A Letter From Our Founders

To our TRR community,

When we started The RealReal, we had a big idea: to extend the life cycle of luxury and to fuel a more circular economy. Back then, we had no idea how big an impact this idea would end up having on the fashion industry and the world. Today, as we celebrate 10 years of TRR, we want to take a moment to thank you, our community. Without you we wouldn’t be where we are today.

In true startup form, we began as a team of two at a kitchen table. We worked seven days a week—photographing, packing, shipping, answering customer service calls, and always, always trying to source more items. We’ll never forget driving to L.A. in our earliest days in a U-Haul to pick up a celebrity consignment that filled our virtual shelves for months. 

Our first a-ha moment came when our community began asking about the resale value of pieces before they purchased them. It was clear our members were starting to make shopping decisions based on selling things in the future. It was conscious consumption, and we knew we were changing the way people buy and sell luxury. 

As two women introducing a new idea in Silicon Valley, we heard our share of ‘NOs.’ But eventually we found champions in our board members, investors, brand partners and most importantly, in our employees and in you. We are honored that this incredible community continues to cheer us on to this day.

There is still so much more work to be done to grow the circular economy and to make this industry more sustainable—and we’re just getting started. Here’s to the next decade of creating change together.

Thank you,

Julie Wainwright & Rati Sahi Levesque

Julie Wainwright, Founder & CEO

Rati Sahi Levesque, President