We were lucky to catch up with Emma Vollrath recently and have shared our conversation below.

Emma, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s talk about innovation. What’s the most innovative thing you’ve done in your career?

Emma Lou came to fruition when I was 19 years old. I noticed there was a white space in the athleisure market since I kept hearing my clients complain about their bloating problems and how it was a huge insecurity for them. I realize now that every woman knows about the notorious lower stomach, but the only product I could recommend to them that targeted this area was a waist trainer. Which, no shade, but they aren’t *super* effective or sustainable. Worst of all, you can’t walk into Trader Joe’s wearing one without everyone giving you the disapproving side-eye while you’re picking out avocados. There wasn’t a single product on the market that wasn’t A) a waist trainer or B) a digestible supplement that aided women with bloating in the lower stomach area.

I grew up in California where the water is beautiful, but freezing, which meant I was always equipped with a wetsuit. My wetsuit kept me nice and warm, but also, whenever I took it off, I would be sweating. I cut out a chunk of my wetsuit and had my grandma sew it into the waistband of an old pair of biker shorts. Hideous? yes. Effective? Hell yes. The stitches were bright green and showed through the shorts, but the neoprene held strong and I felt my tummy sweat immediately. I wore it to the gym, on walks, and for grocery store runs for weeks and noticed a decrease in my lower stomach bloating, water weight retention, and just overall ~flow~ of things since neoprene is a heat trapping fabric and I was targeting my lower stomach and waist.

My clients, fellow gym staff, and friends, were dying to get a pair of my magic pants after they saw my results, so I decided to make a small batch of them with a manufacturer. I did a little more research on the best fabric for the problem I was eager to solve, and landed on what we have now, which is a recycled thermoplastic fabric, that has been scientifically proven to reduce water weight and bloating. There was an apparent bloating problem in women, and most of us struggle with it. It can be uncomfortable and inconvenient, which is why targeting that area was my #1 priority. Which is why I sought out to create a garment that harnesses textile technology to target the lower stomach area with a scientifically proven fabric to target bloating and water weight.

Emma, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My name is Emma, and I’m the founder of innovative athleisure brand, Emma Lou. I am a certified personal trainer & Pilates instructor, and was born and raised in California. I like to spend my time at the beach, reading a fictional book, hot girl walking, scouting for the best iced chai, and sketching pieces for Emma Lou. And I currently reside in the beautiful Southern California area.

I wasn’t one of those people who knew they wanted to be an entrepreneur right out of the gate. High school was pretty rough, and I transferred colleges four times. I ended up graduating with a degree in Business Administration, but only after changing my major three times.

I was extremely lost. So I held onto the only thing that remained constant in my life: working out. I felt at peace with my headphones in, on a run, or doing Pilates. I was good at it, so I thought that was my career. During this time, I trained women of all ages, and became a sound board for most. A lot of the complaints coming from my clients were centered around their boyfriends, nutty mother-in-laws, and work drama, but the most prominent one was their appearance. I just couldn’t shake the fact that almost every single one of my clients were insecure about their stomach. More specifically, the lower stomach. It was wild. Now that I had access to all of this information on how women were truly feeling (myself included), I felt it was my responsibility to fix it.

Have you ever had to pivot?

Pivoting from going to school everyday in person, and then making the change to finishing college at home and starting my brand at 19.

How do you keep in touch with clients and foster brand loyalty?

I love hosting giveaways and getting my clients involved so that they can have the chance to win some super cute goodies from my brand and other brands that I love. I also love getting their feedback with every set that I design and seeing what colors and designs they like better. Anything I do, I like to ask them about it and get their feedback!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://emmalouthelabel.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emmalouthelabel/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emma-vollrath-4582a8159/

Image Credits
Emma Vollrath