- On Brand
- Posts
- [ON BRAND] She sold out her products over and over again
[ON BRAND] She sold out her products over and over again
how Alice spotted a gap in the market and built already a cult-favorite running brand
Alexandra Manderstam
August 28, 2025
New series alert!
I'm genuinely obsessed with founders who turn their biggest frustrations into actual businesses. Like, the ones who get so annoyed by something that they're like "fine, I'll just build it myself" and then... actually do it.
So we’re starting a new series where I sit down with these founders and get all the inside tea on their journey. Every month, we'll dive into how they spotted the gap everyone else missed, how they're building their business & brand in public, what content strategies are actually working for them, and what they're learning as they go.
The thing is, most founder stories gloss over the tactical stuff. The content strategies that actually moved the needle. The specific moment they figured out their positioning. The revenue milestones that changed everything.
In each feature, we'll dive deep into:
How they identified their opportunity and built their initial audience
Their approach to building in public (the wins, the fails, the lessons)
The tools, systems, and mindset shifts that keep them consistent
Alice, founder of Mile Off Running, the performance running wear brand that's redefining what women need on their runs. After 5 years at Dyson and zero social media followers, she built a community-driven business that sells out within hours of every drop.
Alice's Instagram: @aliceroserunner
Shop Mile Off: Mile Off Running
Follow Mile Off: Instagram & TikTok
What she’s building: Performance running wear designed by women runners, for women runners - solving the problems that Nike, Lululemon, and Adidas somehow still haven't cracked for women.
Why it matters: In a saturated athleisure market, Mile Off proves that understanding your community's real needs beats big marketing budgets every time.
THE STORY
The idea hit Alice in Dubai, where she knew absolutely no one and had zero followers.
Alice spent 5 years at Dyson, moving every six months through different departments - e-commerce, CRM, marketing, and key account management. "It was like a business MBA all in one," she explains. But she always knew she wanted her own brand.
When Dyson moved her to Dubai, Alice knew absolutely no one. She threw herself into the running community, leading run clubs and connecting with other women runners. That's when the gap became impossible to ignore.
The gap she discovered: "I started to think about why I can't find the perfect pair of running shorts or a perfect run vest with all the pockets that I need. I couldn't believe that Nike, Lululemon, Adidas still hadn't created this perfect product."
So was born the idea for mileoff - performance running wear for women designed by someone who actually runs. Alice started @aliceroserunner as a creative outlet and had zero followers when the idea for the brand came about. "I literally had zero followers when I had the idea to start the business."
HER BUILDING IN PUBLIC STRATEGY
Alice's approach wasn't calculated - it was a necessity.
Without a marketing budget, building in public became her only path to growth. "I'm so grateful that all of this is organic growth because if I had taken on a paid media agency, that would've been a big cost at the start."
The Organic Growth Advantage:
No marketing budget: Had to rely entirely on content and community
Influencer magnetism: Sharing her founder story meant influencers actually said yes to collaboration requests and posted about Mile Off organically. "If I hadn't shared the founder story and shown the background, if they're just getting a random message from a brand, they probably wouldn't have replied or shared." The result? When Lucy Georgia and Zoe Rae posted, it drove their highest website traffic ever.
Unexpected opportunities: Industry leaders reaching out, potential major partnerships, all because they could see her personality and story online.
But there was another driving force: representation.
"I just couldn't see that on my feed. You could see a lot of men building, and there are a few big female founders, but it just wasn't the same amount as men. So I thought, I've got to do this to help anyone or inspire." Alice realized that documenting her process could inspire other women to start their own businesses.
Her viral moment: The announcement post hit 150,000 views - "the biggest that I've ever got. And I remember thinking, oh, wow. Like, there are people out there who will support me."
But the real win? One reel about their hero product (run vests) hit nearly 1 million views and brought in 18,000 followers. "It just keeps going."
ON BURNING THE SHIPS
Alice's leap wasn't reckless - it was calculated.
"My fallback plan was that you can always get another job, right? People take a year to go traveling, so I kinda just saw it as let's take it for a year to do something that I'm really passionate and excited about."
Her financial strategy:
Saved enough to invest in business + stock
Plus enough to live for one full year without taking salary
Living off those savings while reinvesting everything back into Mile Off
The final push: When Alice was considering leaving, a manager sat her down and tried to discourage her: "Do you know how many businesses it takes to fail before you get a successful one?" Instead of deterring her, it motivated her even more. "It got me fired up. And I was like, no. You know what? That's it. I'm handing my notice in."
Sometimes the best motivation comes from someone telling you it won't work.
ALICE'S BEST FOUNDER TIP
Start Recording Everything - Even Before You're Ready
"Even if you haven't got a page or you haven't started yet, just record everything because then you can use it later. I've got recordings from the very first day that I started sketching and working on the idea."
That archive becomes your future content gold mine. "Even though I didn't post it then, you just want to have that archive because that's going to be your future content."
The equipment myth: "I think people get caught up in needing all the equipment, but iPhone videos sometimes perform better than the ones I've had a professional photographer create."
What's Next for Alice & Mile Off
Alice isn't slowing down. Their Autumn/Winter collection is dropping soon, but the real ambition lies in technical innovation.
"I really want to spend more time and focus on looking at the technical innovation of fabric. I want to create the ultimate sports bra, but I'm not just gonna go and take a sports bra off the shelf and put our logo on it. It really needs to be developed in a lab with time, people who know what they're doing."
Beyond product, Alice wants to take mileoff offline with physical events, run clubs, and build a community that goes far beyond running clothing. "I don't want it to just be about running clothing. I really think we can create something even bigger and more special for women who love to run."
The dream collaboration? A shoe partnership with brands like Saucony, creating "the perfect running shoes" with colors and designs actually made for women.
What you can learn from Alice
Find a problem you've lived: Alice spent years frustrated by running gear that didn't work. "I know running inside out. I'm deep in these communities with these women who are saying what they need."
Build community before product: Alice started with zero followers but focused on authentic connection. She had 10K when she launched Mile Off. "You don't have to have hundreds of thousands of followers to start."
Make something different: "I knew from the start that if I was going to compete with established brands, it had to be something completely different. We wouldn't be able to get any traction if it weren't something that was not on the market. You always have to come back to that - how is this different from what's out there?"
Stay obsessed: “If you don't have that passion, if you're just trying to start a business just to have a business, it's not gonna work. When it's 10:11PM and you want to go to sleep but you've got to answer an email, you have to be super excited about working in the space that you're in."
Document everything: Start recording before you feel ready. Your early days become your most valuable content later.
Favorite creators:Grace Beverly, Aimee Smale, Krissy Cela, Sara Blakely
Favorite podcast: Sweat Equity and Ladies Who Launch
Favorite book:Shoe Dog by Phil Knight ( I’ve read it and listened to it multiple times!)
CONTENT STRATEGY MADE SIMPLE
Tired of spending hours creating content that gets 12 likes?
Self Made is a content tool that creates your personalized content strategy, turns your expertise into scroll-stopping posts and track what actually works. So you can build your brand and your business.
Join 1,500 other creators before we close the waitlist.
