Table of Contents
A small-town girl from Alaska turned her struggles into strength, building Buff Bunny Collection into a multi-million dollar business through authenticity, persistence, and an unwavering commitment to helping women feel confident.
Key Takeaways
- Moving from a 2,000-person Alaskan town to Texas sparked both weight gain and eventual transformation through fitness
- Starting YouTube in 2014 with 50,000 subscribers led to leaving pre-med studies for full-time entrepreneurship
- Emotional eating struggles became the foundation for helping other women overcome similar challenges through community building
- Three years of swearing off dating allowed deep self-discovery and boundary-setting that shaped future business decisions
- Transparency and genuine product development created loyal customers who felt part of the creative process
- Building a team of brilliant women enabled expansion from apparel into the comprehensive fitness app Grounds
- Starting imperfectly beats waiting for the perfect plan when building any business or personal transformation
- Self-talk patterns and limiting emotional responses to 15 minutes prevents victim mentality from poisoning progress
- Health became the great equalizer that enabled sustained high performance across multiple demanding roles
Timeline Overview
- Early Years — Born and raised in North Pole, Alaska (population 2,000), one of six children, homeschooled, developed work ethic through paper routes and jobs starting at age 16
- College Transition (2010-2014) — Moved to San Antonio for pre-med studies, experienced weight gain from emotional eating, worked four jobs including hookah lounge and bottle service to fund education
- Fitness Transformation (2012-2014) — Started gym routine after clothing no longer fit, discovered CrossFit community, learned anatomy and nutrition through college courses while developing personal training knowledge
- YouTube Launch (2014) — Started channel with workout videos and meal prep content, reached 50,000 subscribers while maintaining full course load and multiple jobs
- Business Pivot (2014-2015) — Left pre-med studies to focus full-time on social media and merchandise development, launched first t-shirt collections from living room
- Buff Bunny Growth (2015-2017) — Developed legging lines, moved operations from house to warehouse within 18 months, generated half million in first year revenue primarily from t-shirts
- Expansion Phase (2017-2020) — Relocated to Houston, scaled manufacturing processes, built team of primarily women, established Discord community for customer input on designs
- App Development (2020-2023) — Created Grounds fitness app with comprehensive features including period tracking, nutrition guidance, and community elements specifically designed for women's needs
From Small-Town Struggles to Self-Discovery
Heidi Somers' transformation began with what many would consider devastating setbacks. Within a single month, she experienced being cheated on, crashed her car, and lost her job while living in North Pole, Alaska. Rather than staying trapped in familiar surroundings, she bought a one-way ticket to San Antonio with just the hope of finishing her pre-med degree.
- The transition from a close-knit 2,000-person community where "everyone has each other's back" to a major Texas city created immediate culture shock, including having her car broken into multiple times and learning to navigate different social dynamics
- Moving from an environment with one restaurant and limited fast food access to San Antonio's abundant food scene contributed to rapid weight gain, which she describes as gaining "a good amount of weight, like 30 pounds in college"
- Her family's reaction to the one-way ticket purchase was initially unsupportive, with her father driving her to the airport telling her "don't talk to any strangers" while she realized "literally everybody there is a stranger"
- The decision to work four different jobs while maintaining pre-med coursework demonstrated early entrepreneurial instincts, finding positions that paid premium rates like $30/hour promotional work for Red Bull and Crown Royal
- Living with a stranger she met through social media and working at a hookah lounge initially terrified her because she thought it involved marijuana, saying "I'm trying to go to medical school one day like I can't be doing anything illegal"
- Her parents' inability to financially support college education due to having six children meant complete self-reliance, leading to moments where her father called concerned about her $7 checking account balance while she was getting gas
The emotional eating that accompanied this transition became a turning point rather than a permanent setback. She recognized that accessibility to diverse food options, combined with stress and loneliness, created habits that needed conscious intervention.
The Power of Internal Dialogue and Boundary Setting
Perhaps the most transformative decision Somers made was committing to three years without dating, initially planning for just one year of focusing solely on herself. This period of intentional solitude allowed her to develop crucial internal skills that would later prove essential for business success.
- She learned to speak to herself "like a friend" rather than engaging in negative self-talk, recognizing that "my friends would never talk to me this way, I would never speak to a friend this way"
- The internal dialogue practice extended to practical situations like managing flight anxiety, where she actively coaches herself through turbulence by saying "you're going to land, the plane you're going to be fine"
- During the three-year dating hiatus, she discovered personal boundaries and preferences through what she calls "dating yourself," learning "what you're comfortable with, what you're not comfortable with, what you'll tolerate, what you won't tolerate"
- This self-discovery period taught her to "punch the ticket and move on" when facing challenges, limiting dwelling time on problems to maintain forward momentum
- The habit of trusting gut instincts developed during this time continued throughout her business journey, with decisions ultimately coming down to internal conviction rather than external validation
- Her approach to setbacks involves allowing herself exactly 15 minutes to process negative emotions before consciously shifting to problem-solving mode, preventing extended periods in "victim mentality"
The discipline developed through working four jobs while maintaining straight-A grades in demanding pre-med courses like anatomy, physiology, and nutrition science created mental resilience that transferred directly to entrepreneurial challenges.
