Meet Terresa Zimmerman | Founder, Author, Mentor

We had the good fortune of connecting with Terresa Zimmerman and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Terresa, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
Before starting Wood, I was consulting in areas of marketing. When you are a consultant you are working on others projects, and I was starting to look for greater ‘ownership’ in my work – for the good, bad and ugly of it. Being in services all my life, deciding on a product focused business was a pretty high degree of risk and learning curve but super attractive to have something tangible to work on. Wood Underwear came about after a pretty comprehensive review of options and opportunities, including franchise opportunities and buying existing businesses. At the end of it, Wood came from a conversation and exploration with a dynamic group of young founders. After looking at the market and deciding men really had ‘nothing’ compared to women, and seeing I could carve a space out, I took the leap.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
The thing about being an entrepreneur, whether you are a single founder or co-founder, is that you have to wear every hat in your business. I’m on all sides of my in-box at all times. So that means, you have to learn every discipline involved in your business to some degree, even if you outsource it. You are making decisions in areas of your business that you don’t have expertise or even experience. You don’t have a peer in your company to bounce your plans off. Friends and family can’t really help, they very likely think ‘you’re doing great’. It can be a lonely business, and you have to understand how to define boundaries.

For me, I love learning new things. I love the juggling of a lot of different things going on. That part I’m good at. In the early days, when you are building and not really seeing results, you have to be your own cheerleader and trust that what you are doing is laying a good foundation and really will prove productive, soon. That is hard. I’ve had to use my network in different ways to keep me going and motivated. I’ve had to recognize burnout and ‘founder fatique’ – yes, it’s a real thing – and consciously change things up in my life and the way I’ve done things. I’ve had to recognize that just because I can do something doesn’t mean I should. Deciding how I spend my time is something I have to do intentionally every day. It ends up also being an exercise in ‘how can I use someone elses talents to better effect’. It’s a very productive practice. And, I have great outlets, my husband and family, 2 demanding Aussies. And, I run to get creative and golf to clear my mind.

As for Wood and it’s story, lets start with the name. We’re definitely having some fun there. The pun came first, and very quickly, we had to build credibility around it in order to have staying power. We position around full service wardrobing and the the role that underwear, undershirts, undergarments play in a person’s wardrobe. That conversation is more present in women’s wear. Women always think about the underpinnings appropriate with whatever they are putting in their closet. Men have never been taught that it matters. When they discover it does (e.g. longer leg underwear worn with slimmer fit pants where an underwear line can show through, the pant fabric can ‘grab’ the underwear leg in movement drawing it up, may not be the ideal choice, etc), they are quickly converted.

There is also a fabric story. We work with fabrics that blend cotton with modal and Tencel – wood viscose. So there is wood in Wood one way or another. There is a social responsibility story aligned with wood. We founded the company on a 1% give back pledge premise. Most recently we have formalized it by joining the Pledge1% Community. We have a partnership with One Tree Planted – planting trees wherever they are needed – and we support causes that benefit active and outdoor lifestyles including board sports – winter and summer, along with organizations that support our veterans and many others.

We are having a lot of fun with the name and it definitely draws you in. But the product is what keeps you coming back.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Favorite Spots in Raleigh/Durham area to take a friend – oh this is an easy list as long as you don’t ask me to prioritize. – ZincHouse Winery & Brewery
– Umstead State Park
– Durham Bulls baseball game
– NC Museum of Art
– Sarah P. Duke Gardens, after a swing through the Duke Cathedral
– Cameron Village – great shopping. Check out Kannon’s!
– Viceroy Indian cuisine (reservations required)
– Mulino’s Italian and a great courtyard to hang out in
– Death & Taxes (reservations required) or anything that Ashley Christensen is involved in
– Lafayette Village, a little Paris complete with mini eiffel tower, great dining, shopping – Stuf n Such – and outdoor lounging
– Paul & Jack’s European Cafe – amazing french bakery and coffee shop in Wake Forest
– NC State Farmers Market – open every day of the year, local and fresh
– any of our local brewers!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I would love to give a Shoutout to every person who motivated and supported me…and gave me some needed shoves over time. It would be a very long list. My husband is my backstop. He’s incredibly supportive…especially since I’m often looking at half naked men 🙂 ….and he’s also the reason I jumped into launching Wood Underwear. He got an early proto-type and pushed me for about 3 months until I finally gave in – ‘how hard can selling some underwear be?’. My life is full of people holding me up, whether they know it or not….and I try to make a practice of letting them know how important they are to me.

Website: www.woodunderwear.com

Instagram: @WoodUnderwear

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/wood-underwear

Twitter: @WoodUnderwear

Facebook: @WoodUnderwear

Youtube: Wood Underwear Channel