Senita Athletics — Stylish Storyteller

MEET SISTERS MADDIE CARR AND JENNA TRANSTRUM — CO-OWNERS OF SENITA ATHLETICS FOR WOMEN ON THE MOVE

Welcome to the sisterhood.

A concept that’s not just a line used in marketing and on social media—at Senita Athletics, co-owners Maddie Carr and Jenna Transtrum embody that phrase to the core throughout every seam of their business.

In what started as a hobby and their creative outlet, Maddie and Jenna have grown Senita Athletics into a respected and admired women’s activewear brand worn by women all over the world.

Maddie Carr and Jenna Transtrum, co-owners of Senita Athletics

After Maddie and Jenna had their sons within a few months of each other, Jenna says they wanted to do something that was different from their roles as moms – so they decided to start Senita Athletics in December 2015. “We needed a creative outlet and at that time were both getting back into shape after having babies and were feeling frustrated with what was offered,” Jenna says. “If you didn’t want to spend top dollar on a brand like Lululemon, the alternative was stores like TJ Maxx, which we felt didn’t meet our criteria of what good athleticwear is for us. We both competed in division 1 track and cross country and we felt like we had a high standard for quality athleticwear items that would be able to hold up to high intensity workouts and running. So although there are other competitors and it is a crazy competitive marketplace right now, we felt there was a space in the marketplace for affordable activewear, while still maintaining a really high standard of quality, so that’s where we started doing research and development and came up with Senita.”

Since establishing the brand in 2015, Senita has evolved from receiving inventory at Jenna’s house, organizing it in her garage and fulfilling orders out of her house Maddie says, to a 14,000 square foot warehouse in Phoenix.

“We were both having fun and thought of it as a hobby and just wanted to see where it would go and we never really thought it would turn into what it has today,” Maddie says. “(Senita’s success) has totally exceeded our expectations and I think we’ve naturally grown because of our amazing products with attention to detail and the customer service we provide. It’s definitely evolved into something we never thought it would so it’s a very exciting thing for us.”

“We have a high standard for athletic wear items that can hold up to high intensity workouts, so although there are other competitors, we felt there was a space in the market for affordable, high standard quality activewear.”

With 140,000 followers on Instagram and 68,000 likes on their Facebook page, Senita has built a strong community of customers through their branding and messaging that includes a Facebook group called Senita Sisters with over 8,000 members, using #senitasisters and #SenitaIRL to show customers wearing and being active in their products.

“Instagram is our best and worst friend, but it’s honestly been the biggest tool to help us grow and reach so many people in the 3 and a half years we’ve been in business. Instagram has always been our tool to grow as fast as possible and we definitely take advantage of influencer marketing, word of mouth, or I saw my friend post about Senita, so we try to encourage that for people to share what you’re doing in your outfit, how do you feel in your outfit? For us, that’s been a huge reward for us to see people who honestly say that they got their outfit and it motivated them to go to the gym that day or they were so excited to run in their new shorts, those kind of things are always a big payoff. We use Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest to market our business.”

While consistent marketing and branding is crucial to a brand’s perception online and on social media, when it comes to Senita, Maddie and Jenna take pride in the quality of their products and that they can withstand friction, squats, running and sweat so women can focus on being active, not if their athletic wear can handle their type of workout. So whether you’re doing yoga, pilates, running, HIIT training, weight lifting or dancing, Senita has your next favorite athletic wear outfit.

Their Fall 2019 Sonoma Collection includes their max out sports bra with lightweight, sweat-wicking, breathable fabric with four way stretch with a front zipper and back pocket to store your phone in solid fall colors like bronze, navy, green and gray or floral colors.

And their Seamless Collection includes breathable and comfortable fabric in capris, leggings, long sleeve and tank tops, and bras in purple, green and gray with high-rise, compression and tummy control waistband. They also have a collection called Senita Mom which includes maternity pants, capris and shorts, nursing sports bras and tanks.

A part-time designer with the Senita team help Maddie and Jenna take their ideas from concept to detailed sketches of their products. After creating several designs or versions of one item, they go through adjustments to the design if needed and choose which design they want, they order a sample which the seamstress at their manufacturer makes, once they receive the sample, then they go back and forth with the manufacturer if they adjust the color or print, Maddie says, until they feel the design is what they want, then they test out the item.

