Latest / QUESTION EVERYTHING / Positivity is A Muscle + Why It's Crucial to Your Business: with Jo Davenport, Founder of LaPorte

Transcript

Positivity is A Muscle + Why It's Crucial to Your Business: with Jo Davenport, Founder of LaPorte · QUESTION EVERYTHING

0:04
Speaker 1: Big things happen when you're pretty, pretty bold, pretty clever,
0:08
Speaker 1: pretty strong. I'm Danielle Robe, and each week my guests
0:12
Speaker 1: and I have conversations that put a new spin on pretty.
0:17
Speaker 1: This is pretty smart. People ask me all of the
0:21
Speaker 1: time what makes a great interview. It's actually way more
0:24
Speaker 1: simple than you'd think. Great interviews start with a generous guest.
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Speaker 1: Our guest today, Joe Davenport is the founder and designer
0:36
Speaker 1: behind the sustainable luxury brand Laporte. She's incredibly generous. She's
0:42
Speaker 1: generous with her knowledge, her lessons learned, and her time.
0:46
Speaker 1: She was generous with me as I was launching the
0:48
Speaker 1: Question Everything card deck, sharing trade secrets about retail that
0:52
Speaker 1: took her years to acquire, and that generosity extends way
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Speaker 1: beyond just me. I know that for sure. It is
1:01
Speaker 1: that exact kindness that Joe built her successful swimwear brand.
1:04
Speaker 1: Based on the top of their website reads you can
1:08
Speaker 1: sit with us. So here's a little background on Joe.
1:12
Speaker 1: Before she started Laporte, Joe attended Northeastern University and worked
1:17
Speaker 1: at Rue La La while going to Boston School of
1:19
Speaker 1: Design at night. She got her master's degree from Northwestern
1:22
Speaker 1: University and with her education background and personal shopping experiences,
1:28
Speaker 1: she wanted to meld the worlds of fashion and mental
1:30
Speaker 1: health into our most vulnerable item of clothing, swimwear. She
1:35
Speaker 1: was tired of that victorious secret look for swimwear, those
1:40
Speaker 1: unrealistic and unrelatable body ideals paired with heavy photoshop. She
1:44
Speaker 1: wanted to see herself, her friends, real women with real bodies,
1:48
Speaker 1: and she did it. Joe was recently chosen as Forbes
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Speaker 1: Next one thousand honoree and Cardier Women's Empowerment Finalist. Her
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Speaker 1: swimsuits have been worn by celebrities and influencers like m Kardashian,
2:01
Speaker 1: Courtney Kardashian, Hillary Duff, Lilly Collins, Tash Oakley, and so
2:05
Speaker 1: many more. So, now that I've shared a little bit
2:07
Speaker 1: about my friend Joe, She's gonna do her generous thing
2:11
Speaker 1: and share so much of her knowledge, trade secrets and
2:14
Speaker 1: insight about how to build a brand, buy yourself without
2:18
Speaker 1: outside funding, and make your dream a reality. So, Joe,
2:27
Speaker 1: what were you doing before you started Laporte?
2:30
Speaker 2: Before I started Laporte? Oh my gosh, So I actually
2:34
Speaker 2: have a degree in psychology and a master's in counseling.
2:38
Speaker 2: So right before I started Laporte, I was actually working
2:41
Speaker 2: at a private practice for mental health.
2:43
Speaker 1: This makes so much sense because when you post on
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Speaker 1: instant stories about fit or about body shape or any
2:53
Speaker 1: because bathing suits we always talk about are such a
2:57
Speaker 1: personal it's like buying it's an Yes, buying a bathing
3:01
Speaker 1: suit feels even more intimate than buying a bra.
3:04
Speaker 2: For me, it's the most naked anyone's ever going to
3:06
Speaker 2: see you in public, So it feels really vulnerable.
3:08
Speaker 1: Yes, And so you use such welcoming, warm terminology and
3:13
Speaker 1: now knowing that you have a background, and this just
3:15
Speaker 1: makes everything add up.
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Speaker 2: I really try. I think I think a lot of
3:21
Speaker 2: people think that careers are supposed to be so linear,
3:25
Speaker 2: and they're really not. My career path has been you
3:29
Speaker 2: could argue kind of all over the place, but it's
3:31
Speaker 2: really been about connecting the dots. And I wouldn't take
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Speaker 2: my experience in getting my degree in counseling because ultimately
3:39
Speaker 2: it's what launched me into doing this and gave me
3:42
Speaker 2: the tools to really connect with our customers that I
3:46
Speaker 2: otherwise probably wouldn't have had.
3:48
Speaker 1: So what happens you're working in the mental health field
3:51
Speaker 1: and you have this seed of an idea.
3:54
Speaker 2: So I primarily worked with women, and I always notice
3:58
Speaker 2: like as the months get warmer, we I say we,
4:02
Speaker 2: but I noticed that clients and myself and friends and
4:05
Speaker 2: family and the more when I talked to I notice
4:08
Speaker 2: we get very aware of our bodies, aware of going
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Speaker 2: to events where we're wearing sleeveless shirts, crop tops, bathing suits.
4:17
Speaker 2: During this warm month, I was like, I'm going to
4:21
Speaker 2: order this bathing suit and it was from one of
4:23
Speaker 2: my favorite brands, and I to this day probably have
4:26
Speaker 2: over two hundred bathing suits. It's one thing that I've
4:29
Speaker 2: collected over my entire life. I took a chance on
4:32
Speaker 2: ordering this bathing suit. I ordered a size up and
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Speaker 2: it was a luxury It was my first luxury suit ever.
