{"id":68676,"date":"2019-10-29T11:40:29","date_gmt":"2019-10-29T15:40:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/?p=68676"},"modified":"2020-09-03T05:53:17","modified_gmt":"2020-09-03T09:53:17","slug":"what-brooklinen-cofounder-vicki-fulop-does-all-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/community-stories\/member-spotlight\/what-brooklinen-cofounder-vicki-fulop-does-all-day","title":{"rendered":"What Brooklinen cofounder Vicki Fulop does all day"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

W<\/strong><\/em>hat Do People Do All Day?<\/a><\/em><\/strong> takes a look at the work life, lunch habits, and downtime of people across different industries. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Name:<\/strong> Vicki Fulop
Title:<\/strong> Cofounder and chief communications officer
Location:<\/strong> WeWork Dumbo Heights<\/a>, Brooklyn, NY
Years on the job:<\/strong> 5<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When married couple Vicki and Rich Fulop returned from a trip to Las Vegas in 2012, they set out to find sheets as sumptuous as the ones they slept in at their hotel. But they were stunned by the nearly four-figure price tags they kept seeing. What they got instead was a business idea: premium linens at a reasonable cost. By 2014, after a year of market research and with the help of a Kickstarter campaign, they launched Brooklinen<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, the direct-to-consumer company, which is beloved for its minimalist-chic offerings, also sells towels, bathrobes, loungewear, and more. Rich generally handles the business side of things while Vicki focuses on the company\u2019s creative identity. \u201cA lot of our work now is making plans and giving feedback,\u201d Fulop says. \u201cWhereas before, when Rich and I were starting out, it was producing the photo shoots ourselves, doing the Photoshop ourselves, coding the emails ourselves. We\u2019re a little bit more upstream than we used to be.\u201d Just ahead of Brooklinen\u2019s latest big launch\u2014more on that below\u2014Fulop gives a closer look at her typical workday. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

My <\/strong>morning routine<\/strong><\/a> is\u2026 <\/strong>pandemonium. Just kidding (sort of). <\/strong>I used to be a creature of routine, but I just had a baby in May, so now we\u2019re juggling to tend to the little guy, get dressed, and have our caffeinated beverage of choice before jetting out of the house. New babies are unpredictable, so every morning is a bit of a surprise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I first look at email\u2026 <\/strong>as I wake up. If I see something I can answer quickly, I\u2019ll reply right away. If it\u2019s something regarding a longer-lead project, I\u2019ll reply that I saw the email and say when I\u2019ll be able to get back to it\/meet about it.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

I spend my commute\u2026<\/strong> listening to podcasts<\/a> and reading. My friend just recommended an interesting NPR podcast called Hidden Brain<\/em><\/a>. Every episode is kind of different. There\u2019s one they just did on decoding baby talk<\/a> and another about how people are bad at predicting their future happiness and why<\/a>. And I\u2019m reading When Breath Becomes Air<\/em><\/a>, which was written by a neurosurgeon who found out he had terminal cancer in his final year of medical residency. He talks about the experience of how you live your life knowing that you have only a short amount of time left.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first Slack message I got today was\u2026<\/strong> a request to <\/strong>review copy for a launch email. It\u2019s for a big initiative called <\/strong>Spaces by Brooklinen<\/a>, which is a new division on our site. We\u2019re partnering with a lot of our favorite brands, like Floyd<\/a>, Simply Framed<\/a>, and The Sill<\/a>, to essentially bring to life all of the beautiful items and styling that people see in our photo shoots, and to make them available for our customers to purchase. We\u2019ve designed three distinctive looks\u2014earthy minimalist, modern glam, and relaxed industrial\u2014and customers can purchase the entire room as a complete look, or they can purchase individual objects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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We came up with the idea\u2026 <\/strong>about a year ago, when Rich and I were on a trip to Nashville. We\u2019ve gotten so many requests over the years for some of the additional d\u00e9cor within our creative campaigns: Where do I get this bed frame? Where do I get this nightstand? Where do I get this lamp<\/em>? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I find inspiration\u2026 <\/strong>through travel. In the past, trips to Italy and Costa Rica inspired the vibe of our linen collection<\/a>, which is refined but easy. And the color stories we see out in the wild can kick off an idea. Maybe there\u2019s a pink-washed building and a pink canyon, for example, and that inspires a peachy, pinky, burgundy concept. We go into a trip pretty open. Just getting away and having a little bit of empty headspace helps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019d love to one day collaborate with\u2026 <\/strong>Kith<\/a>, which is <\/strong>a really cool streetwear brand with a great heritage. I think that would be a really fun, interesting surprise, and unexpected in the bedding space. I also really like the designer Staud<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We test new bedding samples\u2026 <\/strong>constantly. Rich and I are the guinea pigs. We\u2019re always asking our manufacturers for new weaves and testing them in our apartment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The thing most likely to break my concentration at the office is\u2026 <\/strong>one of the office pups<\/a> coming over for some love. They\u2019re irresistible, and I have to pet each and every one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I\u2019m in a meeting\u2026 <\/strong>I\u2019m in a meeting. I\u2019m not on my phone. I\u2019m not Gchatting or Slacking. We ask everyone to come with an agenda, and if we notice we\u2019re getting stuck on one agenda point, we\u2019ll table it for a separate time. Meetings are how I get a lot of my work done. I spend at least half my day in them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I eat lunch<\/strong>\u2026 at my desk, most days. Or I kind of graze. If the weather is nice, I try to at least take a walk to pick up my lunch. I don\u2019t care that much about where I eat, but I love a good walk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My leadership style is\u2026<\/strong> hands-off. I let people run with things as much as I can.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I interview a candidate, I always ask… <\/strong>how they problem-solve. What was a challenge they faced and how did they overcome it? I like to think through how people approach things and whether they see a curveball as an exciting mountain to scale or a roadblock.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I usually stop reading emails at\u2026 <\/strong>8 p.m., unless there is something urgent or I\u2019m working on something with a tight turnaround (e.g., a launch the following day). I like to give myself a little time to recharge for the next day.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As <\/strong>a married couple that founded and run a business together<\/strong><\/a>… <\/strong>Rich and I set times to talk about work things during the workday. We made a decision early on that after a certain time at night, we don\u2019t talk about work\u2014and we\u2019re usually so tired and drained from the day that we both stick to it.<\/p>\n\n\n