Speaker 1: This is Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Messer and Bloomberg
Speaker 1: Quick Takes Tim Stinovic on Bloomberg Radio. Recently gotten the
Speaker 1: mail a Summersault catalog. They are a company that's definitely
Speaker 1: doing swimsuits differently for women. Not just about swimsuits. They
Speaker 1: are building a lifestyle brand, So let's find out how
Speaker 1: they're doing it, because they've just been a few years
Speaker 1: in the making. Lori Coulter and Rishma Chamberlain. They are
Speaker 1: the co founders of the director consumer sustainable swimwear brand
Speaker 1: called Summersault. Reshma is also a chief brand and Digital
Speaker 1: officer and Lori is CEO and president. Both joining us
Speaker 1: on the phone in St. Louis Raishma and Laurie. So
Speaker 1: nice to have you here with us. First of all, Um, welcome,
Speaker 1: Welcome to Bloomberg Business Week. How are you and what's
Speaker 1: this past year been like? Well, first of all, thanks
Speaker 1: so much for having us. We're really excited to be
Speaker 1: here in the salt and to tell and share Summersault story. Um,
Speaker 1: like everyone else, the past year has been a you know,
Speaker 1: absolute wild ride. But we're really fortunate to be in
Speaker 1: a space where the consumer where has responded we are,
Speaker 1: you know, let her when weere and how she wants
Speaker 1: to be spoken to with with truly an exceptional product.
Speaker 1: And it's it's you know, in the end, it's been
Speaker 1: a fantastic year for some results, but not without its
Speaker 1: challenges for well. Absolutely and and you know, I was
Speaker 1: looking at some some stats the global swim wear market.
Speaker 1: I mean that's probably thin. Taking everybody into account, is
Speaker 1: something like eighteen nineteen billion dollars. It's a lot. RACI
Speaker 1: mccomon in on this. You guys are doing it differently.
Speaker 1: Tell us about your approach. Yeah, absolutely, Thank you again
Speaker 1: for having us. It's all about the customer. For us,
Speaker 1: we always put her first swim where had been done
Speaker 1: in the most antiquated way for generations and decades. Right,
Speaker 1: no one was thinking about what women really wanted. We
Speaker 1: wanted swim where that was functional, comfortable, sexy on our
Speaker 1: own terms that some resault. We used ten thousand women's
Speaker 1: body scans at one point million measurements to really define
Speaker 1: our fit. And then we want to speak to her
Speaker 1: in a way that she wants to be spoken to.
Speaker 1: We want to see ourselves reflected in the marketing that
Speaker 1: tells us what we should wear or give us ideas,
Speaker 1: and so we've recently launched at Everybody's a Summer Salt
Speaker 1: Body campaign that really showcases the incredible diversity that our
Speaker 1: customer represents, and in the end, we do it all
Speaker 1: for her and are inspired by her. Well. And it's interesting, Laura,
Speaker 1: I mean, you've been in the swimsuit business. You know
Speaker 1: before you understand it, you've seen different cycles. Both of
Speaker 1: you understand it. I mean I I was thinking about
Speaker 1: preparing for this. It's all about fit fabric. Uh, everybody's
Speaker 1: ever gone bathing suit shopping, At swimsuit shopping, it can
Speaker 1: be an incredibly frustrating event because not you know, typically
Speaker 1: it's not always for all kinds of body sizes, your approaches,
Speaker 1: and having looked at your catalog, I was kind of
Speaker 1: blown away. You really embrace everyone who's out there. So
Speaker 1: so really, our goal along has been to inspire joy
Speaker 1: in the lives of our consumer and if you think
Speaker 1: about how to how we all felt at the beach
Speaker 1: as children, it was really about engaging with life fully
Speaker 1: having fun, and a swimsuit should be fun and it
Speaker 1: it really had been been done and this antiquated way
Speaker 1: that Russima reference over sexualized and dated by the way
Speaker 1: that doesn't look very modern on social media in the
Speaker 1: way that many women are finding brands today. And so
Speaker 1: there was just such a huge white space for us
Speaker 1: to go out and present our product in a modern
Speaker 1: way that really resonated with consumers. And we're really grateful
Speaker 1: to see, you know, just how much the brand has
Speaker 1: taken off, and by the way we're doing it in
Speaker 1: the right way, you know, across the board, from an
Speaker 1: environmentally friendly approach to the way we're presenting a diverse
Speaker 1: set of women, you know, in every way. Well, and
Speaker 1: it's interesting that you talk about I mean, you're using
Speaker 1: recycled or recyclable materials. I mean, I've been talking to
Speaker 1: chief sustainability officers at Walmart, at Cisco, a lot of
Speaker 1: different places. I mean, this is increasingly a part of
Speaker 1: the DNA of companies. UM. You are the chief brand officer,
Speaker 1: I mean, how much does your consumer care about not
Speaker 1: only great fit and function UM and looking good, but
Speaker 1: how much in terms of what the company stands for
Speaker 1: and how they make the product. How important is that
Speaker 1: well eco friendliness and sustainability. We believe our table stakes,
Speaker 1: but we also believe in UM working towards a not
Speaker 1: perfectionist approach, if that makes sense. A lot of people have,
Speaker 1: you know, big bars that they cannot reach, and then
Speaker 1: the consumers can kind of sniff out in authenticity. As
Speaker 1: Summer soult, it's all about being incredibly honest with our consumers, saying, hey,
Speaker 1: give us suggestions to do better here. We're asking the
Speaker 1: right questions to all our vendors. We're focusing on sustainability
Speaker 1: and eco friendliness and sharing kind of the true nature
Speaker 1: of where we are in our journey with our consumer.
