The ZipHers Interview

Debbie Mercer is the founder and CEO of ZipHers. She met with me to share her experiences and talk about ZipHers, which are pants (or shorts or leggings) with a front-to-back zipper. They are designed so women can squat to pee without pulling down their pants, but they also make using a pee funnel extra easy. Here’s what Debbie had to say:

How did ZipHers come to be? What was its inception like?

I was a marathoner and then later developed a love for hiking. And I just remember training really hard to finish a marathon quickly—I had always been slow runner so every second counted. One year, I was running the Chicago marathon with my friends. These men, would run off the course and they’d go behind a car or a tree or some other structure and they’d pee, and then they’d get right back on the course, not losing much time at all. But we women had to stand in these long port-o-can lines. And once we got in the port-o-can, it’d be dirty, and we’d have to take off our fanny pack or whatever, and we would lose such valuable time.

I’m not competitive with other people really, I would only want to improve on my previous finish time.  I remember telling my girlfriends, “Gosh, there should just be a way that we could quickly pee like men do and cross the finish line quickly!”

Then I was training to hike the Grand Canyon, rim to rim, back in 2016, and one of the girls who was training with me had on tights and she said, “Oh, I’d love to wear these tights, but I just don’t want to have to pull them down. It’s going to be miserable.” And I said, “I know! I’ve had this thought in my head about how we should be able to do that without pulling down our tights or pants, and I really feel like I want to work on it!”

Then we were on the hike in the Grand Canyon—you hike seven miles straight down, and then there’s about seven miles in the very bottom of the canyon, and there is NO coverage there. And one of my girlfriends had to pull down her shorts. We were with mixed company. And I just thought, “Okay. I’m going to go back home, and I’m going to start on this.”

That was my inspiration. I wanted women to be able to train hard in their sports and not waste time in a port-o-can line and be on the same playing field as men, and I wanted them to have great outdoor experiences, whether they were hiking, climbing, at a festival, whatever, to be able to unzip quickly, not pull anything down, and have privacy. Like men do.

That’s how it got started!

How did you design the actual initial product?

I knew we had to have an open crotch, but wasn’t sure how to secure that-- with buttons? With velcro?  With overlapping fabric?  I was having trouble with how to put it all together. I had started working with a seamstress here in Houston who was just very, very talented, and we came with the concept of a zipper, but she wasn’t used to stretch fabric. So I was introduced to a costume designer through my daughter-in-law who worked for the Houston Ballet.  I met with Monica Guerra, who was the costume designer for the Houston Ballet as well as other domestic and international ballets, over coffee. I said, “I’ve got this idea. I want to help women have the same advantage that men do, out there on their adventures. I would love to see them on the same playing field if they’re doing outdoor activities. I’m just not sure what that design should look like.”

So she and I started thinking about different things and we came up with this zipper design. And I said, “Okay. It can’t chafe. It’s got to be comfortable. It’s got to be easy.” The challenge that we had was that the zipper is non-stretch. She said, “The challenge is we’re putting a non-stretch zipper into some stretch fabric. It will take a skill to get that to work!” But we did it.

I was on your website, browsing products, and I saw you featured a woman who was using a wheelchair. I imagine ZipHers would be very useful for people who use wheelchairs or who perhaps have mobility issues. Can you speak to that?

A woman in a wheelchair bought a pair of our tights and said, “These are great! I can do a catheter anywhere and not have to pull anything down!  And I don’t have to struggle getting in and out of my wheelchair to go into a bathroom to do this.”

We started working with occupational therapists all over the US to get their ideas on the best features we would need to actually turn the basic tights into adaptive ones.  These features included panels on the waist bands so women could slide their hands in for assistance in pulling the tights up, pockets that sit on the top of their tights so when sitting in a wheelchair, they can use the pockets to hold small items, and a zipper pull that was large enough for them to put a thumb or finger in to pull down the zipper. This pattern has gone through many revisions. We have a great sample now and are just waiting to put it into production.

Back when I had my nonprofit, we did a lot of programs for at-risk groups and people with disabilities. And through my church, I volunteered for twelve years with a group of challenged older teens and adults. There were times when we would have to take a woman into a bathroom and have to help her struggle to get out of her wheelchair or out of her devices, and it was just really hard and embarrassing for the woman. It would have been so much easier with ZipHers.

What feedback have you heard from customers about ZipHers?

We get a lot of great feedback about Zip Hers being game-changers!

A couple of years ago, I got this box delivered to me. I thought it was something I had ordered and I ended up opening it a couple of days later. I had this customer in Canada, and she sent me this whole box of Canadian stuff! Canadian socks, and chips, and a t-shirt, and a hat… and a note that just said “Thank you for making my climb so much easier.”

So we have really great customers. [You can read more customer reviews on the ZipHers site here. ]

Did anything surprise you?

When I used to do yoga a lot, I wouldn’t wear underwear. So, in my head, when we created these, I thought, “They may not need to wear panties, maybe they don’t want to wear panties.” But what I didn’t think about at the time was that if you’re going to do multiple-day hikes and you want to wear the same pair of ZipHers for a couple of days, you’re going to want to have some kind of protection down there. We then started telling women, “You can go commando, you can go without panties, or you can wear your panties and pull them to the side.”

But then we created the Go Panties that have the fold over crotch fabric.  They are the perfect companion to our legwear.  Women can unzip their tights or pants, open the panty flap, and then when finished, fold back over and zip up. They’ve been one of our best-sellers, actually. Which really surprised me! Because when we made them, my thought was, “I just want to give women an option. They might not sell, but I wanted to say, you could have these!” And then they ended up being a big seller.

