Megan Bruneau: Daryl-Ann, welcome to the show.

Daryl-Ann Denner: Thank you so much for having me. I’m really excited to be here.

What Is nuuds?

Megan Bruneau: For people who aren’t familiar with nuuds, how do you describe it? What makes it different from other apparel brands?

Daryl-Ann Denner: nuuds is a women’s apparel brand built around the idea that we design for bodies — not for sizes. So many women feel like *they* are the problem when clothes don’t fit, when really it’s the clothes. We started nuuds to solve that.

Daryl-Ann Denner: Our sizing intentionally feels different because it’s created from real fit data, not just traditional grading rules. A medium should fit like a medium on real bodies, not just on a fit model. And every single style is tested across a very wide range of shapes, heights, proportions, and sizes before we ever launch it.

The Origin Story: Frustration → Innovation

Megan Bruneau: What inspired you to create a brand around this? Was there a particular moment where you realized, “Okay, something has to change”?

Daryl-Ann Denner: Honestly, it started with my own frustration. I’ve always loved clothes, but I hated how inconsistent sizing was. I’d be a small in one brand, an XL in another, a medium somewhere else — and none of that reflected my actual body. I kept thinking: “Why is this so hard? Why does shopping make women feel shame?”

Daryl-Ann Denner: And then I realized: the problem wasn’t me. It wasn’t women. It was the clothes. Clothes were being designed around unrealistic proportions and outdated measurements. Once I saw that, I couldn’t stop thinking about how to fix it.

Why nuuds Looks and Fits “Different”

Daryl-Ann Denner: When we launched nuuds, we committed to doing it differently. Every single item is fit-tested on multiple bodies — women with curves, without curves, tall, short, postpartum, athletic, plus-size, everything. We want clothing to adjust to *you*, not the other way around.

Megan Bruneau: That sounds like a huge amount of testing.

Daryl-Ann Denner: It is. It slows down our development process, but it’s the only way to get a fit women actually feel good in.

From Nursing School to Social Media

Megan Bruneau: Before nuuds, you weren’t working in fashion at all. Can you walk us through your path? What were you doing before launching this brand?

Daryl-Ann Denner: I was actually planning to be a nurse. I went to school for it. That was the plan. I thought I’d work in healthcare forever. There was no part of me that imagined I’d be an entrepreneur — let alone in fashion.

Daryl-Ann Denner: But during nursing school, I started posting outfits on Instagram just for fun. Literally, I would share what I wore to class or date night. There was no strategy. No “influencing.” This was before that was really a thing.

Daryl-Ann Denner: And people just… started following. It grew slowly at first, and then faster. Eventually brands reached out. I started making affiliate commissions. Before I knew it, social media was a real job.

Finding Her Voice as a Creator

Megan Bruneau: Did you always know you wanted to create content around clothes?

Daryl-Ann Denner: Not at all. I just loved fashion — it was fun. And women responded to it. They’d say, “Thank you for showing clothes on a body that looks like mine.” I wasn’t a size 0 influencer. I was a normal woman with a normal body, sharing what I liked. That resonated.

Daryl-Ann Denner: Over time, I realized women trusted my recommendations. They’d ask questions, DM me for links, ask for sizing help. I didn’t realize it then, but nuuds really started there — in all those conversations.

The First Attempt at Building a Product

Megan Bruneau: Did you always know you wanted to create your own brand?

Daryl-Ann Denner: I knew I wanted to build something, but I didn’t know what. My husband and I actually tried a couple of small business ideas before nuuds — nothing major, just dipping our toes into entrepreneurship. At the time, influencing was still my full-time thing.

Daryl-Ann Denner: But the more I worked with brands, the more I saw the gaps in the market. I’d get samples that didn’t fit right. I’d promote pieces I liked, but I always had feedback: “I wish this was softer,” “I wish the sleeves were longer,” “I wish the waist hit lower.”

Daryl-Ann Denner: Eventually the lightbulb went off: If I’m giving this much feedback to brands… maybe I should build the brand I wish existed.

