Fran Dunaway has been an activist her entire life. Whether she was working for a nonprofit advocating for LGBTQ rights or pushing for anti-discrimination legislation, social change is in her blood. Now, as the co-founder and CEO of TomboyX, Fran makes all-inclusive, gender-neutral clothing and undergarments.

“Being part of the LGBTQ community, my wife and I have always been outsiders … so it was important that we [were] inclusive in everything that we did [with TomboyX],” Fran says on this episode of The Empowered Challenger.

TomboyX was born when Fran faced a simple challenge: She wanted a nice shirt for work — something with high-quality, vibrant patterns typical in menswear but with a tailored, woman’s fit. Unfortunately, that proved impossible to find.

So Fran had what she describes as a “rainbow unicorn moment” — she realized there was an entire group of people who had never been seen or recognized within the fashion industry, and she felt “a responsibility to [her] community” to recognize them in a compassionate way.
It started with a name that Fran felt truly resonated with her target market: TomboyX. From there, an agency out of Boulder, Colorado helped “bring the brand’s voice to life.”

In 2013, Fran and her wife, Naomi, created a Kickstarter campaign to get their shirts into production. They raised $76,000 in 30 days, making them realize there was “a bigger opportunity than just shirts.”

TomboyX needed financial backing, but finding investors upfront wasn’t easy for a niche lesbian underwear company. After two rounds of funding, they’re now backed by a venture capital B Corp that’s “all about challenger brands and making a difference in the world.”

Going from not knowing “a knit from a woven” to having TomboyX’s clothing in Nordstrom, Fran built one powerhouse of a brand.

Prentice’s Takeaway👉Back in the day, brands created these idealized versions of what advertisers thought the consumer would want, including gorgeous models, perfectly chilled drinks, and overly starched shirts. Somewhere along the way, all that changed. And thanks to brands like TomboyX, this movement has only accelerated. Their truth is to embrace who you are exactly as you are - however that looks. In today’s day and age, that is an aspirational brand. It’s not Calvin Klein, it’s TomboyX.

Featured Challenger🧑 Name: Fran Dunaway
⚙️ How she challenges: As the CEO and co-founder of TomboyX, a gender-neutral clothing company, Fran challenges what people think a clothing company should be and wants everyone to feel comfortable being their authentic selves, regardless of size or gender identity.
👕 Company: TomboyX
💎 Noteworthy: Fran previously served as the Executive Director for Equal Rights Washington, a nonprofit advocating for LGBTQ rights.
🔍 Where to find Fran: Twitter | LinkedIn | Instagram

Challenger WisdomHighlights from the conversation appear below.

💡 Carving your own branded path
“We behave differently than a lot of brands that we see out in the world ... They try to tell you how to be cool, and what we wanted to do is celebrate how cool we think you are at being unapologetically and authentically you.”

💡 Venturing into uncharted business territory
“Neither of us knew a knit from a woven, let alone a P&L from a Balance Sheet, so it was an uphill climb for sure. What we did have was: A) Not being able to find anything we liked in apparel and B) Being Risk-averse with a sense of responsibility... we both jumped in.”

💡The power of a good brand
“It wasn’t until the Kickstarter campaign to get the shirts into production that we recognized that the name was resonating in a much more powerful way — that kind of came from deep within — and that’s where we saw the opportunity for brand play.”

💡 Giving your brand the right voice
“We sat down [with a woman from a branding agency] because [my co-founder] and I had been talking about the reality that we didn’t know anything about marketing or branding, and we really needed someone to craft that voice for us. We met with Courtney Loveman and we knew, within minutes, that we had found the person who could help us bring the brand’s voice to life.”

💡 Crowd-funding can make or break your business — or your health
“[Our first Kickstarter campaign] was seven years ago. All I remember is I slept about four hours a night and lost 10 pounds. It was extremely stressful — we did end up raising $76,000 in 30 days. We naively launched our website, Kickstarter, Facebook, and Instagram basically the same day. There was a lot of need to get the word out and tell people our story and what we were doing, but we didn’t have an email list so we had to be creative and clever in ways we were engaging with people and getting them to support us.”

💡 Raving fans from early on
“We were hearing from people all over the world that were excited that there was a brand for them, finally. It was overwhelming, actually, that people were just so supportive. We had strangers reaching out to us at the end, Hey, if you need some extra money from me to throw in at the end, let me know! It was an outpouring of support — they just so wanted us to win.”

💡 Running a principled company
“Being in this position, it’s more to me about doing things for the right reasons and because it’s just right. We aren’t doing this because it’s a market play, or because it will increase our revenue. We’re doing it because … our social, economic, gender parity — all of the things that we believe in and are fighting for in our personal lives — must come through in our company, because we wouldn’t be who we are if [it] didn’t.”

💡 Breaking startup fundraising stereotypes
“Being in an inventory-laden company — as well as being completely inexperienced — we needed the mentorship, we needed the support, but we definitely needed the financial backing. It isn’t to say it was easy to go out and raise money as a married lesbian couple [who is] older with a complete lack of experience.”

Top quotes from the episode:Fran Dunaway:

Quote #1
“[My wife] said to me one day, ‘Well, how hard can it be to start a clothing line?’ And that was a turning point for us. And we haven’t looked back.”

Quote #2
“[Other brands] try to tell you how to be cool, and what we wanted to do is celebrate how cool we think you are at being unapologetically and authentically you.”

Quote #3
“We aren’t doing this because it’s a market play, or because it will increase revenue ... We’re doing it because ... all of the things that we believe in and are fighting for in our personal lives must come through in our company.”