fashion.

It had to have some function to it, like it had to be more than an art form, Wang said. And I think that’s where the fashion industry is a little less understanding of the utility side.

Lau also saw the flaws in the industry, and immediately saw the appeal of Phoebe Jons’ workwear based on her own experience.

The product is very unique, said Lau. I’ve always been afraid to wear like a suit and everything when I went to networking sessions and stuff so I just thought the super unique multifunctional dress pants idea. Plus, both being founded by women and being founded by a BC alumni must have had a huge impact on me.

To help create the Phoebe Jons Monica Cuffed Pant, Wang went to various clothing stores and bought various types of work pants that were already on the market. He then dissects them to compare what makes each pair of pants different and what works. Wang found that the more expensive pants last longer, feel more luxurious, and are wiser in terms of structure, such as inseams, he says.

Wang used these insights to design his products, and then embarked on the arduous task of breaking into the fashion industry. The fashion industry is very difficult to enter because of its competitive nature, barriers to accessing materials, and the difficulty of entering the industry without strong connections with manufacturers or without owning a factory, he said. Nonetheless, Wang continued to work on founding Phoebe Jon.

“I think when you have a really strong passion for something and you know you’re fair, you pay attention to what, where, what’s trending and what’s happening in the industry every day like that,” Wang said.

There were many challenges in setting up Phoebe Jon. To start, Wang founded the company right after graduation. She knew she was taking a non-traditional career route for a young woman, but she believed in her product and her ability to lead and dream big, she said. She also struggled to find a manufacturer at first as she was new to the fashion industry.

I just bought a one-way ticket to New York [the summer before junior year] and I was walking around the Thurman district for a few weeks, just knocking on doors and asking people about their prices and pitching my ideas for work clothes, said Wang. Of course, many, many, many people say no, but there are some who are willing to learn more and that’s how I find suppliers and manufacturers for my brand.

The next challenge for Phoebe Jon is advertising, which makes up a large part of Laus’ job as director of business development. Lau helped create social media pages, as well as doing more behind-the-scenes work like reaching out to influencers to do affiliate marketing, he said. By doing so, Lau could help spread the word for Phoebe Jons’ first official launch, he said.

Today, Phoebe Jons’ main way of advertising is working with micro-influencers. The company looks for any women who fall into Phoebe Jons’ target age group and who already have a following, focusing on influencers who are working women in the metropolitan area. Overall, their marketing focuses on empowering women, Lau said.

Despite the hurdles of starting a brand as a fresh graduate in a tough industry to enter, Wang has found a silver lining for being a brand by women, for women, she said.

I feel like now more than ever, people are being careful about who’s behind the brand… like, what’s the value of a brand with so much movement during the COVID pandemic? People … are more conscious consumers of anything, so I feel like there’s more room than ever for women and minority founders, says Wang.

Regarding the future of Phoebe Jon, Wang is currently designing and developing two new workwear pants, namely the Sabrina Pants for women who work from home and the Gloria Pants which are a pair of trendy professional flared pants. In the longer term, the company wants to hold more live pop-up events around the East Coast, increase their size range, and have a basic workwear product line of about twenty to cater to the needs of all types of working women.

We’re really excited to do that experiment and let it go and see what people think, and right now the feedback we’re getting for the Monica Pants is really interesting because [people] love them, like, people love the design, said Wang.

Throughout her journey with Phoebe Jon from cultivating a love of fashion as a young girl to discovering supply chains and expanding customers, Wang has reminded herself of the values ​​that drive the company, she said.

Knowing that I am passionate about the fashion industry and what I am starting and contributing is a different point of view, to help working women feel comfortable and confident in [workwear] [and] helping them to perform better in workspaces where there may be inequalities they have to deal with. I felt this was the right place for me, and that’s why I decided to start.

For any future entrepreneur in BC, Wang recommends researching nearby resources like Shea Center and [email protected] program. Wang said that through programs like [email protected], students can meet with entrepreneurs and decide if and to what extent they want to be part of a start-up. Whether it’s joining a team or setting up an entirely new startup, these Shea Center mentors can help students learn more about the entrepreneurial landscape.

Courtesyof .’s photo Manyqi Wang