Listening to the Audience as Data

Daryl-Ann Denner: My audience basically told me what nuuds should be without realizing it. Every DM, every sizing question, every “I wish this fit better” message — that was product research. Women were desperate for clothes that actually fit them.

Daryl-Ann Denner: So instead of guessing what the market wanted, I built the brand around what women were literally telling me every day.

The Moment nuuds Became Real

Megan Bruneau: Was there a moment where you thought, “Okay, this is going to be a real company?”

Daryl-Ann Denner: Yes — when we started fitting clothes on real women and I saw their reactions. These weren’t models; they were women who had never felt represented in fashion. They’d put something on and say, “Oh my gosh… this actually fits me.” That was the moment I knew we had something bigger than just another clothing line.

Daryl-Ann Denner: nuuds wasn’t about trends. It was about women feeling good in their bodies. And that has always been the heart of it.

The First Samples… Were a Disaster

Megan Bruneau: So take us into the very beginning of nuuds product development. What were those first
samples like?

Daryl-Ann Denner: Oh my gosh — horrible. Truly horrible. I still have some of them in a box because they’re almost funny now, but at the time I cried. I thought, “There’s no way I can build a clothing brand. I don’t know what I’m doing.”

Daryl-Ann Denner: The fabric was wrong, the fit was wrong, the stitching was wrong — everything was off. Nothing looked or felt the way I envisioned. I remember putting on one of the first pieces and thinking, “This is embarrassing. I can’t show this to anyone.”

The Fabric Learning Curve

Megan Bruneau: What was the hardest part about the early development process?

Daryl-Ann Denner: Understanding fabric. Fabric behaves so differently on a real body than it does on a hanger or in your mind. On paper something looks perfect, then the sample comes in and it’s like, “Nope. Absolutely not.”

Daryl-Ann Denner: I didn’t understand things like recovery, weight, drape, opacity — all the things that make a basic tee *feel* incredible instead of just looking cute online. I had to learn every single piece of that from scratch.

The Emotional Toll of “Everything Going Wrong”

Daryl-Ann Denner: I’m not exaggerating — I almost quit multiple times. I’d get a sample, hate it, and think, “Why am I doing this? I’m not qualified for this.”

Daryl-Ann Denner: When you’re used to succeeding in other areas, the constant failure feels devastating. I remember telling my husband, “I think I made a mistake. I should stick to influencing and leave clothing design to people who know what they’re doing.”

Why She Didn’t Quit

Megan Bruneau: What kept you going when everything was going wrong?

Daryl-Ann Denner: Honestly? The mission. I knew women needed this. I’d spent years in my DMs hearing women cry over clothes, cry over sizing, cry over how shopping made them feel about their bodies. I knew if I could figure this out, I could change something meaningful for them.

Daryl-Ann Denner: And my husband kept reminding me: “Every brand started with bad samples. Every founder felt like this.” Once I accepted that this wasn’t a sign I shouldn’t do it — just a sign I needed to keep iterating — it helped me push through.

When the First Good Sample Finally Arrived

Daryl-Ann Denner: Months later, we finally got our first good sample — I will never forget that moment. I put it on and thought, “Okay. This is nuuds. This is what I’ve been seeing in my head.” That gave me hope again.

Daryl-Ann Denner: It didn’t solve everything — but it proved it was possible. And once you see that possibility, you can’t unsee it.

When the Samples Finally Started Coming Together

Megan Bruneau: So after all those months of awful samples, what shifted? How did you finally get pieces you were proud of?

Daryl-Ann Denner: It wasn’t one thing — it was iteration. Dozens and dozens of rounds. We changed fabric mills, changed patterns, changed construction. Every time we fixed one problem, another would pop up. It was humbling.

Daryl-Ann Denner: But eventually, we got to a place where things actually fit the way they did in my head. The neckline was right, the shoulder placement was right, the fabric felt premium — all those little details finally clicked.

Funding the First Production Run

Megan Bruneau: How did you fund your first real production? That’s often the scariest part for new founders.

Daryl-Ann Denner: It was terrifying. Minimum order quantities are no joke. You have to commit to thousands of units of something you’ve literally never sold before. It feels like standing at the edge of a cliff.

