Lori Coulter and Reshma Chattaram Chamberlin are the co-founders of Summersalt, the clothing brand that launched in 2017 with perfect-fit swimsuits. Now, Summersalt has expanded to offer activewear, apparel, and loungewear, and has raised over $25 million dollars. In today’s episode, Lori and Reshma walk us through how they built the brand, why they decided to partner with each other, and what people don’t tell you about being an entrepreneur.
In this episode, Lori and Reshma share:
How they created a brand that’s unapologetically for women
Their advice for future entrepreneurs
How the fundraising landscape has changed for brands
Why connecting to your customer is critical
On Navigating the Highs and Lows as a Founder
Reshma: For your team, you have to be a shock absorber. You have to take in the shock from whatever's happening across the board, whether that's on micro level or a macro level, and then filter that in a thoughtful way to those around you and make sure you are consistent for everyone else.
On What Future Founders Need to Know
Lori: I think just going back to just fundamentally, what is the product? Who is the customer? Am I uniquely able to serve that niche? And do it better than those competitors that are near me? And then just make sure, no matter what scale of business you are building, that the economics work. And that's one of the things we did really well at Summersalt. We understood the cost structure, how to market the brand, how to acquire customers, and fulfill the goods in a way that would contribute to the bottom line every single order. And that was from day one. That isn't new for Summersalt. So, understanding that economic model is key.
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