EMPATHY + OPPORTUNITY
A HILL I’M WILLING TO DIE ON
Empathy isn’t just a virtue – it's a competitive advantage. In business and in life, it creates opportunity, unlocks innovation, and turns gaps into growth.
WHAT IS EMPATHY, REALLY?
Before we fuse two seemingly unrelated topics, we first need to understand them.
According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, empathy is,
“…the action of understanding, being aware of, being sensitive to, and vicariously experiencing the feelings, thoughts, and experience of another.”
It is the meaning of your grandma’s suggestion, “walk a mile in their shoes.” Empathy is imagining yourself in someone else’s body, environment, and social scene. More importantly though, empathy is considering how factors in and out of their control affect them.
Sometimes, empathy is felt more deeply when we share similar experiences. If you have ever had a death in your family (human or animal) and hear of someone else’s loss, you hurt for them. This doesn’t happen because you were personally affected, but rather because — having endured a similar hardship — you can imagine how your friend feels. It stings. In this instance, empathy is reliving the memory of your past pain.
When someone’s perspective is difficult to relate to, empathy moves from your imagination to your vocal cords. Sometimes, it’s a “How are you feeling?” Other times, it’s a guess combined with, “Am I understanding you correctly?” Either way, empathy is not only a picture of someone else’s reality, but also a curious and conscious attempt to experience it.
EMPATHY IN BUSINESS: BEING YOUR CUSTOMER’S BFF
For me, empathy and business began to intersect during my time as a marketing student at Linfield. The business department introduced me to one of the most influential concepts in my early career: customer centricity. Peter Drucker put it simply,
“It is the customer who determines what a business is, what it produces, and whether it will prosper.”
In other words, you are in business because you offer something valuable to customers. You stay in business by tuning in to and answering their ever-evolving wants, needs, and desires. It’s a healthy obsession.
In simpler terms, a customer-centric business is a customer’s best friend. . .
+ Speaks the same language
+ Anticipates their needs
+ Goes the extra mile to make them smile
+ Is consistent and reliable
+ Meets them where they’re at
+ Has their best interest in mind
Business requires empathy - because the customer is your business.
A BUSINESS WITHOUT EMPATHY IS A TICKING TIME BOMB
A lack of empathy can sink even the most established brands. It seems like common sense, but many businesses take their customers for granted. Even household names have made this mistake. Do you remember the short-lived, but almost instantaneous free fall of Lululemon’s stock after its CEO suggested their pieces weren’t meant for curvy girls? Consider the backlash Victorias Secret faced after a viral Tiktok song exposed the damage its branding caused to an entire generation’s body image. As another example, Nike’s "shares jumped as much as 8.7%” (the stock’s biggest gain since November of 2022) after they replaced the CEO who, reportedly, prioritized the bottom line over the culture that built the perceived value of the brand. In each case, when consumers felt unappreciated and dismissed, they walked away.
Entrepreneurship and sales are not about “me, me, me, - and money.” Unless you are your only customer, your business exists to serve others. When you lose sight of the customer, you might as well kiss goodbye to your income.
EMPATHY IN ENTREPRENEURSHIP: A FAIRY GODMOTHER
In the world of startups, empathy is transformational. It can...
+ Turn a small-town finance grad into a beloved lifestyle influencer
+ Elevate an ex-athlete in a small New York apartment into a celebrity-status podcaster with a host of up-and-coming brands
+ Transform two friends’ casual interest into a movement-igniting brand
For me, a customer-centric approach turned a childhood dream into a reality.
HOMETOWN GIRL to LIFESTYLE INFLUENCER & AUTHOR
When I met Abigail Heringer at sorority rush, she was a glowing, friendly, and soft-spoken student and golfer. Her deafness did not define her. Rather, I was impressed by her sweet demeanor and intellect. While we didn’t stay in touch after college, it is my understanding that she found a stable job in the financial sector.
It wasn’t until she gained the attention of “Bachelor Nation” that she realized she could use her platform to amplify unheard voices. Her memoir, The Deaf Girl, captures the unique experience of being deaf in America. It is an inspiring coming-of-age story that gives a voice and validation to those who have felt singled out, excluded, or “othered.”
Her success revealed an underserved market: girls with hearing challenges long left out of mainstream representation. Her brand, community, and book gave them connection and hope. She did more than tell a story: she met a need.
SOCIAL TWENTY-SOMETHING to CELEB-STATUS PODCASTER
Before Call Her Daddy became a media empire, it was a space where women talked candidly about their sex lives – something rarely normalized before (apart from the popular early 2000’s show, Sex and the City).
