The Startup Story

Melanie Travis, founder of Andie

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About this episode

My guest this week is Melanie Travis founder and CEO of Andie. Andie is a brand created for every woman, every activity and every body with well-fitting swimwear and intimate in sizes 0 to 26. It’s designed for the modern woman, for all of life's occasions.

I first discovered this when looking for an appropriate swimsuit for my teenage daughter. Every single suit these days is super cheeky and yes and Andie does have those suits but they truly do have a swimsuit for every activity, body and coverage preference.

I love Andie’s story, I love how Melanie came to start Andie. But I’m not going to spoil it for you because she is a masterful storyteller and this episode is packed with some tremendous learnings!

In this episode, you'll hear:
  • About her childhood, where she had no clue what to do with her life and entered college pursuing comparative literature, but found herself bored out of her mind.
  • While she was at college she found her love for film, before going to grad school she moved to Vienna where she would travel around Europe creating mini-films in which she sent off to get into film grad school. She can now see the similarities between film directing and running a business.
  • She shares how she funded her first film using the Kickstarter platform. While fundraising there she loved the idea of what Kickstarter could do for creators everywhere and then joined the company.
  • The origin story of Andie and how it all started in an attempt to solve a "horrendous" shopping experience.
  • With this little bit of market research and validation from her colleague, she continued to research the swimwear market. When she found enough validation she told her boss, Matt Meeker, she wanted to start her own company. He then provided her with desk space to pursue her passion, and in 4 months her business was up and running.
  • How she funded Andie via Kickstarter campaign
  • The power of storytelling and why that matters more than physical product when it comes to preorders or market validation.
  • How she pivoted the business model within the first few months.
  • Why her collaboration with Demi Moore was the perfect fit to bring Andie to the next-level.
    • Resources from this episode

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    Gardyn Giveaway: https://thestartupstory.co/Gardyn

    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/andieswim/

    Website: https://andieswim.com/

    Fit quiz: https://andieswim.com/pages/fit-finder

    AskWonder: https://askwonder.com/

    Crunchbase: https://www.crunchbase.com/

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    The Startup StoryBy James McKinney