Invented in the Garage

Before I founded EB, I had an incredible job. At 28 years old, fresh out of Stanford business school, I was a founding member of a venture investment fund in San Francisco. It was a rare opportunity, and an even rarer opportunity as a woman.

I was working under the mentorship of a talented and successful investor, in beautiful offices downtown. The sky was the limit. The promise of big financial gains came with a successful investment portfolio.   

Every day, I marched to work in my high-heels and underwire bra. Uncomfortable and often embarrassed by my 34DDD’s, popping out of my button down shirts. Shoulders aching. Tension headaches. Fighting my posture. 

It got under my skin. How could bras still be unbearable? With all the innovation in the world (which I was seeing everyday), how could this stupid underwire still be the best we can do after 85 years? When is someone going to invent a better way?

So I left behind a high-potential career in finance to go out on my own and build a better bra. 

This is a real photo of me, in the garage with my Dad. We used thin plastic, silicone putty, and other odds and ends. Together we built and conceptualized my first rough (very rough) prototypes.

When the idea for the EB Core® (our patented core that lifts and separates), the first patent application cost me almost $9,000, all out of my own pocket. Me and my first employee, Olivia, worked late-night in my attic studio building bras. Bras that were intended to forever break the mold. 

Now, each morning, I put on my EB bras and underwear – and then log on to  read the latest love letters from customers whose lives have “been forever changed” by our products.

Yes, I risked it all for a better bra. And I’m so happy I did.

Sincerely,

Bree