Building a Brand That Solves a Problem 94% of Women Struggle With

What if the thing you thought made you different was actually something almost every woman experiences?

In this episode of Lemonade Leaders, we explore how one founder turned a common yet unspoken issue, breast asymmetry, which affects 94% of women, into a purpose-led business transforming women’s confidence. Kate Taylor is the founder of Evenly, a supportive community that unites women and provides effective, non-surgical solutions for breast asymmetry.

From engineering innovative bra inserts to creating a supportive community, this conversation dives into:

•  Turning lived experience into a brand with purpose
•  Why women’s health conversations still face stigma
•  The realities of building a business as a mother
•  Finding fulfilment through helping others

A powerful reminder that the best ideas often start with solving your own problem, and helping others along the way.

Learn more about Kate and Evenly on the website and Instagram.

Find us on TikTok and Instagram @lemonadeleaders

Transcript

Riannon: 0:00

Welcome to Lemonade Leaders, the podcast about conversations that do good and feel good. I'm your host, Riannon Palmer, founder of Lem-uhn, a feel-good PR agency for brands that care. Each episode, I'll be chatting to brilliant people who've turned life's lemons into something meaningful. Today I'm joined by Kate Taylor, founder of Evenly a Business that supports women with breast asymmetry through innovative products and a supportive community inspired by her own experience of struggling to find a bra that fit. Kate has built a brand that is transforming lives. In this episode, we talk about how personal journey fueled the creation of evenly and how the company is helping women find confidence, comfort, and connection. Hi Kate. Thank you so much for coming on the podcast today. Hi, Riannon. Thank you for having me. It's really, interesting to hear your story. I think it's one that so many women have experienced themselves that it's. Find a different solution, but you were gonna find a solution that really worked for a woman and people with breasts and launch a company like you. Me.

Kate: 1:08

Thank you. Yeah. I mean, I myself have breast assymetry, which obviously has led me to, to find the business, but I didn't realize to start with that. It is so common. I used to really struggle with it, but assumed it was just something. That was unique to me and a problem for me, and I've, I've since learned that 94% of women have asymmetry. So, I mean, none of us are perfectly symmetrical. our hands, our feet, our faces aren't symmetrical. I'm not sure why we expect our breasts to be, but, it's, it's incredibly common. It's just not very spoken about. So yeah, it's been a real journey of, realization, that's, led me to get here, but I'm very, I'm very glad to be here and to be helping all those ladies that, that do struggle with it.

Riannon: 1:53

And what was the frustration that led you to think there wasn't a solution that was already out there and you needed to create something yourself?

Kate: 2:01

Well, I'll go back a bit further actually in, in the kind of story, because it actually all started with feat. so I sort of had long struggled with my, my corporate career and finding satisfaction through that. And so I guess to go even further back, I, started in it. that was my background. I went on to work for. BM, but just really struggled quite soon to find a sense of satisfaction in the work that I was doing. I then pivoted and went on to work in sort of more digital marketing type roles. I wanted to be doing something a bit more kind of, creative still on the IT side. Spent some time aboard, lived in, Canada, Australia, and then started working still in this kind of desperate attempt to find some kind of passion behind the work that I was doing. Wanted to work for animal charity. So I went on to work for, a small animal charity over here that, that rescues orangutan belt in Indonesia, and then went on to work for wwf. And found some satisfaction in that I was working for charities and helping with a wider mission, but still was really struggling with getting that kind of sense of passion and purpose. And so I, this is all to kind of set the context of, then that's what led me to set to thinking, right? I, I want to start a business. I want to do something that helps people. I wanna find a solution to a problem. I used to create, I used to have a, a kind of notebook of ideas and things that I could explore, and one that I sort of focused on for a time was around shoes and feet. So I have one foot that's a different size to the other. Again, really, really common. I mean, I used to find it really frustrating how obviously you buy shoes in same size pairs, but one would just never fit properly. It was always falling off and I thought, okay, maybe this is something I could, to help solve a problem and maybe this is something I could explore. And then when I started talking to people about the idea, I realized that actually so many women that I spoke to said, you know, shoes are a bit of a pain, but brass are a bigger problem. I can't find a bra that fits both of my breasts well. And I'd long had that problem. So I used to do what a lot of ladies do, which is wear a bra that fit my smaller side well. But then I would have this kind of bulge muffin top kind of thing going on, on the other side. So I, I just thought I was a bit strange. I didn't understand why, I, I had to be careful about kind of what clothes I would wear and. Actually once I realized that actually this is a really common experience for women and no one's talking about it, no one's doing anything about it, I thought, right, there's my, there's my purpose. This is where I can make a difference. So yeah, that's really kind of what led me to, to, to identify that that's where I wanted to focus my attention. And I. First of all started with, a bra design for asymmetry. So in my naivety, because I have no background in lingerie or retail or design, I thought right. Give it a year, I'll have designed a bra for asymetry and we can get it out to market. We can, you know, just, start making a difference. I had no idea that lingerie design is incredibly complex. You know, a bra is a piece of engineering and to support the, the way, and the distribution of the chest. So, I did go on to create a bra design, and I got a patent for that. When a, innovate UK women in. Innovation award. so really proud of everything I achieved there. But as I went through that kind of journey, I realized that actually designing a one solution, IEA bra to help these ladies, actually would mean that they would need to, they'd be restricted to only wearing that style of bra. Yeah, they would be, if it's not to their taste or their style or it doesn't work with the outfit that they're wearing, they're still at loss. So actually I went on to design bra balances, and subtle shapers, which are silicon in bra, in inserts that balance both the weight and shape of the breast. So they allow the bra to evenly distribute the weight and obviously give a nice, smooth, natural symmetrical appearance. And then they can be worn in any type of bra. So it gives that lady full flexibility. They can also be worn swimming.

