The Spotlight: Step by Step, This Sock Queen Built a Brand That Gives Back
- Flori Meeks Hatchett
- Apr 14
- 6 min read
Updated: Apr 30
Long before Lisa Riggs became the “Sock Queen,” the San Jose entrepreneur believed in leaving the world a better place than it was before she got here.
“When I was raising my kids, it was something I really tried to instill in them,” she said. “It can be the simple things like saying please and thank you, holding the door open for somebody, or picking up a piece of trash. You can make an impact.”
Now that Riggs is the founder and owner of custom-sock provider Spirit Sox, those values guide her approach to running her company. They drive her dedication to prioritizing customer service and product excellence. And they inspire the company’s community outreach efforts, including sock donations to those in need.
Spirit Sox has regularly donated socks to homeless shelters — where underwear and socks are the two most-needed items — around the country. And more recently, Spirit Sox reached out to Asheville, North Carolina, which was hit by Tropical Storm Helene last September and faced widespread damage and displacement.
“There was a shoe drive there, and so we paired donated socks with the shoes being collected,” Riggs said. “It’s an added benefit and something that makes me feel good. I didn’t start my business just for the profit of it; I started it for the whole experience, and being able to give back is a big piece of that.”
Not only has Riggs’ approach made entrepreneurship more rewarding, but it also has contributed to a track record of customer loyalty, company growth, and increasing opportunities for Spirit Sox. The company, which has five employees and four contractors, specializes in creating socks for school and nonprofit fundraisers, but it also offers custom socks for corporate clients and products for consumers. And earlier this year, Spirit Sox became the official sock supplier for the Women’s Elite Rugby (WER), a national league launched in 2025.
Looking back at the path that brought her to this point, Riggs says her experiences as a mom and school volunteer probably gave her more of a leg up, or foot up, than her initial career.
From HR to Fundraising
To be fair, Riggs said she enjoyed the years she spent working in the tech sector, and she thrived in her human resources position. But after the birth of her second child, she decided to leave the corporate world and its emphasis on bottom lines and long, not-so-family-friendly hours.
Being a stay-at-home mom was a win-win for Riggs and her family. As her children got older and more independent, though, Riggs started looking for more ways to make a difference.
That’s when she became a school volunteer.
“I was running the after-school sports program at my daughter’s middle school, and I had the idea to use socks as a fundraiser,” Riggs said.
It was a great idea, but finding a supplier that offered custom socks — something in the school’s colors displaying its logo — turned out to be much more challenging than Riggs anticipated.
“I did find somebody to make them,” Riggs said. “He went out of business just a few months later, but in the meantime, I sold 200 pairs in four days with a $17 profit margin. Donations were up 140%.”
That initial success laid the foundation for Spirit Sox.
“I started the company with the idea of socks as a fundraiser, targeting schools, bands, sports teams, nonprofits, everybody,” Riggs said. “Fundraising is really hard, and so what motivated me to start the business was, again, that giving back and doing good and helping with the fundraising.”
Getting to the place where she could give back, however, was an exercise in tenacity and creative problem solving.
Startup Hurdles
“I think the biggest challenge for me starting the company was getting funding,” Riggs said.
“As a woman-owned business, it’s extremely difficult to raise capital. I think the statistic is that less than 2% of the funding actually goes to women-owned businesses. It’s horrible. There are some venture capitalist firms that are being started by women for women, so it’s something that’s being acknowledged, but we know that’s going to take some time.
“But also, when you get the capital, you have a loan with a bank, or you have investors, the second piece of that is being sure that you can do this right. It might take a bit to get there. You have to prove to yourself that your idea is valid, that it’s going to be marketable, that you can compete.”
Riggs did believe in her idea, but even in the best of times, keeping a small business alive is extremely challenging. Four years into her entrepreneurial journey, Riggs — like entrepreneurs around the world — found herself trying to keep her company afloat in the worst of times.
“The pandemic was really, really tough. Within a few weeks, I pivoted to making custom face masks, and that’s what kept the doors open for us.
“I wasn’t sure my company was going to make it, but I decided that I wasn’t going to give up. That’s a part of why we made it through. We finally started a rebound in about 2022.”
Inspired Designs
Over the years, Spirit Sox has created socks displaying ice cream cones and ducks sporting sunglasses, jets and sports team mascots, and much, much more. One of the company’s most popular custom creations was its “Maddie Moo” socks.
“They were pink socks with cows on them,” Riggs said. “We made them for Maddie. Maddie has Down syndrome, and her dad was always out there trying to raise money (for Down Syndrome research and advocacy). We did this joint venture with the Maddie Moo socks to try to help. Inevitably, whenever I bring them to any conference or trade show, people are always asking me, ‘Where can I buy those?’”
The company’s pizza socks are also very popular with customers.
Some of Riggs’ favorites are the company’s cherry design and the crossword socks.
The idea for the crossword design came from a friend, Robin, whose daughter was Riggs’ daughter’s college roommate. Robin, who has created crossword puzzles for The New York Times, mentioned that she’d yet to see a correct crossword puzzle sock; the spacing, numbering, or structures were always wrong. Spirit Sox had attempted crossword socks and got it wrong too, and so Robin agreed to help with a design. The resulting socks sold very well and, as far as Riggs knows, are the only “true” crossword puzzle socks on the market.
Sock-ingly Good News
The last year has been an especially exciting time for Riggs: Sam’s Club and the Hudson News store at San Jose Mineta International Airport started carrying Spirit Sox’s products. Checking out the socks at Sam’s Club was doable but finding them at Hudson News’ airport location was a little trickier. It called for buying an airline ticket and going through airport security.
Riggs’ parents, who flew out from San Jose in February, were the first in the family to see them.
“They called me and said, ‘We’re looking at your socks. We just bought some,’” Riggs said. “They sent me pictures, and they were telling everybody at Hudson News, ‘This is our daughter’s company, they made these socks.’
“I just never even thought I would have socks in the San Jose airport. I never thought I’d be able to walk into a Sam’s Club and see my logo and my socks and my vision. Those are definitely two of the biggest accomplishments.”
It also has been uplifting for Riggs to hear from others that they consider her an impactful role model for other women and entrepreneurs.
“That’s also something I never envisioned, and it’s something I value so much and really appreciate,” she said. “If I can make the path just a little bit easier for those coming behind me, it’s so worth it. I’m willing to put in the work to do that.”
Copybrighters specializes in ghostwriting for businesses and nonprofits. Contact us to request a consultation.
Comments