Author’s Bio: Lindsey Carter is the founder of SET Active, one of the fastest-growing activewear brands in the DTC space, known for its monochromatic matching sets. Below, Lindsey shares how she’s used social-first commerce, influencer partnerships, and authentic brand-building to scale her business into a cult-favorite brand.
Sitting at my kitchen table, with no prior fashion experience, I took a $20,000 bet on myself and launched SET Active. Before knowing if my first drop would even sell out, I placed my second order. I told my boyfriend (now husband) that if I had to sell the rest of my inventory at the farmers market on a corner, I would. But I knew I couldn’t hesitate at such a crucial time for my new business.
I was risking everything on a bet that momentum mattered more than certainty. Seven years later, that decision—to order before selling out—is the single move I credit with keeping SET Active alive in those crucial early months. Most founders wait for proof before reordering, and by the time they get it, they’ve lost their customers to the next brand.
How to avoid selling out & keep momentum alive instead
If you’re building a product-based business, understanding the relationship between inventory, momentum, and customer attention isn’t optional anymore. It’s the difference between riding a wave and watching it pass you by.
1. Calculate your reorder timing now, not after you sell out
When my first drop made $2,000 in first-day sales, I knew that if I waited until it sold out to place my second order, I’d have nothing to show customers for weeks or even months while production caught up. That gap is where brands go to die. The second order was placed and en route before the first shipment had sold through. It felt terrifying at the time, but the alternative was worse.
2. Accept financial risk as necessary to maintain customer engagement
Here’s what no one tells you about running a product business, the risk of ordering early is smaller than the risk of going dark.
During our down year in 2023, we had to learn this lesson all over again. We had to operate at less than what we were making if we wanted to continue. It wasn’t comfortable, but it was necessary. We did our first round of layoffs, which was gut-wrenching and I still get flashbacks walking into the conference room of our office where those hard conversations happened.
We also had to keep ordering inventory, even when we weren’t sure we could afford it. I remember sitting on the floor of my bedroom with my COO during Black Friday planning, and we were like, “We’ve got to turn things around.” Someone recommended hiring a company to audit our email marketing, and it was going to cost $10,000. I remember looking at Ally (COO at SET Active) and saying, I think this is a risk we have to take.
We made that $10,000 back in no time because the strategy worked. More importantly, we kept inventory flowing. We stabilized in 2024, and we’re already up 49% this year, going into our biggest quarter.
3. Communicate constantly about what’s coming next
Customer engagement is inventory that depletes, and you should treat it that way. I talk to my 8,200-person Instagram broadcast channel every single day. If I go a day without talking to them, I miss them, and you can’t fake that type of connection.
When we do our Community Collections twice a year, we post throughout the product development process. We ask customers to vote on colors and styles, we show them samples, and we share which colors are selling out first. For our recent Community Collection launch, we got thousands and thousands of votes, because people like having a say in what they’re going to spend their money on.
4. Double down on what already works while you innovate
Earlier this year, our Resort drop did $1 million in the first hour, blowing our goal out of the water.
Every drop since Resort has crushed it: We beat our goal on our recent Community Collection and on our Seasonal Shop before that. The momentum keeps compounding.
When planning our Black Friday Cyber Monday strategy this year, we shifted from doing five or more drops to doing two big strategic drops. We know what sells well, we know our bestselling colors, and we’re focusing on being creative with reiterations. For us, the blueprint is understanding what our bestsellers are and doubling down on innovating variations of what’s working.
5. Build visible momentum into your social strategy
If you’re building a brand, especially when you’re bootstrapping it, you have to show your consumer what you’re working on. They want in on the passion you have too. They need the story to buy into, because we all love rooting for the underdog.
I was showing samples and behind-the-scenes content on my personal Instagram before SET Active launched. I was building in public before it was a trend—showing factory visits, development, everything. I was DMing influencers left and right, asking them to try the product. One time an influencer responded, “Yeah, for a check,” and I was like, OK, this isn’t going to work. But for every no, I got 20 yeses.
I watched someone on TikTok this morning building a keto cottage cheese brand. She’s documenting every single thing—testing new ingredients in the kitchen, showing what works and what doesn’t, all the failures and successes. Not only am I going to try keto cottage cheese as someone who hates cottage cheese, I’m so invested in her and I’m rooting for her because she’s showing me what she’s doing every day.
That visibility creates momentum even before you have sales and gives you a platform to keep customers engaged while your next order is in production. It’s not about having everything figured out or waiting for perfect certainty before you place that next order. It’s about understanding that customer attention expires faster than inventory ever will.
If you’re sitting on 70% sold inventory right now, waiting to see if you’ll sell out before ordering more—stop waiting. Catch my full interview on Shopify Masters to hear the ins and outs of how we bounced back from our down year as a team and continue to dominate on socials.
