Behind Her Empire

#370: “I Never Planned to Be an Entrepreneur”: How a Third-Grade Teacher & Mom of Three Built a $200M+ Brand That Redefined the Bedding Industry with Missy Tannen, Co-Founder of Boll & Branch

03 Nov 2025

Audio

Description

Missy Tannen is the co-founder and Chief Product Officer of Boll & Branch, the luxury bedding brand that made organic, ethically made sheets a household staple.Missy’s path to entrepreneurship began far from business. After eight years as a third-grade teacher, she stepped away to raise her three daughters, never imagining she would one day build one of the most successful bedding brands in the country. What started as a simple search for better sheets led Missy and her husband, Scott, to uncover an industry lacking transparency. Determined to do better, they learned everything from cotton to supply chains from scratch and launched Boll & Branch in 2014 with a mission to create beautiful, responsibly made bedding at an honest price. What began at their kitchen table has since grown into a $200 million brand, sold at Nordstrom and Bloomingdale’s, with stores expanding nationwide.In this week’s episode, Missy shares her transformation from teacher to entrepreneur, the pivotal moments that shaped Boll & Branch’s early years, and how one unexpected newspaper story changed everything. We get into the scrappy stuff—wiring their savings to a factory they had never visited, making tech packs in PowerPoint, washing fabric samples in her laundry room, and missing a holiday launch after a production disaster. Missy reflects on building their supply chain from the ground up, facing zero-sales days before the brand took off overnight, and learning to balance growth, motherhood, and self-doubt while staying true to her purpose. This conversation is your reminder that you do not need experience or a roadmap to build something extraordinary, only grit, heart, and the courage to keep going.*Note from Yasmin: After five amazing years of weekly episodes, I’m shifting Behind Her Empire to an every-other-week schedule. This new rhythm gives me a bit more space to focus on building my own empire and to bring you even deeper, more intentional episodes. I’m so grateful to have you on this journey and can’t wait to keep sharing powerful stories every other week.In this episode, we’ll talk to Missy about:* Missy’s upbringing and early teaching career. [03:31]* How the idea for Boll & Branch came about. [07:30]* Sourcing ethical cotton and building fair trade supply chains. [15:48]* The process of finding the right partners. [18:22]* The process behind their first PO. [22:44]* Navigating early challenges with her husband and co-founder. [24:24]* The Wall Street Journal feature that changed everything. [33:25]* Balancing rapid growth with personal values. [39:36]* The evolution of Boll & Branch and leading with authenticity. [46:31]* Managing moments of overwhelm while building a business. [49:31]* Overcoming perfectionism in leadership. [53:50]* Navigating motherhood and entrepreneurship. [59:18]This episode is brought to you by beeya: * Learn more about beeya's seed cycling bundle at https://beeyawellness.com/free to find out how to tackle hormonal imbalances. * Get $10 off your order by using promo code BEHINDHEREMPIRE10Follow Yasmin: * Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yasminknouri/* Stay updated & subscribe to our newsletter: https://www.behindherempire.com/Follow Missy: * Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bollandbranch/* Website: https://www.bollandbranch.com/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transcription

This episode hasn't been transcribed yet

Help us prioritize this episode for transcription by upvoting it.

0 upvotes

🗳️ Sign in to Upvote

Popular episodes get transcribed faster

Other recent transcribed episodes

Transcribed and ready to explore now

3ª PARTE | 17 DIC 2025 | EL PARTIDAZO DE COPE

01 Jan 1970

El Partidazo de COPE

13:00H | 21 DIC 2025 | Fin de Semana

01 Jan 1970

Fin de Semana

12:00H | 21 DIC 2025 | Fin de Semana

01 Jan 1970

Fin de Semana

10:00H | 21 DIC 2025 | Fin de Semana

01 Jan 1970

Fin de Semana

13:00H | 20 DIC 2025 | Fin de Semana

01 Jan 1970

Fin de Semana

12:00H | 20 DIC 2025 | Fin de Semana

01 Jan 1970

Fin de Semana

Comments

There are no comments yet.

Please log in to write the first comment.

Report any issue

Behind Her Empire

#370: “I Never Planned to Be an Entrepreneur”: How a Third-Grade Teacher & Mom of Three Built a $200M+ Brand That Redefined the Bedding Industry with Missy Tannen, Co-Founder of Boll & Branch

This episode hasn't been transcribed yet

Other recent transcribed episodes

3ª PARTE | 17 DIC 2025 | EL PARTIDAZO DE COPE

13:00H | 21 DIC 2025 | Fin de Semana

12:00H | 21 DIC 2025 | Fin de Semana

10:00H | 21 DIC 2025 | Fin de Semana

13:00H | 20 DIC 2025 | Fin de Semana

12:00H | 20 DIC 2025 | Fin de Semana

Sign in to Audioscrape

Share this moment