Innovative Sports Bra Designs: Bounceless Gets Vital Support Through TEDC Creative Capital

Table of Contents:

A Business Born of Necessity
Filling a Marketplace Void
The Ups and Downs of Creating Inventory
Helping More Women Work Out in Comfort
Finding Education and Funding in the Community
Taking Bounceless into the Future

As owner, founder, and creative designer of Bounceless, Chantelle Lott has not only met a need she personally had—she’s also serving women like her. Her innovative, securely fitting sports bras for large-breasted women make it easy for a significant portion of the population to comfortably work out. She’s building her e-commerce business successfully with educational and financial support through TEDC Creative Capital.

A Business Born of Necessity

It might surprise people that the owner of an online clothing shop didn’t start out to pursue fashion, but Chantelle Lott’s story of entering into business isn’t exactly traditional. With a social work background, Chantelle certainly didn’t expect to be designing bras. She fell into the opportunity as a necessity.

As a track athlete, Chantelle has always been passionate about sports and competition. She attended the University of Tulsa on a full track scholarship. Her biggest challenge wasn’t winning—it was being large-breasted in a world of small-sized sports bras. Over the years, she tried different solutions, from different products, brands, and sizes to wearing two sports bras—one atop the other—to solve her need for support and comfort as she engaged in athletics. 

But nothing worked. Until that is, she took design matters into her own hands.

Filling a Marketplace Void

Chantelle started with a simple but vital personal question: What would it take to enjoy the support she needed with just one modest, comfortable, properly fitted sports bra? As a woman with a small frame but a large bust, she faced a conundrum. Regular-sized bras didn’t cover her fully. Plus-size bras were too big. She was determined to find a solution.

“I took apart bras and put them together myself,” Chantelle says, “experimenting to see what might work.” She learned to sew because she knew it would be difficult to explain to someone else the idea she had in her head without a physical model to demonstrate. She needed to create her concept with her hands to test it out and show it to others. 

A few years went by as she experimented with materials and designs. Finally, Chantelle had a working design in hand, but more time went by during the product development stage.

“It just took a very long time to put together what would provide support for me, as well as my business partner, because she’s a large-breasted woman as well,” Chantelle says. But when they achieved that design, they knew they had a winner—a supportive sports bra that would work for many women.

The Ups and Downs of Creating Inventory

With a practical design in hand, Chantelle officially launched into the sports bra business, now known as Bounceless. She obtained a patent on her current design while offering customers a lower-impact sports bra.

“For years, we had been telling people we’re going to have a sports bra coming out, so we went ahead and put out something,” she says of that first product. “It’s still a great product, but it wasn’t the product that we wanted.” That shifted when Bounceless’s current high-impact sports bra for fuller-breasted women was finally ready to launch. But then more challenges arose.

“The hardest part was finding someone to manufacture the design,” says Chantelle. “At first, I wanted it made in the United States.” That proved extremely costly, driving her price point up to $200 or more per bra. 

She knew that simply wouldn’t sell and needed to lower manufacturing costs to fit the market. Bounceless eventually chose overseas production so the bra could be affordable and marketable. “It just took a very long time to find the right people to work with us to get the product to where we needed it to be,” she says.

Helping More Women Work Out with Comfort

“We found in our research that full-busted women work out 40% less than non-full-busted women, because they don’t have the support, and it’s uncomfortable,” Chantelle explains. “We want to make sure we can help more women work out, feel confident doing so, and not be embarrassed by the bounce.”

The Bounceless sports bra design meets that need beautifully. It offers full coverage and an optional clasp-on band for more compression and support. Chantelle plans to extend the bra’s sizes to fit even more women while continuing to offer what makes Bounceless unique—full coverage, front-zip, and comfortable support.

Bounceless currently sells its sports bras through online shopping, pop-up shops, and Get Fit! events where women can get measured and try the products on for size. It’s as much about education as it is about sales. 

“We want women to be informed about the different types of support that they may need,” Chantelle says. “We want them to know how to shop for a bra because it’s very important. I will be the first to say our bra isn’t for everyone, but I want you to be able to work out confidently. Get Fit! is where you can get your measurements so that you can stay physically active as well.” 

Finding Education and Funding in the Community

None of this vision would be as streamlined as it is without entrepreneurial support. Chantelle first heard about TEDC Creative Capital when launching her initial product. “I was just trying to think about different ways to get funding because this was not a cheap process. We bootstrapped for a very long time, and you basically get tapped out.”

She took some entrepreneurial courses through TEDC, including the Kauffman FastTrac® program, a 12-week process to equip new business owners for success. During that time, Chantelle crafted a business plan and gathered the resources she needed to strengthen herself as a business owner. From there, she talked with the TEDC team about a microloan to target toward marketing their e-commerce business.

 Working with TEDC was an easy process for Chantelle. She says the entire experience felt very welcoming, from application to loan signing. “We met at their office, sat down, went over the documents, and we signed them. All of it was simple.” 

Taking Bounceless into the Future

Now, Bounceless aims to grow its market share by expanding its sports bra offerings. “We want to be the leader in sports with our design,” Chantelle explains.

If she could offer advice to other entrepreneurs like her, Chantelle recommends understanding the business’s financial needs. “Understand where you might need funding,” she says. “ Don’t just take the funding and do whatever with it, but be mindful of what you actually need it for. Be mindful of the small things and take your time in building.”

Beyond that, she says, seek out mentorships, find people who can help you, and stay connected with local resources like TEDC. “Put TEDC in your pocket because they’re a great resource,” she says.
If you have a small business you’d like to grow, TEDC Creative Capital can help. As a community-minded financial institution focused on small businesses, TEDC provides a variety of nontraditional funding vehicles, from SBA loans to microloans and more, alongside educational programs to equip entrepreneurs with the tools they need for success. Connect with our friendly team to learn more.