Mar 18, 2019 · 1h 7m · how-i-built-this
Away: Jen Rubio
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gold bands on the timeline = statements, start to end. Hover to read, click to jump. CC turns on captions
In this episode of How I Built This, Away co-founder Jen Rubio shares how she and Steph Korey transformed a frustrating travel mishap into a category-defining, direct-to-consumer luggage empire. Through consumer-led design, inventive marketing pivots, and community storytelling, Rubio highlights the resilience required to scale a multi-million-dollar lifestyle brand.
How this conversation actually went
Every chapter scored 0–10 on four independent dynamics. Hover any point for the reasoning behind the score. Guy holds 25% of the talking time here. How this is scored →
Guy as informed peer 2.8 Guest teaching 2.8 Guest disagreement 1.3 Guy pushing back 1.1
speaking balance: gold is Guy, purple is the guest (3 minute bins)
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 46:00 Rubio defends pivoting to a book launch over traditional delays
When Raz incredulously questions spending VC capital on a photo book before producing a single suitcase, Rubio rejects the premise that product-only launches are effective and firmly explains the direct-to-consumer brand philosophy.
Hardest push from Guy ▶ 46:00 Raz expresses incredulity over the coffee table book pivotRaz halts the interview narrative to press Rubio on whether investors questioned the bizarre decision to spend seed funding on a vacation book rather than physical suitcases.
Biggest teaching moment ▶ 46:25 Rubio explains the power of brand emotional connection to RazRubio educates Raz on how traditional legacy luggage brands lacked emotional affinity, explaining that VC investors backed Away specifically because they understood brand identity mattered more than commodity hardware.
Guy holds their own ▶ 42:00 Raz highlights magazine editorial lead-time realitiesRaz demonstrates industry insider knowledge by pointing out that major fashion publications finalize their holiday gift guide selections months in advance by July and August.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
| Chapter | Topic | Guy as informed peer | Guest teaching | Guest disagreement | Guy pushing back | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Immigrating to the United States and Cultural Assimilation | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | Guy Raz sets up Jen Rubio's early childhood background with empathetic, open-ended prompts. Rubio shares candid memories about immigrating to the US and navigating cultural identity. | |
| College at Penn State and Transition into Corporate Life | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | Raz guides Rubio through her college years at Penn State and corporate internships. Rubio humorously explains why she dropped out to work in a cubicle rather than pursue traditional credentials. | |
| Venturing into Early Social Media and Digital Marketing | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | Raz asks about the dawn of social media marketing in Los Angeles. Rubio details how she built an early consulting niche utilizing Tumblr and Twitter for food trucks and studios without formal analytics. | |
| Pioneering Brand Community at Warby Parker | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | Raz references his past interviews with Warby Parker founders to frame Rubio's recruitment. Rubio clarifies how she built interactive community engagement through crowd-sourced home try-ons on Tumblr and Instagram. | |
| Global Innovation at All Saints and Leaving London | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | Raz prompts Rubio on her transition to London as Global Director of Innovation at All Saints. Rubio reflects on discovering that internal corporate turnaround work lacked the direct customer connection she enjoyed. | |
| The Broken Luggage Incident and Teaming Up with Steph Korey | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | Raz asks if Rubio was actively hunting for a category to disrupt, which she rejects, explaining she simply needed a functional suitcase after a mishap. She recounts how a phone call with Steph Korey unlocked the luggage opportunity. | |
| Mid-Episode Break and Teaser | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | Raz tracks the formative stages of Away, including co-founder alignment, securing the trademark, and conducting qualitative consumer research with 800 travelers. | |
| Securing $2.5 Million in Seed Funding | 3 | 3 | 1 | 2 | Raz probes whether raising a $2.5 million seed round was easy given their pedigree. Rubio explains their rigorous, spreadsheet-driven approach to targeting DTC-focused venture capitalists like Forerunner. | |
| The Holiday Pivot: The Travel Book Launch Strategy | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | Raz pushes back with surprise upon hearing that Away spent seed money creating a coffee table travel book instead of bags for their launch. Rubio defends the brand-building logic and explains how it sold out all initial units via pre-order vouchers. | |
| Factory Quality Control and Initial Product Fulfillment | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | Rubio details traveling to China for on-site factory quality control and fulfilling the initial pre-orders. Raz and Rubio discuss organic early growth fueled by viral Instagram travel posts and celebrity sightings. | |
| Scaling the Enterprise, Future Vision, and Reflections on Luck | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | Raz and Rubio discuss scaling past 250 employees and $50M+ revenue. Rubio lightheartedly corrects Raz on her age, outlines Away's vision to become the Nike of travel gear, and balances hard work against good fortune. | |
| Away Conclusion and Sponsor Message: Smartwater | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | Raz wraps up the Away story with recent brand developments, delivers a sponsor message, and introduces the listener segment 'How You Built That' featuring John Maroney of Sled Legs. |
Statements from this episode (10)
Jen Rubio Dropped Out of Penn State Three Credits Short of Graduating
“And I basically was just like the intern who never left, and I was invited to walk at graduation, but I think I'm still three credits short.”
Warby Parker Crowdsourced Early Frame Choices on Tumblr and Facebook
“And then, like, our community would, like, help them pick, and that was, like, a big thing on on Tumblr and Facebook. Like, we would basically crowdsource what frames people should buy, and we just built this, like, really loyal, really engaged community, and …”
Luggage Industry Mirrored Legacy Eyewear's High Markups and Weak Brands
“All the same things that we saw with eyewear, we were seeing with luggage. Like, crazy markups in the industry. Like, no brands that people really loved. Like, a really awful shopping experience.”
Trademark Attorneys Were Shocked 'Away' Was Available for Luggage
“She found, like, some trademark lawyers and asked them if we could trademark it, and they basically laughed in our face. And she was like, she, like, insisted that they looked into it, and then a week later they called us and they said, you have been given a g…”
Away Interviewed 800 People About Travel Pain Points Before Designing Luggage
“So over the course of a few months, we talked to, like, maybe 800 people, and we would just talk to them about travel, and we would ask them things like, not even about luggage, but about their biggest pain points when they travel, and we discovered things lik…”
Rubio: Launching a Brand With a Standard Pre-Order Is Extremely Boring
“Or we could launch with a pre-order, which I think is just like the most boring thing you can do when you're launching a brand. Like no one wants to put their credit card down for something that they like may or may not get.”
Away Bootstrapped Launch By Selling 2,000 Travel Books With Suitcase Vouchers
“And by the end of a couple of weeks, we had sold out of all of the books, and each book represented one suitcase that we ordered. So we had sold out of our first order.”
Every Away Celebrity Collaboration Has Originated From an Organic Customer
“Every celebrity collaboration we've ever done has been because that celeb has been a customer.”
Reese Witherspoon Was an Early Organic Customer of Away Luggage
“Laura Jean Witherspoon ordered a bag. And Steph said it out loud. And I was like, that's Reese Witherspoon. That's her real name. She's like, that's so weird that you know that. But yeah, like, she had heard about it from, like, one of these articles or one of…”