Portrait No. 001
Audrey Rumsby
Founder & CEO
Edith
Raised — $900k pre-seed
EDITH is the first comprehensive workforce support companion for career transitions, integrating professional styling, career coaching, confidence building, and identity support into one platform. I was 13 when my Uncle Steve, a Navy SEAL, called panicking. He'd transitioned to the State Department and had no idea what to wear. He said it was more stressful than sneaking up on the Taliban. I laid out a week of outfits with sticky notes. He went to work confident instead of lost. That's when I understood: losing your uniform means losing your professional identity. We've built a three-sided marketplace: employers pay for employee support, employees get comprehensive guidance at subsidized rates, retail partners gain qualified buyers (accompanied shoppers spend 700% more). Starting with 500,000 veterans via Oplign partnership. We've validated pricing at $350-500 per employee with Fortune 500 conversations at Wells Fargo and USAA. Why me? I understand professional identity transitions deeply. Why now? The workforce is being disrupted like never before.
In her words
“We built machines to scale intelligence. Now we must build systems that scale human dignity.”
Chapter I
The toughest challenges you've faced as a founder.
VCs told me nobody would take me seriously without a technical cofounder. So I found one. She made my life miserable. As a mom to a two-year-old who'd already raised $850K with a few strategic phone calls, I knew I deserved better. Buying her out was brutal but necessary. The same week I removed her, I closed our first major enterprise partnership—Oplign, serving 500,000 veterans transitioning to Fortune 500 companies—in one 30-minute call. My contact who made the intro called me right after: \"You must be the greatest salesperson I've ever seen.\" I now own 100% equity, converting 72 warm leads representing 1.65M employees. Here's the harder truth: I've turned down institutional money multiple times because my gut screamed no. If I'd taken those deals, my company would be dead. I've watched my male friends with zero traction raise millions while I grind with proof, product, validated pricing, major partnerships, Fortune 500 conversations—still fighting for a $250K bridge. The challenge isn't capability. It's carrying too much alone while refusing to compromise this vision for capital with strings. Too much work has gone into this. But trusting my instincts over conventional wisdom, fighting for resources to match traction—that's the grind.
Chapter II
Your vision.
I'm obsessed with human identity, especially during transitions. When someone gets laid off, promoted, returns from parental leave, or leaves the military—they face: \"Who am I now professionally, and how do I show the world?\" This manifests as \"What do I wear?\" but goes much deeper. Identity, confidence, professional presence. EDITH becomes the comprehensive support system integrating everything workers need: professional presentation, career coaching, confidence building, identity support, network development. Not styling OR career coaching OR mental health—all of it, together, for the first time. The change we're enabling: transitions become launching pads instead of crises. Companies add EDITH to severance packages, onboarding programs, promotion support. Universities license it for career centers. Every worker navigating change has a trusted companion. We're building infrastructure for professional identity at scale. As technology disrupts everything, human presence becomes more valuable, not less. EDITH ensures people show up powerfully.
Chapter III
The impact you want to leave behind — for your industry, your community, and the women who come next.
I'm building a home base for human dignity, where workers in transition know someone has their back. This is personal. I've lived the Sunday Scaries, the professional anxiety, the identity crisis. I'm building the comprehensive support system I wish existed, and making it available to millions. I'm doing this for my children, showing them you can empower people at their most vulnerable. When people feel good, they do good. By meeting workers where they are with confidence, clarity, and a path forward, we create change at its deepest level. My legacy: proving human presence becomes more valuable as technology advances, not less. And that dignity isn't optional—it's foundational.