How Jaclyn Fu Defied the Bra Industry and Built Up Women’s Confidence by Focusing On Her Niche

The entrepreneur launched her direct-to-consumer bra brand, Pepper, in 2017.

Jaclyn Fu / Courtesy of Jaclyn Fu

Growing up, Jaclyn Fu was incredibly self-conscious of her body. Self-described as lanky and flat-chested, she struggled to feel confident in her own skin. In her adulthood, she began asking herself why: was her body the problem, or was the industry making her feel this way?

“ This is where my now cofounder Lia [Winograd] and I started exploring this question,” Fu tells SI Swimsuit. “What we learned was most bra companies that are mass marketed in the U. S. design for 36C, which means if you’re any bigger or any smaller than that, those bras weren’t really made for your body—which explains why if you are larger-chested or if you’re smaller-chested, you just hate your bra because it wasn't meant for you.”

In 2017, Fu and Winograd created Pepper, a brand dedicated to producing great-fitting bras for women with small chests, sizes AA through B. Pepper takes into account pain points Fu herself has experienced, from gaps in her cups to uncomfortable underwire.

Pepper / Courtesy of Jaclyn Fu

“There wasn’t really a brand that was making bras that helped small-chested women just feel great about their body as it was, and that’s when Pepper was officially born,” Fu states. When the brand launched its prototype on Kickstarter in ’17, Pepper met 100% of its funding goal within the first 10 hours.

Today, Pepper offers everything from strapless bras to T-shirt bras, along with underwear, athleisure and lingerie, and Fu credits her ability to truly understand those aforementioned pain points of the community with her company’s success.

“For the first time, it’s someone who’s experienced the pains of being small-chested women and turning that into a product that makes them feel exactly how they want to feel. Not this mega bra company saying ‘this is what sexy is,’” Fu explains. “It’s someone who is saying, ‘I know you want to feel like the best version of you authentically, there’s nothing about your body that has to change.’ I think that has been the single most innovative messaging that our audience has not heard from other bra companies.”

Pepper / Courtesy of Jaclyn Fu

The fast growth Pepper has experienced has required Fu and Winograd to “learn a lot of hard lessons” in order to keep up with the business, from building the brand itself to building a team. The cofounders didn’t hire their first full-time employee until January of 2020, and currently have 45 full-time employees on staff. Having one another to lean on, Fu says, has been an integral part of the brand’s success, and she is no stranger to overcoming imposter syndrome as an entrepreneur.

“ As someone who is starting a business for the first time, growing a business for the first time, building a team for the first time, there have been so many moments where it would be the first time I encountered a specific problem or a challenge that I’ve never solved before,” Fu explains. “And in that moment, I might question myself, ‘Do I have the right skills or knowledge to overcome this problem?’ But once you get over it the first time, the second time you feel a lot more confident.”

Ultimately, what has allowed Pepper to succeed throughout the last seven years in business is the brand’s unwavering commitment to serving their target audience.

“ For the first time, [consumers] feel seen by a brand, and for the first time it feels like their body is not the problem,” Fu says. “I think they were taught that being small-chested was a bad thing, something to be embarrassed about ... and so that is a life-changing perspective to have. Like, wait: my body is perfect the way it is. It’s the industry that has to change.”

Heidi Zak Created ThirdLove to Help Women Find the Perfect-Fitting Bra. light. Next. Heidi Zak How She Built It