In a world where women were taught to keep intimacy private, Alex Cooper became the unabashedly bold, relatable big sister many women needed. Her show resonated with an underserved and underrepresented audience. The result? Multi-million-dollar deals, a viral podcast, a live tour, and a Hulu special.
Alex Cooper’s metamorphosis is an interesting example because it begs us to answer...
+ What conversations are people shying away from?
+ Why are people unwilling to talk about this?
+ What effect does this have on society and is it constructive?
+ When people avoid this topic, who is left out?
LATE-STAGE INTEREST to CULTURE-SHIFTING BRAND
Competitive swimming remains a predominantly white sport. Even in recent years, data from the NCAA Race and Gender Demographics Database (2021) showed that less that 2% of men in Division I swimming were Black. This is not due to interest, but to access; historical segregation and limited swim instruction left Black families without safe entry points to the water.
The Founders of Soul Cap, who didn’t learn to swim until adulthood, experienced this firsthand. Thus, they empathized with children who felt excluded and adults who mourned their what-could-have-been swimming experience. These sentiments fueled their passion, making swimming accessible to all.
They set out on a mission to "break barriers” and ended up launching an inclusive line of swim caps designed for hair “blessed with volume.” In combination with their product line, Soul Cap also supports Black swimming initiatives. In 2023 alone, they donated £100k. Their success shows the power of listening, serving, and elevating underrepresented communities.
CHILDHOOD DREAM to BELOVED BRAND
Before I launched my former equestrian apparel brand, Reigns by Savannah Fellers, I had struggled with body image. Several years in the modeling industry skewed my sense of “healthy” and — like many of my peers — I grew up surrounded by misogynistic, fat-phobic messaging. As much as I tried to rationalize my way out of body image issues, they continued to pop up in unexpected places — particularly in dressing rooms. Dressing rooms aren’t just inconvenient. They’re emotionally loaded. In a skinny-praising culture, changing size can feel like an identity crisis. The longer I battled with myself, the more I realized how many of my peers struggled with the same problem.
My intention was to unburden women of this mental tug-of-war, so I combined my intimate understanding of my customer with research. My first idea was to swap names for numbers. Upon looking deeper though, I discovered numerical sizing causes the same turmoil: it gives people a sense of proximity to, or distance from their ideal. It doesn’t end comparison, it fuels it.
This is more than my opinion though. It’s a trend that has been documented. Sizes have decreased over time. For example, a size 4 dress today is comparable to a size 12 dress in the 1950’s. In a Time Magazine article titled, Clothing Sizes: How Vanity Sizing Made Shopping Impossible, the author reveals how insecurity shaped the fashion industry,
“Studies have shown that shoppers prefer to buy clothing labeled with small sizes because it boosts our confidence. So as the weight of the average American woman rose, from 140 lb. in 1960 to 168.5 lb. in 2014, brands adjusted their metrics to help more of us squeeze into more-desirable sizes (and get us to buy more clothes). Over time this created an arms race, and retailers went to extremes trying to one-up one another.”
In searching for the answer, I better understood the problem. Placing women on spectrum, from small to large — whether stated explicitly or implied by a number —, invites toxic comparison. What’s that saying, again? Comparison is the thief of joy?
SOCIETAL PRESSURE + COMPARISON = SHAME
The question then became, “How do I provide an array of sizes without making it feel like a range, or a spectrum?” It was time to flip the script.
CULTURAL PRESSURE + BODY POSITIVE SIZING = POSITIVE SHOPPING EXPERIENCE
My solution was to treat every size as an individual. First, I asked women how they would like to be described. I ran informal polls, collected data, and used feedback to form a numbers-and-criticism-free, empowering size chart. I paired each size with positive descriptors to make every size feel distinctly valuable. The hang tag reinforced this idea. It read, “Help us celebrate the unique capabilities of everybody, while discovering your perfect fit.”
Reigns’ size chart met the consumer in her most vulnerable place, held her hand, and told her she was beautiful at any size. Above all, it suggested size has nothing to do with worth. Evidenced by customers’ reactions, it had the desired effect. One of the first ladies to stroll into my pop-up store tried on a coat in size healthy figure, but needed to size up. When I told her the next size was “bombshell,” a smile erupted across her face.
“Hell yeah, I’m a bombshell!”
Empathy-led design awarded Reigns press coverage, tear-jerking thank-you notes, and loyal customers. While it was a small brand, it received a warm welcome because it made women feel seen – and people go where they feel understood.
SUMMARY