Lisa Z. Lindahl is an award-winning inventor, artist, author, and entrepreneur best known for transforming women’s sports with her 1977 invention of the first sports bra, the Jogbra. As CEO of JBI Inc. from 1977–1992, she helped shape a global industry, earning ten patents and seeing her invention archived at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History and even displayed at The Metropolitan Museum of Art as a “revolutionary piece of women’s undergarments.”

In 1999, she co-founded Bellisse and co-invented the Compressure Comfort® Bra, a breakthrough medical garment now supporting breast cancer survivors worldwide. She has been inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame (2022), received a U.S. Congressional Commendation, and has long served as an advocate for women’s health, most notably through her leadership roles at the Epilepsy Foundation of America.

She is the author of Beauty as Action (2017), her philosophical guide to practicing “True Beauty,” and the acclaimed memoir Unleash the Girls (2019).

In this first part of our conversation, we talked about:

1. Lisa’s earliest encounters with beauty, from frozen rivers to childhood moments of oneness with nature
2. The story behind the first Jogbra prototype and why sewing “stretch on stretch” is its own art
3. Why the need for the sports bra was far greater than she ever imagined
4. The surprising moment when she realized that “beauty is what really matters.”
5. What she means by true beauty and why she believes it is eternal

To learn more about Lisa’s work, visit:

• https://www.lisalindahl.com/ 
• https://beautyinaction.com/ 

Links Mentioned:

• Beauty as Action (https://www.amazon.com/Beauty-Action-Practice-Change-World/dp/0998746703) by Lisa Z. Lindahl
• Unleash the Girls (https://www.amazon.com/Unleash-Girls-Untold-Invention-Changed/dp/1950282430) (Lisa’s memoir on inventing the sports bra)

This season of the podcast is sponsored by Templeton Religion Trust.

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