I’m Jen Higgins, founder of Anyway Socks.

I didn’t start this company because I loved fashion.
I started it because I lost my best friend.

She was fierce. She was brilliant, funny, loyal, a nurse practitioner, and the kind of mom who would do absolutely anything for her three kids. She was the strongest woman I knew. And she was abused by a boyfriend who did it out of “love.”

Like so many abusive relationships, it didn’t look obvious from the outside. There were secrets. Manipulation. Shame. Isolation. Faith used against her. A cycle that pulled her back in again and again.

When the violence finally surfaced, I did what I knew to do: police, hospital, safety. I stood beside her through protective orders, court hearings, therapy, rehab, and the long, exhausting emotional aftermath. I learned firsthand how abuse isn’t just physical — it rewires your thinking, erodes your confidence,
and convinces you that you can’t leave.

What I didn’t understand at first was how powerful that cycle really is.
She tried. She fought. She worked to rebuild. She remarried. She kept showing up for her kids and her career. But trauma doesn’t disappear just because time passes.
And in 2020 — in the middle of COVID, blended family stress, and unhealed wounds — she decided to die by "accident." It was/is devastating.

The strongest woman I knew was taken down by abuse that began years earlier.

After she was gone, there was this enormous space in my life. So much of my time had been spent supporting her — worrying, helping, showing up. I didn’t know what to do with that space.

So I decided to fight back.

Anyway Socks was born from one simple idea:
If you’re in a bad situation, leave ANY WAY.
Even if you don’t have a plan.
Even if you’re scared.
Even if all you grab on the way out is a pair of mismatched socks.
Please. Leave. ANY WAY you can.

Our socks come in sets of three — three different socks, three different ways to wear them. We say it’s about options. And it is. But it’s also because she has three children. They are represented in every set we make.

We donate at least 10% of revenue to domestic violence organizations, and we partner with retailers so that donations support shelters in their own local communities. Because leaving is hard. It’s complicated. It’s dangerous.
And the people helping survivors need resources.

I don’t want her to be remembered as “a victim.” She was fierce, intelligent, funny, faithful, and full of life. Abuse manipulated her — it did not define her.
If her story can help one person recognize the signs, or give one person the courage to walk out the door, then her legacy is still alive.

That’s why we do this.
— Jen