That makes sense. Men’s boxers have a fly, right?

Right! Right.

So this website focuses on stand-to-pee devices. I recommend ZipHers very strongly for people who use these devices. Have you heard from any customers who use pee funnels?

Oh yes. We have customers who have done reviews and said, “We love these, we love the pee funnel we use! It just makes it so much more convenient.”  We love that women have found the best way for them to wear ZipHers, whether with a pee funnel or just by unzipping and squatting, or standing as some women love to do.

Interestingly, about standing up, one of my biggest customers—gosh, I don’t know how long she’s been with us—she never squats. She always stands up, behind a tree, which is kind of different, because a lot of women don’t want to do that. And she doesn’t use a funnel, she just lets it all flow!

So it’s just a matter of preference, what’s the easiest when you’re out there.

That’s what it’s about right? Giving people options. Whatever THEY are comfortable with.

Exactly, exactly.

What challenges would you say ZipHers has faced as a company?

Well, it’s a niche product. It’s been challenging to get the word out without spending a ton of money on advertising.

My husband and I self-funded this. It’s been a challenge! Facebook ads, Instagram—that changes all the time. What works one day may not work the next. So that’s probably been the biggest challenge: to let people know who we are, how great our product is, and then just figure out, budget-wise, where do we put our money? Should we go to expos, should we put it on ads?

No one really knows what it means to put a new product out there. I didn’t know! And this is just so typical of me. I’ve been my whole life like, “Oh this sounds like a good idea!” Without really researching it. [Laughs] When I hiked rim-to-rim at the Grand Canyon, I had never hiked a day in my life, but my friends were going, and I said, “Oh yeah, let’s do that!” I had no idea what I was getting myself into.

Starting an online apparel company was the same thing. I’d never done retail! I was the president, and then owner, of a national marathon training organization. I’d done that kind of business but it was a service directly to athletes in person – not selling a product. But fabric, and mass production, and patterns—I didn’t know any of that.

So when people say, “Can you create a new pant, or can you add a new color or make longer lengths?” it’s SUCH a big process. You draw a pattern, you make a sample, you try it on, you revise it, you send it off to have another sample and you do that until you are happy with the final pattern —last year, we made three different colors in the tights, and when we got them back, they had mixed up a bunch of the panels. Like the waist of a small was put on a size large! About 600 pairs were ruined. Thank goodness the company we work with here in Houston refunded us. But it’s taken up so much time. But that’s the kind of thing that happens. You put your trust in a company—and this was an overseas one—and they just totally messed it up.

And occasionally a customer will get a pair that might be defective. When you mass-produce and you have different people working on them, it happens. So people email me, and I just replace them. Customers, to me, are always right. If the package gets lost somewhere, no fault of ours, I replace it. I always replace it.

That’s sort of what sets a small business apart from a big corporation right? The customer service.

Right.

I really like that you carry plus-sizes, by the way.

Thank you! We make plus sizes in the tights and the capris and the shorts. They’re not our biggest seller, but we do have them.

What advice would you give to a woman who was new to hiking, but who wanted to start?  

When you go out and do these hikes, depending on how far you’re going to go, you always want to pay attention to what the weather is like, because that has a huge bearing on it, and you also want to think about what you’re going to carry with you. If it’s a day hike, you always want to have enough electrolytes with you, and enough water, always enough water. You also want to have some kind of sustenance. Our big thing is peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. That’s our go-to. [Laughs]

And then of course, do you think you’re going to need to go to the bathroom out there? I always offer for people to try our ZipHers pants! For many women, hydrating has been a challenge because they didn’t want the inconvenience of having to look for a discreet place to pee, so they would (1) not drink or (2) they would hold themselves – both of which could present health risks.  So with ZipHers, they can drink responsibly and unzip in a discreet place and then keep on their adventures.

And you have to carry everything you need. You’re going to want sunscreen, you’re going to want toilet tissue (and make sure you dispose of that responsibly). Map out what the terrain is like. I personally always like to take poles because I’m an older woman now, my ankles aren’t always as sturdy as they used to be twenty years ago! [Laughs]

It’s really just important to do a little research and planning.

Are there any uses for ZipHers you recommend, or particular products?

I will just wear Zip Hers around the house or running errands. They’re just so comfortable. And there have been times when I have gone into a public restroom and it’s dirty and I’m just so glad I had them on.

And our Cold Guard Fleece leggings are so warm! They’re incredible. We do actually have some cold days in Houston, and I will wear a pair every day. I’ve had women say they wear those during their outdoor activities in cold weather, and they will sleep in them. I just think our Cold Guard Fleece leggings are one of our best products.

Any concluding thoughts?

I love the fact that women are finding their experiences so much easier and worry-free. They’re not having to hold their bladder, which can turn into a UTI, and they’re not sacrificing hydration because they’re so afraid they’re going to have to pee somewhere. In their minds they know, “I can drink all day long, I don’t have to hold it, I can go behind that tree and quickly unzip, squat, wipe, and get right back on, and I don’t have to be the last person in the group either. I don’t have to lose time.” So I love the fact that, I hope, we’re changing women’s lives in that way.

Thanks Debbie! You can get a pair of ZipHers here. See my discussion of clothing and stand-to-pee devices here or peeing in nature here. And if you want to share your story, let me know!