Abby Morgan

Abby is the Co-Founder & CMO at CUUP, the direct-to-consumer intimate apparel brand. In 2020, the startup closed an $11M round backed by Forerunner, Lerer Hippeau, Bullish, Insight, and GFC.

On her morning routine.

I’m typically up at 6 and make sure to avoid touching my phone.

The first routine I jump into is making celery juice followed by coffee and breakfast with my boyfriend. Then I read through the news or dive into creative work to get the work juices flowing.

My workflow usually begins when I step into the office, parse through my emails, and organize my to-do list for the day.

Then it’s off to the races.

On staying grounded.

You need to separate work and life, it’s that simple.

It’s critical to put in the work to maintain that balance so I don’t burnout. 

More recently, the impactful change I’ve made was not working on the weekend. I prioritize time spent in nature, whether that’s hiking, biking, or skiing in upstate New York. I just love being outdoors and not having to think about work 24/7. 

Whenever I feel myself hitting a wall, I close my computer and do either a 30-minute yoga or pilates session to get out of my head and into my body.

It’s incredibly grounding.

On value-add investors.

We really looked for investors who were able to get hands-on with Cuup and advise our C-Suite on actionable tactics, rather than just bringing in capital. 

We specifically wanted to partner with funds that were attracted to our business model fundamentals, spanning both qualitative and quantitative aspects. 

Having a predominantly female board was also a priority, simply because we wanted investors who could wear the product and identify with the consumer.

On the future of DTC.

Most consumer brands on the market are focused on short term growth.

In turn, they tend to lose focus on the bigger picture of scaling a brand in a financially sustainable trajectory. 

If you only focus on your product’s core value proposition and functional benefits that are optimized for paid, someone will come along and out-innovate you.

That’s just the truth.

Instead, companies need to figure out how to weave themselves directly into the identity of the consumer and stand out as a culturally relevant brand.

People are savvy customers and they expect more from products.

From a brand strategy perspective, recontextualizing how your products fit into someone’s emotions is the way forward.

Brands need to rethink how they’re reaching people.

Rather than being 100% data-led, brands should lean into being data-informed paired with higher degrees of intuition. 

When you’re data-led, you’re not creating trends or inspiring people.

You’re just leveraging paid channels to manipulate incentives and get quick sales wins, not creating durable loyalty.

On Cuup’s sustained success.

As we were building out our brand, I would say 90% of it was intuition.

While we’re 100% data informed from a growth perspective, the initial direction was primarily driven by our gut.

From a quant lens, we rely heavily on-site analytics, Google AdWords, and performance marketing data to generate insights on our core customer, while layering on more qualitative feedback around scaling an aspirational persona.

We intuitively rely on the curiosities we have around our own product decisions and how that can build consumer preference. 

Our end goal is to create trends, rather than just follow them.

On winding down at night.

I typically try to shut down around 7.

That process involves powering off my computer, putting my phone away for a bit, and jumping into a digital fitness class.

Around 7.30 I’ll start cooking, which is a perfect opportunity to spend genuine time with my partner and catch up on a deeper level about where our heads are at and how we’re feeling.

After dinner, we’ll either throw on a Netflix show or read before bed.

Currently, I’m avoiding screens about an hour before falling asleep which has been incredibly impactful. Most nights I’m out around 10 PM.