She's Got Leggz — and she knows how to use them

In the fall of 2017, Donna Pinsonneault was a She’s Got Leggz customer. She is now the CEO and is spreading her love of original leggings across Canada with entrepreneurial team spirit.

Based in Burlington, She’s Got Leggz is a clothing retailer with a unique business platform. With the tagline and hashtag of “Be Your Own Kind of Beautiful”, the company sells leggings, and more, via its corporate website and company ‘stylists’. Pinsonneault got hooked on She’s Got Leggz when she started as a personal retailer, known as a stylist, in early 2018; in May of 2019 she joined the company as a partner before becoming its sole owner. 

Pinsonneault recalls, “I did events and home parties and truly fell in love with the business model. I loved that it helps women be their own bosses, I loved the product and I wanted to be a part of it. I have always had an entrepreneurial spirit. I had been a self-employed accountant for years and my husband and I had businesses when we were younger.”

She’s Got Leggz has seen an “explosive growth” in the number of stylists, from around 50 in 2017 to 110 in 2020, and from 650 to 1,000 the last two years. Stylists can be found in every province except Quebec. “We have a great community of support for them,” says Pinsonneault, “with several meetings a month, and daily coaching available.”

Pinsonneault explains that the stylists give a personalized service. “They will work with their customers and help them coordinate the best fashions for them. They’ll do a fashion party in a home, or a girls' night out and events, which are a great way of getting the brand out there. They really are our ambassadors. They’re recognized for their different sales levels, so it’s a great business opportunity, it fits into their lifestyles and they can work it however they want. There are no requirements. What you put into it you get out of it,” she says, adding that people who come on board as stylists aren't required to host parties and events.

The company is a member of the Direct Sellers Association of Canada and licensed by the Competition Bureau. “This is an extra level of security to our field and the customers,” says Pinsonneault.

Having retired her accounting hat, Pinsonneault comes up with the clothing ideas, patterns and colours and works with a graphic designer on the clothing lines, which have expanded to include cuffed T-shirts, dress blouses, hoodies, pyjamas and accessories. Manufacturing is done overseas and She’s Got Leggz aims to “create jobs, both locally and overseas, that empower women in safe environments.” The Burlington head office employs 12 full-time staff and three part-time workers.

“We’re all women, which I am super proud of, though my husband does come in and help,” laughs Pinsonneault. “Our warehouse is run by four amazing chicks, and we have a young crowd which is great energy. We have so much fun. We’re a feisty little bunch. I told my daughter when I joined, ‘I feel like I have been waiting my whole life for this.’”

She’s Got Leggz also believes in body empowerment. “We have a yoga waistband on our leggings for a more comfortable fit and we have a hidden pocket, that was our first own product. Being size inclusive, we go up to 3X," adds Pinsonneault. "It’s very important that we offer the same that’s available to smaller women. We are very much about feeling beautiful in your skin.

"When you feel good about what you are wearing your happiness shows.”

The business has donated to women’s shelters, local food banks, World Vision and more, and has its own charitable projects. Its ‘For the Cause’ leggings, where each December customers choose the charities to support in the following year, raised more than $17,000 since 2017. In 2021, the company launched ‘Leggz of Art’ in which a Canadian artist is selected to develop an exclusively designed pair of leggings with donations going to a charity chosen with the artist. Earlier this year She’s Got Leggz was a finalist in the Burlington Chamber of Commerce's Business Excellence Award, in the Retail category.

Looking ahead, Pinsonneault says, “The idea is to continue focusing on building the structure for our community and bringing the value to them, to see them continue to thrive and to continue with our brand. As much as we have grown, we’re still not well known across Canada. We have a huge opportunity to keep growing and we have our targets set for the next few years on how much percentage growth we want.

"We have been very fortunate to have our strong, focused and dedicated team help us [to be] 10 times the company in two years, taking it from a $200,000 company in 2019 to over a $2 million company for our last two fiscal years.”

She’s Got Leggz will be at the upcoming Seasons Christmas Show in Toronto and the Burlington Santa Claus Parade Dec. 4. For more information, visit their website: www.shesgotleggz.ca.