Today, Lo & Sons is a sought-after brand for bags and accessories that make traveling easier and more enjoyable. The brand is run by two of its co-founders, Jan and Derek Lo. But before the sons ran the company, it emerged as a solution to a problem faced by the brand’s third co-founder and still active chairman of the brand: her mother Helen Lo. As a frequent flyer, Helen was frustrated with the lack of customizable luggage options. Their choices were limited to fashion or function – one at the expense of the other. Instead of compromising, she worked with Jan and Derek to develop the options they wanted. In 2010, at the age of 65, Helen combined her passion for travel and her talent for details to reinvent what luggage could be for travelers like her. Here the first-time entrepreneur talks about adding a more dynamic quality to a once stagnant category, doing things the hard way to make sure things are done right, and building a branding legacy that is rooted in her three Ps: Profit, people and the planet.

By the time Lo & Sons hit the market, the luggage category was already saturated with options. The world didn’t seem to need another brand of luggage. Why did you create this one?

The idea for the brand came about when I was spending a lot of time on my travels [late] Husband. I was retired at the time and he was away a lot for work. The biggest problem with traveling with him was that he refused to check in luggage. He would travel for two or three weeks at a time, only with hand luggage. As you can imagine, such a long trip with just one carry-on was quite a challenge for a woman, but I would always find a way to do it. At the same time, I had some neck and back problems, so traveling light had become a priority for me for several reasons.

The TSA limits everyone to one hand luggage roll bag and one “companion bag”. If you want to carry a small handbag, this is considered a companion bag. For me that was a problem – I needed more than that. So basically I started with this one specific question: “Where can you find a companion bag that is similar in style to a handbag but doubles as luggage?” Despite all of my travels, despite searching for department stores everywhere, I couldn’t find the bag I needed.

Go into the baggage section of a department store and you will see what I mean. You will find all of these companions that work well but don’t look great. Or maybe you come across big bags but when you open them there is just one big hole with no pockets or way to organize anything. So what I saw in the market wasn’t enough for what I needed. I needed a lightweight companion bag that looked like a handbag and kept things tidy – but I couldn’t find anything like that.

I said Jan and Derek [my sons] about my problem and they said to me, “Well you know what you want. Why don’t you create your own bag?” And that’s how it started.

Not only did we want to create a great bag, we also wanted to make traveling and handling luggage easier. We wanted to make it easier and less stressful. We envisioned a dynamic bag that you can take straight to a meeting after stepping off the plane instead of having to go to your hotel room to change luggage.

How did you go about designing that first bag and building industry relationships? How was the learning process?

When we made the first prototype, we spent about four months in the factory in the first year. I wanted to be there so I can test the bag and refer to it. I wanted to know firsthand whether it worked for me and, if not, explain personally what needs to change.

One advantage we got early on was that the factory owners we wanted to work with could design, manufacture, and sell bags to wholesalers. They could do anything that allowed us to focus on the product and the brand. Another benefit was that the factory designer took an interest in us – especially Jan and Derek – because he was impressed with how hard they worked.

For the first three weeks we sat in the factory working on the original design every day, watching them make changes, examine the prototypes, and then make other changes. The process was challenging, but actually pretty quick because we didn’t have to wait weeks to send prototypes back and forth.

It wasn’t long before we took the prototype bags to Hong Kong and asked relatives – like my nieces, who are business people – to test them and give us their opinion. We sent prototypes to Jan and Derek’s friends in Chicago and Beijing. For every feedback round, people would say, “My computer wouldn’t fit” or “The straps are too wide,” so we kept redesigning the design. We just kept trying to learn and think about how the bag would be used, not just what it looked like.

The process of designing our bags is very time consuming – we put a lot of effort into making everything right. We learn how people use their bags, focus on all the little details and refine everything until we get exactly what people are looking for. There is a real need in the world for such bags and no one else makes them.

Lo & Sons started at a difficult time, not long after the Great Recession. What obstacles did you encounter and how did you overcome them?

How you want to see the world matters. We saw obstacles as opportunities.

Were we industry outsiders? Yes. And that meant we didn’t get stuck with the old ways. We learned early on that there are certain standards that are not optimal from the user’s point of view. For example, zippers were more likely to be attached to pockets so that they could be opened easily when they were put down. But it didn’t take into account the fact that many were carrying smaller bags on their shoulder – so there could be a better configuration if a person needed to quickly access their passport to get through security without dropping their bag. We were told early on that other brands don’t do this. Well, we didn’t make our bags to conform to any existing standard. We have been working to set a new standard – one that gives fashion a function and makes travelers a priority. That way, we benefited from the fact that we were an outsider in the industry.

Did we lack the financial resources of our competitors? Yes. And as a result of the Great Recession, the industry had to take precautions to generate income of all kinds and keep the lights on. Factories and suppliers who in better times probably wouldn’t have spoken to us – since we were newbies doing more original, less mass-produced work – were taking a risk. Warehouses that probably wouldn’t have supported our small batch inventory unless we had longer term leases had room for our products with short term arrangements. In a way, the economy has benefited us.

If you wait for the perfect time to start, you will find many reasons for delay. When you are driven to success, don’t let barriers stop you.

What are the long-term ambitions for your brand as you look ahead? What brand legacy are you and your sons working on together?

I want us to establish a travel lifestyle legacy where we make it easier for people to go to places they want to be and where people think of us when they have meaningful travel experiences. I don’t want people to see us as just a fashionable brand or an innovative brand, because we are both and more.

We have great ambitions. Being at the center of people’s travel experiences goes beyond our current line of products. We want to make other products that fit into the travel lifestyle and make it easier for people to explore. I also see us as a global brand. When people around the world think about going anywhere, they think of Lo & Sons.

No matter how big we get, I will always focus on the three Ps: Profit, People and the Planet. To be clear, we are not interested in profit for profit’s sake. The profit serves everything else. In our view, the purpose of profit is to ensure that the people and communities we work with can live well. That is why we recently entered into a partnership with, for example Heart of dinner to provide meals to East Asian elders in New York City, where our headquarters are located. We also strive to use our profits to make our planet better by investing in top-quality eco-friendly materials and by committing to a circular design mission. That said, we’re excited to start upcycling as many of our products as possible so that very little is wasted. Profits enable us to make the best products for our customers. Profits help us keep each of these promises and give us the opportunity to be long-term oriented.

What is your advice to entrepreneurs who are pursuing their own long-term ambitions and looking to build their own legacy?

My advice is to be persistent and brave. Be ready to work really hard and do whatever it takes. Realize that no aspect of the work is subordinate to you. Don’t start a business if you feel like you don’t have to do a certain task or can only work five hours a day. You have to be willing to invest your time. Be brave enough to make mistakes, but learn from them quickly. Finally, be humble. Learn from other people. Learn from who you can and adapt quickly.