Building Community Through Authenticity on YouTube
Starting her YouTube channel in 2014 represented a leap into the unknown during social media's early entrepreneurial days. Her approach differed significantly from typical fitness content by emphasizing genuine struggle and transparent progress rather than presenting herself as an expert.
- Her first video was a Q&A format despite being naturally introverted and "terrified" of posting online, but she "decided to make myself uncomfortable" rather than waiting for confidence to develop naturally
- The content focused on sharing "what worked for me" rather than prescriptive advice, creating connection with women who "saw that I was being genuine" and appreciated her honesty about product reviews and personal challenges
- Early videos demonstrated workout form because Instagram at the time only allowed single photos, leading to requests from followers who wanted to "see a girl doing it" rather than receiving advice solely from men at the gym
- Her friend's support proved crucial, offering to "follow you around with the camera" when she felt too nervous to film alone, demonstrating how community support enables individual courage
- The comment section became a place for real conversation, with Somers answering every comment and encouraging women by saying "you can do this, you can do hard things, and you're not going to get bulky"
- Women began sharing transformation stories, including one follower who lost "hundreds of pounds" watching her videos, creating a feedback loop that reinforced her sense of purpose beyond just fitness instruction
The transparency extended to product development, where she openly shared manufacturing challenges like receiving see-through leggings and refusing to sell them despite financial pressure. This honesty built trust that translated into customer loyalty when Buff Bunny Collection launched.
From Bedroom Business to Multi-Million Dollar Brand
The transition from casual merchandise to serious business happened faster than Somers anticipated, creating both opportunities and operational challenges that required rapid adaptation and team building.
- Her first t-shirt launches sold out in "30 seconds" when she expected them to last six months, forcing immediate scaling decisions and inventory management learning curves
- The entire house became a fulfillment center with "friends in there every day packing orders" and subcontractors handling shipping logistics, creating 24/7 business operations in residential space
- Within the first year, revenue reached approximately half a million dollars primarily from t-shirts, though she maintained "impostor syndrome" and expected the success to be temporary rather than sustainable
- Developing leggings required understanding complex manufacturing processes including 30-day fabric milling, 30-day dyeing, pattern creation, and cut-and-sew operations, with total production cycles reaching six months for custom orders
- Her design philosophy focused on "freeing the lat or tucking the lat" to create flattering silhouettes for women's bodies, using terminology from her anatomy coursework to solve practical problems
- The Discord community channel for design ideas allowed customers to vote on colors and features, with some members creating Photoshop mockups of requested products, making them feel "part of this process"
Moving from her house to a warehouse represented a psychological commitment to long-term business viability, despite her fears about signing a three-year lease when she still questioned whether the success would continue.
Scaling Through Team Building and Strategic Focus
Recognizing that sustainable growth required exceptional team members, Somers invested heavily in building a primarily female workforce that understood both her vision and the customer base's needs.
- She refused to launch her fitness app Grounds until every feature met her standards, particularly insisting on comprehensive period tracking despite team pressure to launch earlier with incomplete functionality
- The "Masterpiece or nothing" philosophy guided product development decisions, including waiting additional months for proper features rather than rushing to market with substandard offerings
- Building department leads and brilliant team members at Buff Bunny Collection enabled her to step back slightly and focus on creating the comprehensive fitness app she wished had existed during her own transformation
- Her team structure allows for collaborative decision-making while maintaining her core involvement, with team members comfortable seeking her input on projects while having autonomy for daily operations
- The customer service approach emphasizes conversation rather than one-way communication, with teams trained to "listen and have conversations with customers instead of just telling them what's going to happen"
- Quality control extends to every detail including stitching patterns, fabric composition, and color matching, with lab-dipping processes ensuring consistent results across large production runs
The Grounds app development represented her vision for a "one-stop shop for women" including workouts, nutrition, period tracking, journaling, and community features integrated with Apple Watch compatibility.
Health as the Foundation for Sustained Success
Throughout her journey, Somers recognized that physical and mental health enabled everything else, making self-care a strategic business decision rather than a luxury.
- Her realization that she needed more energy to handle four jobs and full-time studies led to gym membership despite initially hating weightlifting and cardio exercise
- The understanding that "health is the great equalizer" and "you will never go higher than your health" became a core principle guiding both personal habits and business operations
- Working with a CrossFit community provided accountability and inspiration, particularly seeing a woman with visible abs who "looked great, she was just glowing" and thinking "I want what she has"
- Learning to manage stress through limited emotional processing time (15 minutes maximum) and immediate transition to solution-focused thinking prevented decision paralysis during challenging periods
- The discipline required to maintain workout routines while managing business demands created mental resilience that transferred to handling manufacturing delays, team management, and scaling challenges
- Prioritizing sleep, nutrition, and exercise enabled sustained 18-hour work days during critical business development phases without experiencing burnout or decision fatigue
Her approach to health includes addressing specific challenges like adenomyosis-related cramping through both medical treatment and lifestyle adjustments, viewing comprehensive wellness as essential for long-term business leadership.
Somers' journey from a small Alaskan town to building a multi-million dollar business demonstrates how authentic self-development, strategic risk-taking, and unwavering commitment to serving others can create sustainable success. Her story proves that starting imperfectly beats waiting for ideal conditions, and that building genuine relationships with customers creates more valuable businesses than focusing solely on profit maximization.
