A perfect fit for WashU Lori Coulter’s business expertise shapes her work as a volunteer leader and advocate for students.

Lori Coulter, MBA ’99, co-founder and CEO of apparel company Summersalt, started her first business before she was old enough to drive a car.

While her brother played American Legion baseball, she operated a concession stand for spectators. She secured inventory at a local warehouse store using funds from her first angel investor: her mother. 

Coulter’s entrepreneurial spirit continued at Baylor University, where she drafted business plans as an undergraduate marketing student. She wrote several more plans while earning an MBA at Olin Business School, including one that won second place in the annual Olin Cup pitch competition. 

That plan was the initial work for Coulter’s first company, which designed made-to-order swimsuits using specialized software. The company’s technology laid the groundwork for Summersalt swimwear, which is based on millions of measurements from women’s body scans. 

In 2016, Summersalt began with a serendipitous meeting between Coulter and her co-founder, Reshma Chattaram Chamberlin, at the Gramercy Park Hotel in New York City. Building on her existing swimwear and manufacturing expertise, Coulter had created a business plan for a brand that aimed to change the swimwear shopping experience from intimidating to empowering. Chamberlin asked on the spot about bringing her marketing expertise to the table. It was a perfect fit. 

Since its launch in 2017, St. Louis–based Summersalt has enabled thousands of women to rediscover joy and comfort when wearing a swimsuit. The company has expanded to offer loungewear and activewear and has sold more than 3.5 million garments. Its popularity has grown thanks to a loyal fan base developed in part through savvy social media campaigns and limited-edition collaborations with brands like Rifle Paper Co. and L.L. Bean.

While running her growing company, Coulter maintains deep ties to WashU, and she is a longtime volunteer leader who has served the university in many ways. She was involved with the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts as an adjunct faculty member and as a Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum board member. In 2022, she joined the university’s Board of Trustees, and she also serves on the national council for the Skandalaris Center for Interdisciplinary Innovation and Entrepreneurship. 

Read and learn more about Coulter’s entrepreneurship journey here.