Daryl-Ann Denner: We self-funded everything. Years of savings from influencing went into that first run — and then the second. I remember wiring money for production and thinking, “If this doesn’t sell… we’re in trouble.”

The Reality of Manufacturing Timelines

Daryl-Ann Denner: Manufacturing is slow. People don’t realize it can take six months just to get a fabric right, and then months for production. It’s not like digital products where you can change something overnight. Every tweak is expensive and time-consuming.

Daryl-Ann Denner: There were so many delays. So many times I thought, “This will never launch. I’m stuck in pre-launch forever.”

The Launch Strategy

Megan Bruneau: When you were finally ready to launch, what was your strategy?

Daryl-Ann Denner: We wanted the first drop to feel intentional, not rushed. I teased the brand slowly — sharing behind-the-scenes, fit testing, fabric swatches. Women were invested because they watched the process with me.

The Viral Moment That Changed Everything

Daryl-Ann Denner: The moment that really changed everything was a video I posted trying on our tees. It wasn’t planned. I filmed it in my bedroom. It was just me showing the fit and explaining why the neckline looked the way it did.

Daryl-Ann Denner: And it blew up. Women were tagging their friends saying, “THIS is the tee I’ve been looking for,” “Finally something that fits my chest,” “Is this the sisterhood of the traveling shirt?” — just hilarious, emotional reactions. That’s when I knew we hit something real.

Daryl-Ann Denner: The launch sold out in minutes. I was shaking. I cried. Years of stress and doubt — and then suddenly, everything validated in one day.

Why It Resonated

Daryl-Ann Denner: I think it resonated because it wasn’t about a shirt. It was about women finally feeling seen. Clothing has made women feel “wrong” for decades. nuuds flipped that and said, “It’s not you. It’s the clothes.”

When “Everything Sells Out” Sounds Amazing… Until It Isn’t

Megan Bruneau: So after that first viral moment and the immediate sell-out, what was happening behind the scenes for you emotionally and operationally?

Daryl-Ann Denner: It was insane. People think “sold out” is glamorous, but as a founder it is terrifying. Because selling out means you did not order enough inventory, and now you have thousands of customers waiting — impatiently — for the restocks.

Daryl-Ann Denner: I’d never dealt with that type of demand. We had women signing up for restock alerts in numbers I couldn’t believe. I went from hoping people would buy… to panicking that we couldn’t fulfill anything fast enough.

The Pressure to Keep Everyone Happy

Daryl-Ann Denner: The customer service pressure was enormous. Women were emailing saying, “When is the tee coming back? I’ve never found one that fits my body like that.” And I felt this mix of pride and suffocating anxiety — like I was personally letting them down every day it wasn’t restocked.

Daryl-Ann Denner: I wanted to meet everyone’s expectations immediately. But apparel doesn’t work like that. Manufacturing takes months. You can’t speed it up just because demand explodes overnight.

Hiring the First Team Members

Megan Bruneau: At what point did you realize you needed help — like actual employees, not just you and your husband figuring it out?

Daryl-Ann Denner: Immediately. I was drowning. Customer service alone was a full-time job. Managing inventory, emails, Instagram, production timelines — I couldn’t keep up. I hired our first team member out of desperation, honestly.

Daryl-Ann Denner: She jumped in and helped with everything. That role now is like five jobs, but at the time it was just about survival. I needed someone — anyone — who could take something off my plate.

Managing Customer Expectations in Real Time

Daryl-Ann Denner: One of the hardest realities was learning how to communicate with customers as we scaled. They were used to instant Amazon-level responses. But we were a two-person company trying to manage thousands of messages.

Daryl-Ann Denner: I had to get comfortable with not pleasing everyone. Some people were upset about wait times, upset about sellouts. And I had to detach enough to stay focused on solving the root problem — making more inventory — instead of reacting emotionally to every complaint.

The Emotional Whiplash of Success

Megan Bruneau: You mentioned earlier that sellouts weren’t purely joyful — can you say more about that?

Daryl-Ann Denner: Yes — the high of “We sold out!” lasted maybe 10 minutes. Then it was replaced by panic: “How do we get more inventory? How fast can we restock? What if women lose trust because we can’t meet demand?”

