When Taylor Mills couldn’t find the right running shorts, she designed the perfect fit.
Call it drive, call it stamina, call it entrepreneurial spirit. Some of us are just born with the will to try, and continue trying, until we reach the proverbial finish line.
Taylor Mills is one such person. A Columbia native and Furman grad, Mills has dipped her career toes in fields from elite travel transportation to child trafficking prevention. But she’s always been a runner.
“As long as I can remember, I have loved to run,” Mills says. “Even as young as elementary school, my dad was a runner, and I would get up on Saturday mornings and run with him in my little matching Adidas windbreaker.”
An active lifestyle calls for activewear, but in her thirty-odd years of running, Mills struggled to find a pair of shorts perfect for runners of all sizes and bodies. So in March of 2020, she designed her own. Like many in the travel industry during the pandemic, she found herself with a little extra time on her hands. That’s when she started working on a prototype.
“When the idea first came about, I really wanted to create a pair of shorts that worked for women in all seasons of life,” Mills says. “My friends were having babies and our bodies were changing, and I wanted to create something that worked for all different seasons.”
PHNX Activewear
Once she landed on her ideal design, Mills slipped the prototype up on her social media, telling herself if 50 people paid and preordered in the first two weeks, she’d keep going. So when she sold 100 shorts in the first 24 hours, she knew she’d found a niche, and PHNX was launched shortly after.
Mills’ Serena shorts play off the traditional running short with a high split, allowing the wearer full range of motion, but she added a spandex interior to help prevent chafing and, let’s be honest, to keep things covered. A thick and stretchy high waistband provides comfort and flexibility, a key feature for pregnant and postpartum bodies, but certainly ideal for anyone looking for a little extra midsection coverage.
After the initial push in 2020, Mills was tasked with growing her reach. She started by visiting local retail stores, asking if they’d be willing to carry her shorts. And while some turned her down, she found others were willing to give her a shot, especially active influencers on social media. Popular fitness accounts, like @madeline.moves and @kimrunsthemitten, frequently sport Serena shorts, connections Mills made simply by reaching out and asking if they’d like to try out a pair.
“A lot of PHNX has just been trying and being willing to fail,” Mills says. “And tons of people have said ‘no,’ but a lot have said ‘yes.’ We’re just chasing that yes.”
In the the last three years, Mills has updated her inventory with a crop top and an improved Serena short, now with a pocket and longer spandex interior. Her next project? Mills has her goals set on a thoughtfully designed sports bra.
“My goal when I make a product is to make it better than anything else I’ve seen, or to do it differently than anything else I’ve seen,” Mills says. “What can PHNX do that’s better than anything else that’s out there?”
For more on Mills or to browse PHNX’s active wear, visit phnxco.com.
