We had the good fortune of connecting with Michelle Cordeiro Grant and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Michelle, what role has risk played in your life or career?
When building a company, the risks just get bigger and bigger as the business grows. You have to learn how to take risks, and get comfortable with the greatest downside of those risks by asking yourself “what is the worst-case scenario?” and preparing against it.

I left my steady job to start my own company when I felt like the risk of not trying was greater than the risk of going for it. Once LIVELY launched, I took many big risks, like launching the brand without any paid media and instead relying on earned media & word-of-mouth, re-launching the website for a better UX in the midst of triple digit growth, and making business decisions with a utopian lens by doing everything I was told not to do.

While there were definitely some mistakes made along the way, I think of entrepreneurship as building a mental muscle – you take risks and sometimes make mistakes, but each time you pick yourself back up, you’re training your brain to handle even more risk taking.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
LIVELY is a brand and community that inspires women to live life passionately, purposefully and confidently by way of experiences and products, including bras, swimwear, loungewear, activewear and more. Our brand and product targets women across the country of all ages, races and stages of life who crave to feel confident in their own skin, as well as seen, heard, and like they belong to something larger. LIVELY stands out in the market for three core reasons: its day-one commitment to being community-first (boasting over 165K Ambassadors today), and its unique point of view in the market via Leisurée: a new category that blurs the aesthetic lines of lingerie, active, and swim, taking the best elements of high-style and ultimate comfort from each category.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
In Season Two of The LIVELY Podcast “No Makeup Needed, I spoke with the incredible makeup and beauty legend, Bobbi Brown. It was actually Bobbi who inspired me and gave me the confidence to move forward with LIVELY’s acquisition by Wacoal within three years of launching our brand. Bobbi went through pretty much the same business milestone with her own acquisition by Estee Lauder several years ago, and listening to her talk about how she made those decisions on “How I Built This” inspired me to go through with my own business decision.

Also, I highly recommend the book, “Blue Ocean Strategy” to any entrepreneur!

Website: wearlively.com

Instagram: @wearlively, @the_michellegrant

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelle-cordeiro-grant-669755/

Image Credits
Imagery of Michelle – Sergio V. Photography Store Imagery – Paige Babilla

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