Daryl-Ann Denner: It’s a strange feeling to work so hard for a moment you dream about — and then when it happens, you’re overwhelmed instead of celebrating.

Trying to Stay Grounded

Daryl-Ann Denner: What helped was remembering why we were doing this. Women needed these clothes. And they were rooting for us — that made a huge difference. Even when we made mistakes or sold out too fast, customers were incredibly gracious.

Daryl-Ann Denner: But internally? It was one of the most stressful seasons of my life.

When Scale Exposes Weak Points

Megan Bruneau: Growing fast is exciting, but it also tends to reveal all the cracks in a business. Did you hit any major quality or production issues as nuuds scaled?

Daryl-Ann Denner: Oh, absolutely. The moment we scaled, we started seeing problems we had never seen before — literally because the volume made them visible. A fabric flaw that affects 20 customers feels manageable. A flaw that affects 2,000 customers is a crisis.

Daryl-Ann Denner: And that’s exactly what happened. One of our early reorders came in with inconsistencies — the fabric weight was off, the hand feel wasn’t right, the neckline construction wasn’t matching our original pattern. We didn’t catch everything during QC because the order was enormous, and honestly, we were inexperienced. It was a punch to the gut.

The Moment Customers Started Noticing

Daryl-Ann Denner: And then customers started DM’ing me. “Hey, this doesn’t feel the same.” “Did you change the fabric?” “Why does this neckline look different?” My stomach dropped every time. I knew they were right.

Daryl-Ann Denner: It was heartbreaking, because the whole point of nuuds was quality and consistency. And now the thing that mattered most was the thing slipping through our fingers.

Internal Panic, External Pressure

Megan Bruneau: How did you handle that emotionally?

Daryl-Ann Denner: Honestly? I panicked. I cried. I felt ashamed. I felt like I had let everyone down — the customers, my team, my audience, myself.

Daryl-Ann Denner: And because nuuds was born from my community, the pressure felt incredibly personal. People weren’t just buying clothes. They were trusting *me*. So when there was a mistake, I felt like I had betrayed that trust.

The Decision to Own It Publicly

Megan Bruneau: What did you do next?

Daryl-Ann Denner: I went online and told everyone the truth. I said, “We messed up. This isn’t our standard. We’re fixing it.” It was terrifying to be that vulnerable, but honesty was the only option.

Daryl-Ann Denner: And women responded with so much grace. They said, “Thank you for not gaslighting us. Thank you for acknowledging it.” I realized then that transparency builds loyalty faster than perfection ever could.

Repairing Trust Through Action

Daryl-Ann Denner: We pulled inventory. We refunded customers. We reworked the fabric. We went back to the factory and changed the QC process entirely. We added checkpoints, hired a dedicated quality manager, and started rejecting anything that wasn’t perfect.

Daryl-Ann Denner: It was expensive. Painful. Humbling. But it saved the brand. Women saw us take responsibility — not just say the right words.

What She Learned

Daryl-Ann Denner: That first crisis taught me more than any class or mentor ever could. I learned that problems get louder as you grow. I learned that shame can make you want to hide — but hiding makes everything worse. And I learned that customers don’t expect perfection. They expect honesty and effort.

Daryl-Ann Denner: After that moment, nuuds became a stronger company. I became a stronger founder. And our community became even more invested in us.

From “Doing Everything” to Actually Leading

Megan Bruneau: You mentioned earlier that you were involved in every single piece of the business. At what point did you realize that wasn’t sustainable — and that you needed a real team with real structure?

Daryl-Ann Denner: Honestly? After the first crisis. That was the moment I realized: “Okay, this is bigger than me throwing on every hat and sprinting.” We needed structure. We needed roles. We needed accountability. And I needed to stop being the bottleneck.

Daryl-Ann Denner: Up to that point, I was basically doing everyone’s job — not because I didn’t trust people, but because I didn’t know how *not* to. nuuds grew so fast that I just kept running, and suddenly I looked up and realized I was the ceiling.

The Burnout Breaking Point

Megan Bruneau: Did you hit burnout personally?