Riannon: 6:16

Wow, that's incredible. Swimming. You wouldn't think that they'd be able to do

Kate: 6:20

that. Yeah, and 'cause what I realized quite early on, so when I was working on the bra design, I set up a Facebook group for, for bra asymetry, it's called the Uneven Titty Committee. I was quite tongue and cheek with the name. I love the name. Yeah. I thought, well let's just, I really was keen right from the off to hear from ladies that struggle with this, because obviously I had my experience, but they wanted to hear different people's experiences. What things were they trying to overcome? The challenges of asymmetry and built this Facebook community and quickly realized that it's a very broad spectrum of impacts that something like breast asymmetry can have. So there's the physical aspects. So there's the. Neck, shoulder pain caused by the misdistribution there's posture problems. There was a lady I heard from who'd had to undergo spinal surgery because Oh wow. The kind of, the way that she'd had to hold herself for so long. And then there's all the psychological aspects, people that are really struggling with self-confidence, anxiety, really holding themselves. Back in life. So, women that wouldn't go swimming with their children or, wouldn't enter the dating world or just really feeling very, very self-conscious. So that's why I wanted to make sure that any solution that I bought to market would, go as far as possible to help all these women with, these varying. Challenges that they're facing as a result of their breast asymmetry. So it's important to me, like, say that it could be worn swimming, it could be worn in any bra. It's, it's clear so that it's a lot of sort of, partial prosthetics, which are, is kind of a common term in the post. Breast cancer sphere, which is this sort of, a similar product, but more for that kind of medical situation. They're often a very generic, beige color and not very inclusive, not very affordable, not very accessible to size yourself. So I wanted to make sure that I was addressing all of those things and, and just making sure that I could, like I say, solve the challenges for as many different women as possible.

Riannon: 8:21

Yeah, it's incredible and it's, it's crazy when you said was it 95% of women have asymmetric breast.

Kate: 8:27

Yeah. Yeah. So 90, 94, but yeah, there's varying studies. I lean on that figure 'cause it, it came out of the, the sort of wild leading breast health research, group down in Portsmouth. But there's, there's varying studies that show varying degrees of asymmetry because I guess it depends where you draw the line, because like I say, no, two brass is symmetrical, perfectly symmetrical. So it depends kind of where you judge that asymmetry. Another sort of quite shocking statistic is that about 38% of women struggle to find a bra that fits because of their asymmetry. So although obviously the prevalence of asymmetry is almost universal amongst women, for a lot of ladies they can make, they can tighten the strap on one side, they might choose to wear a stretchy cut bra that can accommodate a difference, or maybe it just doesn't impact them. They're not conscious of it or that they're not worried about it, which is great. For about 38% they report. Struggling with, with finding the bra that fits.

