Meet the Maker: Emily LaPlume
We sat down with Founder, Designer, and Maker, Emily LaPlume to take a peek into her personal life and dive a bit deeper into what inspired Saturday Swimwear.
Where are you from and where are you based now?
I was born and raised in Allenstown, in southern New Hampshire, but I’ve been living in Bend, Oregon since 2019. I had originally gone out west in the van I built out and moved into to promote Saturday Swimwear across the country. I had made it all the way out to Portland, Oregon and decided to stay a few extra weeks in Bend between markets. While I planned to continue traveling in the van, COVID hit and changed everything, and I’ve stayed in Bend ever since. Bend is a rad little town - I quickly fell in love with it. Nature is everywhere here and it is just so beautiful.
What is one thing you do every day?
Snuggling my dogs is a daily activity, but besides that after I get my coffee and breakfast I listen to The Daily podcast to get my blip of news for the day. I’ve learned the hard way that it’s easy for me to overindulge in what’s going on in the world and get pretty consumed by it. By tuning into the podcast each morning, I get a quick update on what’s going on so I stay informed, but then I can carry on and focus on what I need to do that day.
What's your favorite suit/color combo?
Right now it’s definitely our artist series print top paired with the Maya Bottom in Spice, or vice versa. My go-to before the artist series launch was a Black Isla Top with the Maya bottom in Spice, and I still love that combination.
How do you describe yourself in 3 words?
I’ll share my answers, but I also asked some of the important people around me their thoughts. There was some cool overlap but also some diversity that I think does a great job in describing how I operate. Getting their perspective was super inspiring and empowering - I encourage everyone to give it a try!
Me: passionate - sentimental - intentional
Alex (my partner): caring - intelligent - creative
Lauren (Alex’s sister): ethical - strong willed - loyal
Molly (my sister): driven - loyal - passionate
Karen (my mom): determined - resourceful - creative
What is something people often get wrong about you?
Because of the amount of travel I’ve done and the fact that I built and run my own business, people always assume I’m older than I am. (I just turned 27!)
If you could have more of any one quality, what would it be?
I would love to be more interested in reading. I know there is such a wealth of knowledge in books, but I just can’t sit still and get hooked regardless of the genre. I do love podcasts though, and that’s mainly because as an entrepreneur I have to be so intentional with my time and podcasts enable me to multitask while I listen. Right now I’m loving Sonja Rasula’s podcast SOS. If you don’t know Sonja, she founded Unique Markets and right now she’s teaching me so much about utilizing social media to grow my business.
Outside of designing and making sustainable swimwear, what do you love to do?
My absolute passion and love is snowboarding. The amazing thing about being an avid snowboarder who designs and makes swimsuits is that the peak seasons for these two activities are opposites. Spring and summer are my busiest seasons for Saturday Swimwear, providing a perfect alternative to snowboarding. When business naturally slows down in the cooler months, I use that time to snowboard as much as possible. Because swimwear and snowboarding complement each other so well, I get to fully enjoy two things I’m passionate about and live a lifestyle that’s perfect for me.
What gets you out of bed in the morning?
Literally, my alarm clock! But in the larger sense, knowing that I get to come into my sewing studio, be my own boss, and physically create something that makes people happy all over the world is a really rad concept. The fact that I get to do all that and confidently know that by doing so I’m doing my part to fight climate change and fast fashion is really motivating.
What keeps you up at night?
There’s a lot - climate change and the current state of our world are probably the two biggest buckets. I try not to dwell on them and instead focus on my action steps that remind me to do what I can, but some days it’s harder to stay optimistic. I get especially frustrated by big businesses that have the knowledge, power, and resources to mitigate fast fashion, and yet they continue to prioritize profit over everything else. Even as a small brand with no funding and little money I think so in depth about every aspect of my suits - from hang tags to hygiene liners - in order to make the best choice. Contrast that with these huge brands that have the resources to make radical, industry level change but don’t just disgusts me. If I think about it too much I can start to doubt that what I’m doing makes any difference, but I always come full circle and return to my belief that change does come - one decision at a time.
How do you recharge your batteries?
This feels like a cop-out but I swear it is true - the primary way I recharge is through sleep. I’m a really good sleeper, and I have probably the opposite lifestyle of what people imagine for an entrepreneur. I don’t stay up late, I wake up at 7am - no earlier - and I make sure to prioritize my sleep. I’ve seen so many people burn out because of lack of sleep and I just can’t understand the around-the-clock hustle mentality. I work super hard, but regardless of how busy I am I shut everything down at the end of the day. If I need to be in bed by 9 or 10pm I totally will, and by doing so, I know I’ll be set up to do my best the next day.
