Issue #37: Talking to Abigail Andrews of GIOIA
All about how Abigail and her mom started the brand from Kansas City during the pandemic.
Hi everyone! I’m a bit delayed this week – I’ve been in Australia for Mailchimp’s brand activation at SXSW Sydney. Between the time difference and old-fashioned work, I’ve been running behind on just about everything. But I’m too proud of the team’s work on our activation to not include the sizzle…
While in Sydney, I even had the chance to grab coffee with
of . I love this little Substack community!This week, I’m chatting with Abigail Andrews, the founder of GIOIA Bags. Abigail and I met in Italian class during our final semester of college, and when we both moved to New York, we reconnected and have stayed in touch ever since. I’ve long admired her brand and her dedication to growing it while maintaining a full-time job as a software engineer. I chatted with Abigail about how she and her mom started making bags while in college, her marketing strategy, and the future of the brand.
Chatting with Abigail 💬
CA: Abigail, thank you so much for joining me! GIOIA creates functional, every day bags that can transition from tote to backpack (and vice versa!). Where did it all begin?
AA: The idea for GIOIA began back in 2008. My mom is very much a person of comfort, and she was always looking for a backpack purse but she could never find it. She actually signed up for some sewing classes because she wanted to try and make it, and she made a bunch of samples. They look way different than what we have now. They’re kind of ugly-looking. [Laughs.] It was a fun little project that she worked on.
Then in 2020, during the pandemic, we were sent home from school and we were so bored at home. One day I was like, ‘Why don’t we work on your backpack tote project?’ And then we started from there. I selfishly wanted a bag to carry at school, and I just didn’t think there were any good backpacks where I could look cute and also be comfortable and carry my stuff.
CA: How has it scaled since?
AA: So, I guess when we started sample making in 2020, we made dozens and dozens of bags. We even worked with a few sample makers to try to get to a pattern that we liked, but none of them put the time and energy into making it perfect. We would always go back to the drawing board and do it ourselves. My mom and I don’t professionally sew, so we would learn these sewing techniques for how to do the top of the bag or whatever from the pattern makers, then we’d iterate on our own.
When we met senior year, I was probably carrying the bags every day – I was carrying it to Italian class. [Laughs.] We had the sample in 2021, but from there, we had to do the sourcing and production, and that is a really a long, complicated process. We found it really hard to find someone who could make the bags at a price point that we wanted. Logistically, we wanted to find someone in Kansas City because that’s where I’m from and that’s where my mom is. That whole process took a really long time. Also, it wasn’t something that we were working on full-time, it was a side project.
We ended up launching officially in August of 2023, so a little bit over a year ago.
CA: I’m curious to learn more about the production process. How did you decide to move forward with the producer that you’re now working with?
AA: Any time that we have a video that gets over a certain number of views, we get many comments like, ‘This bag is so expensive! $130 oh my gosh!’ I understand the comments, but we make all of our bags in Kansas City. I do think our bags are priced fairly for how much we are paying for labor and materials. We are using luxury zippers and hardware, and source all of our fabrics within the US. Our production company is paying a living wage and benefits to all of their professionals. That’s a big value in our company. We don’t have an interest in reducing our labor costs or going somewhere else. We love supporting local production in Kansas City.
CA: Who is GIOIA’s target audience?
AA: My mom and I both carry the bag every day, so I think there’s an audience in both of our age demographics. But I think that most people who find us through our social channels are around my age. I think the bag is great if you’re a student, but also early career. You’re growing up a little, and you’re done with your hiking-style backpack.
CA: You’re super present on GIOIA’s social channels, and you’re definitely the face of the brand, which I love! Is that something that came naturally to you?
AA: I’m the face of the brand because I’m the one that’s making all of the content, so it’s just easy for me to be in the content. It has come pretty naturally to me, and a lot of the times that I am filming content, I’m just out with my friends and ask them to take a quick video.
CA: Your social content has gone viral in the past! Can you talk more about that?
AA: We mainly post on TikTok and Instagram, and both of those platforms are pushing video content, and our product is something that you have to see on video to understand it. It’s easy to make content just showing how the bag works and people are interested in it.
Tiktok failed to load.Enable 3rd party cookies or use another browser
CA: I saw a comment on one of your posts that was like, ‘This is the first purchase I’m going to make at my full-time job!’ And I loved that.
Okay now, getting into some fun questions! What are a few brands that you’ve been admiring recently?