4:39
Speaker 2: It was like two hundred dollars and it was all
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Speaker 2: sales final, and I thought, well, then it's got to
4:44
Speaker 2: be great. But I got it in the mail and
4:47
Speaker 2: it was like the size of my hand, and I
4:49
Speaker 2: think I still have the pictures. It was made definitely
4:52
Speaker 2: mean to be cheeky, but it literally looked like it
4:55
Speaker 2: was for a child. And I put it on and
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Speaker 2: I immediately felt like, oh my god, is my body
5:02
Speaker 2: the problem? I like to exercise. I like to think
5:05
Speaker 2: that I'm pretty level headed in the way that I
5:07
Speaker 2: think about my body and the way that in that relationship,
5:11
Speaker 2: But I immediately became very self conscious and wondering are other
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Speaker 2: women also feeling this way and having the same experience.
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Speaker 2: And so it really sparked conversation between myself, my friends,
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Speaker 2: and my family and saying, hey, have you guys ever
5:28
Speaker 2: ordered a suit? And they're like, uh, yeah, it's the
5:31
Speaker 2: worst experience ever. So I devised a plan, kind of
5:36
Speaker 2: came up with an idea of what we wanted to do,
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Speaker 2: and quit my job several weeks later, and we're still standing.
5:43
Speaker 1: Wait, you quit your job several weeks later, Like, you
5:45
Speaker 1: didn't even start the phase of this company. No.
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Speaker 2: I was very much like full on, like going to
5:54
Speaker 2: pursue it. I was like, this is this has to
5:57
Speaker 2: be fit, Like I have to do this now. If
5:59
Speaker 2: I don't do it now, when else am I going
6:00
Speaker 2: to do it? Kind of thing. I was very lucky
6:03
Speaker 2: to be living with my boyfriend now husband at the time,
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Speaker 2: but it was it was a very big, big risk.
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Speaker 1: It's a huge leap. I mean, at the same time,
6:14
Speaker 1: it kind of puts the pressure on that there is
6:16
Speaker 1: no backup plan, like this must succeed.
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Speaker 2: A million percent, and I think it was I talked
6:22
Speaker 2: to a lot of different people and I said, hey,
6:24
Speaker 2: I have this idea and they're like, well, what are
6:26
Speaker 2: you going to do? And I was like, I don't know,
6:29
Speaker 2: but it's going to be great. And that's just like
6:31
Speaker 2: it's going to be great and we're going to figure
6:33
Speaker 2: it out. And I've definitely learned a lot.
6:38
Speaker 1: And it's well, you taught me. I mean, we'll get
6:41
Speaker 1: into this later, but you are one of the people
6:44
Speaker 1: I call when I don't understand something or oh that
6:47
Speaker 1: makes me so happy. Yeah, you have so much knowledge.
6:52
Speaker 1: You're so open about the mistakes you've made, but it's
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Speaker 1: incredibly helpful.
6:55
Speaker 2: Oh I'm so glad.
6:57
Speaker 1: So where did the name Laporte come from?
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Speaker 2: So is actually French for the word door. And I
7:02
Speaker 2: wanted to have an open door policy for women because
7:07
Speaker 2: your size and shape can change over time. Within a year,
7:10
Speaker 2: you can go through a makeup, breakup, babies, love, loss,
7:15
Speaker 2: you name it. Your body can change with what happens
7:18
Speaker 2: in your life. And I don't think that people should
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Speaker 2: feel like they're held captive in their clothes as we
7:24
Speaker 2: said in the beginning. You know, it's a very vulnerable
7:27
Speaker 2: piece of clothing to put on, and I never want
7:30
Speaker 2: someone to reach for one of our products in their
7:34
Speaker 2: closet and not know that they're going to feel great
7:38
Speaker 2: in it. So that was really where having this three
7:41
Speaker 2: hundred and sixty five day exchange policy. If your size
7:45
Speaker 2: or shape changes at all, will exchange it, no questions asked.
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Speaker 2: If it's available, We really try to try to make
7:51
Speaker 2: sure that we can honor all of those.
7:54
Speaker 1: So you quit your job, what is step one? Might?
7:57
Speaker 1: Can I guess?
7:58
Speaker 2: Sure?
8:00
Speaker 1: The name and the logo so.
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Speaker 2: Yes. So our brand has changed a lot over the years.
8:07
Speaker 2: Originally it was lle apostrophe PRT and the brand storytelling
8:13
Speaker 2: was really hard around that, and I realized it should
8:18
Speaker 2: truly be the proper spelling of laporte French for the
8:20
Speaker 2: word door, because I wanted to be l apostrophe as
8:24
Speaker 2: a comma like love Joe Davenport at the time, almost
8:29
Speaker 2: like signing a letter, but it was too hard to correlate.
8:33
Speaker 2: And in our second year of business, which is again
8:36
Speaker 2: goes towards like being able to pivot and know like
8:40
Speaker 2: where you might not be hitting the mark that's where
8:43
Speaker 2: we decided to name it fully in the way that
8:45
Speaker 2: it sounds is laporte, which is French for the word door.
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Speaker 1: And did you see an uptick.
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Speaker 2: In Definitely in the storytelling, in the way people engaged
8:54
Speaker 2: with the brand, and just overall, like consumption of in
8:59
Speaker 2: the storytelling of it.
9:01
Speaker 1: Wow. So where do you find your inspiration for designs?
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Speaker 2: Everywhere? I find I work better. I'm more productive and
9:11
Speaker 2: more inspired when I travel, so even just flying to
9:14
Speaker 2: la hearing A lot of it even comes from ready
9:16
Speaker 2: to wear clothes. So when I say ready to wear,
9:19
Speaker 2: I mean shirts, pants, jackets, stresses, things like that. Our
9:23
Speaker 2: twenty twenty two line is very much inspired by that.
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Speaker 1: That's cool. Who did you envision wearing your suits? I
9:29
Speaker 1: mean now I'm thinking everybody.