Riannon: 9:26

I think it's one of those things, again, often when it's created for women, there's been less research and development to create solutions, unfortunately. That's why I was thinking when you were saying it was 94% of people, but you wouldn't think it because no one is having this conversation. Really, it. If it was something else that was 94% of 50% of the population, everyone would be talking about it and there would be a solution. But I think maybe there's still taboos, especially around women's bodies, when it comes to things like periods and breasts and the menopause. So there's not these conversations that are being had, but obviously we need to have these conversations so there's more solutions and there

Kate: 10:08

that's. About what I'm now trying to do with Evenly as a brand is we call it Break the Taboo. it's, I love a, they're so good. but you know, it's a really big. The work that I'm trying to do and sort of where I get that sense of fulfillment that I was missing before is that I want it, it shouldn't be so shrouded in secrecy. It shouldn't be a topic that invokes, you know, embarrassment or shame, but yet it really is. But by having conversations, by having, you know, the Facebook group, community, social communities. Around our brand. So we're having more conversations, we're sharing more experiences, and it's really wonderful because the sort of most common piece of feedback that we get is that people just feel relieved to know they're not alone. You know, that in and of itself, just to see asymmetry represented, goes a long way to, to reassuring people and helping people. And then the fact that there is this. There's a solution out there that doesn't rely on them changing their body. So that's another thing with with evenly, is I wanted to be clear from the offset. I'm not, as a brand, we're not suggesting that there's anything wrong with asymmetry. You know, you are beautifully unique and you know, made as you are. If you choose to have surgery to resolve asymmetry, obviously that's a very personal choice that some people do go down. and you know, we facilitate and support a lot of conversations around that in the group, but I wanted to offer people an alternative and I purposely called the products bra balances rather than breast balances because it's not, it's, it's to help your bra do its job. It's not to correct anything about your breast or your body. It really is just to help the bra function properly. Very intentional, but also very fed by the community and the stories that I hear and sort of understanding the where these insecurities have come from. But yeah, like you say, women's women's health and women's issues in general are not, are not widely spoken about, but I think what's really positive is that is starting to change. There's a lot of, really great conversations happening around menopause, et cetera. So, we're hoping to really lead the charge in terms of what this, this aspect of breast health.

Riannon: 12:23

Yeah, definitely. And you were mentioning before about you can have different size feet as well. Is it common that someone has one side of their body that is a different size to the other side?

Kate: 12:33

I'm not aware of any research that sort of, any correlation in that way, but I mean, there are so. This is something else that kind of came to light when I started evenly is that I, I discovered a lot of reasons for asymmetry that I didn't really appreciate exist, and one of which is Poland syndrome, which is a condition that nothing to do with the country, Poland, but named after the doctor. That first. Discovered it, but it's where somebody who can be born with an underdevelopment of particularly chest muscle on one side, sometimes it can also affect their arm and their hand, but in ladies that have P syndrome, often they can have no other symptom, no other, they can go their whole life not knowing they have maybe not got a muscle on one side, but the first they'll notice is when breast develop. doesn't develop at the same rate as the other breasts, and they don't know fully why that is, because, it sh to do with the pectoral muscle underneath, but they dunno how that is affecting the breast tissue. But, there's conditions such as, as that, which I just was not aware of, and again, it, it deemed quite a rare condition, but I think it's rare because it's very underdiagnosed in, in that respect. So, other reasons, obviously I myself have natural asymmetry. We do support a lot of ladies that have gone through obviously breast cancer. That's where most people think of when I talk about uneven breast. They think, oh yeah, breast cancer, they understand that that often leads to differences in size, but there's breastfeeding that can often lead to asymmetry. Babies tend to prefer one side. We don't have an equal number of milk ducks in both of our breasts. Oh, that's so interesting. Yeah, so, so, but yeah, puberty, there's other sort of breast health. Such as tubular breasts. so lots of different things throughout, the sort of spectrum of a woman's life where even if she's a, fairly symmetrical at one point in her life, she may go through a hormone fluctuation, she might go through the menopause, a weight change, and each breast might respond differently to that and therefore she may become more asymmetrical. So I think it's, yeah, important for people to be, aware of. We also support a lot of ladies where they've had, if they have gone through breast treatment, for breast cancer, they might have reconstruction and they may end up fairly symmetrical following that reconstruction. a couple of years down the line, a slight hormone fluctuation or a weight fluctuation, a breast that's previously had surgery and or radiation treatment. Won't respond, in the same way as the other breast. So again, it's, it's very much something that can come and go and can change. And, as, as women's bodies do, they do fluctuate, but this is one particular aspect.

