Sali Christeson Wants to Power Dress You to Success

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It’s not that often that a clothing brand stealth takes over your Instagram feed. But whether you follow, say, Sophia Bush, or Abby Phillip, or First Lady Dr. Jill Biden, or Elaine Welteroth, or Kerry Washington, or Hillary Clinton, or Katie Couric (the list goes on), you’ll often see them wearing one thing at big work events: their Argent suits.

Even Meghan Markle recently got in on the Argent action, wearing the brand’s white knit top on her and Prince Harry’s recent tour of Columbia. And then, of course, there was the hot pink “Voting Suits You” collection in partnership with Michelle Obama’s When We All Vote nonprofit that went viral in October, encouraging women to head to the polls.

It’s safe to say that Argent is kind of everywhere right now and has become the go-to uniform for powerful women—an impressive feat in the brand’s eight short years. But for Argent’s founder and CEO Sali Christeson, a former Silicon Valley tech executive, this was completely intentional: “Our goal was to give women confidence. We want to be that tool that helps women navigate their career.”

Although, still, when Hillary Clinton unexpectedly pops up on the cover of her latest book, Something Lost, Something Gained, wearing your brand or the First Lady Dr. Jill Biden appears at the first presidential debate in Argent, it’s a lot.

“I think what’s happening now is pretty surreal, because women are reaching for it when they want to feel great,” says Christeson.

But this kind of success doesn’t always come easy, especially as a female founder. Christeson launched Argent in 2016 after years spent working in male-dominated tech workplaces—and noticing that women’s workplace clothing options were so poor. “It’s pretty obvious that men have been running fashion, as all industries, and that women’s workwear has really just been an afterthought,” Christeson tells Glamour.

She hated that studies found women were being judged on their appearances at work, but that nobody had created a really great uniform for them. She was absolutely certain there was an army of fed-up, disillusioned, and underserved working women wanting more, just like her. As she says, “I’m very much the consumer of what we’re building.”

Her first pop-up in 2016 took her right back to where she’d begun—at a women’s tech conference in California. “Day one of business, it was surreal how much we sold and what the reaction was,” she says.

It’s also not lost on Christeson that during funding rounds for a clothing business she created to help close the gender inequality gap at work, she says, “I’ve been hit on. I’ve been asked out. I’ve had my time wasted. I hope that things are improving, but I don’t know that they have.”

Today, alongside the suits (which, trust us, are capital-G Good), Christeson now fronts Argent’s Work Friends podcast, which features interviews with female industry leaders and activists and leads the brand’s political initiatives. Here, she shares the lessons she’s learned along the way and the best piece of advice she never listened to…

Glamour: This year you’ve partnered with When We All Vote on a very visible voting initiative. Tell us about the hot pink suit collection.

Sali Christeson: We’re running a massive campaign just to energize and bring some levity to this really tough moment, to really inspire and bring hope and optimism to the election, and to get people to really recognize their collective power.

Everywhere we look people are wearing Argent. Do you have any favorite celebs who’ve worn your brand?

I love that women are reaching for Argent in these big career moments when they want to feel great. When Secretary Clinton wore Argent to accept the Champion of the Century award in 2017 from Planned Parenthood, it was such a cool moment to be thought of for. Doris Burke, an iconic American sports announcer, wore Argent during the men’s championship NBA finals game—she was the first woman analyst for any men’s championship finals game. I have loved her since the beginning of time, and that one really got me. Kaitlan Collins and Abby Philip wore it sitting side by side at the desk at CNN. Dr. Biden was wearing it at debate night. Anjali Sud, when she was named CEO of Vimeo—her first public appearance was in Argent. Those are the surprising, delightful ones that are really, really exciting.

What advice would you give to other women and other female founders?

Know your worth, be kind to yourself, and show up. Sometimes we’re too quick to give up our own power. Fulfillment from a work perspective comes from being your authentic self and speaking your truth and being bold. And that comes with some risk. But for me, that’s been where the magic happens. If you’re living in fear—fear of losing your job, or fear of what speaking up might do to you—it’s worth rethinking if you’re in the right place.

What’s your proudest achievement?

I think that my proudest achievement is being top of mind for these remarkable women and getting to have a front-row seat as a team to incredible women doing incredible work.

What’s the hardest lesson you’ve learned as a female founder?

The money piece really riles me up because women receive around 2% of funding from venture capitalists, and money really is everything. It allows you to fail. It allows for people to know about you. That piece has been a hard lesson—how hard every single dollar is to come by, both from customers and from investors. The other is I came from a corporate background, with the protections of an HR department, and then you step into the Wild, Wild West of the startup world and there is so much gender inequity. I’ve been hit on. I’ve been asked out. I’ve had my time wasted. I hope that things are improving, but I don’t know that they have.

What time do you get up every morning?

Later than I used to. Right now I wake up with a kid, so it can be anywhere from 6:30 to 7:30. I go with them. I haven’t set an alarm in six years.

What’s your typical morning routine?

Chaos. Prior to kids, smooth sailing. I’d have a very clear routine. Post-kids, it’s make them breakfast, get them ready for school, get dressed somewhere in that, and then get them to school. Chaos.

How do you take your coffee?

I like two shots of espresso with a splash of oat milk and some ice.

What was your childhood dream job?

Okay, this is one of the reasons Argent exists. I didn’t really know what I could be because I grew up in the southeast, so I thought I could be a doctor or a lawyer or a banker, and I didn’t want to be any of those things, so I just wanted to be in business, period.

Love it. What was your first actual job?

I worked at a restaurant as a hostess down in Hardeeville, South Carolina, at the age of 14, and they paid me under the table.

What’s the best piece of money or career advice you’ve ever gotten?

I have two. One was to speak up when I have an idea. I had a male boss who once said, “You have really good ideas, but you’re slow to share them and you should use your voice more,” which I appreciated.

But the piece of advice starting Argent that I got that I didn’t listen to was to hire slow, fire fast. I was told that what you’re building is vulnerable, so you have to be so thoughtful and intentional with who you bring on. It’s actually really hard to do because you just want anyone involved to make it a little bit less isolating and lonely. So that was great advice that I failed at taking but now give. I live by it now. I fire very quickly if it doesn’t work out.

How do you deal with rejection in your field if it comes?

I’ve had so much rejection. So much. Investment rejection, customer rejection, tons of rejection. That’s part of the game. If it feels like the wind is really blowing against me, I’ll step away from the work and come back to it at a later time. I’ll even check out and just watch Netflix, whatever I need to do to clear my head, and then come back to it. I also like to pivot into what excites me, which is our community and our customers.

So I’ll look to them as a source of fulfillment and happiness and as a reminder of what we’re building. Same with the team. The team can do that for me too.

What’s the last great book you read?

I loved The End of the Vanderbilts by Anderson Cooper. It was excellent.

What’s your biggest vice?

Kombucha.

What’s your go-to email sign-off?

Best.

Originally Appeared on Glamour