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Speaker 2: Yeah, it truly is. I wanted to be able to
9:34
Speaker 2: see women like my friends, like my family, just every
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Speaker 2: woman that you see in the street, girls who are
9:42
Speaker 2: going to work at their first jobs. Like it's meant
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Speaker 2: to be worn by every woman to feel their best
9:48
Speaker 2: because growing up I had which I know you had,
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Speaker 2: the Victoria's Secret super tall, super thin, like absolutely beautiful,
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Speaker 2: wonderfully airbrushed and there's nothing wrong with having that body,
10:02
Speaker 2: but for me, that was the only body visual and
10:06
Speaker 2: it was so hard, and I always felt disappointed that
10:11
Speaker 2: when I got the suit in the mail, I never
10:14
Speaker 2: looked like the women. I'll never be tall, it doesn't
10:18
Speaker 2: matter how hard I try. So I really wanted women
10:22
Speaker 2: to be able to see themselves in our suits, and
10:24
Speaker 2: that's why we have real women wearing them, especially in
10:28
Speaker 2: our most recent campaign.
10:30
Speaker 1: You on your website talk about high quality fabrics. Why
10:34
Speaker 1: is that important to you?
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Speaker 2: Well with fabrics, and I think when you look at fabric,
10:38
Speaker 2: you also have to remember the sustainability factors of fabric,
10:42
Speaker 2: and so for me, it's all about your suit lasting
10:46
Speaker 2: a long time and also in the way that we
10:48
Speaker 2: make your suit that it doesn't impact the environment in
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Speaker 2: a negative way. So all of our suits are made
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Speaker 2: out of recycled materials from the highest quality mills Italy,
11:02
Speaker 2: France and now Columbia, and we've worked really hard to
11:05
Speaker 2: make sure that every piece of the puzzle that goes
11:09
Speaker 2: into production is of the highest quality, from what it's
11:13
Speaker 2: made of to the people who are making it. It's
11:17
Speaker 2: a more laborious process than I actually ever thought. There
11:20
Speaker 2: were so many different ways you can die a garment
11:23
Speaker 2: that you can print on a garment. And I've definitely
11:26
Speaker 2: learned every piece of the process along the way.
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Speaker 1: I know what you mean. It's interesting and communication overseas
11:35
Speaker 1: is a whole element in itself.
11:38
Speaker 2: The learning curve of ordering yards to meters was I'll
11:45
Speaker 2: say not a misstep, but definitely a learning curve and
11:50
Speaker 2: having things like learning about getting a broker at the
11:53
Speaker 2: airport to broker your goods through customs. One time, we
11:58
Speaker 2: were importing some of our roles that were freshly printed
12:01
Speaker 2: ready to go to our facility in New York when
12:04
Speaker 2: we were producing there, there was a backup at JFK.
12:07
Speaker 2: My product couldn't get through customs for like three weeks,
12:13
Speaker 2: and we completely missed our selling window. So a lot
12:16
Speaker 2: of factories will block out time in their schedules, four
12:20
Speaker 2: different brands, and we completely missed our We completely missed
12:26
Speaker 2: our window. There are little things that come up that
12:29
Speaker 2: you just never would ever know know.
12:31
Speaker 1: Yeah, So you ever think about, like why does no
12:34
Speaker 1: one tell you the stuff I'm not sure? Like when
12:37
Speaker 1: I say no one, I'm like, I don't know who
12:38
Speaker 1: I'm looking towards to tell me the things I wish
12:41
Speaker 1: I would have known one hundred percent, but there's so
12:43
Speaker 1: much stuff to learn that you just don't know. Like
12:45
Speaker 1: does it all have to be done trial and error?
12:48
Speaker 2: I really think yes, it's you do. Someone from every
12:50
Speaker 2: industry in every like niche within that industry would then
12:54
Speaker 2: have to write a manual on like how to do
12:56
Speaker 2: something if everything was so paint by numbers. So I
12:59
Speaker 2: really think every experience because everybody uses, you know, different factories,
13:04
Speaker 2: different sources, different shippers, different suppliers. There's so many elements
13:08
Speaker 2: that go into it that you really just have to
13:10
Speaker 2: kind of learn on the fly and be willing to
13:12
Speaker 2: be wrong a lot of the time.
13:14
Speaker 1: It definitely makes it more exciting.
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Speaker 2: It's definitely exciting and interesting. Those are great ways to
13:22
Speaker 2: get it, like being able to look back at it now,
13:24
Speaker 2: like when I completely misordered roles and they went to
13:31
Speaker 2: wrong places and then you have to ship them and
13:34
Speaker 2: UPS loses them. I mean, there are so many things.
13:37
Speaker 2: It definitely makes for an exciting ride. And I just
13:40
Speaker 2: wish I had more seatbelts. It's not something I think
13:44
Speaker 2: if people told you what to expect that no one
13:47
Speaker 2: would ever go into business for themselves because it is scary.
13:51
Speaker 2: It is so hard and now everyone everyone has a
13:54
Speaker 2: brand and the thing, and it makes you feel like
13:57
Speaker 2: you have to like kind of keep up on this hamster.
14:00
Speaker 2: And I think that Instagram and social media there are
14:04
Speaker 2: such highlight reels of people's businesses and of people's lives,
14:09
Speaker 2: and I think it can make it all the more challenging.
14:12
Speaker 1: I do think to your point, there's a glorification of
14:14
Speaker 1: entrepreneurship nowadays that's challenging because it just is never what
14:20
Speaker 1: it looks like.
14:22
Speaker 2: It definitely doesn't show the sleepless nights. I think people
14:25
Speaker 2: talk about the sleepless nights, but then they look really
14:27
Speaker 2: great doing it.
14:28
Speaker 1: Yeah, they talk about it in like the hustle culture way. Yes, Icky,
14:32
Speaker 1: So you start the brand, you come up with the
14:34
Speaker 1: logo and the name, without getting like two in the weeds,
14:39
Speaker 1: because I don't want to bore you, what's step one
14:43
Speaker 1: through eight? Like how do you even begin to launch
14:46
Speaker 1: a company?
14:46
Speaker 2: Before even the logo, before the brand name and everything.