Riannon: 15:07

Yeah. and I was thinking as well when you were talking, was there any complications of. Challenges that came up when you were developing the actual product, because I know that you wanted it to do several things. So it's always difficult. If you just want something to do one thing, it's, it's hard enough, but when you want it to achieve a lot of different goals, it can always be a bit more tricky.

Kate: 15:25

Yeah. I think, you know that I did have a lot of challenges when trying to develop the sort of the bra design because, I wanted it to assist in the weight distribution. So to balance the, the weight of the breast, but also the appearance. And that is actually, I, I had various solutions and designs that we worked around to, sort of balance the appearance of the breast. Yeah. Adding in the kind of the weight aspect was challenging. And like I mentioned, trying to find a solution that was more universal for everyone. So something that wouldn't restrict them to a certain style. There was a lot of time and money spent on RD and exploring lots of solutions, which, sometimes, is, is hard as a founder, to let go of that sunk cost fallacy where you, you spend a lot of time focusing on one thing only to then realize you need to let it go and have, yeah. So there's been some moments of that and times where. Since starting the business, I've had to go through a bit of a rollercoaster of, sometimes giving it more of my attention than not. I've, had my daughter since starting the business and things happen in life. So it goes through phases of focus on development.

Riannon: 16:35

Having your daughter, did that give you a new perspective for the, the moms that potentially were in the group that had had some breast imbalances because of having children or breastfeeding and different things like that?

Kate: 16:47

Yeah, I think it did. Yeah. I mean, I, I had an awareness that it, it was, it was something that could happen through breastfeeding, but I think. Breastfeeding is something that's like a lot of things. It's really hard to wrap your head fully around it and understand it until you do it. And so, everything sounds, it's all very conceptual until you actually live it. And then realize that there's a lot of challenges that that can come with that whole perinatal period and the effects on your breasts and, mastitis and other things that can, that can happen. But yeah, it did, it did give me another appreciation. But I think what's been really lovely is having a business that, a, that I'm really passionate about and, and gives me that sense of purpose, but also being my own boss and being able to work around my daughter and yeah, choose to grow. I've grown the business. Very organically and slowly I've bootstrapped, I've not taken on outside investment because I want to make sure that I can manage it alongside, being a mom and, everything else that I have going on in my life. So I think, that's been really, really great.

Riannon: 17:53

Yeah, I think it's really interesting. I always find that, women that start businesses have start, because they've seen a purpose and a need for a business and they wanna create something that's better. And then obviously there's that flexibility thing with lots of working moms, but also just everyone I think in society these days is wanting more flexibility and control over their schedules and prioritizing happiness, and how important work is to that as well, rather than that, old behavior where it's just slog it out and work a million hours a week.

Kate: 18:22

Exactly. Yeah. Yeah, I know, I know you can resonate with that through your journey I think it's, it's really important, but it's, it's a really hard leap to make and especially it can feel impossible until you can identify the passion that you want to follow. I think for a long time, I. Around, like I say, coming out of my corporate job and then working for charities and spending time abroad and things. I was very much just in a state of not really knowing and feeling a bit lost, if I'm honest, as to where I could really make a difference. So when I finally settled on. Is now obviously evenly, but that has a, as a whole kind of passion project, it, it just felt right. But it is, I can put myself back in those shoes of, of years of feeling very lost, and very anxious and not sure that I would ever land on something that I would ever want to get out of bed and get on within the morning, and feel happy and positive about the difference that I'm making. yeah, I feel very fortunate that I found that.

Riannon: 19:21

Yeah, it makes such a difference. I think. you speak to lots of people, especially in the job market, how it's at the minute and work culture, kind of going back a little bit to that pre pandemic and it makes me so thankful and grateful that I like doing what I do. Obviously as a founder, there's highs and lows that come with it, that the flexibility and control is, is very rewarding. Yeah,

Kate: 19:38

definitely

Riannon: 19:39

And what have you got planned for the next few years? Have you got any, more developments or, or partnerships?

