I listened to a ‘How I Built This’ podcast about Bombas — a company that has redefined a forgotten category: socks.

It was a fantastic episode in which the co-founders, David Heath and Randy Goldberg, shared reflections on how they started the company. They have now grown it to a quarter-billion-dollar business.

One incredible part of Bombas is its commitment to giving back. For every sock you buy, Bombas donates an extra pair to those in need. That's 150 million items to over 3,500 community organizations—pretty incredible.

Their value-driven mission (apart from building a durable business) made me think of the idea of staying power. Heath & Goldberg shared that during Covid - their business went from 50% growth to -12% growth. Flooded with worry, they were wondering how the team would respond. Something else happened:

“Probably one of the proudest moments I've ever had as a leader was when shut the office down the office [from Covid]; by Monday, everything was up and running. It rallied us. This is where the mission comes back. It became this moment where we can step up and distribute socks [to the community].”

What an awesome story! The whole company was lifted because of a broader purpose, and it thrives today because of that. It wasn’t just a fast success, but a lasting success.