Key Points Summary
- Uncommon James’ Focus on Culture and Autonomy
Trip Wood, COO of Uncommon James, emphasizes that a strong work ethic and mature culture are key aspects of their workplace. They focus on hiring individuals who can work autonomously and maintain a professional, performance-based environment. He highlights the importance of treating employees as adults, creating a workplace where they can thrive without micromanagement. - Military-Friendly Environment and Nashville’s Appeal
Wood shares in detail why Nashville is an ideal location for businesses and military veterans alike. As a balanced, business-friendly city with no state income tax and a strong logistics network, Nashville provides a very veteran-friendly culture. This makes it a desirable place for veterans transitioning to civilian careers, especially those who appreciate a supportive, military-friendly community. - The Value of Veterans & Military Spouses in the Workforce
Wood discusses the invaluable skills that military members and spouses bring to the workplace. He stresses the importance of recognizing their resilience and ability to manage responsibilities independently. His advice for veterans and spouses entering the workforce is to leverage their unique experiences and connect with others who understand their background, as this network can be a powerful support in career transitions.
Full Transcript
Sean Ofeldt: Welcome to Landing Zone Nashville, a live show that highlights great companies here in Nashville and uncovers why Nashville is such a great place to live and work for the military community. Today, I have the pleasure of speaking with Trip Wood, who is the Chief Operating Officer of Uncommon James here in Nashville and also a Navy veteran. Trip, welcome to the show.
Trip Wood: Well, thank you, Sean.
Sean Ofeldt: Trip, to kick things off, can you give us a fifty thousand foot overview of Uncommon James?
Trip Wood: Yeah. So we are a female-owned lifestyle brand. So we have jewelry, we have skincare, and we have some apparel and some other lifestyle things. Our main focus is jewelry and skincare. And we have skincare that is arguably the cleanest skincare that you can buy today. We just launched a perfume not too long ago, with the first perfume ever to be completely transparent with our label. So you can feel really good that everything you put on your skin is clean and natural, which seems to be the trend these days.
Sean Ofeldt: Excellent. Thanks for that. And Uncommon James is based in Nashville, right? Headquartered and based in Nashville?
Trip Wood: It is. Yep. Yep. Seven years.
Sean Ofeldt: Excellent. So earlier we were talking about your focus at Uncommon James on developing and maintaining a strong work ethic and a mature culture. Can you tell me more about that?
Trip Wood: Yeah. So, you know, I came from, after the Navy, I worked for companies like Target and Petco and then a company in California called FabFitFun. These were companies, particularly with Target, that are very culture-focused. So when you go from working in large companies like Target and Petco, and you start moving into startups like FabFitFun and Uncommon James, the trick is being able to take all the good things that you learn from these big companies. And as you know, big companies can be a mixture of good and bad. But taking the good things that you learn there and applying them to the smaller, more intimate environments.
Trip Wood: What I learned as I moved through my career—and I was always given areas in these larger companies that were less structured—was that it was imperative I surrounded myself with a team that was smarter, faster, and better than I was. At Target, we had all the categories nobody wanted. They packed me up and sent me to India to help with their overseas operations. At Petco, I started their sourcing organization and helped build out their sourcing and private brands. Then at FabFitFun, they were just growing. So, if you’re not surrounding yourself with, honestly, the best and brightest, as a leader, you’re going to fail.
Trip Wood: What we try to do here is we start at the interview process. Uncommon James is a performance culture. We interview for people who can actually get the job done. My managers and directors interview for whether they feel comfortable with the candidate and if they can get the job done. I interview everyone who comes into the company for fit. Do they have a sense of humor? Can they take a punch and get back up? Can they operate autonomously as adults?
Sean Ofeldt: That’s excellent, Trip. And you were mentioning how this culture has translated into a really low turnover rate.
Trip Wood: Yes. We haven’t had any turnover in the last two and a half years. Zero. And in retail, that’s very competitive. But we interview strongly, hire the right people, give them a lot of autonomy, and treat them well. We have a great benefits program here. Besides my CFO and myself, the rest of the headquarters is women. So our benefits packages are really good. Our maternity policy is incredible—things that are effective for our employees and that they’ve given us feedback on.
Sean Ofeldt: That’s amazing. Also amazing that you’re almost predominantly female in your team.
Trip Wood: Yeah, and honestly, it’s not by design. When we put out a rec, we seem to get great, exceptional candidates, and they almost always seem to be female as of now. It seems organic. We hire the most qualified candidate, but I think the brand and our founder, Kristen Cavallari, naturally draw a lot of female applicants.
Sean Ofeldt: Do you think it’s tied to the culture that you have? Or is it just something innate in the candidates?
Trip Wood: It just seems to be innate. We don’t really, I mean, we hire the most qualified candidates. But people who know Kristen Cavallari and the brand are mostly female, so they’re often interested in working for us. And I think people who pay attention to the brand also know our culture, so it’s a little organic.
Sean Ofeldt: Going back to something you said about treating people like adults and not micromanaging, how important is that for military members transitioning into civilian careers?
Trip Wood: So if I go back to my Target days, where I was working in the warehouse, we hired a lot of veterans. It was tough shift work with a lot of autonomy. We did a lot of interviews that would bring in people who could plug into the organization without needing much supervision. It worked really well. We had more military in our leadership in the warehouse at Target than non-military.
Trip Wood: I think what happens in the military is that you’re given a task, and you don’t have the option not to execute it. No one is constantly looking over your shoulder. I was a Soviet cryptologist; the officer on deck had no idea what we were doing. You had to be autonomous, learn to get it done, and operate within a certain set of guardrails. It’s a similar culture here. If we hire someone for marketing, for example, we assume they’ll figure out how to get it done.
Sean Ofeldt: That’s a great summary. With Nashville, why do you think it’s a great place to live and work?
Trip Wood: I love Nashville. I’ve lived in a lot of places, and Nashville is very balanced. The weather, politics, and general environment are not too extreme. There’s no state income tax, which is great. From a logistics standpoint, it’s centrally located. Four years ago, hiring was harder, but now Nashville has attracted a ton of talent. It’s also incredibly vet-friendly; even the DMV has license plates for different military backgrounds.
Sean Ofeldt: There are also a couple thousand veterans transitioning here every year. And veterans and military spouses bring a lot to the workforce.
Trip Wood: Yes. One of the things about military spouses is their resilience and ability to manage a household independently. We have a Navy petty officer’s spouse here, and she manages her schedule flexibly to be there for her kids. People don’t realize the strength these spouses bring to the workforce. It’s incredible.
Sean Ofeldt: That’s a powerful insight. You’re headquartered in Nashville, right? Are there any other locations?
Trip Wood: Yes, our headquarters and warehouse are here in Nashville. We also have stores in Dallas, Chicago, here in the Gulch, and one in Charleston.
Sean Ofeldt: That’s excellent. Any parting thoughts about Uncommon James or Nashville?
Trip Wood: For anyone out there looking, make sure you’re reaching out. Particularly on LinkedIn, reach out to veterans and ask for resume reviews. There’s a whole community of us willing to help. Even if Uncommon James isn’t the place for you, reach out; we can help you get focused. I had a productive transition, but not everyone does. Any help I can give back, I’d love to give.
Sean Ofeldt: Trip, I really appreciate all your insights. Thank you for sharing about Uncommon James and Nashville, and thank you for your time.
Trip Wood: My pleasure. Thanks for having me.
