Jen Gotch: Getting Serious About Fun – Well Made E27

Ban.do is a lifestyle brand geared toward fun. That takes shape in the form of cheeky graphic tees, colorful planners and flashy sunglasses. All of this apparel and accessories are born from the mind of Jen Gotch, the Chief Creative Officer of Ban.do.

After a laundry list of various jobs, Jen launched the brand in 2008 with her friend Jamie Coulter. In 2012, Jen sold the brand to Lifeguard Press and in the past few years, it's grown from 4 to 40 people. Even with the boom of growth, they've managed to keep the voice of Ban.do genuine and authentic. It's that voice — Jen's voice — that's led to Ban.do's familiarity and nostalgia that people really connect with.

“We’re trying to take a positive approach on being cool.”

“Valuing the connection over the transaction was really important me.”

Often, Jen's voice is synonymous with Ban.do's, but she's built an incredible list of her own 167k Instagram followers. On her feed and Instagram stories, she holds nothing back. She's extremely open about her obsessions, crushes, and deep dark late night thoughts. Even in the business of disco balls and glitter, being successful in business (and in life) requires some brutal real talk.

On this episode, Jen talks about her fearless approach to social sharing, the relentless pursuit of an audience, the crazy growth of the brand, and Jen's big ideas about the future of Ban.do.

Also mentioned on the show:

Header photo by Michael Sullivan.

You can find this and all future episodes on iTunes, Google Play, and here on the Lumi blog. This episode was edited by Evan Goodchild.