Set Active Began With $20,000 of Credit Card Debt and a Home Full of Inventory

When Lindsey Carter started her athleisure brand, she had no investors and no backup plan. She had $20,000 in personal credit card debt and a Los Angeles home filled with inventory.¹

That brand is Set Active. CNBC Make It’s recent profile describes it as an eight-figure business, a revenue figure that comes from the company’s own account rather than an outside estimate.¹ Carter’s story is useful for anyone wondering whether a small, self-funded idea can survive a crowded market. It is also candid about what that survival cost her.

A slow, self-funded start

Carter began working on the company in early 2017 by calling factories in Los Angeles, and Set Active launched in 2018.⁴ Forbes, which named her to its 30 Under 30 list, reported that she ran up the $20,000 in credit card debt in 2017 to get the brand off the ground.⁵

She had no business training and no operations experience, she has written on her Substack.² Plenty of people keep workout clothes at home. Fewer keep an entire company’s stock there.

Years of obstacles followed as she tried to break into the crowded activewear industry.¹ Along the way, the brand’s pieces were worn by Hailey Bieber and Kylie Jenner, according to the Female Founder World podcast.⁴

What readers can take from it

Ownership can be worth the slow road. Set Active never took outside funding, according to the Behind Her Empire podcast.³ Carter now owns 100% of the company after buying back a 25% stake from a partner.⁴ Bootstrapping limited how fast she could grow, but it means the decisions, and the business, are hers.

A crowded market needs a clear hook. Instead of competing on endless basics, Set Active used a drop model, releasing limited-edition colors every several months, Forbes reported.⁵ Scarcity gave customers a reason to pay attention to a newcomer.

Work stress doesn’t have to come home with you. Carter used to lose sleep, cry to friends and struggle to be present at home after a hard day at work.¹ A big part of her CNBC Make It profile is about how she learned to keep professional stress separate from her personal life.¹

Some sacrifices aren’t worth it. Carter had two children after founding the company and never took maternity leave. She doesn’t recommend copying that choice. She told CNBC Make It it was:

“probably one of the biggest mistakes I’ve ever made.”

¹

Where it stands now

Set Active is still independent, still owned entirely by the founder who once had its inventory stacked up at home.³⁴ Carter has kept writing about the honest side of building it, the debt and the doubts included, on her Substack.²