Daryl-Ann Denner: Oh, absolutely. I hit a point where I couldn’t tell if I was stressed or numb. I was answering Slack messages at all hours. I was doing fit checks, approving fabrics, writing copy, responding to customers, trying to be present for my kids… and I just crashed emotionally.

Daryl-Ann Denner: That’s when I knew something had to change — not for the business, but for me. If I burned out, nuuds burned out. We were that intertwined.

Redefining Roles (and Letting Go)

Daryl-Ann Denner: Letting go was hard. I love being in the details. I love our customers. I love designing. But you can’t lead a company while gripping every single task. So we started restructuring the team — not massively, but intentionally.

Daryl-Ann Denner: We hired people who were experts in areas where I was just “figuring it out.” We clarified who owned what. We put systems and processes in place. Suddenly things didn’t depend on me being available every second.

Daryl-Ann Denner: The best part? The company got *better*. That was humbling in the best way. Realizing that nuuds didn’t need me to micromanage — it needed me to lead.

Emotional Labor & Unlearning the “People-Pleaser CEO”

Megan Bruneau: You mentioned people-pleasing earlier. How did that play into leadership?

Daryl-Ann Denner: People-pleasing made everything heavier. I didn’t want to disappoint customers, employees, manufacturers — anyone. I would take on everyone’s emotions and carry them around like bricks.

Daryl-Ann Denner: I had to unlearn that. My job isn’t to keep people comfortable — it’s to lead with clarity and integrity, even when people don’t like every decision.

The Shift Into True CEO Energy

Daryl-Ann Denner: Once we restructured, something clicked. I started stepping into the CEO role rather than being the “chief doer of everything.” I focused on product vision, culture, long-term planning, building a higher-level team.

Daryl-Ann Denner: And honestly? nuuds took off in a new way. The business grew, I had more capacity, and our team felt supported instead of micromanaged.

What She Wishes She Had Learned Sooner

Daryl-Ann Denner: I wish I’d learned earlier that growing a company requires growing yourself. You can’t scale a business from the mindset you started it with. At some point you have to become the version of yourself that your next level of business needs.

How Motherhood Reshaped Her Priorities

Megan Bruneau: You’ve shared big parts of your evolution as a leader, and I’m curious how motherhood played into all of that. How did becoming a mom change the way you relate to work and to yourself?

Daryl-Ann Denner: Motherhood changed everything for me. Before kids, I would work constantly — nights, weekends, no boundaries. I poured myself into work because I had endless time and endless adrenaline. But once I had my kids, I couldn’t do that anymore. My energy needed to be split, and not evenly — my kids always come first.

Daryl-Ann Denner: That forced me to get really clear about what actually mattered in the business. If something wasn’t truly important, I let it go. And it helped me delegate so much more than I ever would’ve before. I literally didn’t have the hours to be in the weeds.

Letting Go of Old Versions of Herself

Megan Bruneau: Did you grieve the old version of you — the one who could grind endlessly?

Daryl-Ann Denner: Yes. A hundred percent. There was a version of me that could work until midnight every night, and I grieved her. Not because she was better — but because she had freedom I don’t have anymore.

Daryl-Ann Denner: And at the same time, I love this version of me. My kids forced me to become more balanced, more emotionally regulated, more thoughtful. My ambition looks different now. It’s quieter, but more powerful. I don’t chase everything anymore. I choose.

The Emotional Regulation Motherhood Demanded

Megan Bruneau: How did motherhood impact your emotional landscape as a leader?

Daryl-Ann Denner: My emotional regulation had to level up. Kids don’t care that you’re stressed about inventory or sales or manufacturing delays. They just want their mom. And that actually trained me to self-regulate faster and better.

Daryl-Ann Denner: Before kids, I’d let stress simmer and grow. Now I can feel myself getting overwhelmed and immediately ask, “What’s actually needed right now?” It made me a calmer CEO — because everything isn’t life or death anymore.

Boundaries as a Form of Love (Not Restriction)

Daryl-Ann Denner: I also learned that boundaries aren’t restrictive — they’re loving. Boundaries help me be a better mom, a better wife, a better CEO. They keep me from overcommitting or overidentifying with my work. Before motherhood, I had none. Now I’m intentional about where my energy goes.

