White Plains New Business Spotlight: Tucked Trunks

WHITE PLAINS, NY — Our New Business Spotlight shines a light on local businesses we may not know that well.

• Business: Tucked Trunks
• Owners: Rafael De Oliveira
• Website: www.tuckedtrunks.com

1. How did you come up with the name? I came up with the name for the brand based around what we were selling, which was a boxer brief for men that would keep their shirts tucked in! At first, the name was going to be “business briefs” and “business trunks,” but I didn’t like how the name was limited to “business” only. So, I kept brainstorming and came up with the name Tucked Trunks because you can keep your shirt looking sharp for many occasions, not just in office attire.

2. Why start a business in this town? I grew up and have lived in White Plains for more than 20 years. I love White Plains, and it just so happened that the idea came to me and I decided to start a business with the idea while living in White Plains. Although the business is primarily online, the concept, prototype and everything was created right here in White Plains in the early stages of the business.

3. What business are you in? We are in the underwear business which is primarily online at our website www.tuckedtrunks.com. We are planning to expand and secure a physical location by 2018.

4. What’s the most difficult challenge you’ve faced as a business owner? The most difficult challenge I had to face as a business owner was myself. I realized a lot about myself when I decided to quit my 10-year corporate career to pursue my dream full time and run my own business.

I quickly realized that what I thought was hard work at my 8-5 job, was not hard work at all. Running a business is completely different animal and a huge challenge. I have to worry about a million things and tackle a million things that I never had to care about while working at my day job on a daily basis.

I had to learn so many things the hard way like budgeting, accounting, how to advertise, how to handle production, quality control, customer experience and much more. These were things that, up to that point, had never crossed my mind at all. I was working over 100 hours per week between my 8-5 job and my business, and it was taking a toll on me.

So resigned from my position, and in February 2017 while at my bachelor party, reality set in that I had quit my job. I knew that when I got back to NY, I was a full-time BOSS, which just so happened to be only two months away from my wedding date!

Everyone thought I was crazy — I guess every business owner has to be a little crazy. I dove into my business full-time and have never looked back. Everyday is a new set of challenges to overcome, and it’s a constant hustle. But it is also very rewarding to know people love and appreciate something that you have created and brought to life.

5. What’s been your proudest achievement since opening? My proudest achievement has been that we have been featured in Business Insider within a few months of launching. I’m also very happy that we have thousands of clients all over the world in over 120 countries in the first seven months.

6. How does your business give back to the community? Since we have not been in business for a full year yet, we have not been able to give back to the community. But we have allocated a percentage of our annual sales that will be used to purchase toys and gifts for kids around the holiday season. I also plan to personally donate my time as a mentor to young kids and inspire them to pursue their dreams.

If you are a small business owner and would like to see your business in the spotlight, go to this link, answer the questions and send it to Patch.

Photo credit: Submitted.