“Everyone tries it on, employees try it on, we have friends try it on and we work out in it,” Maddie says. After they feel they have a perfect product, they place the order and receive it at their Phoenix warehouse where customer orders are fulfilled.

“On Instagram, we try to encourage people to share what they’re doing in their outfit, how do they feel in your outfit? For us, that’s been a huge reward to see people who honestly say that they got their outfit and it motivated them to go to the gym that day or they were so excited to run in their new shorts, those kind of things are always a big payoff.”

Senita is currently online, and the owners say while there could be a possibility in the future for a brick and mortar store, they don’t see it happening in the near future. “I think it’s a really fun idea but it’s not where we are right now,” Jenna says. “A big part of how we are able to keep our costs down is because we have such low overhead and we try to keep our team lean and small. By keeping our costs down as much as possible, our customers aren’t absorbing those extra fees or costs.”

Which makes sense, their leggings retail under $40 and everything Senita sells is under $50; a great deal when comparing their leggings at $38 to a competitor who charges anywhere from $100 to $130 for a similar product. And their customers love their clothes too; with an average 5-star reviews on products on their website, customers note comfort and fit as two of their top favorite things.

On most Senita products, you’ll find pockets, which Jenna says has kind of become a signature design for Senita. “We try to create every piece with functionality in mind; so we’re trying to solve problems whether that be storing our necessities or making the fit exactly how we would want it. So a lot of our sports bras have pockets, most of our leggings and capris have pockets, most of our shorts do as well.” Senita also incorporates patterns, zippers, high-waisted, mesh, window tanks in their designs.

Senita Athletics’ Sarah sports bra in Bloomfield with phone pocket, part of the Sonoma Collection

“We feel very strongly about the body positivity movement...it’s a very high priority to have a wide variety of models because we want to have a diverse group of customers that are wearing Senita.
If a customer sees a product on the website with somebody that has a similar body type as them, they’re more likely to buy it because they’ll know what it will look like on them.
“It always surprises us when we see large companies who are using the same size 2 models, it just doesn’t make sense to us, why not show the customers what they’re going to look like?”

In addition to creating quality athleticwear, Jenna and Maddie are also conscious about how Senita is represented through marketing and branding, such as selecting diverse models for their campaigns and images on their website and social media.

Models are diverse in size and ethnicity- how does that attribute to creating a brand that is self-aware and creating a brand that a lot of women, no matter their age, can relate to and want to wear

Both say it’s a very high priority to find a wide variety of models when they’re shooting a product, which is something they are continuing to improve upon. “It’s a business decision as well, because we want to have a diverse group of customers that are wearing Senita, and if they see the product on the website with somebody that has a similar body type as them, they’re more likely to buy the product because they’ll know what it will look like on them,” both say.

“We feel very strongly about the body positivity movement, and think all businesses, especially in the fashion industry, should improve and do the same and try to meet the standard of having diverse models, so it always surprises us when we see large companies who are using the same size 2 models, it just doesn’t make sense to us, why not show the customers what they’re going to look like?”

And they do—Senita features women of all sizes and ethnicities on their website and social media modeling the products—to give customers an accurate representation of what the clothes look like on different body shapes and sizes.

Jenna says it’s been exciting to see as Senita grows, their resources have and will continue to expand as well. “We have access to more fabric and different blends and more doors are opened up to us in regards to development of new product. When you’re small, you don’t have a lot of options, so as we’ve been able to grow, we’re able to get access to a lot more new and exciting things and even develop things on our own.”

Maddie says her favorite part of the business is the design process. “It feels like a miracle sometimes when we get the perfect product, because so much hard work is put into every single product, but seeing those products go from a graphic on a computer to something that’s on a person’s body all over the world that people love, is very rewarding,” Maddie shares.

“And hopefully we will be launching a swim line next spring so that’s something we’re very excited about because it will be a totally new field for us and we’re working hard on getting that going, it’s actually been in the works for over a year.”

I’m betting you’ll fall in love with their swimwear too.

*Photos courtesy of Senita Athletics

-Stylish Storyteller