We were lucky to catch up with Laura Templin recently and have shared our conversation below.

Laura, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

LT swimwear started as a project to build a better suit for myself. For the first time in my adult life, I actually had to go swimsuit shopping and it was a terrible experience. As so many women have told me over the years but had never actually experienced it for myself. I was a life-long swimmer and always found confidence in my training and racing suits – because the sport gave me purpose, strength and self-confidence. I found my identity in swimming and my suit was my uniform. When I put that uniform on, I felt like a new person. A better version of myself that could do anything I put my mind to. However, as an adult, that uniform seemed to be a distant memory – one that I would think of fondly and wish for, but knew I would likely never be able to have that experience again. I had 3 babies over the course of 7 years with my husband and when my kids were 3, 5, and 8, I decided to step away from my corporate work (at Speedo) and became a full time mom. Living now in Athens GA, the weather allows for LOTS of play time at the pool and it was important to me that my kids learn how to swim. We had lived in Minneapolis previously where all 3 kids took swim lessons, where I was the occasional participant. I mostly let my husband do the in-water work during those early years and told him it was a great bonding activity (which is is) but because between pregnancy and nursing, I just didn’t feel good enough in my body to get into a mediocre suit that made me feel less than I used to feel. As my kids were getting older, my body was finding it’s way back to a healthy, strong, new shape, I started coaching more and finding myself in need of a swimsuit. As I started the online slog of suit shopping, I ordered a few that were okay. A few that would pass, but mostly a lot of ‘almosts’. The suits I found were either too frumpy or too skimpy for my taste and there was NOTHING right in the middle. Because of my background, I was very specific in how I wanted my suit to look, feel and fit and as I was telling a friend of mine (fellow mompreneuer) about my problem, she simply asked me ‘What do you need to make the suit you want?’ That one question set off a string of events for me to build MY better suit.

Laura, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

LT Swimwear has been a journey of loving my body, exactly the way it is. I’ve always struggled with self-image, with nicknames I didn’t like, with playing the comparison game that I think we all play to some extent. LT has made me realize that our bodies are powerful in ways we can’t even imagine and has pulled me out of the negative head space of self-criticism and into seeing other women’s beauty reflected back on me. When I’m fitting my friends in suits, they can be as critical as I hear myself being in my head…except, that’s not what I’m seeing AT ALL! And to be able to share what I’m seeing and getting that perspective, I’m able to turn around the comments in my head and speak love to myself. Then spreading that love to my friends, because I want them to see what I see – which is certainly NOT the judgement in their heads.

I have loved getting to meet so many powerful, strong, confident women and see how their mentality changes when they put on a suit they were expecting to feel terrible in, but actually feel great in! I know this feeling so deeply and appreciate it so much that I want every woman to experience the self-confidence in their swimsuit that I know is possible.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

Social media has been a struggle for me. As a full time mom, wanting to be present with my kids, stay engaged in my work and not play the comparison game – spending time getting lost in social media ‘for work’ has been one of the hardest things in prioritizing my very limited time for my business. Not only am I not the most saavy at social media, it doesn’t come naturally to me and is it not really something I’m interested in getting better at. However, it’s been the one way I’m able to grow my network outside of my town and to reconnect with friends from different stages of my life. It’s a necessary part of growing a small business and getting your brand and message out into the world.

From a perspective of both creating content specifically for social media to determining what exactly to post, it’s been a journey through photo shoots, batch working, hiring third parties and finding my own voice. Having to do the research on my own as well as engaging friends and experts, alike. Taking lots of opinions and having to form my own.

I’m still learning, trying new things, engaging people smarter than me who understand my brand message and goals and can help guide what this social media looks like for LT. I’m a self-starter who likes to control all aspects of my business. I like to have my hands in everything LT is doing, but for this one, I’ve had to release some control and trust some experts to push me in a direction I maybe wouldn’t have otherwise gone.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

Everyday, no matter how planned it is, it seems like we’re constantly pivoting. Plans are being made, refined, made again, refined again. In both my business and my life, change is the only constant, as they say. My 3 kids are getting older, getting busier and somehow, more demanding. The time investment changes as your kids grow and for me, I want my family to stay my priority. I love my business and will continue to push and grow it, therefore I’m always making sure my time is well-spent whether I’m away for business or with them. I’m always evaluating how to grow my business both online and in person and how I can make my time investment worthwhile, whether it’s a photo shoot for online content or an in-person pop-up out of town..or both! New jobs, new houses, new business strategies, new materials, new information, new algorithms – there’s always something new to consider. It’s extremely important for me to have my priorities clear and aligned with my husband’s so that we can make all of these decisions quickly and easily to continue to build the life we’ve imagined for ourselves. Make sure your compass is pointing the way you want and the decisions are usually pretty easy.    

Contact Info:

• Website: www.LTSwimwear.com
• Instagram: @LTSwims
• Linkedin: Laura Templin

Image Credits
Sara Wooten, Evermore Photo Co Wendy Horton Photography