February 2026 Health, Fitness & Wellness Grant Awarded to Vix Socks

Video Transcript

Marcia: Hello, everyone, out there in our WomensNet community. Welcome to a chat with our February 2026 Business-Specific grant winner. Today, I’m speaking with Victoria Lewis of Vix Socks. The Business Specific category for February was health, fitness, and wellness.

I’m Marcia Layton Turner. I’m just one of our advisory board members here at WomensNet, and every other month, I get to learn more about our grant winners, which I just love. Thank you for being here today and for being willing to chat with me about your company.

So, let’s start at the beginning. Victoria, how about telling everyone about Vix Socks’ origins?

Victoria: Okay, perfect. Well, I’m Victoria. I started this company basically because I work full-time as an OR nurse in the operating room, so I work really long shifts on my feet all day. I realized that I needed to start wearing compression socks because I would come home at the end of the day, and my feet and legs would be so sore and swollen. But all the options that I was trying were just either really ugly or not super cute. They were made from polyester synthetic materials that just irritated my skin. So, I wondered, “Why do we have to have something that’s either comfortable or cute? Why can’t we have something that melds the two together?”

So, I decided to create my own. Our socks are made from a premium bamboo material that’s really moisture-wicking and soft on your skin, and also have cute designs. So, that’s how we started.

It really started geared towards people like me, mainly healthcare workers, but then it’s blown into this amazing community of women who are pregnant, who have chronic illnesses, who travel a lot for work, or people who just need extra support. So, it’s been really cool.

Marcia: Your early story, kind of, reminds me of Sara Blakely at Spanx. Here’s hoping, right? That’s awesome.

Victoria: Thanks.

Marcia: Well, now let’s talk a little bit about some of the resources that you found and relied on as you were getting started. Has there been an agency, a consultant, a book, a website? Anything like that that’s been really helpful to you?

Victoria: It’s not like a specific resource, but social media, honestly. And I was very resistant towards this at the beginning because I’m sort of a private person, but I’ve had to push past that and just fully dive in. And honestly, it’s been beyond helpful because I’ve been able to connect with so many different people who have helped me in every sort of avenue for the business.

So, that’s been super helpful, and I will say there are lots of really good podcasts out there that have helped as well.

Marcia: If there was one social media platform that you would choose above the others for your business, not that it would necessarily be the case for everybody, but where are you putting most of your focus?

Victoria: Right now, I would say we’ve had the most success on Instagram because we’ve had it for the longest amount of time. I’m really trying to grow my TikTok, but it’s a learning curve.

Marcia: So true with everything. Okay, interesting. Thank you.

Now let’s talk about marketing, and I know there might be some crossover here in terms of the resources that you relied on and the marketing that you’re doing. But, is there a marketing strategy that you have found especially helpful to really help you grow your business quickly?

Victoria: Yeah, I would say that, honestly, we have really leaned into authentic founder-led storytelling, which has helped push us forward and made us a differentiator in the compression sock market. You just have to lean in and hone in on what makes you different, so that’s what makes us different, honestly.

And, similar to what another grant winner said, you can get so much feedback from your customers that I think a lot of people brush it off, but we have gotten so much valuable feedback from our customers that has led to the products we make and product expansion. So, it’s something you wouldn’t expect, but leaning on your customers and that core customer base that starts following you from the beginning is really important.

Marcia: Did you set up ways to make it easier for them to provide feedback, or did it just happen naturally because they’re such advocates for the product once they found it?

Victoria: It just happened naturally. We just created a community of really loyal customers and people who interact with each other. So, a lot of emails, and it’s been really cool to see everybody connect and interact and give us their feedback.

Marcia: Wonderful. Let’s wrap up with a quick question about what the WomensNet community of fellow women business owners can do to support your company. If there was one thing that you might ask them to do, what would that be?

Victoria: Honestly, just spreading the word. If you know anybody who could use our product or would be willing to spread the word about our product as well, just super helpful, follow us on social media. I love to connect with other business owners, especially female founders, so I’m willing to help in any way possible in return.

Marcia: Excellent. Thank you so much for your time today. I know time is precious, and congratulations again on being our Business-Specific grant winner for February.