Abigail Stern
CEO and Founder, Matek
TBD
Steering Committee Member
The Basics
Company Name: MATEK
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Founded: November 2018
Full-Time Employees: 1
Products: Winter base layers for women, men and children, sports bras (that happen to be nursing friendly), outerwear accessories and all year round outdoor activewear.
Social: Instagram
Claim to Fame: The Dik-Dik and our famous pee-friendly onesie Gentoo base layer equipped with signature “butt flap”
The Culture
The best thing about working at Matek is:
Starting out as a one-woman team lets me learn everything first hand; especially the things I am not good at or don’t have any background in at all. I find that being a young, hungry, small brand we can make big change, maybe even more impactful change than large companies that are decades into being set in their ways. This is one of the most inspiring parts to starting my brand, especially in a space like the outdoor industry that I have always found to be somewhat stuck back in time. Matek would like to stay present, not fall behind and build the best future for the outdoors within our power to.
When we’re not working, we’re:
skiing, swimming in the ocean, cooking, hanging out with family and friends, taking baths.
What we’re reading:
Getting Things Done by David Allen
What we’re listening to:
The Daily, Naked Beauty Podcast. Music: MATEK’S new playlist (on Spotify) called ‘Nice for Now’
If they made a movie about our workplace, it would be called:
One woman’s daily exercise; how to track down the nearest Fedex Express Truck between her office and heading home for dinner
Inclusion in the outdoors matters because:
Mother Earth created the great outdoors for everyone, it’s as simple as that. It only makes sense to me, and Matek, that all people willing to respect this great gift of the outdoors should be able to. No matter where they come from or what they look like. It is so upsetting to me that in researching references and inpirational photos of the history of the outdoors that they are usually always only filled with white people enjoying them. For this exact reason Matek always supports influencers, photographers, models and all creatives from all races to be part of creating our imagery and representing our product and brand. To help create an archive of references that in ten years, looking back, will NOT be only white people shown in the outdoors.
Five years down the line, it’s our hope that:
In 5 years Matek will be part of an industry we have helped change to overall become completely inclusive of all body types, races, activities, backgrounds and in doing so also be part of fighting for climate change. Where Matek is not only known for creating the best outdoor gear technical performance intimates on the market but is also known to be a brand that cares, gives back, listens and educates, supports and creates our own community that shares the same values and goals.