14:50
Speaker 2: I think you need to think about what is your
14:53
Speaker 2: vision and who is your customer? Like, really, who do
14:55
Speaker 2: you want to sell to? And what do you need
14:59
Speaker 2: to do that? So do you need a website? Do
15:02
Speaker 2: you need shipping? Packaging, what goes into the thing that
15:06
Speaker 2: you want to create. Then you need to understand what
15:10
Speaker 2: do you need capital wise? How much do those things cost?
15:14
Speaker 2: And if you're working with X amount of dollars, how
15:18
Speaker 2: are you going to allocate those dollars to those costs?
15:22
Speaker 2: Do you decide are you going for funding, are you
15:24
Speaker 2: going to be self funded? Are you going to try
15:26
Speaker 2: to crowdsource? You know what direction do you want to go?
15:30
Speaker 2: And then from there, with that information, I think you
15:34
Speaker 2: can make a much more informed plan. I know that
15:37
Speaker 2: I starting out, I definitely put more money into PR
15:42
Speaker 2: then I should have. And I'm sure my husband listening
15:45
Speaker 2: to this is laughing because in the beginning he was like,
15:49
Speaker 2: don't do PR, like wait to do PR, and I
15:52
Speaker 2: was like, no, Like this is going to be great.
15:54
Speaker 2: That being said, we did get some great PR from it.
15:57
Speaker 2: I mean we were recently in Sports Illustrated and that
16:01
Speaker 2: was when I found the right person to do PR
16:04
Speaker 2: for us. But starting out, don't go with agencies. Start small,
16:10
Speaker 2: get scrappy, and really think about what's going to get
16:13
Speaker 2: you the biggest bang for your buck and see how
16:16
Speaker 2: long you can stretch that dollar for.
16:19
Speaker 1: Is there a place where you would have spent more money.
16:21
Speaker 2: Events in person engagements, really collaborations. Yeah, I realized. I
16:26
Speaker 2: don't know if it's COVID. I don't know if it's
16:28
Speaker 2: how the world has changed in the last two years.
16:31
Speaker 2: I mean, I know it's drastically affected our business. But
16:34
Speaker 2: one thing that I just am energized by is connecting
16:39
Speaker 2: with people in person and working on new creative projects together.
16:44
Speaker 2: Because I'm actually normally a very introverted person and I
16:50
Speaker 2: am drained by social interactions, but actually doing creative, fun,
16:54
Speaker 2: exciting things and meeting new people in that kind of
16:58
Speaker 2: a setting gives me a lot of energy, So I
17:00
Speaker 2: probably would have leaned a lot more into that. It's
17:03
Speaker 2: also a direction of brand growth where I think should
17:06
Speaker 2: be heavily invested in right now. I spent a lot
17:09
Speaker 2: of money on Instagram ads early on as well, and
17:13
Speaker 2: the cost per click, just to me, isn't worth it
17:16
Speaker 2: at this point in time, and I think there's more
17:19
Speaker 2: unique ways and authentic ways to create content that people
17:22
Speaker 2: want to share.
17:24
Speaker 1: LLC's trademarks. This stuff scares me. Do you hire attorneys?
17:32
Speaker 1: Did you try and figure it out yourself? Where were
17:34
Speaker 1: you trying to save money versus spend.
17:37
Speaker 2: So I grew up with a very entrepreneurial father and
17:41
Speaker 2: he taught me since I was a kid, and even
17:44
Speaker 2: when I wanted to start this business, he was like,
17:46
Speaker 2: you need to have two people in your corner. You
17:49
Speaker 2: need to have an attorney that you can go to,
17:52
Speaker 2: and you need to have someone at a local bank
17:54
Speaker 2: that you can go to.
17:56
Speaker 1: And I was like, that's great advice.
17:58
Speaker 2: It is probably probably been the most useful advice that
18:03
Speaker 2: I've ever been given, because you don't realize how often
18:06
Speaker 2: you actually have to ask them questions. What can you use,
18:10
Speaker 2: what can't you use? Other people's trademarks? Are there other
18:14
Speaker 2: like licensing issues, things like that. And when I went
18:18
Speaker 2: to set up my LC, I spoke with my attorney,
18:22
Speaker 2: and you know, we stay in close contact. We don't
18:25
Speaker 2: have her on retainer by any means, but we have
18:27
Speaker 2: a strong relationship if I need something, if I need
18:30
Speaker 2: a letter an agreement, because more things are going to
18:32
Speaker 2: happen as your company evolves, and you're going to want
18:36
Speaker 2: to be able to pick up the phone and just
18:38
Speaker 2: call that person and not always have to one off
18:40
Speaker 2: legal zoom. I've used legal zoom before too, but you
18:44
Speaker 2: really want that strong relationship.
18:47
Speaker 1: The word confidence pops up on your site several times.
18:51
Speaker 1: We talked a little bit about how the brand was
18:54
Speaker 1: created in terms of confidence, but I'm wondering what role
18:58
Speaker 1: confidence plays in your actual design.
19:01
Speaker 2: So I think a lot of times we envision swimsuits
19:05
Speaker 2: on tall, thin, fit bodies, and that's the way mainstream
19:10
Speaker 2: media has led us to believe that this is how
19:14
Speaker 2: bodies should look in swimwear, and that's kind of the
19:17
Speaker 2: antithesis of what we want to portray. I want everybody,
19:21
Speaker 2: quite literally and figuratively, to feel confident in our suits.
19:26
Speaker 2: So we show women who look like the people that
19:29
Speaker 2: we're selling to, of all different sizes, shapes, ethnicities, and
19:35
Speaker 2: really try to make sure that we're as inclusive as
19:37
Speaker 2: possible to give our customer the most empathic experience possible.
