As a teenager, bra shopping was an incredibly frustrating experience for me. I had to search the entire mall for a 32DD. If I found one in my size, it was inevitably beige and boring. I knew there had to be other women like me, so I did market research and found the full-busted market niche. Today, I am the founder and president of Jodi Gallaer, a lingerie company in Newport News, Va., that sells its products for full-busted women to high-end boutiques in cities like New York. I am one of the only bra designers who creates sexy, supportive lingerie specifically for women with hard-to-find sizes that range from 28C to 40H.
While I was at
Columbia Business School, I wrote the business plan, and I received an incredible amount of support from Columbia's entrepreneurship hub, The Lang Center (see BW Online, 10/25/05,
"Teaching the Startup Mentality") My professors were accommodating and allowed me to use my fledgling business idea for most of my projects. Columbia was great for networking, honing my skill set, and producing an exceptionally polished business plan. In addition, I took a couple of courses at the Fashion Institute of Technology, so I would understand bra construction and sketching (see BW Online, 3/26/06
"Creativity Comes to B-School").
During my final semester, I commissioned a factory in Mexico to make samples. When I graduated, I showed the samples to retailers, took orders, and started my first production run. Besides design, my other responsibilities include the day-to-day operations -- sales, accounting, financing, and production coordination. Surprisingly, this takes a majority of my time.
Here is a typical day in my life:
7:30 a.m. -- I walk our dog, Teddy, and get ready for work. On my walk, I think of a new camisole style.
8:30 a.m. -- After my husband leaves for work, I stop in the kitchen for a cup of coffee and make the long trip (down the hallway) to my home office. Half...
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