Keeping ‘hot sleepers’ cool paid off for Calgary founder

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Lara Smith is the founder and chief executive officer of SOMÉ (formerly Lusomé), which makes luxury sheets and sleepwear with performance fabrics for “hot sleepers.” About 40 per cent of adults sleep hot, studies indicate.

Smith, who is based in Calgary, founded her firm about 10 years ago as a maker of sleepwear for women, then rebranded to SOMÉ a year ago to reflect the addition of men’s sleepwear, continuous-cooling sheets and collagen-infused sleep masks.

The inspiration for her business came when Smith’s sister was diagnosed with breast cancer, and the treatment caused night sweats. Smith wanted to make her more comfortable, but she couldn’t find any functional yet pretty nightgowns. Smith had an “aha” moment, and Lusomé was born (the name is an ancient Scottish word that means desirable).

Before starting her business, Smith worked in the corporate fashion world in Toronto for 23 years in positions at a luxury department store and Mark’s Work Wearhouse.

Where did you grow up?

I was born and raised in Edmonton. My childhood was about as good as it gets: I grew up with two younger sisters whom I adore and loving, supportive parents who were happily married for 49 years. My father had a successful career in finance, and my mom was in broadcasting before she decided to stay home to raise a family.

Did anyone talk with you about money or success when you were a kid?

My mom is strongly pro-feminist, and she encouraged me and my sisters to learn a second language in school, excel in sports and academics, and travel and experience the world. My grandfather owned a hardware store and passed down the value of hard work and being customer-focused. My dad would share his favorite story of my grandfather in the store: “If someone came into the store looking for a quarter-inch drill, what they actually wanted was to drill a quarter-inch hole.” The message was loud and clear, the idea of holding such deep respect for the customers we serve.

Growing up in my family, success was measured in connections, not money. I still don’t think I am successful in the conventional sense. To me, success is measured in the quality of my relationships and ability to positively connect with my loved ones.

You worked in the corporate world for 23 years. What type of work did you do?

As a young woman, the business side of fashion seemed so exotic to me. After university, where I studied economics and business, I moved from Edmonton to Toronto, the mecca of fashion and retail head offices in Canada. I landed a dream job working as a sales associate at Canada’s premier luxury department store, where my boss was the national buyer/manager. Our clientele was some of the wealthiest Canadians who needed wardrobes of clothing, accessories, luggage and shoes for their exotic lifestyles.

As I grew in my career, I learned how to read where the market was going, how to match customers’ taste levels with a product they would actually buy, anticipate demand, seek out and source innovative products and create consumption that would resonate with women on an emotional level.

My last corporate role was as “chief merchant” vice-president for the women’s business at Mark’s Work Wearhouse. When I started in 2004, women’s apparel for Mark’s was an $80 million annual business, and in eight years our team grew it to $250 million. Along the way I had the opportunity to learn a lot about what women want in clothing and what triggers them emotionally.

In retrospect this all turned out to be useful research for starting Lusomé. This was the most thrilling time in my career – we were growing so fast, we were nimble, acted entrepreneurial, travelled all over the world building million-dollar products and bringing them to market. I learned so much and I’m so grateful for my time at Mark’s.

What motivated you to start Lusomé?

When my sister was diagnosed with cancer, and her treatment prompted night sweats, I wanted to make her more comfortable. But I couldn’t find any functional yet pretty nightgowns. I recognized the need for sleepwear that would help women manage night sweats, and Lusomé was born. This was an underserved and desperate need in the market.

There are many causes of night sweats and hot flashes, such as postpartum, cancer treatment, thyroid problems, perimenopause and menopause. In fact, 80 per cent of all women will face night sweats at some point in their life.

After much research and drawing from my 20-plus years of experience in the women’s fashion industry (with an emphasis in textile sourcing and innovation), I uncovered a technology solution that would perform, and in the exquisite fabrics I had envisioned. From there, I developed our own proprietary technical brand, Xirotex. The Latin word xiro means dry; we needed to keep women dry.

