Sock It To Me was founded by Carrie Atkinson in Portland, Oregon in 2004.[2][3] After graduating from University of Nebraska–Lincoln with a degree in marketing, Atkinson spent two years considering various career options before deciding to start her own company.[4][5] During a year in which she had taught English in South Korea, she had been impressed by the colorful, well-made socks that her students wore, and she launched her enterprise by importing them.[4] After revisiting South Korea and bringing back two suitcases filled with 2,000 pairs of socks, she sold her first socks at the Portland Saturday Market.[4][6][7] She was twenty-six years old.[7] Eventually, she began designing her own styles and working with manufacturers in South Korea to create them.[4] In 2005, she visited a few trade shows and began selling the socks wholesale.[4] She saved up her money to attend the Magic trade show in Las Vegas.[7]
In 2012, Atkinson hired Michelle Walker, a former PepsiCo marketing executive, to be the CEO of Sock It To Me.[4][8] In 2015, the company moved its headquarters from Southeast Portland to Milwaukie, Oregon, and released its first underwear line.[8] In 2018, Sock It To Me was one of the fastest-growing companies in Portland.[3]
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During the COVID-19 pandemic, Sock It To Me ran a sock drive for frontline healthcare workers and began producing reusable cloth masks.[6][10] They hold an annual "Design a Sock" contest.[11][12] The 2010 contest had 2,500 submissions from all over the world.[7]