Since 2013, Bombas has donated over $200 million pairs of socks, tee shirts, and underwear. At the March 18 WBUR Breakfast Club, its founders, David Heath and Randy Goldberg, sat down with journalist Ari Shapiro to talk about their successful mission-driven business.
Heath and Goldberg want you to know that you can grow a successful company and give back to the community in a meaningful way. For every pair of Bombas socks purchased, one pair gets donated to a homeless shelter. They also said they do all of this by doing right: right by their people, right by their customers, and right by their community.
The Mehrotra Institute is laser-focused on exploring how businesses can help solve societal challenges – like homelessness – and create value in our communities. We are proud to be the presenting sponsor of the WBUR Breakfast Club, which facilitates conversations around the intersection of business and society. Bombas is a business that has stayed true to its roots and contributes every day to homeless shelters across the United States.
Bombas is no longer the feisty startup it once was, but Heath and Goldberg emphasize that they originally bonded over their shared values and continue to work to maintain those values. Some of the most important undervalued traits of great entrepreneurs? Humility, self-awareness, and curiosity.
And why socks? Socks are the number one need for the homeless population and the company’s founders wanted to use their business to help solve a pressing problem at scale. The founders said that most people who make socks don’t actually care about socks but that they personally iterated over a hundred versions of their socks before landing on a design they love.
You can watch the video of this interview on our YouTube channel.
The next WBUR Breakfast Club is on Thursday, April 16 at 7:30 am and will feature WHOOP CEO Will Ahmed in conversation with WBUR Morning Edition host Tiziana Dearing.