Besides sleep, being outside is the other way I consistently recharge. I always feel better after some time outdoors in the fresh air, especially when I’m with my dogs.
What inspires you?
I’ve drawn all my inspiration from the natural world and the just amazing beauty of nature. Recently I’ve also been so inspired by other creatives doing what they love. One positive that’s come out of COVID is all the small, women-owned businesses that have emerged as a result of the extended time at home and general re-evaluation of what’s important. It is really rad to work and be in community with driven women who are pursuing their passions wholeheartedly. They inspire, encourage and motivate me every day.
When do you feel most alive?
I definitely feel most alive when I’m snowboarding. Not only am I outside in nature, but I also get a bit of an adrenaline rush pushing myself just outside my comfort zone. It’s there, right on the cusp of danger, when I feel like I’m truly living.
My partner and I have recently gotten into backcountry snowboarding, and that has rocked my world. Being able to reach places I never would have otherwise and to see the expanse of beauty out there is just incredible. It’s also so humbling though, because whenever I’m out there, I’m reminded of my humanity against the huge expanse of mountains and the unrelenting power of nature. As confident as I feel in my skills, I also know how little control I have in the natural world. Once I reestablish that connection with nature and the universe, my heart and mind open up and I feel completely free.
What's the hardest part about being a small business owner?
The hardest part has definitely been balancing all the moving pieces as we grow. It’s just my sister and me making the suits, so between production and things like marketing, customer experience and vendor relations, it’s been a learning process to figure out how to prioritize my time and get what I need to, done.
What's your favorite part about being a small business owner?
Knowing that people around the world are wearing my art - this thing I designed, created, and put so much love into - blows my mind. The fact that I’ve created thousands of wearable pieces of art with my own two hands and that people actually want to wear them to help make a difference really keeps me grounded, but at the same time it’s a total trip! There’s a lot of my bathing suits out there!
I love sharing my story with people who care and being a part of the community educating consumers about the concept of slow fashion. It’s a big leap for some people to get past the idea of spending three or four times the price of a suit they would otherwise just pick up at a local store. But when I get to help explain the impact of choosing the hand-made suit, see them open their minds to this slow fashion concept and then actually make better choices as a result, it is so rewarding.
What's something you've been surprised by on your entrepreneurial journey?
You hear the horror stories about people who have tried to start businesses and they are met with all sorts of adversity and negativity along the way. My experience has been the exact opposite of that. The most surprising thing then, is how supportive everyone around me has been of my plans for Saturday Swimwear. From the team I interned with in college who offered me a full time job, to the models and photographers I work with, to the broader maker community, everyone has been like “Hell ya, you go girl, I’m here to help however I can.” It’s incredibly uplifting and empowering to know I’m surrounded by so many supportive people who care about what I’m doing. That community believing in me makes me feel unstoppable, which is a pretty surreal experience. But then there are absolutely days when my imposter syndrome comes on hard and I question everything from my business plan to my designs. It’s then I come back to where I’ve been and the people around me who are just as stoked about Saturday Swimwear as I am. That’s what’s so unique about the maker community - not only does everyone want you to succeed, they also go out and advocate for you. It’s such an uplifting community and one I am so grateful to be a part of.
If you could collaborate with anyone, who would it be?
There are so many amazing artists in the world I’d love to collaborate with, but honestly I’m super stoked to have the opportunity to collaborate with Cara Naylor of Charlie November Design. Cara is a good friend of mine here in Bend, and someone I am so inspired by. She is an incredibly talented artist and it’s been really rad to watch her discover her medium, what she loves, and what inspires her. That process has been one in which she’s grown in her space, herself, and her art, and this collaboration is a direct extension of that. Launching my very first artist series with Cara has been nothing less than amazing.
If you could wave a magic wand and fix one thing about our culture today, what would it be?
My short answer would be to fix fast fashion. Ideally it would never have existed in the first place, but since it does, my dream is for consumers to open their eyes and realize the horrible impact fast fashion is having on people and our world, and then do something about it. If we all made purchasing decisions based on our values and demanded transparency from brands, our world would be radically, positively, different.
What are you excited about right now?
Without a doubt, it’s launching my first artist series. Collaborating with a local, female artist to co-create a suit is something I’ve dreamed of doing from the very beginning. When I first started the company I was using other people’s prints because as much as I had always wanted to design my own, I didn’t know how. When my friend took a surface pattern design course and I saw what she was creating, I knew we needed to make something together. It’s been an amazing learning process to see how she figures each design out, and what she came up with for Saturday Swimwear is just so cool. I can’t wait to share it!
This article was written by Lauren Hokenson.