Fayetteville startup Bisoxual supports domestic violence victims
by January 10, 2022 8:28 am 1,888 views
After the death of a close friend in 2020, Fayetteville entrepreneur Jen Adair wanted to do something to honor her memory but wasn’t sure what.
The answer was an online retail startup called Bisoxual.
“We get many questions about the name, and let me clarify that it has nothing to do with sex,” Adair said. “We are a sock company.”
Launched in the spring of 2021, Bisoxual sells men’s, women’s and children’s socks. Mismatched socks, to be exact. That distinctive fashion trend is a trademark for Adair, a Russellville native who moved to Fayetteville in 2012. She’s worked in content marketing, social media management and marketing strategy jobs. In 2020, she launched Orion Global Marketing with business partner and former Walmart logistics executive Kevin Higgins.
Adair said she’s never been one to wear shoes all day when she can avoid it.
“That led to our kidding around the office about me never wearing matching socks,” she explained. [Higgins] started calling me bisoxual, and that’s how we got the name.”
Bisoxual sells socks in mismatched sets of three. Three different socks mean three different sock combinations.
Adair said monthly sales have increased by 10 times from April to November, with a returning customer rate of 14%.
“Our plan for 2022 is a 200% increase in sales, and we are hoping to expand into more retail locations across the U.S.,” she said.
Bisoxual donates a portion of all sales to the Northwest Arkansas Women’s Shelter, which helps all victims of domestic violence. Donations totaled approximately $2,500 in 2021.
“I’ve had people close to me experience domestic violence, and it was also a cause close to my best friend’s heart,” she said. “She passed away [in 2020], and this is a way to honor her.”
Adair further explained the connection between the Bisoxual business plan and supporting a domestic violence shelter.
“A domestic violence victim may only have enough time to grab what’s on the floor around them when they finally get the courage to leave their abuser,” she said. “Maybe it’s a pair of mismatched socks. There’s nothing wrong with mismatched socks. Those socks were signs of incredible strength in the face of a very difficult situation.”