Lisa Carmen Wang interviews Heidi Zak, co-founder and CEO of ThirdLove on how she built a billion‑dollar lingerie brand by centering women’s real needs and refusing to follow the old Victoria’s Secret playbook.

Key Takeaways:

• From annoyance to empire: Heidi turned her own frustration with bra shopping into ThirdLove, an online, fit‑first lingerie brand that solved a real problem women had simply learned to tolerate.
• Redefining “sexy” and “normal”: ThirdLove built its brand around inclusivity and comfort, using real bodies, half‑cup sizes, and diverse imagery long before it was industry standard.
• Calling out the old guard: Heidi publicly challenged Victoria’s Secret with a bold open letter and “To Each, Her Own” campaign, using advocacy and brand storytelling to push the industry toward representation and respect.
• Leading with calm, data, and intuition: She shares how she makes big decisions by balancing numbers with gut instinct—and why staying calm, clear, and authentically feminine is her leadership superpower.
• Owning your narrative as a woman founder: Heidi talks candidly about fundraising in a male‑dominated space, being underestimated, and why women must introduce themselves with their full power and accomplishments—no shrinking.

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