At a Glance

Angel Competition Bikinis is a competition suit company for bodybuilders looking for high-quality, personalized suits for competitions.

Who is Karah Jones?

Meet Karah Jones, Co-Founder of Angel Competition Bikinis.

About Angel Competition Bikinis

13 years ago, Karah Jones and her twin sister, Lauren Holbrook, creating ACBikinisafter she signed up for her first bodybuilding competition in 2013. At the time, Karah had to order a suit online and the suit she found was … well, unimpressive.

Karah tried to find a different company to order from but still couldn’t find anything that really worked. Finding a competition suit turned out to be far more difficult than she had expected and it turned into a passion all its own. That was when they decided to start a business and within six months Karah had quit her job and went 100% into the business. Now, 13 years later, it’s continued to grow.

Karah’s Journey

In total, there are only 12 people, all women, in the entire company at Angel Competition Bikinis. And Karah believes that every one of them is involved in the customer experience. Even the ones who don’t actually interact with the customers personally are still a huge part of creating an amazing experience and making sure that customers get a high-quality product every time.

Another aspect that’s different about Angel Competition Bikinis is that all but one of their team work in-house. Five days a week they go into the office and they even travel together during special events. Their remote stylist also travels with them during events so they can keep her a part of their team as well.

For Karah, the idea of having everyone in the office at the same time really helps their culture. While they’ve tried doing remote work before, they don’t believe it really fits the same culture.

Business Growth and Revenue Strategies

Taking care of the customer is Karah’s favorite part of the job. The customers they see are generally bodybuilders and seeing the passion they have in their life is inspiring and motivating. Seeing the women who compete and the way that they can step into the light with other women who are empowering and inspiring and supportive is another big motivation for what she does. It can be hard for women to find that kind of crowd, but at the Angel Fashion Show it can come to life. It can truly change the trajectory of someone’s life.

Building Relationships with Customers

What does it mean to connect with customers? For Karah, it means asking for Instagram handles for each of their customers and then following them. That way, Karah and the team can check in with them and find out how their suit fits. It lets those customers feel even more connected and important.

It can be difficult to stay connected, especially when so many other things are pulling at your time, but Karah knows that no matter what else is happening in the business, connecting and communicating with customers creates the absolute best ROI.

And it starts before the person even becomes a customer because Angel Competition Bikinis offers Zoom consultations and everything, they need to feel confident in themselves and confident that they’re getting the perfect fit for their suit.

Once that customer does decide to buy, the customer experience process still isn’t done. Because they send out updates at every step of the process and each order includes a handwritten note card.

Keeping the customer informed from start to finish can help ease their anxiety and help them feel great about the product and the company.

Taking the Time for More

More time to connect with customers and more time to spend learning are the key things Karah wishes she had. The opportunity to learn more, especially with AI advancing so rapidly, would be a great way to stay on top of things and keep moving forward.

Another area where Karah could use more time in the business is improving … everything. Her mindset is that of a bodybuilder and that means focusing on every little detail to get it just right, no matter how long that takes. Bodybuilders are never satisfied and for Karah, that belief carries over into her business. If she can get one person better at something they’re always going to do it.

Karah admits that she’s never satisfied and that she sets extremely high standards for herself but even still, she recognizes that without those high standards the company would never be where it is today.

Growing Revenue Year Over Year

From the very first year Angel Competition Bikinis was profitable but then COVID hit and everything changed. Even after COVID, with the increased costs of labor, supplies, and paying back loans, the costs have eaten away at their income. And that means since COVID the company hasn’t been able to actually make any profit at all.

What does that mean for the company? Well, they’re not giving up. And they’re still finding ways to make it work. But they’re definitely struggling at the same time.

Still, Karah isn’t about to give up and she believes that the most important thing they can do is invest in their people. Alongside that, making sure they are investing in learning and especially learning AI systems, will help give customers what they need and help improve the business overall.  

Focusing on Peak Seasons

There are definitely peak seasons in the bodybuilding industry, since most people are looking to buy their suits about eight to twelve weeks out from their show. And since most of those shows are taking place between March and November, that means their slow season is actually Q4, when a lot of businesses are ramping up. And the busy seasons are in Q1 and Q2.

When it comes to those busy seasons, Karah and the team also make sure that everyone is cross-trained and ready to take on even more of the workload. Some people might be trained on sewing so they can step into a different position if needed. But hiring new people is difficult to do because of the unpredictability of those busy seasons.

Angel Competition Bikini’s CX Philosophy 

The customer experience philosophy at Angel Competition Bikinis is really all about taking care of the customer. And that means all hands on deck, because the company doesn’t actually have a dedicated customer service team. Everyone is responsible for making the customer experience an excellent one.

One thing that Karah believes really makes a difference for the customer is that the leadership is actually a customer of the brand. That means she’s personally using the products and contributing her firsthand experience to making the products even better.

Innovation and Adaptability

Innovation at Angel Competition Bikinis is all about creating everything to order. Customers get a custom suit that’s made when they order, to their exact specifications. And for those who live local to the shop they can even come in and get a firsthand look at how everything is made from start to finish.

When Angel Competition Bikinis says ‘Made in America’ they mean every step from cutting the fabric to sending you the finished product is done right here in the United States.

Investing in the Future

TikTok and Instagram are two major social media platforms that Angel Competition Bikinis is working with. And not only that but the sponsored athlete program where athletes can get free suits in exchange for social media posts.

When it comes to paid ads, Karah would really prefer to avoid them. That’s why they choose the sponsored athlete program instead. It’s more organic and it feels good to spoil athletes all over the world rather than spending money on traditional advertising.

Setting Major Priorities

What does Karah want to focus on moving forward? For one thing, she’d love to continue growing the Angel Fashion Show. It’s a major event for the business and she’d love to be able to continue building it up. But of course, she’d also love to see the business profitable again overall.

With cost cutting and more, they’re expecting to see profitability this year and she’s very much looking forward to it.