The Startup Story

Eric Girouard, founder of BRUNT Workwear

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About this episode

My guest this week is Eric Girouard, the founder of BRUNT Workwear. BRUNT Workwear is slowly becoming the workwear brand for those who build the things we see and rely on every day. It is a D2C brand that seeks to serve one of the most underserved demographics out there: tradesmen.

If you think about it, how many entrepreneurs begin their business with the target audience of a welder, crane operator, construction worker, or pipeline contractor? Not many startups are geared towards that market. Entrepreneurs are missing a huge opportunity here. Tradesmen are some of the most loyal customers out there. How have they been ignored for so long?

In this episode, Eric Girouard is sharing his thoughts on that question with us. He grew up in that demographic but paid no attention to it when he helped build various other startups. This huge, better-than-average income demographic has been so neglected. Tune in to hear how Eric’s entrepreneurial journey led him to start a company that serves this loyal segment of consumers.

In this episode, you'll hear:
  • How Eric was shaped by being raised in a blue-collar family with extremely hard-working parents.
  • How he got into entrepreneurism.
  • His journey from Babson College to BRUNT Workwear.
  • Why he quit a sales job he loved to enter the startup world.
  • The key learnings he got from working with serial entrepreneur Ben Fishman.
  • The importance of learning from those who are ahead of you in business.
  • Why Eric decided to hold off on founding his own startup.
  • Why he used a business model where he built more than one brand.
  • Why a marketplace business takes a unique skill set and is actually very challenging to build.
  • The passion that led Eric to finally start BRUNT Workwear.
  • All about the tradesmen market and why they’re the backbone of the country.
  • How Eric came up with the BRUNT Workwear slogan.
  • The pushback he received during the launch of the startup and how he addressed and solved those problems.
  • How he navigated inventory and decided to build the company very lean.
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    Eric on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eric-girouard-8b58159/

    BRUNT Workwear: http://www.bruntworkwear.com

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    The Startup StoryBy James McKinney