When retired mother and PhD Helen Lo stumbled upon a dilemma in her 60s facing frequent jet-setting – finding a travel bag that didn’t strain backs or sensibilities – she refused to settle. Uninspired by masculine, overweight designs overflowing airports, Helen envisioned lightweight yet spacious carryalls marrying form and function. Who better to actualize this gap in the market than an intellectually curious mother craving a packing solution?

Helen enlisted sons Jan and Derek to unveil Lo & Sons 2010, a direct-to-consumer e-commerce brand interweaving family and innovation. As Jan dove into consumer research on pain points and preferences, Derek honed branding and digital retail strategies to launch their flagship product: the thoughtfully engineered O.G. bag.

This heritage brand remains family-run, but its growth narrative spotlights sustainable practices and human-centered design. Lo & Sons’ iterative process invites user feedback, then re-engineers carryalls, ensuring exceptional ergonomics across demographics. The result? Travel bags consistently exceed expectations for organization and lightweight support.

Their bootstrap origin story is equally remarkable – by 2013, the brand achieved profitability without any venture capital or investors. Lo & Sons favor quality over quantity, navigating fluctuating tariffs and supply chain hiccups with agility their accelerator-backed peers envy.

While founders’ names grace labels, customers genuinely sit in the pilot’s seat at this company. Lo & Sons exemplifies that innovation isn’t always groundbreaking – it’s often improving the everyday items we take for granted. The most straightforward solution for the Los was staring them in the face all along: a mother seeking a bag as thoughtful and versatile as she is while making her next connecting flight.