Have you had any unplanned business pivots since you started?

Lusomé had our best year ever in 2019. We won the most awards, we received the most media accolades, and we had the longest lineups at our trade show in New York. Our technology takes four to six months to produce, and due to massive demand we placed our biggest inventory order ever up to that point in time. We were in scale-up mode, but sadly due to COVID-19 hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of inventory was made nearly useless.

Call it a pivot, a silver lining or tactical opportunism, here is what happens when you brainstorm with your super-smart 20-year-old son. We wanted to re-engineer our technical fabric normally used to make luxury pyjamas. So when the world was imploding, we gathered the brilliant textile gods that built Xirotex and gave them the challenge: Build us the most comfortable sleep mask with the highest protective quality. And Xirotex Health was born. Our hero product (released in mid-July 2020) is a mask with the ultimate marriage of protection and comfort. We are no longer producing this product as there isn’t the demand (thankfully!), but we now produce a collagen-infused sleep mask with anti-aging benefits.

It was around this time that my partner triggered a shotgun clause, which led to a corporate dispute. In hindsight, this was a blessing because the relationship didn’t allow me to innovate and explore growth outside North America. Once I bought out my former partner, thanks to a visionary angel investor who helped with advice and funds, we started to imagine a new type of company rooted in sleep health and technology wrapped in luxury.

What comes next for SOMÉ?

Fortunately, the signs are pointing in the right direction: Sales increased by 200 per cent every week this fall. We have raised some equity to accelerate innovation and growth internationally.

Our Canadian business represents about 23 per cent of overall sales with the balance being in the U.S. We plan to continue to invest our marketing efforts in the U.S. for the next 18 months and then we’ll expand overseas.

What is the biggest thing you have learned recently?

How much money and time it takes to build a brand properly. Sleep tech is not an inexpensive space, and it takes time. We are planting the right seeds and forming partnerships such as the ones we have with Naomi Watts skincare and Oura trackable rings that measure both fitness and sleep health.

Have you had any big winners in your personal investment portfolio over the years?

In terms of my personal investing I got very lucky doing some amateur home flips around 2004 before Calgary real estate started to explode. The returns on these investments paid off. This paid for my current home, set up an education fund for my children and provided capital for my business. My family got so far ahead financially!

What’s in your investment portfolio today?

I like being leveraged in the real estate market but I’m not active right now. My investment portfolio consists of a diversified mix of dividend-paying equities and my interest in SOMÉ. I have a son with special needs, and it is so important to set him up with the resources he will need, so I set up a disability savings plan for him.

What advice would you like to pass along to other women entrepreneurs or aspiring entrepreneurs?

Surround yourself with really smart people in different disciplines who will push back on you and challenge your thinking.

What do you do for fun?

Travel. In October I visited London for the first time in a decade. But even local travel is amazing – Lake Louise is a very spiritual place. I love to go anywhere that I can unplug for 48 hours with my partner and our kids: anywhere outside of my office is where I get creative. It’s a big world and I’ve got a big list of places I want to go!

Responses have been lightly edited for clarity and length.

Writer Barbara Stewart is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) with 30 years of investment industry experience. She spent five years as a foreign currency trader, more than two decades as a portfolio manager for high-net-worth entrepreneurs, and for the past six years she has been performing interview-driven research for financial institutions around the world.  Barbara is a keynote speaker for CFA Societies, banks, stock exchanges and industry conferences globally, and she is a columnist for CFA Institute and Canadian Money Saver magazine. She is on the advisory board of Kensington Capital Partners and also is the Ambassador for the Kensington Women’s Forum. In addition, 13 years ago Barbara saw a need to challenge outdated financial industry stereotypes and share positive messages about women and money. Today, Barbara is recognized worldwide as one of the leading researchers in women and finance. Her Rich Thinking® global research papers quote smart women and men of all ages, professions and countries and are released annually on International Women’s Day, March 8. To find out more about Barbara’s research, visit www.barbarastewart.ca.

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