Speaker 1: It's really not about perfectionism. And this is truly a
Speaker 1: unique approach that Summer solved. Whether that's about inclusivity, whether
Speaker 1: that's about sustainability, it's a truly human approach because any
Speaker 1: company that says that they're perfect and this is not
Speaker 1: really being authentic. And we really believe and being honest
Speaker 1: and truthful with our consumer as we kind of navigate
Speaker 1: this journey together. But it truly is table stakes. This
Speaker 1: company is big in to kind of become the next
Speaker 1: generation defining businesses. Lorie, it's Bloomberg. We like to know
Speaker 1: about a company's velocity. Give me an idea. You started
Speaker 1: back in May seventeen. So here you are. What four
Speaker 1: years in tell me about the growth in the business
Speaker 1: that you've been seeing. Well, it's been an an absolute
Speaker 1: rocket ship and a pleasure just to be a part
Speaker 1: of something that's so much bigger than any of us
Speaker 1: are individually. But we've seen that rapid growth. It pusses
Speaker 1: in the top one of venture capital, that consumer facing
Speaker 1: startups you know, worldwide, which is just phenomenal. And we
Speaker 1: continue to experience your growth through the COVID year. It
Speaker 1: was just unbelievable and and are seen that kind of
Speaker 1: same accelerated pace throughout. So Richmond, does it stay digital
Speaker 1: our stores likely at some point. Well, it's all about
Speaker 1: giving our customers unique experiences. So when we think about
Speaker 1: retia versus digital, it's all about new and unique ways
Speaker 1: in which our customer can interact with our brands. So
Speaker 1: when we think about retail, we really think about truly
Speaker 1: experiential retail where we can provide something more than just commerce,
Speaker 1: where we can provide placemaking, community building and creating a
Speaker 1: true experience for our community to connect with each other
Speaker 1: and with our brands. So when we think about retail,
Speaker 1: we're really thinking about creating something extremely extremely new, fun
Speaker 1: and a concept where we can blend hospitality and retail.
Speaker 1: What does that mean and does that mean stores eventually
Speaker 1: down the road? Yes, it absolutely means stores down the road.
Speaker 1: It's really interesting to think about DTC one point and
Speaker 1: two point or brands that had to build stores to
Speaker 1: acquire customers. For us, we really had an incredible, thoughtful
Speaker 1: customer acquisition, incredible organic growth. So when we think about
Speaker 1: retailer is going to be about placemaking and we're really
Speaker 1: excited to take that next step. What's the best way
Speaker 1: to do that? And Laurie maybe come on in on this.
Speaker 1: Is it to do it a standalone your own own
Speaker 1: stores or is it to do it as shops within
Speaker 1: major retailers or department stores or little bit of both. Um.
Speaker 1: I think we're committed to the vertical retail UM path,
Speaker 1: so that would be standalone stores for the most partner. Again,
Speaker 1: it's about that one to one relationship with our consumer
Speaker 1: moving forward and in as Rushma mentioned, creating that place
Speaker 1: where she experienceds Somersault UM as a complete lifestyle and
Speaker 1: so we're really excited to take it to the next level. UM.
