Chasing Dreams And Creating Basics: A CEO Mom’s Guide To Entrepreneurial Success

Entrepreneurship is a cornerstone of economic development and innovation, and while progress has been made, the entrepreneurial landscape remains skewed, with women encountering unique challenges. For more insight on this, I met with CEO and Creative Director of nuuds, Daryl-Ann Denner, to chat about her story of making the leap into the world of fashion, going from a high school science teacher to the CEO of a multi-million-dollar company, all while being a wife and mother to two young kids.

Topics we covered were—unlikely paths to entrepreneurship, the obstacles many other women founders face, and actionable solutions to help women, and moms, chase down their entrepreneurial dreams.

Denner started her journey as a social media influencer in 2015, sharing outfits and products she loved—a passion continues to do to this day. She quickly built her following to 1.6M on Instagram by talking about her jeans and t-shirt style and sharing her everyday family life. Then in 2022, Denner had a passion to create the perfect basic tee, and that never-ending quest led her to go out and see if she could have it made exactly how she always wanted it. Along that journey, nuuds was born with the goal of being a one-stop shop for attainable, high-quality basics that fit and flatter a women’s real body.

“I just wanted to build something new, grow something new. So, we started brainstorming what I would want to do. And, nuuds is the product of that”

“I was like, well, I’m a jeans and a T-shirt girl. I love basics. I was like, let me perfect the t-shirt. So that’s what we did. And that was the first thing that I designed. And, you know, I’ve never designed clothes before, so it was a learning, huge process of like how to make clothes. To this day, we still don’t do it conventionally.”

Denner’s super smoothing bodysuits and cozy sweatshirts have had a meteoric rise in popularity and a fanatical following resulting in some items being so in demand there is often a wait-list to order.

Here are Denner’s tips for getting your idea off the ground.

Make a list of any connections who may help get your business idea off the ground.

The people who can help you the most may already be in your network. “I had no idea where to start. I’d never made a piece of clothing on my own…ever. I was like, all right, let me see where I can use connections I have and see if they can connect me. One day, I was on a call with one of the hair care companies we work with as an influencer. I was like, ‘Hey, would you happen to know somebody who makes clothes or knows how to make clothes?’ He said, ‘Actually, my really good friend from college, and that’s what she does—helps you manufacture clothes. I’ll put you in contact with her.’ We contracted her for a year before nuuds ever started and then brought her on full-time .

Things just lined up.”

Brainstorm creative ideas for gifting potential brand promoters without obligations.

Influencer seeding has proven to be a powerful maketing strategy and nuuds recongized that and “seeded” influencers with gift boxes and were pleasantly surprised when they started seeing them post and wear the items. “A lot of celebrities shared it, which was so cool. I’m not above paying another influencer but, up until this point, we have not done that. That being said, I’m sure in the future we will. Our brand has always had most of our growth come from word of mouth rather than paid advertising”

Create with a specific audience in mind- yourself and what you’d like

Deener explained why it was a good idea to create a product with herself in mind, “Since I was a social media influencer for seven years before I pursued this, I’ve been building this community of women who are like me, want the same things as me, and are in the same stage of life as me or very similar close.

That community was the real support behind why it grew so fast and how it grew so fast. And so, I think we just answered the question of, what are women looking for without any fluff behind it?”

Focus on Quality

Having a product that solves a unique problem or pain point for the customer is key to differentiation. Denner says, “I love Zara, so I’m not talking anything down on it because I love that shop there, but I think their bodysuits serve a different purpose. What I wanted to offer with nuuds is something that was almost like, when you buy a product that’s like reviewed and tested, but like reviewed and tested by your friend and made to answer all your issues and make you feel good.”

“The product has to be perfect. Otherwise, I wouldn’t put it out there. And so, I think over the past eight years, they’ve (customers) come to trust that.”

Evaluate areas of your business plan where you can lean into discomfort and take smart risks.

Taking calculated risks can be the thing that sets you apart from someone with ideas versus someone who implements and makes their vision a reality. Denner, “When we started nuuds, I obviously had an income from influencing, so I knew I had that backbone behind me if it didn’t work out. nuuds it wasn’t my only source of income, which was very comforting, but we did self-fund the entire thing.

Financially, we initially planned on about half of what we put into it, and by the end, my husband looked at me and he was like, okay, well, now this has to work because we had invested like more than half of our savings into it. He was like ‘This has to work now because we’re all-in here.’ So, that was a little daunting, but I’m very comfortable with risk so that’s some separator though. For example, the other day, I decided I wanted this style before Christmas. They’re like ‘We’re not going to be able to see another final sample’, and I’m like, ‘I already saw three samples. I’m good’. But that’s not an industry standard.

I think with most successful people, and I’ve tried to adopt this myself, is that if I’m going to bet on someone it’s going to be me, and I won’t let it fail.”

Schedule time each day this week for self-care to nourish creativity.

Carving out time for inspiration to flow can look much different for every entrepreneur. For Denner, she explains that she’s “80% go with the flow, but I don’t think I’ll ever feel balanced. I try to feel fulfilled in all the areas that I want to feel fulfilled in.”

My husband and I have a time where I usually turn off my phone and he turns off his phone and we get to just like be with each other after our kids go to bed. So, I am more intentional about not having a distraction, but also there are times when I am in the weeds. I’m trying to create the life I want while I’m leaning in and saying yes. But the best thing in the world sounds like an hour to myself. That’s my self-care.”

Final Advice

Denner implores women to, “Just start investigating. Ask a friend, ‘Do you know somebody who does this?’ Just see what the universe provides you because it could very well be a path to a business that within a year is, you know, nationally known.”