Lori Coulter (Summersalt) - How She Built an Inclusive Swimwear & Apparel Brand

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Thank you Madeline Keulen for the intro to Lori Coulter, founder of Summersalt. Summersalt produces flattering swimwear designed to fit you, not the other way around. The internet’s favorite swimwear — & your new go-to for everything from activewear to PJs. It was so fun chatting with Lori about how she developed Summersalt into one of the fastest growing swimwear brands. Without further ado, here's Lori.

Here are some of the questions I ask Lori.

1. What was your attraction to fashion?
2. You were designing swimwear for 10 years, what sparked Summersalt?
3. Body scanning
4. Could you IP
5. Scanned over 10,000 women, 1to1 fit
6. Customer who was neglected
7. What was the insight that you found that incumbents weren't understanding?
8. How did you approach distribution? What was the old way to distribute swimwear and gain consumer trust?
9. Resort businesses
10. Privacy from the own home, direct mail
11. How did you approach brand and your positioning?
12. Swimwear (I'd imagine) is a seasonal business. How do you think about introducing new products so you aren't only a seasonal business?
13. How did you go about hiring a team?
14. Why did you decide to raise venture money?How was that process? What's the biggest reason why a fund passed on you?
15. What's one thing you would change about the fundraising process?
16. What's one book that inspired you personally and one book that inspired you professionally?Peter Thiel Zero to OneBillion Dollar Brand
17. What's the best piece of advice that you've received?The highs are never as high as you think they are
18. What's one piece of advice for founders?