19:44
Speaker 1: Well, I think about expectations all the time, like, particularly
19:47
Speaker 1: in relationship. I think about like, if you set the
19:51
Speaker 1: expectation and then you're let down, that's a problem. If
19:54
Speaker 1: it wasn't an expectation at all, then you're not really
19:56
Speaker 1: let down. So it's like seeing a bathing suit on
19:59
Speaker 1: a websit site and then trying it on and being like,
20:02
Speaker 1: I don't look like that is the disappointment.
20:05
Speaker 2: Absolutely, Whereas if I.
20:06
Speaker 1: Go to Laporte's website and I see a swimsuit and
20:09
Speaker 1: I try it on, it's like, that's what it looked
20:11
Speaker 1: like on the site because it looked like somebody like me.
20:14
Speaker 2: Yes, absolutely, And I think you know, as young girls
20:20
Speaker 2: growing up making friends, and I think I would argue
20:23
Speaker 2: it's even harder to make friends as an adult. There's
20:26
Speaker 2: always this you can't sit with us, or like, sorry,
20:30
Speaker 2: this table's full now. I find in my thirties that
20:34
Speaker 2: you can't be a part of a community because you
20:37
Speaker 2: look a certain way. And I know that like I
20:39
Speaker 2: never felt like I quite fit in growing up. I
20:42
Speaker 2: always kind of felt a little bit of the odd
20:43
Speaker 2: man out. And I think if I felt like a
20:47
Speaker 2: fraction of what other people have felt in their lives,
20:51
Speaker 2: then it's worth creating a community where everyone is welcome.
20:57
Speaker 2: And that's why I say, like, you can swim with us,
20:59
Speaker 2: like you, that's like, you can sit with us. We
21:03
Speaker 2: want you here, we want you to be a part
21:04
Speaker 2: of it, and most of all, we want you to
21:06
Speaker 2: feel great about it.
21:07
Speaker 1: Not just good kindness is such a part of who
21:10
Speaker 1: you are, and it's really wonderful to see you extend
21:13
Speaker 1: that to Leport.
21:14
Speaker 2: Oh, thank you. I think I've been shown a lot
21:16
Speaker 2: of kindness in starting this business. I think you have
21:19
Speaker 2: to kind of like get through the weeds a little bit,
21:21
Speaker 2: But there have been so many kind gestures and love
21:25
Speaker 2: and joy that people have shared with me. So I
21:27
Speaker 2: think that's just I feel like it's my responsibility to
21:30
Speaker 2: pay that forward in the brand.
21:33
Speaker 1: What's your feedback loop like? Because you talk about community
21:36
Speaker 1: so much, how do you connect with your consumers?
21:38
Speaker 2: So I'm actually I'm obsessed with feedback. I love feedback.
21:41
Speaker 2: I love when people give me a new perspective. I
21:46
Speaker 2: love when people have problems. I don't like this, and
21:51
Speaker 2: I'll say tell me why, tell me more. And I
21:55
Speaker 2: think that's part of where when like the psychology and
21:58
Speaker 2: like the counseling background comes in, where I say, tell
22:02
Speaker 2: me more about that. Do you mean the fit in stretch?
22:05
Speaker 2: Do you mean the fit in how it's you know,
22:08
Speaker 2: sculpting around your body or how it's shaped or the
22:10
Speaker 2: fit et cetera, et cetera. And so we reach out
22:13
Speaker 2: heavily to our community, both on Instagram, on reports and
22:18
Speaker 2: on mine. I just love hearing people's thoughts, hearing what
22:21
Speaker 2: they want, like, tell me what you want, I'll make
22:24
Speaker 2: it and if I can't, I'll do my best to
22:26
Speaker 2: make a plan of when we can fit it in.
22:28
Speaker 2: But I think feedback is so important. I mean early
22:31
Speaker 2: on when I when we started, I did our own
22:34
Speaker 2: customer service.
22:36
Speaker 1: Oh my god, I don't know if I could handle that.
22:40
Speaker 2: They say, like, when you're an entrepreneur, you wear many hats,
22:43
Speaker 2: and my hats when starting the business, I felt more
22:46
Speaker 2: schizophrenic than wearing like other hats. And I modeled my
22:52
Speaker 2: customer service personality actually after my friend Amy, and I
22:58
Speaker 2: was like, she's so great with operation. I feel like
23:01
Speaker 2: she's very clear, concise, and she would always have like
23:03
Speaker 2: the proper, respectable, but firm response to someone. So I
23:08
Speaker 2: was like, for the longest time, I signed all of
23:11
Speaker 2: our emails the best Amy. And the funny thing is
23:16
Speaker 2: is that years later I hired my other friend Amy,
23:22
Speaker 2: who has seamlessly fit and transisient with that. I don't
23:26
Speaker 2: do customer service, nemailst not much anytmore. But when I did,
23:30
Speaker 2: we no matter what now, we just we always ask
23:34
Speaker 2: how can we make your experience better for next time?
23:36
Speaker 2: How can we improve to make sure that no matter
23:39
Speaker 2: whether you keep your suitor, your return to exchange, what
23:42
Speaker 2: have you, that you leave on a positive note with us.
23:46
Speaker 1: That is so funny. Thank you for sharing that you
23:50
Speaker 1: shared with me. You've had three manufacture changes, several major challenges,
23:56
Speaker 1: maybe tens even did you ever think this is it?
24:00
Speaker 1: I did?
24:01
Speaker 2: Over COVID. I had been working with a factory for
24:07
Speaker 2: close to eight months. We were in sampling. It was
24:11
Speaker 2: going to be our home for hopefully ever, and we
24:16
Speaker 2: had put a lot of resources into developing the new line.
