Amar Patel
Amar oversees the finance and operations within Thousand. Amar has 15 years of experience in consumer products, supply chain operations, and scaling organizations. Prior to Thousand, Amar served as the Director of Strategic Sourcing and Giving operations at TOMS where he managed the sourcing of $100M+ of COGS across 1000+ styles, 26 factories, and seven countries. At his time at TOMS, he helped establish manufacturing relationships within India, Kenya, Ethiopia, and Haiti. Preceding TOMS, Amar established best in class supply chain operations and business case creation at Callaway Golf and Deloitte Consulting. Amar graduated with a finance degree from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Amar is the son of two Indian immigrant parents. Having inspiration from a father worked while going to engineering graduate school to save enough money to bring his wife to the United States, and who’s mother worked two jobs while supporting the family, a strong work ethic has been instilled into Amar at a young age.
Gloria Hwang
Gloria Hwang is the founder and CEO of Thousand. Prior to starting Thousand, she spent 6 years cutting her teeth at TOMS and Habitat for Humanity. During her career, she’s worked on everything from product development to analytics—all in the context of social impact. Gloria is a second generation Asian American passionate about the intersection of design and social good.
What inspired you to create this company?
Before starting Thousand, I never wore a helmet, even though I was a longtime cyclist. They were too bulky, too inconvenient, and too futuristic-looking. But when I lost a friend to a fatal bike accident, I knew I had to change. Wanting to help others change as well, I emptied my savings account, and got to work making helmets people actually want to wear.
We named our company “Thousand” as a promise – a commitment and a goal of helping to save 1000 lives. Our name serves as a daily reminder of why we do what we do.
What distinguishes your company and product in the market?
Thousand makes products that break the value/cost trade off by delivering high quality products that are:
Stylish
-Low profile + streamlined silhouettes
-High quality color, materials, and finishes
2. Safe
3. Convenient
In addition to our products, our demographics and distribution channels are highly differentiated from our legacy competitions.
Distribution
Thousand is 80% online, 20% brick +mortar, leaving us larger margins to market and build a strong brand around our products (Our competitors are 10% online , 90% brick + mortar).
Demographic
Thousand’s customers are highly diverse in race, gender, and age based on our inclusive marketing. (Traditionally, the cycling industry’s demo caucasian Males over the age of 35).