Meet Laura Johnson | Bust’DD Co-Founder & Expert Bra Fitter

We had the good fortune of connecting with Laura Johnson and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Laura, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
One day as I was watching lecture videos for my entrepreneurship class in my MBA program, I had a thought that I’d been personally frustrated with larger cup bras for years and assumed someday the market would catch up. Years later it still had not. I thought to myself, hey, I’m smart and I obviously understand the gap and issues in the market, why can’t I do something about it? Women wearing D cups and larger have a hard time finding reasonably priced bras that do the job they need while looking attractive…or at the very least not looking like granny bras. So I started researching how to start my own bra company. Fast forward another couple of years and I was introduced to my business partner, Kim, who had similar frustrations so we joined forces and Bust’DD was catapulted into existence.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
Bust’DD (pronounced “busted”) offers the larger busted (not necessarily full figured) woman supportive, comfortable, and stylish bras. Unlike our competitors, we provide an accurate way to determine bra size without long questionnaires about a customer’s breasts or fancy computer algorithms. We offer size combinations most stores don’t carry, including down to a 28 band size and all the way up to an O cup. Besides the size combinations, we are also a mobile company that offers personal service, which is something very much lacking in this industry where it’s highly needed. We do in home and virtual personal fittings as well as bra parties, which our customers love!

While all that differentiates us, the main thing that we are so passionate about is providing customers with personal service through the fitting process. The vast majority of women are wearing the wrong size and the companies touting statistics about this are continually perpetuating the problem. Yes, we realize the irony that we are also saying this! When we fit women, we talk about why those other companies are wrong and how we got here as a society. We spend time to reeducate our customers and really change their lives because a well fitting bra can be truly life changing!

The road to get to where we are today has not been easy nor has it been a straight path. We have mostly boot strapped our way by slowly adding inventory and building many things ourselves (not to say that we didn’t have help from a few instrumental people along the way). There have been many times where we have pivoted and deviated from our original plans, with the pandemic being the most recent one. We relied heavily on that in person touch point, not to mention women weren’t wearing bras as much being stuck at home. As a result we now offer virtual fittings, comfortable bralettes and loungewear/pajamas.

The main thing we want people to know is that we started this company out of our own personal frustrations and feelings that something was wrong with us for not being able to fit society’s standards of bras. The problem has been the industry! There is nothing wrong or abnormal about any of our customers. Our mission is to get women to understand proper fit and make them more comfortable and confident.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Restaurants: Takamatsu for dinner (try the bulgogi), Hash Kitchen for brunch (go for a mimosa flight or make a meal out of a bloody mary), DeFalco’s Italian Deli for lunch (try the cheesesteak), Chispas (for food on the go), Brat Haus (great patio and dog friendly), Phoenix City Grille for a nice dinner, Pizzeria Bianco for food after seeing downtown, Jewel of the Crown (for an Indian experience), Fez for unique food combinations (try the Fez burger).

Drinks: Second Story Liquor Bar for some delicious bourbon, Zipps to watch a game or relax casually (try a Zipparita), Village Coffee Roastery for a pick-me-up, The Yard to hang with friends, The Wandering Tortoise (try the frose), O.H.S.O, The Beverly on Main, Sip Coffee and Beer

Sites to see: Musical Instrument Museum for a truly unique museum experience, Fountain Hills, Desert Botanical Gardens, Scottsdale Art Walk, Tempe Town Lake, Camelback Mountain, Phoenix Art Museum, Arizona Science Center (for people with kids), Hot Air Ballooning, day trips to Biosphere 2, Sedona, Tombstone, Tortilla Flats, or Kartchner Caverns

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
We entered into a startup competition called Startup Weekend: Phoenix. Our business concept was pitched on a Friday night and was selected among the top 15 of more than 50 ideas pitched that evening. A team was assembled and the idea was worked on all weekend. The weekend wrapped up with a short pitch to a panel of judges on Sunday evening. Bust’DD took first place and was awarded invaluable services to help make an idea become a reality. Among those services were two lean startup programs: ASU Venture Catalyst Rapid Startup School and Tallwave: Labs. These programs helped us refine our ideas and go from concept to reality.

We also want to shoutout to Will Bradley from Zyphon on some of our web development (including our bra calculator), Eva Orduno on graphic designs, Ivana Kat on media, and all of our crowdfunding donors who got us started.

Website: https://www.bustdd.com/

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

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bust’dd

Twitter: https://twitter.com/bustdd

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Bustdd/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/bustddbras

Image Credits
Andre Palacio Ivana Kat