24:20
Speaker 2: And what some people don't know is that a lot
24:23
Speaker 2: of issues with COVID were that it brought a lot
24:27
Speaker 2: of large brands that were produced overseas and they came
24:30
Speaker 2: back to the United States because there were more restrictions
24:34
Speaker 2: on sewing and producing in other countries, and so it
24:38
Speaker 2: kicked little guys like myself out of the queue. I
24:42
Speaker 2: had been sensing that something wasn't right in our communications,
24:47
Speaker 2: and I was like, something's not right. And it was
24:51
Speaker 2: International Women's Day and I was visiting my parents in Florida,
24:55
Speaker 2: and I got the call with the production manager who
24:58
Speaker 2: I now actually work with today. She's fantastic, and the
25:02
Speaker 2: factory owner, and he said, I'm not going to make
25:06
Speaker 2: your units unless you basically quadruple your order. I said, no,
25:13
Speaker 2: you're not going to bully me into doing business. I
25:17
Speaker 2: think that was a point where he said, okay, well
25:22
Speaker 2: we're not producing for you then. And I had spent
25:25
Speaker 2: the last several months investing basically everything I had into
25:31
Speaker 2: putting all our eggs in this basket. Wow, and for
25:35
Speaker 2: him to kind of up and drop us, and it
25:38
Speaker 2: then changed the whole line of when our suits could
25:41
Speaker 2: come out. We missed our trade show season, which means
25:46
Speaker 2: that like wholesalers and retailers' budgets were bought up and
25:50
Speaker 2: we wouldn't be included in that because of being dropped
25:53
Speaker 2: at this stage. Then we went to another manufacturer.
25:56
Speaker 1: And there must have been so many tears.
25:58
Speaker 2: There were so many tears. So I have this rule
26:02
Speaker 2: where I give myself basically the night or the day,
26:08
Speaker 2: pending on how bad the situation is. But as soon
26:11
Speaker 2: as like the alarm goes off the next day, it's
26:14
Speaker 2: solutions mode. So I definitely had a few tequilas that night.
26:18
Speaker 2: I was an absolute mess, and I asked myself that night,
26:22
Speaker 2: I was like, is do I keep going, like, what
26:26
Speaker 2: how do I dig myself out of this hole? How
26:30
Speaker 2: do we pivot? And if we're supposed to keep going, like,
26:35
Speaker 2: just give me a sign? And I just like put
26:38
Speaker 2: it out there. And the next morning I woke up
26:39
Speaker 2: and we were featured in Sports Illustrated No way, Yeah,
26:44
Speaker 2: And so it was like that was my like you
26:49
Speaker 2: have to keep going, you know. So there have definitely
26:52
Speaker 2: been moments of a lot of doubt.
26:56
Speaker 1: What is your deepest motivation for creating this? Like you've
27:01
Speaker 1: been at this and you work really hard, where does
27:05
Speaker 1: that fire come from? Well?
27:07
Speaker 2: I think it's about creating a brand and a product
27:13
Speaker 2: where women can go to or where kind of the
27:16
Speaker 2: little black dress that they think of in their bikini drawer,
27:19
Speaker 2: where they can reach for it. And I know that
27:22
Speaker 2: to date, I've never found a brand that I feel
27:25
Speaker 2: like they fit great every time. I know I can
27:28
Speaker 2: go to their site and feel good about myself and
27:31
Speaker 2: feel like I'm having a safe shopping experience and that
27:35
Speaker 2: I'm heard, seen and understood within that brand's community. That
27:39
Speaker 2: really keeps me going. And I feel like my parents
27:42
Speaker 2: have really instilled in me growing up that if you're
27:46
Speaker 2: going to do something, do it with purpose and do
27:50
Speaker 2: something that can contribute to the greater good, both on
27:53
Speaker 2: a local and global level, and to me, that's really
27:56
Speaker 2: important in creating this community.
27:58
Speaker 1: Well, Forbes a gre with you because you were named
28:03
Speaker 1: one of the next one thousand honorees and you made
28:05
Speaker 1: a pretty emotional post about it. Aside from Forbes being
28:09
Speaker 1: a major brand to recognize you, which is huge, what
28:13
Speaker 1: did the award really mean to you?
28:16
Speaker 2: It's hard to put into words because for so long
28:20
Speaker 2: I wondered are we being seen? Are we real brand?
28:25
Speaker 2: There are so many things along the way and milestones
28:28
Speaker 2: of feelings of accomplishment, and this to me was a
28:32
Speaker 2: little bit more of a stamp on the business side
28:36
Speaker 2: of your coming into this, like you're we see you,
28:40
Speaker 2: and we like what you're doing, and you deserve to
28:43
Speaker 2: sit with us. Kind of. It was a very It
28:46
Speaker 2: was a very validating thing, and I think a lot
28:49
Speaker 2: of people don't want to admit when something's validating because
28:53
Speaker 2: nobody wants to say that they want to be validated.
28:55
Speaker 2: But to me, that validation was really hard felt. The
29:00
Speaker 2: judges that were involved in that, how hard those editors
29:03
Speaker 2: work to put those lists together to be among some
29:08
Speaker 2: really incredible other businesses when they get thousands of applications,
29:13
Speaker 2: because it wasn't a pryet. It was very much I
29:15
Speaker 2: applied and didn't think I had a shot and howell
29:18
Speaker 2: kind of thing.
29:19
Speaker 1: Wow.
29:20
Speaker 2: So for them to see us in that light was
29:23
Speaker 2: really special. Yeah.
29:26
Speaker 1: I could tell it meant something more to you, but
29:28
Speaker 1: I wasn't sure what. So I'm glad to know now.
29:31
Speaker 2: For whatever reason, Forbes to me was something special where
29:36
Speaker 2: people in my life were like, oh, okay, like that's
29:40
Speaker 2: legit and so it's a good feeling.
29:44
Speaker 1: What's been your best day as an entrepreneur?
29:47
Speaker 2: When I get great feedback from customers, I'll get emails
29:51
Speaker 2: or DMS, and any time I get positive feedback, I cry.
29:55
Speaker 2: It means so much to me, Like those are my
29:58
Speaker 2: best days Forbes Sports Illustrated, like Kim kardashianware or stuff
30:03
Speaker 2: like those are those are great accolades and I love it.
