#112 Sara Sugarman: Empathy is Your Competitive Advantage

Sara Sugarman is the founder and CEO of Lulu and Georgia, a leading online home décor brand that democratizes access to beautiful, designer-quality furnishings at accessible prices. Coming from a third-generation design family—her grandfather founded a pioneering rug company in Los Angeles in the 1950s—Sara initially worked in magazines at O Magazine under Gayle King before joining her family's decorative carpet business. She launched Lulu and Georgia as a side project in the early 2010s, naming it after her grandfather Lou and father George, with the mission to make high-end design accessible to everyday consumers rather than just interior designers. The company experienced explosive growth, particularly during COVID-19, and has become known for its successful influencer collaborations and empathy-driven customer service. As a working mother of three, Sara leads with an entrepreneurial philosophy focused on trusting employees, avoiding micromanagement, and creating a company culture where people can make meaningful impact. Her journey represents a modern evolution of family legacy, transforming traditional design industry practices for the digital age. In this episode, we discuss: 1. Trust People and Let Them Fail Sara's father taught her that "any decision is better than no decision" and the importance of not micromanaging. She learned that failure isn't actually failure—it leads to success and opportunity. As a leader, giving people autonomy to make decisions (even wrong ones) builds stronger, more capable teams than controlling every outcome. 2. Follow Your Passion, Not a Predetermined Path Sara studied English and Psychology without a clear career plan, worked in magazines, and eventually found her way to entrepreneurship organically. She didn't follow traditional business school routes or entrepreneurial playbooks, proving that authentic success often comes from pursuing what genuinely interests you rather than forcing a prescribed formula. 3. Experience Trumps Formal Education When Sara wanted to attend business school, her father refused to pay for it, telling her "if you want to learn business, you're going to work for me." She acknowledges that while she missed out on some formal skills like accounting, the hands-on experience taught her invaluable lessons that couldn't be learned in a classroom. Real-world application often provides deeper learning than theoretical study. 4. Empathy is Your Competitive Advantage Sara's approach to customer service centers on understanding that home décor purchases are tied to important life moments—parties, new babies, family gatherings. By genuinely empathizing with customers' disappointments and taking authentic action to fix problems, you build lasting relationships that differentiate your business from competitors who treat interactions as transactions. 5. Constraints Can Force Better Decision-Making Having three children while running a company taught Sara the power of intentional time management. Working mothers, she notes, "know how to prioritize" and "spend their time really wisely" because time is limited. Rather than seeing constraints as limitations, they can force you to focus on what truly matters and make more decisive, efficient choices in both life and business.