Building the Perfect Swimsuit
Dear FoundHer...Real Founder Stories for Women Small Business Owners
Lindsay Pinchuk
4.9 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 22 July 2025
⏱️ 39 minutes
🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS
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Summary
Lindsay Pinchuk is re-launching her newsletter, The FoundHer Files on Substack! No fluff. No gatekeeping. Just what works… because we’re better together. Make sure you subscribe for simple business and marketing tips designed for actual growth. SUBSCRIBE HERE.
Two former Lululemon insiders took a conversation in a Vancouver hot tub and turned it into a multi-million dollar DTC swimwear brand built on real product expertise, trust in their partnership, and a clear vision of what women actually need in a swimsuit.
In this episode, Lindsay Pinchuk talks with Laura Low Ah Kee and Shannon Savage, the co-founders of Left On Friday, about how they pulled from over a decade of product experience at Lululemon to rethink what swimwear could be. Why were there still no suits that worked for movement and looked good too? What would happen if they applied everything they knew about fit, fabric, and function to a category that had barely evolved? That spark of an idea eventually became a focused product line, a growing team, and a brand that’s now seen on Olympic athletes and Gwyneth Paltrow alike.
Laura and Shannon share what it looked like to build their DTC business from the ground up using their own money, the value of starting small and negotiating smart, and how they’ve stayed committed to growth that’s intentional and sustainable. You’ll hear how they used their own networks, leaned on past experience, and figured out what to outsource along the way. They didn’t just chase hype. They built something they wanted to last.
If you’ve ever wondered how to turn deep experience into a brand with staying power, or how to balance vision with execution, this is the kind of conversation that makes you stop and think. What would you build if you fully trusted what you already know?
Episode Breakdown:
00:00 Meet the Founders of Left On Friday
03:22 The Hot Tub Conversation That Sparked a Brand
07:48 From Lululemon to DTC: Using Experience to Fill a Market Gap
15:15 Bootstrapping with $150K and Building for Longevity
22:24 Profitability, Growth, and Staying Power in DTC
33:35 Advice for Female Founders Ready to Start
Connect with Laura Low Ah Kee & Shannon Savage:
https://www.instagram.com/lowaks/
https://www.instagram.com/shansavage/
https://www.instagram.com/leftonfriday/
Subscribe to The FoundHer Files: No fluff. No gatekeeping. Just what works… because we’re better together.
Join our online networking community, the Dear FoundHer... Forum:
https://www.dearfoundher.com/dear-foundher-forum
Follow Dear FoundHer on Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/dearfoundher
Don't forget to follow Lindsay on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lindsaypinchuk
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome back to another episode of Dear Founder. I'm your host, Lindsay Pinchuk, and in just a few minutes, |
| 0:05.6 | we're going to hear today's guests, the amazing co-founders of Left on Friday, talk all about |
| 0:11.4 | how they tapped into their former career experience to create an incredibly successful swimmer line. |
| 0:17.6 | I bring this up because around here at Dear Found founder, we talk all the time about how your |
| 0:22.8 | experience is your greatest asset. Each and every one of us has decades of both work and life |
| 0:28.4 | experience that we bring to our current endeavor. Not only do we need to recognize this, but we need |
| 0:33.8 | to be tapping into our experience network and connections even more than we think |
| 0:39.2 | we already do. |
| 0:40.4 | This is why I started Dear Fountain to not only share my experiences and my advice on building |
| 0:46.3 | and growing a business, but also to give you the space to meet and connect with other women |
| 0:50.3 | who are building and growing businesses just like you. |
| 0:53.3 | When we combine our experience and our |
| 0:55.6 | networks, we together become a force that no one can compete with. Around here, there's no gatekeeping, |
| 1:02.1 | no fluff, just what works, because we're better together. Make sure that you subscribe to our new |
| 1:07.8 | newsletter on Substack, the Founder Files, which I linked in the show |
| 1:11.5 | notes. And if you're looking for an even more elevated experience, join us inside our |
| 1:16.9 | networking group, the Deer Founder Forum. The link for that is in the show notes too. But for |
| 1:22.0 | now, on to today's episode. Welcome to Dear Founder, the podcast that pulls back the curtain on what it really takes to build and grow a successful business. |
| 1:33.9 | No gatekeeping, no fluff, just real talk. I'm your host, Lindsay Pinchuk, award-winning entrepreneur, founder, and proud member of the 1% of female founders who led their |
| 1:46.2 | company to an acquisition. I bootstrapped my first company from $500 to seven figures before |
| 1:51.8 | selling it and learned more from the mistakes than from the wins. What started as a podcast here |
| 1:57.9 | has grown into a movement, supporting female entrepreneurs like you through |
... |
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