Kate: 19:45

So, I think, so one of the things I would love to do is, so although I designed the bra and then kind of pivoted towards the products that we have now, there was some really great technology and innovation that went into that bra design. So actually now I'm looking at whether I can use that in a, in a new type of bra insert. So it would some of the same benefits bra. Very unique type of insert. So that's really exciting to know that I haven't kind of left all that innovation completely on the table. I've, I've picked it back up and see if I can bring it to light in a slightly different way. Also, looking at sort of expanding internationally. So one thing, ladies struggle with this, the world over. So, it's obviously not a UK centric problem, breast asymmetry. and there's a lack of a solution. Pretty much everywhere. Women are in a similar boat. so although, we do accept orders internationally on the website, it's it's sometimes been challenging to reach that markets. So we're, focused on growing out in North America and Europe. I've got immediate plans to, to better serve those markets. yeah. Getting into more, more fitting rooms, working with more stores, making sure that ladies are in the best fitting bra from the start, and then our inserts can, sort of the cherry on the top to make sure that that fit is really working well. So we're trying to, as well expand more into kind of brick and mortar. So I've got a lot of ambition, but I try not to, try not to set myself too rigid gold because yeah, as, as you'll know, you have to, you have to pivot a lot in business and, and therefore, I think sometimes if you. If you set yourself a goal and you get too fixated on it, you kind of can forget the bigger picture. Yeah. And miss opportunities that would actually have greater

Riannon: 21:34

benefit. Definitely. It's really interesting that you said about the getting into more, bra shops 'cause it's such a natural fit. Obviously people are coming into these shops and trying on bras when they're disappointed, they're probably not gonna be buying the bras as well. So if it's a solution for both parties, it makes such a lot of sense.

Kate: 21:50

Yeah, yeah, we've done some, well, we're stocked with about a hundred independent bra fitters, boutiques, et cetera, in various different countries, which is great. And then we've done some, popup shops, atmo. so it's great to be out on the high street. and exactly that. We've seen ladies that have come in for a fitting, and because we've been able to cater to their asymmetry and they've not been restricted to just certain types of brass that might sort of disguise it. They've then gone away. They've not only got their evenly, bra balancer, but they've gone on to buy lots of brass swimwear, and, you know, had a really positive, uplifting experience. I see that being a really great way to, to reach these women and, and try and transform their bra shopping experience.

Riannon: 22:32

Amazing. I mean, it's really crazy to look back on where you were back then. You obviously wanted to always start a purpose business and take your personal experiences, as inspiration, but now to look at all that you've done, which is something that we don't often do as founders. Actually, we're so busy building the business that we forget to take a glance back and think the incredible work. But what would you say to someone who was in a similar position to, you wanted to start a purpose of their business. Maybe they've had a, their own lived experience. It's kind of quite often it's like, what do I do now?

Kate: 23:04

Yeah. I think my advice would be to just start exploring things. So if, if, if you were in a similar situation to me where, I wasn't happy with my sort of corporate career, I was getting some satisfaction by, certainly by working with charities and things, but then still not feeling like something was right. I think I just started doing things. I just started, I just never stopped thinking about it and talking about it. So although I sort of, I obviously kept my, my day job right up until a sort of point where I could make a switch to running the business. But for the longest time, I explored evenly and the broad design and all of that side of things alongside. My day job and, and I tried lots of different things. Like I say, it really wasn't the only sort of idea that I explored. I really thought quite broadly about lots of different things and, you know, explored each one to a point where I could kind of rule it out, or in, so I think it's being open-minded to the fact that, you might have to try a few different things. You might have to think of, sort of explore different opportunities. But certainly if you can do something that. It's rooted in your own lived experience. I think it, it definitely makes it easier to feel passionate about it and connected to it because it's something that you, you can understand through yourself.

Riannon: 24:23

Yeah, definitely can resonate with that. And where can people find you if they would like to find out more about you and evenly?

Kate: 24:29

So the website is get evenly com and our social handles are, we're evenly, so we're on Instagram and Facebook. I love how

Riannon: 24:38

you've got the social handles the same across all platforms because it's not that easy sometimes.

Kate: 24:43

No, we do try to, and the breast day symmetry, Facebook group as I mentioned before, is the uneven

Riannon: 24:50

amazing. Thank you so much for sharing your story and being really open about it as well today. Well, thank

Kate: 24:55

you so much for having me, Riannon. I really appreciate it.

Riannon: 25:01

If you enjoyed today's episode of Lemonade Leaders, hit follow and like for weekly episodes. Until next time, keep making your own lemonade.