perfectwhitetee: Turning a Closet Staple Into a Business That Scales with Jen Menchaca and Lisa Hickey
Dear FoundHer...Real Founder Stories for Women Small Business Owners
Lindsay Pinchuk
4.9 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 2 December 2025
⏱️ 47 minutes
🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS
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Summary
Holiday Special: Join us for the Dear FoundHer... Forum Virtual Open House + Networking Event on December 9th. Meet other women business owners, connect, and experience the support you’ve been missing. Sign up through the link in the show notes—it’s free to join us.
Two fashion insiders walk through how a single white tee became the core of a cult basics brand that now lives in both retail and direct to consumer channels. Lindsay Pinchuk talks with perfectwhitetee co-founders Jen Menchaca and Lisa Hickey about the years they spent in showrooms and retail stores, the gap they saw for reliable year round basics and the way a partnership with a fabric expert let them obsess over fit, fabric and how their pieces actually feel on real women. They describe fit tests on bodies of different ages and sizes and they show how feedback from boutiques and customers turns each tee and sweatshirt into a staple women reorder in multiple colors.
When COVID hit, their independent retail partners served as a lifeline as supply chains stalled and boutiques turned to perfectwhitetee for product they could still put in customers’ hands. From there the direct to consumer side grew as shoppers sent DMs that asked for more colors and styles, which pushed Jen and Lisa to build a Shopify site and to treat lifestyle driven ads and email as key tools for connection and loyalty. Again and again they come back to a simple idea. Strong basics and strong businesses start with a clear customer, a clear edge and a community that trusts you in both retail and direct to consumer spaces.
Episode Breakdown:
00:00 How Listening To Customers Built A Cult Basics Brand
03:12 Meet perfectwhitetee Founders Jen Menchaca And Lisa Hickey
04:22 From Showroom And Retail Stores To The Perfect White Tee Idea
06:50 Spotting A Gap In Basics And Building A Fabric First Fashion Brand
08:24 What Makes A Perfect White Tee Fit Fabric Community And Confidence
12:44 Launching Right Before COVID And Leaning On Retail Relationships
18:25 Relationships Community And A “No Asshole” Policy For Business Growth
24:23 From Wholesale To Direct To Consumer How Ads And UGC Fueled Demand
33:43 Black Friday Inventory Fail Owning Mistakes And Fixing Operations
41:37 What Is Next For perfectwhitetee Wovens Mens And Deeper Community
43:07 Three Actionable Steps For Women Starting A Product Business
Connect with Jen Menchaca and Lisa Hickey:
Follow perfectwhitetee on Instagram
Links:
Subscribe to The FoundHer Files and check out our female founded holiday gift guide!
Follow Dear FoundHer... on Instagram
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Dear founder, it's your host, Lindsay Pinchuck, and in just a second, you're going to hear from |
| 0:05.5 | two founders who generated a cult following from the simplest product out there, a perfect white |
| 0:10.7 | tea. How did they find success? Well, they listened to their customer. And if you've been around |
| 0:16.3 | here for a while, you know that this is a key tenant that I talk about when building brands and |
| 0:20.5 | the cornerstone |
| 0:21.2 | of both of the companies I've built to date. This is also why I started the Deer Founder Forum, |
| 0:26.5 | a community for women business owners over 40 who are building real businesses and are ready |
| 0:31.6 | for real connection, collaboration, and support. And now I want you to experience what that |
| 0:37.0 | feels like. So join me on December 9th for our |
| 0:40.6 | virtual open house and networking session where you'll meet other incredible women founders, |
| 0:45.0 | ask questions, and see firsthand how having a community in your corner can completely change |
| 0:51.1 | how you run your business. It is completely free to attend, but space is limited, |
| 0:55.4 | so you're going to want to grab your spot now using the link in the show notes, because you |
| 0:59.6 | and your business deserve a support system. And now on to today's episode. |
| 1:05.8 | Welcome to Dear Founder, the podcast that pulls back the curtain on what it really takes to build and grow a |
| 1:12.7 | successful business. No gatekeeping, no fluff, just real talk. I'm your host, Lindsay Pinchuk, |
| 1:19.9 | award-winning entrepreneur, founder, and proud member of the 1% of female founders who've led their |
| 1:26.5 | company to an acquisition. |
| 1:28.4 | I bootstrapped my first company from $500 to seven figures before selling it. |
| 1:33.1 | I learned more from the mistakes than from the wins. |
| 1:36.3 | What started as a podcast here has grown into a movement, |
| 1:40.1 | supporting female entrepreneurs like you through not only this show, |
... |
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