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Just Grow With It with Natalie Barbu

The Delusional Confidence That Built a MULTIMILLION Dollar Activewear Brand

Just Grow With It with Natalie Barbu

Natalie Barbu

Education, Business, Entrepreneurship, How To

4.8982 Ratings

🗓️ 3 February 2026

⏱️ 50 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In this episode, I sit down with Stefana Avera, founder of Liaison the Label, to talk about building a multimillion-dollar activewear brand from scratch—with zero experience in fashion or manufacturing. Stefana shares the raw, unfiltered journey of bartending to afford $80 product samples, crying over failed prototypes 3 years into development, and the delusional confidence it took to keep going when no one believed in her vision. This isn't a story of overnight success. It's about slow, steady growth, building community before going viral, and trusting your gut even when you don't know the "equation." If you're thinking about starting a brand or just need a reminder that you don't need a perfect background to build something incredible, this episode is for you. Shop Liasion the Label: https://www.liaisonlabel.com/ Follow Stefana: https://www.instagram.com/stefana.avara/ TIMESTAMPS: 0:00 - Intro: Meet Stefana & Liaison the Label 3:40 - How Stefana Started in Fitness (2017) 8:20 - The Moment She Decided to Build Liaison 12:00 - Bartending for $80 Product Samples 19:30 - 3 Years of Development & Almost Giving Up 24:30 - Building Community vs. Going Viral 32:00 - The Manufacturing Process (No Experience Required) 45:00 - Delusional Confidence & Founder Intuition EXTENDED SUBSTACK ARTICLE COMING SOON WITH STEFANA, SUBSCRIBE TO NOT MISS IT: https://thegrowthlist.substack.com Get 10% off your first purchase or domain by going to https://squarespace.com/nataliebarbu or use code NATALIEBARBU at checkout. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

At Accardo, you'll save 25% on your first shop and get free delivery,

0:04.6

which means if you were to buy a four cheese pizza,

0:07.3

you'd basically be getting one of the cheeses for free.

0:10.1

Save and splurge at Arcado, the online supermarket.

0:12.8

Geographical and other restrictions.

0:14.4

Minimum spend, 60 pounds, and charges apply.

0:16.6

New customers only, maximum saving 20 pounds terms at Arcado.com.

0:20.2

We sold more revenue for just our Bali collection than like all of our revenue in history,

0:25.0

like combined. I would bartend for hours. I remember at the end of my shift, I lay out my

0:29.3

money and like three samples, let's go! We are selling thousands of them a day. And then I promptly

0:34.7

deleted that account. In that moment was when I was like, I don't know if I can make products that are good enough.

0:41.4

Hello, everybody.

0:42.3

Welcome back to Just Grow with it.

0:44.1

I am so excited for this episode because I got to interview my friend, DeFonna Avera.

0:49.1

And if you don't know her, you most definitely know her brand.

0:52.4

She started an active wear brand called liaison the label and

0:55.8

it is everywhere it is blowing up all over social media not only is it so cute but also the quality

1:03.5

is unlike any active wear quality that i've person seen so i am very excited to get my hands on

1:09.1

way more sets and set a reminder for when her next

1:12.2

drop is. I was so excited to interview Stefana when she was down here in Miami shooting for her brand

1:17.4

actually because if you are like me, you know nothing about the retail clothing apparel space.

1:25.0

I come from a tech background. So talk to me about software, talk to me about starting that type of business. But when it comes to anything that requires manufacturing, my brain is empty. I don't know anything about manufacturing. I don't know what it takes to manufacture anything. If you guys have been here for a long time, you know that I did used to have an online store called Shop Barbu and we sold women's clothing.

...

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