30:07
Speaker 2: But when people feel good about a thing that you
30:10
Speaker 2: literally put your blood, sweat and tears into, that's something
30:14
Speaker 2: really special. And to know that they're wearing it, feeling
30:17
Speaker 2: great in it, and putting that energy back out into
30:19
Speaker 2: the world in a ripple effect. Yes, that makes it
30:22
Speaker 2: all worth it to me?
30:23
Speaker 1: How much of a successful business is luck? Do you think?
30:27
Speaker 1: I think?
30:27
Speaker 2: I think luck's a really interesting topic. My husband has
30:31
Speaker 2: this really interesting quote, and I don't know, maybe you
30:34
Speaker 2: took it from somewhere else or he said it himself,
30:36
Speaker 2: but it's luck is when hard work meets opportunity. And
30:40
Speaker 2: I think if you work really hard and you create opportunity,
30:45
Speaker 2: eventually you'll get lucky. And so to me, I try
30:50
Speaker 2: not to put too much weight in luck, and work
30:53
Speaker 2: really hard and find luck, create opportunity, maximize the opportunity
30:59
Speaker 2: to get lucky.
31:01
Speaker 1: It sounds like you have incredible faith.
31:03
Speaker 2: I do. I think it's important to surround yourself with
31:09
Speaker 2: people that make you feel safe. I think there's a
31:14
Speaker 2: reminder if you really pull like the camera back and
31:17
Speaker 2: you look at things from a broader scope, it'll all
31:20
Speaker 2: work out. It's not necessarily about luck. It's really just
31:28
Speaker 2: maintaining your course and staying positive and just overcoming those obstacles.
31:36
Speaker 1: So I loved this. When asked what are some beauty
31:38
Speaker 1: products or personal wellness rituals swear vibe, this is what
31:41
Speaker 1: you said, hydration, SPF and optimism all day every day.
31:46
Speaker 2: I still stand by that you're incredibly positive.
31:49
Speaker 1: I do think sometimes positivity is just like a way
31:52
Speaker 1: of looking at things that you have or you don't have,
31:55
Speaker 1: but you can't practice positivity. Are there any practices you
31:58
Speaker 1: have in place to stay that up optimistic?
32:00
Speaker 2: So I think people think positivity is a mode, but
32:04
Speaker 2: it's really a muscle. I think it's something that you
32:08
Speaker 2: exercise that you actually do practice. I mean, I really
32:12
Speaker 2: disagree with practice makes perfect, practice makes improvement. I think
32:15
Speaker 2: any athlete, celebrity, or actor, artist of any kind will
32:20
Speaker 2: tell you that no matter how much you practice, sometimes
32:22
Speaker 2: you don't have your best performance and that's okay. And
32:25
Speaker 2: I kind of see positivity in that same way, where
32:30
Speaker 2: if you continue to practice it, even if it's in
32:33
Speaker 2: little ways, truly in a glass half full versus half
32:36
Speaker 2: empty kind of light, finding little silver linings every day,
32:42
Speaker 2: it decreases the overall daily headaches and overwhelmingly helps bring
32:49
Speaker 2: down the intensity of really garbage moments because I knew
32:55
Speaker 2: even when that manufacturer fell through, or when we've had
32:58
Speaker 2: other factory issues. Use it's a lever to pull when
33:02
Speaker 2: you need it, but it's something that you can practice
33:05
Speaker 2: on a daily basis to really strengthen that muscle.
33:09
Speaker 1: I really like that. What did you say? It's it's
33:12
Speaker 1: not a mode, it's a muscle. Yeah, that's a great line.
33:15
Speaker 2: Thank you. It's something I've been thinking about a lot.
33:18
Speaker 2: I think positivity is like when optimism meets gratitude and
33:25
Speaker 2: being able to It's not about saying things in a
33:27
Speaker 2: rosy light, like if something's horrible, it's allowed to be.
33:31
Speaker 2: It's allowed to be horrible. But if you can take
33:35
Speaker 2: something away from that experience, that's a positive. Even when
33:40
Speaker 2: you feel like, how do I go up from here?
33:44
Speaker 2: List three things you're grateful for and something you see
33:49
Speaker 2: the weather outside, you know. I think that is all
33:53
Speaker 2: in part of sharpening your tool as a human being.
33:59
Speaker 1: I have some rapid fire for you.
34:00
Speaker 2: Oh are you ready? I'm not ready? What I'm excited.
34:04
Speaker 1: What is a piece of advice someone gave you that
34:06
Speaker 1: you would pass on to any entrepreneur?
34:09
Speaker 2: You can do hard things?
34:11
Speaker 1: Thank you, Glennon Doyle. We agree. A great negotiating tip.
34:16
Speaker 2: Don't work with people who aren't equally enthusiastic about working
34:19
Speaker 2: with you.
34:21
Speaker 1: Oh, I haven't heard that.
34:23
Speaker 2: I think that when an agreement is a one way street,
34:27
Speaker 2: it's not a partnership.
34:29
Speaker 1: I'm like now reflecting on all of my partnerships.
34:33
Speaker 2: Sometimes but sometimes they're meant to be one way. But
34:36
Speaker 2: if you're looking for collaborative relationships, it depends on what
34:40
Speaker 2: the on what the agreement looks like. But I think
34:44
Speaker 2: the way I feel when we work with other brands
34:46
Speaker 2: and other people, we're excited to work with them, So
34:50
Speaker 2: we hope that there is equally excited to work with us.
34:54
Speaker 1: How do you decide when to say yes versus when
34:56
Speaker 1: to say no?
34:58
Speaker 2: When we're excited to work with if those people products
35:01
Speaker 2: are otherwise, and when they're brand mission and inclusivity and
35:09
Speaker 2: what that brand is about, when that aligns with what
35:12
Speaker 2: we do here.
35:14
Speaker 1: What should be required reading for every human being.
