Meet Nina Faulhaber | Co-founder & Co-CEO @ ADAY

We had the good fortune of connecting with Nina Faulhaber and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Nina, how did you come up with the idea for your business?
My co-founder Meg and I met years ago at Goldman Sachs in Investment Banking – so probably as far away from apparel as you can imagine. It soon turned out we also shared a passion for innovation and making the world around us better.

Yet starting an apparel brand happened sort of accidentally. We both owned a lot of clothes but felt like our wardrobes were not good enough: often uncomfortable, not breathable, and a lot of pieces simply didn’t last.

We wanted clothes that were functional and comfortable, but also visually appealing and beautiful so we could wear them every day – to work, to travel, and everything in between. We also wanted our clothing to last longer than our everyday staples – we needed them to be functional, beautiful, and sustainable. So we started researching innovative fabrics and construction and design a few pieces that solved women’s problems and optimized for versatility, functionality, and effortlessness.

Our mission is to create a better-designed, more minimal wardrobe that allows you to “do more with less”. By creating capsule wardrobes that are functional (e.g. breathable, comfortable, wrinkle-free) and long-lasting, at an accessible price, customers can distill their wardrobes down to the essentials – yet those essentials are versatile and beautiful enough to transcend into all aspects of their lives from work to travel to socializing, hiking or working from home.

What should our readers know about your business?
We’re so proud to be a team of 100% women on a mission to create better clothes. We (as in ADAY) were born in London, “raised” in New York, and are now based in both places, plus all over the map from Berlin to Texas to Puerto Rico – doing our best work wherever we are.

What sets us apart? Our mission backed by the products we design: there aren’t many mission-driven apparel brands out there that create truly differentiated pieces designed to solve womens’ wardrobe problems by thinking about every detail including 7 ways to wear a garment, and how it will transition from the flight to the hike to the dinner party.

Similarly, sustainability is 360 for us – it’s not just a single fabric or a factory. There is the ethos of needing “less stuff” combined with a huge focus on better choices across the supply chain – plus every touchpoint our customers have with the garments.

When thinking through company culture, we took the best from what we learned at Goldman Sachs (teamwork, global perspective, ambition, A+ work) and combined it with a feminine culture of empathy, trust, common objectives, close collaboration, and a ton of mutual support. It’s really fulfilling to be leading a team of such sharp, energetic, effective, and optimistic people.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
A full week – what a treat! 22 things I love to do in LA…

1) Thursday AM arrival… I’ll take her straight to Bluestone Lane on W 3rd for a yummy healthy lunch and 1:1 catch-up time. The Mate’s Bowl and Baked Eggs are just to die for – so is everything else on the menu.
2) Friday comes… and we’ll go on a hike: I love so many of the Griffith Park hikes and love to start @ the Greek Theatre. A more secluded one is the Brush Canyon Trail after checking out the Bronson Caves.
3) We’ll be working at Second Home in Hollywood together. I love this place (it’s Friday and we’re running companies after all!)
4) For dinner, we’re going to Blair’s in Silverlake
5) Saturday smoothies @ Naturewell in Silverlake. Coconut Kale, I salute you.
7) Drive to Malibu for a beach day… Little Dume sounds like a good idea.
8) Lunch at Nicolas Eatery or Little Beach House
9) Perhaps a hike at Temescal if we are ready for the crowds. We’re wearing ADAY, so we’re ready for anything!
10) For dinner, we’re going to Little Door – here’s where my fiancé took me on our first LA date so we love to share our special place with friends.
11) Dancing… @sbcltr_la’s where it’s at.
12) Sunday-funday. We’ll need strong coffee @ BlueBottle Cafe.
13) Go-to brunch spot with neighborhood-vibe outdoor seating that’s so up my alley: Beechwood Cafe. Check out the Beechwood stairs and stroll around the neighborhood after 🙂
14) We’ll grab our notebooks, drawing pads, and colored pencils – and set up somewhere in greenery to draw, write, paint. Elysian Park could be our spot.
15) On of the weekdays, we’ll probably head towards Venice after work to have a drink and bite at Wallflower or Great White.
16) La Poubelle on Franklin St has a great European & NYC vibe so we’ll probably pop by there at some point
17) After, we will definitely head to Van Leeuwen on Franklin St for vegan chocolate + one of the monthly special flavors
18) Explore up and down the hills of Mt Washington, Highland Park, Glassell Park, and Eagle Rock. These neighborhoods have so much beauty, views, and character – and are bound to bloom even more over the next couple of years.
19) We’ll go for coffee and hangs in Highland Park after – the Bushwick of LA but make it green (I guess I’m still a New Yorker!)
20) Farmers Markets… couldn’t live without!
21) Evening hike in Topanga plus a bite or soft serve at the village after
22) We will also make a trip out to Ojai – as a recent LA transplant from NYC, I can’t believe I haven’t been yet either

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
There have certainly been a number of books that influenced me e.g. Let My People Go Surfing by the Patagonia founder, most notably.

There have also been so many amazing friends (especially badass girlfriends!), mentors, and investors supporting my way.

However, the shoutout goes to… my co-founder Meg He. Our partnership is so instrumental and strong: we trust each other blindly, always have each others’ backs, and always lend an ear to each others’ life events, happy or hard, spontaneous thoughts, new ideas, and late-night epiphanies.

Website: www.thisisaday.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ninafaulhaber/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ninafaulhaber/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ninafaulhaber

Image Credits
@masha.photo @bridgetbadore @lesliekirchhoff