Alicia Tulsee: A Scrubs Brand Dedicated to Fashion, Professionalism, and Respect
Ladderworks is a publishing platform of diverse picture books and online curriculum with the mission to empower over a million kids to become social entrepreneurs. Our current series features interviews by our interplanetary journalist Spiffy with inspiring Social Entrepreneurs and Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Builders, who are advancing the UN SDGs.
Hi friends, it’s Spiffy, back again on Planet Earth with an eye on entrepreneurs making the world a more equitable place! Today I’m excited to cruise around with Alicia Tulsee, founder and CEO of Moxie Apparel Inc., who is working hard to give back to the well-being of nurses. Are you ready to be inspired?
Spiffy: It’s great to have you on Spiffy’s Blog, Alicia, thanks for talking to me! Could you tell me about the challenge Moxie Apparel Inc. is addressing?
Alicia: I’m glad to be here, Spiffy! Moxie Apparel Inc’s mission is to enhance, inspire, and empower the moxie—the force of character, determination, and resourcefulness—in every nurse. More than a brand, this is a movement.
Spiffy: What motivated you to do it?
Alicia: I’ve been in awe of all of the amazing nurses who have cared for my loved ones and felt a calling to do something meaningful for the nursing profession. I founded the brand out of Harvard University’s Innovation Lab with the passion to create a brand dedicated to giving nurses the sense of fashion, professionalism, and respect that they want and deserve!
Spiffy: That’s super thoughtful! How are you working towards a more equitable world and what kind of impact are you making?
Alicia: We are building a community of nurses based on self-care and wellness. We have partnered with the American Nurses Association and are the scrub brand for nurses. This gives us access to over 1.5 million nurses to grow a community to take care of them.
Spiffy: Before we let you go, I’m curious to know whether you’ve faced any failure so far and what you learned from it.
Alicia: I started the business before the pandemic to give back to the nurse community, and then fell sick for three months with what appeared to be Covid-19 (with a negative test result, however). Our goods were then delayed for nearly eight months due to the pandemic shutting down the supply chain. But I stuck it through, raised money during this time, and learned that people will believe in and trust a founder more than the business itself.
Spiffy: Self-care and wellness for nurses is a very worthy endeavor, indeed, Alicia. I wish you all the best. Thanks for all of your time today, it’s been an honor!
Alicia Tulsee is a native New Yorker and Harvard alum, and the founder of the first direct-to-consumer medical apparel brand for nurses, Moxie Scrubs. (First published on the Ladderworks website on November 10, 2021)
© 2021 Ladderworks LLC. Edited by Anushree Nande. Spiffy’s illustration by Shreyas Navare. Follow Spiffy’s interviews of founders building a more equitable world here.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.