AA: Some brands just have amazing imagery. Crown Affair, the haircare brand – I’m amazed by their imagery. In terms of brands that I look to that are building in public, we talked about Parke by Chelsea Parke. I think she’s doing a great job of building in public while creating this whole world with her brand and storytelling. She wears it every day on all of her socials, and it just fits into her lifestyle. Those are the brands that are going to see longevity.
I think a lot of influencer brands do that. Some other successful ones are Matilda Djerf’s brand [Djerf Avenue]. She’s created her whole world and aesthetic that people really buy into. Even Paige Lorenze’s brand, she’s creating this country aesthetic that people are interested in. I think if you carve out this world, that’s where you’re the most successful.
CA: What are your hopes for the future of GIOIA?
AA: This year, I’m really focused on putting strategy behind our content. I think that this whole first year I’ve just been posting when I can, but I think now I want to start doing more series on our channels and growing a community. We’ve gone viral a few times and it gets us a lot of followers, but not necessarily people who are super invested in the brand. Now that we have that audience, I want to make them invested in the brand and in myself and in our mission.
CA: So you also have a full-time job on top of running GIOIA. How do you balance both?
AA: I don’t work on GIOIA by myself, which is nice. My mom is in Kansas City and she does all of the operations. If you order a bag, she’s the one fulfilling it. She’s constantly dropping things off to get bags made, and she’s also the one that will mock up the samples. She’s doing a lot of the heavy lifting. On my end, I’m running all of our social channels, I respond to all of our DMs, I do the website. I do all of our email marketing. So anything that you see, I’m doing and anything that you don’t see is what my mom is doing.
I film a lot on the weekends and will post throughout the week, so it’s not too much to balance, but I do hope to spend more and more time on creating content.
Thank you, Abigail! GIOIA is currently sold out, but check out the line here and go follow them on TikTok to hear when they’re back in stock :)
Spotify’s Culture Next Report 🎵
Last week, Spotify launched its sixth annual Culture Next Report, revealing trends based on Spotify user behavior and Gen Z surveys. I reached out to their Head of Global Business Marketing, Grace Kao, to learn more about the report. Here’s what she had to say…
CA: I would love to hear more about how the report came to be and where the idea came from!
GK: This is our sixth year creating the Culture Next report because we recognize today’s youth is the must-reach audience for brands. We hear from Gen Z that Spotify offers something different – an intimate, engaging and uplifting space that’s become an essential in their daily lives, with 92% of our users saying that they use Spotify every day. That’s why the music and podcasts our users stream serve as powerful indicators of broader cultural trends. Culture Next is a playbook to understand and engage with this generation by meeting them where they are – on the platforms and with the content they love.
CA: What are the most interesting insights that brands can take away from the report?
GK: One of the breakout trends, “Playlist Diary,” which shows how Gen Z turns to Spotify during many defining moments in their lives. As they navigate their teenage, early adulthood years –and first experiences – Spotify is their go-to. And for every first kiss or first day of work, they’re turning to Spotify to stream through it all. In fact, they streamed 86 million minutes of playlists with the word “first” in the title, which tells us they’re using Spotify to fuel these life experiences. The exciting part for brands is that 77% agreed: “brands that create playlists for specific moods and moments feel more in tune with my life.” Therefore brands that create or sponsor playlists for these critical experiences have a real opportunity to connect with this younger generation as they navigate these life-defining “first” moments.
CA: What were some of the most surprising findings from the report?
GK: What’s not surprising is that Gen Z are romantics – it’s that they’re using Spotify to foster romantic connections. 80% of them said they’d prioritize shared music taste over looks, and 91% believe that similar music preferences deepen connections. Music and podcast compatibility have become essential for this generation. They’re sharing songs and podcast episodes to express themselves and feel accepted. In fact, niche dating apps are emerging to help young people connect around music. And apps like Tinder, which allows users to highlight one song on their profile to show their musical taste, and Bumble, which integrates Spotify to highlight your top artists, are making music a priority over looks in modern dating. Sharing your listening habits is almost like offering a glimpse into who you are. To add to this, our Blend feature is getting a lot of love with listeners integrating it into their dating lives. For example, we’re increasingly seeing tweets like this, this and this, where people prefer to use Blend to connect over using traditional dating apps.
Editor’s Note: I was just talking to friends about how podcast preferences really inform perceptions of potential romantic partners on dating apps! I would be curious to see data from dating apps around top podcast picks among matches…
That’s all for today. Thank you, Grace! And have a great week ahead, everyone :)
Thank you Caroline for featuring our Spotify Culture Next report! We love Brand Baby, and can't wait for your next issue.
So much fun chatting about GIOIA with you! Brand Baby is one of my favorite substacks to read so it's truly an honor!!