Katherine Jacobson

Founder @ TAIYO

I am the Founder of TAIYO, a sustainable womenswear brand that drops one look at a time! We’re a little over a year old and launched after going through an accelerator, winning first place at the pitch competition, and securing friends & family funding. We’ve been stocked in 10+ stores now and are gaining interest from major stores like Verishop and have already been approached by publications like British Vogue and Vanity Fair who is ready to feature us once our pivot is more underway. I’m in the middle of a big pivot so I’m here to learn and grow with TAIYO through this incredibly exciting (and humbling!) process. Prior to this I was a health food influencer while in college and was sponsored by 40+ brands, was reposted by brands like Whole Foods, and managed to generate an income stream there while attending school. I also freelanced for many companies including one with 500k+ subscribers and ~3M viewership on Youtube where I helped successfully gain sponsorships from major brands by tangibly increasing their viewership and revenue via utilizing social media strategy, restructuring their pitch deck, and consulting on high level branding strategy. As a founder I recognize that I am strong in branding, inspiring others to want to become a part of something bigger, product development, and presentation. I recognize my weak points include areas I was not formally educated in nor was a part of in previous jobs which include finance/operations so I’m very much looking into bringing someone on to compliment my skillset in order to give TAIYO the best possible chance of success whether that be in the form of a consultant or something more involved like a partner if the shoe fits for us both.

Taiyo is a philosophy-first sustainable womenswear clothing brand that drops one outfit at a time. We've been in business a little over one year and will be pivoting soon. I'm utilizing startups.com coaching to help me navigate this pivot.