35:17
Speaker 2: I love business stories, So Shoe Dog an amazing story
35:22
Speaker 2: about Phil Knight.
35:23
Speaker 1: I'm listening to that right now.
35:24
Speaker 2: It's on audible, so wonderful. It makes you, I think,
35:28
Speaker 2: appreciate where the product came from and the history of
35:32
Speaker 2: the brand. I would also highly recommend anything that Mindy
35:35
Speaker 2: Kaling or Barbara Corkoran put out. Barbara Corkoran, I think
35:39
Speaker 2: I had twenty three jobs by the time she was
35:41
Speaker 2: twenty four, and look at her now. I think She's
35:43
Speaker 2: a great example of the path is not always linear.
35:47
Speaker 2: And Chris Voss obviously, And when I stop talking, you'll
35:52
Speaker 2: know I'm dead.
35:52
Speaker 1: That's funny.
35:53
Speaker 2: The story about Jerry Wintrum. Yeah, yeah, I love it.
35:56
Speaker 1: That's a great one. Yeah, okay, I do a pretty
35:59
Speaker 1: smart question. I love that you're here in persons. You
36:02
Speaker 1: don't have to tell me I have to stop. You
36:04
Speaker 1: can just choose the card that speaks to you.
36:08
Speaker 2: Tell me something about yourself that sounds made up but
36:12
Speaker 2: is one hundred true.
36:13
Speaker 1: Oh, I like that one.
36:15
Speaker 2: I gave Norma Kmalie a swimsuit and her name once
36:19
Speaker 2: what Yes. She came to sew house and it was
36:22
Speaker 2: my birthday and I decided to go and she was like,
36:26
Speaker 2: does anyone have any questions? And I jumped my hand
36:29
Speaker 2: up and I said, I don't have a question, but
36:32
Speaker 2: I do have a swimsuit for you. And it was
36:36
Speaker 2: it was pretty fun. She's a designer that I've always
36:39
Speaker 2: wanted to meet and get to know, and we had her.
36:41
Speaker 1: On the pot.
36:42
Speaker 2: Yes. Then I spoke to her after that and it
36:44
Speaker 2: was just it was so great.
36:45
Speaker 1: I love that, And what a great story about making
36:48
Speaker 1: bold moves.
36:49
Speaker 2: That stuff doesn't scare me for some reason.
36:51
Speaker 1: I know me. Neither it's the other stuff, It's it's
36:54
Speaker 1: all the others StuffYeah, Okay, what is the smartest decision
36:59
Speaker 1: you've ever made?
37:00
Speaker 2: So I love that you always ask us on your podcast.
37:03
Speaker 2: As you know, I've listened to every single one of them,
37:05
Speaker 2: and I've heard nine out of ten people typically say
37:10
Speaker 2: they're spouses. The other I think two that said this
37:15
Speaker 2: said it was moving to La.
37:17
Speaker 1: Yep, it's like a bet on themselves.
37:19
Speaker 2: I've never moved to LA and did move to Chicago,
37:23
Speaker 2: where I met my husband. I'm obsessed with my husband.
37:25
Speaker 2: He's amazing. But I feel like your podcast is all
37:28
Speaker 2: about being in the service of others, and I've really
37:31
Speaker 2: thought about it, and I think the best decision I've
37:35
Speaker 2: ever made, even though marrying my husband was an excellent
37:38
Speaker 2: choice in the service of others since they can't marry
37:42
Speaker 2: my husband. I when I decided to stop making decisions
37:46
Speaker 2: out of fear. It was a pattern I noticed in business.
37:53
Speaker 2: I would still allow myself to make big decisions when
37:55
Speaker 2: I was still feeling anxious, and I think it's really
37:59
Speaker 2: important to be grounded in your decision making before you
38:03
Speaker 2: move forward with something. So breaking that habit was a
38:07
Speaker 2: conscious choice and something that I actively live in today.
38:11
Speaker 1: Do you make decisions out of love or where did
38:13
Speaker 1: the decisions come from?
38:15
Speaker 2: I would say the opposite of fear is groundedness.
38:19
Speaker 1: Ooh interesting.
38:21
Speaker 2: I think it's not making decisions when you're feeling really
38:26
Speaker 2: angst and you're just really unsure and your feet aren't
38:31
Speaker 2: on the ground, and to slow down and rewind that
38:35
Speaker 2: and sit with your thoughts before jumping into your next
38:39
Speaker 2: choice is a really good decision.
38:43
Speaker 1: You are so thoughtful, Joe. Where can people find you
38:46
Speaker 1: in Laporte?
38:47
Speaker 2: You can find Laporte at Laporte Swim on Instagram or
38:50
Speaker 2: laportswim dot com. And I'm at Joe Davenport Kalika. So
38:55
Speaker 2: you have a new line dropping, We have some resort
38:58
Speaker 2: we're coming out or drop two new candles and restocking,
39:02
Speaker 2: which I'm super excited about. We're launching inclusive sizing in
39:06
Speaker 2: twenty twenty two, so that's something that we're really excited
39:10
Speaker 2: about and we'll give all of your listeners twenty percent
39:13
Speaker 2: off with code pretty smart check out.
39:16
Speaker 1: So excited. She gave me their Monte Carlo candle. You
39:20
Speaker 1: can't see me, but you could probably smell it. Hear
39:22
Speaker 1: me smell it. Great interviews, in my opinion, start with
39:25
Speaker 1: great generous guests. And you are so generous in your
39:30
Speaker 1: knowledge and your spirit, your wisdom, your resources. You are
39:35
Speaker 1: a really generous human being. So thank you for showing
39:39
Speaker 1: up as you today. I learned so much from you.
39:41
Speaker 2: Oh, thank you for having me. I love your podcast.
39:44
Speaker 2: I listen every episode.
39:46
Speaker 1: Thank you. All right, today is a good day. To
40:15
Speaker 1: have a good day. I'll see you next week. H