Once we ensured basic safety for our team, we focused on growing our business and acquiring new designers and customers, even amidst the war.

We focused on transparency and open communication in our organization to build trust and ensure everyone understood the company's direction and performance.

We rented two apartments near the factory and put 15 engineers in them to oversee the manufacturing process directly, which helped us improve quality.

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, we had to pivot quickly. Instead of laying off our team as advised, we chose to be transparent and asked everyone to take pay cuts to weather the storm together, which ultimately helped us find our product-market fit.

We had to make tough decisions during the pandemic, including layoffs, but I aimed to do it with compassion and transparency.

I had to balance transparency with kindness when discussing the company's future with my team, especially as we grew larger.

When entering China, we partnered with a local company, but it didn't align with our values, leading us to buy them out and operate company-owned stores instead.

To build trust with factories, we decided to make earbuds first, as they are smaller but still complex, allowing us to sell a lot and gain credibility. The only factory that wanted to work with us was one that had no other clients; without us, they would go bankrupt.

I emphasized open communication during the crisis, holding weekly all-hands meetings to keep everyone informed and engaged.