Daryl-Ann Denner: I don’t answer work messages at 9 p.m. anymore. I’m not scrolling through Slack while my kids are telling me about their day. Those boundaries protect the version of me I actually want to be.

Redefining Ambition

Megan Bruneau: Has motherhood changed your relationship with ambition?

Daryl-Ann Denner: Completely. I used to think ambition meant speed, output, constant hustle. Now ambition means sustainability. It means creating a company I want to run in five years, not one that burns me out in one.

Daryl-Ann Denner: My ambition got smaller and bigger at the same time. Smaller because I stopped chasing everything. Bigger because I started building with intention rather than urgency.

Motherhood as the Most Unexpected Teacher

Daryl-Ann Denner: Motherhood made me more compassionate, more grounded, and more confident. It taught me I don’t have to prove anything by suffering or saying yes to everything. And weirdly, that made me more successful.

Daryl-Ann Denner: It gave me a deeper “why,” which helps on the days when the business feels heavy. I’m not chasing an identity anymore. I’m building a life.

The Advice She Wishes She Had When Starting nuuds

Megan Bruneau: Looking back at the version of you who was just starting nuuds — the one overwhelmed by samples and self-doubt — what would you tell her now?

Daryl-Ann Denner: I would tell her to trust herself. I spent so much time thinking other people knew better — manufacturers, experts, people who had been in the industry longer. And yes, expertise matters, but your intuition matters just as much. I ignored mine way too often in the beginning.

Daryl-Ann Denner: I’d also tell her that mistakes don’t mean you’re not cut out for this. Mistakes mean you’re building something real. Every brand people admire has a messy beginning — you just don’t see it on Instagram.

The Myth of “Effortless” Success

Megan Bruneau: What do you think is the biggest misconception people have about entrepreneurship?

Daryl-Ann Denner: That it’s glamorous. Or quick. Or linear. People see the highlights — the sellouts, the growth — but not the crying on the floor over bad samples, the sleepless nights over cash flow, the stress of disappointing customers when something goes wrong.

Daryl-Ann Denner: I think people underestimate how emotionally intense entrepreneurship is. It forces you to confront every insecurity you have. But it also grows you in ways nothing else does.

On Women, Clothing, and Feeling “Not Enough”

Megan Bruneau: You’ve mentioned that nuuds is about more than clothes. What do you wish women understood about their bodies and the way clothes are designed?

Daryl-Ann Denner: I wish women understood that there’s nothing wrong with their bodies. Truly. The sizing system is what’s broken — not you. Most brands fit clothes on one model and then scale up and down. That’s why so many women feel like they’re “between sizes” or “don’t fit the mold.” The mold was wrong from the beginning.

Daryl-Ann Denner: Clothing has made women feel “too big,” “too small,” “too curvy,” “not curvy enough” — when really the issue is the clothes, not their bodies. If nuuds can help even a fraction of women feel more at home in their bodies, that’s everything to me.

What She Wants Founders to Know

Megan Bruneau: For listeners building something or dreaming about it — what’s your message to them?

Daryl-Ann Denner: Start before you feel ready. You will never feel ready. The feeling comes later — after the evidence stacks up.

Daryl-Ann Denner: And don’t be afraid to pivot. nuuds is successful because we listened, adjusted, scrapped things that didn’t work, and tried again. Flexibility is not a weakness — it’s a superpower.

Her Personal Definition of Success Now

Daryl-Ann Denner: Success used to mean growth — more stores, more sales, more everything. Now it means peace. Joy. Time with my kids. Work I’m proud of. A team I love. If nuuds grows, amazing. If it stabilizes and just becomes a healthy company, also amazing.

Daryl-Ann Denner: Success isn’t the pace. It’s how it feels to live inside the life you’re building.

Closing

Megan Bruneau: Thank you for your honesty — and for sharing not just the triumphs but the truths behind them. I know so many founders are going to feel validated hearing this.

Daryl-Ann Denner: Thank you for having me. I loved this conversation so much.