This week, I sat down with Suze Dowling, Chief Business Officer and Co-Founder of Pattern, for a conversation about what it really takes to build brands that last. Suze has spent more than a decade helping companies launch, scale, and connect with customers in meaningful ways, and today Pattern is a family of seven home-focused brands built around one mission: making everyday life more joyful.

We cover entrepreneurship, brand strategy, and the real lessons learned from building in the DTC space. Suze shares how she and her co-founders went from running a world-class branding agency to realizing the hard truth that building an operating business is a whole different challenge. She opens up about their biggest early mistake — creating their first brand for themselves instead of their customers — and why “direct with consumer” is the only way to win.

We also get into why a brand is like a human being, with depth, layers, and personality that evolves over time, and why so many companies still get this wrong. Suze explains how product quality, customer education, and thoughtful retention strategies go hand-in-hand with building a strong brand. And she doesn’t shy away from the business side either, talking about margins, pricing, capital, and why most consumer founders should think twice before raising institutional funding.

If you’re building a consumer brand, leading a team, or just curious about how to connect with customers in ways that actually last, this episode is packed with insights you can use right away.

Listen now for lessons on brand building, customer experience, and why empathy and clarity will always beat hype.

📲 Follow Suze:

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/suzedowling/

📲 Check out Pattern:

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/pattern-brands/

Website: https://www.patternbrands.com/

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