Small business owner Jen Swendseid started with passion and purpose.
Her business, Heart & Core, was inspired by a 2007 shopping trip for a sports bra for Swendseid's late mother. Bonnie Severson was larger chested and also had sensitivity issues due to a battle with breast cancer.
Swendseid and her sister in 2009 launched a business to design and manufacture a sports bra that would provide high-impact support without uncomfortable underwire. They designed the "Bonita" bra and later the "Elisabeth" bra.
Swendseid also learned that commercial success takes more than passion.
"We were sure motivated," said CEO Swendseid. "I still feel sometimes like we're still in a start-up mode, seven years later. At least I'm making fewer mistakes. And we're surrounded by good people and we're going in the right direction."
It's been a challenging journey, including a diversification move into military contracts at the suggestion of a banker that ended up saving the company. And refocusing their high-end bras from the crowded sports-apparel market to the medical-product market.
The business has consumed about $130,000 invested by Swendseid, her sister, Lara Severson, and her dad, a retiree who lives in Des Moines.
Swendseid, 41, the mother of two children, also credits her husband, Travis Swendseid, with patience and support. His salary and benefits have covered the family and enabled Jen to continue her quest for what could be a cash-flowing operation this year.