Speaker 1: As we think about you know, the next twelve eighteen months, Well, lord,
Speaker 1: what is that next level? Because I mentioned you know,
Speaker 1: Swim's you know, you're a swim um where brand, but
Speaker 1: you really are looking to do it and you did
Speaker 1: during the pandemic. You moved into pajamas like, you know,
Speaker 1: things that people were needed at home at that point,
Speaker 1: and you pivoted pretty quickly. So so what's interesting is
Speaker 1: we had already entered many of the apparel categories UM
Speaker 1: that accelerated through COVID, So we were fortunate to already
Speaker 1: be in pajamas, cozy, comfy, lounge where at leisure as
Speaker 1: well as as everything cozy Kashmir. And what's what's interesting
Speaker 1: is is that sometimes people like to refer to it
Speaker 1: as a pivot, but we were actually already in those
Speaker 1: categories and we're able to build it out UM due
Speaker 1: to our supply chain speed really rapidly and UM certainly
Speaker 1: you know, over thirty of our revenue UM comes already
Speaker 1: from apparel, and so as we continue to build out
Speaker 1: new categories, that that percentage continues to climb, which was
Speaker 1: you know, phenomenal. Where do you see it all going? Um, Raisa,
Speaker 1: is it eventually an I P O or how do
Speaker 1: you guys continue to you know, provide the momentum, provide
Speaker 1: the capital. Can you continue to do it in the
Speaker 1: private markets? Well, for us, it's really about branding the
Speaker 1: next generation defining brand and really kind of marching to
Speaker 1: creating that brand that people have in every corner for
Speaker 1: our wardrobe. Um, for us, it's not about you know,
Speaker 1: Laurie and I built two businesses before, and we never
Speaker 1: set out to do something small. For us, it was
Speaker 1: really creating a brand that people in my home country
Speaker 1: of India can recognize and uh in the smallest towns
Speaker 1: in Missouri know about some results. So for us, it's
Speaker 1: about infiltrating essentially every wardrobe in America and the world.
Speaker 1: And that's what we're here to do, right And this
Speaker 1: is I mean this, everything that you're doing, um, Laurie
Speaker 1: is on a global level. Correct Um. Yes, we are
Speaker 1: selling globally, although on a little secret watch what we
Speaker 1: have coming in the next a few months. So from
Speaker 1: that perspective, sounds like more is coming. Okay. One thing
Speaker 1: I wanted to ask both of you, it's something that
Speaker 1: we talk about a lot on Bloomberg and certainly within
Speaker 1: the venture capital world about you know, the lack of
Speaker 1: women in senior VC positions, the lack of capital often
Speaker 1: for women lead or women created businesses. Um Laurie, what's
Speaker 1: been your experience. Well, I think what's fascinating and most
Speaker 1: people don't realize, is that only three percent venture capital
Speaker 1: dollars goes women founders, and you know, certainly even less
Speaker 1: it's going to founders in the Midwest. So we're really
Speaker 1: proud of the fact that we've been able to break through.
Speaker 1: And I think what investors need to understand is, uh,
Speaker 1: women founders that are breaking through and getting to the
Speaker 1: level that that we're at with Somersault. From attraction perspective,
Speaker 1: these are these are truly breakout companies, not only from
Speaker 1: a revenue perspective, but also from you know, just the
Speaker 1: just the drive to break through and talk to the
Speaker 1: you know, hundreds of investors that takes to really to
Speaker 1: circle that dollars. Now, what's interesting now is that Somersault
Speaker 1: receives you know, almost an endless number of inbounds and
Speaker 1: regards to you investors looking you know, to fund the
Speaker 1: next level of growth for a Somersaults. So from that perspective,
Speaker 1: we've really reached the threshold. But you know, we believe
Speaker 1: it's our job as women founders to really boarded the
Speaker 1: path for those that are coming from from behind us
Speaker 1: and to really help UM draw attention to the fact
Speaker 1: that this three percent number has got to change. Yeah. Absolutely,
Speaker 1: I mean it's just kind of unbelievable. UM the untapped
Speaker 1: network and certainly funds going into women businesses. Hey, Rachel,
Speaker 1: one thing I want to ask you guys, UM, As
Speaker 1: Laurie reminded me, you guys were already in pajamas you
Speaker 1: guys is you know, have sweatshirts, you have hoodies, you
Speaker 1: have a lot of things that UM really appeal to
Speaker 1: the consumer. Currently, just got about thirty seconds left here.
Speaker 1: What's the biggest growth part of your business when it
Speaker 1: comes to the product lines. Well, for us, it's all
Speaker 1: about surprising and delighting our consumer. Or pajamas doing incredibly well, Lounge,
Speaker 1: we're active, We're intimates are incredibly successful for us. For so,
Speaker 1: it's not about just one category. As you mentioned, it's
Speaker 1: about ordering every single corner and every drawer in her
Speaker 1: wardrobe and providing joy to every garment and making it
Speaker 1: eco friendly and stylish while we do it well, UM,
Speaker 1: you're hitting on a lot of things that we know
Speaker 1: are really really important to consumers right now. Um, I
Speaker 1: hope you'll come back and let us know how things
Speaker 1: are going, uh, and how as you continue to expand
Speaker 1: what's going on and just give us an update. Lori
Speaker 1: Culter and Racial Chamberlain there are the co founders of Somersault,
Speaker 1: both joining us on the phone in St. Louis.