Sisters and Co-Founders Chloe and Taylor Chamberlain Talk Confidence, Fitness, and Vitality
Chloe Chamberlain and Taylor Chamberlain Dilk are the sisters and masterminds behind Vitality, a body-positive athleisure line helping women of all sizes feel confident, fit, and beautiful. Their goal goes beyond helping women feel good when working out, they are on a mission to empower.
During this interview, Chloe and Taylor share their own journeys of overcoming imposter syndrome, the power of trusting your intuition, and what it was like making their childhood dream of working together come true.
Thanks for sitting down with Confidence Daily! Tell us about what you do.
Thank you for having us! We are Chloe Chamberlain and Taylor Chamberlain Dilk and we are sisters and two of the Co-Founders of Vitality! Chloe is our Chief of Design and Taylor is our CEO. We have a third Co-Founder, Steve, who is our Chief Operating Officer and Taylor’s husband. Vitality is a Denver-based athleisure brand specializing in size-inclusive activewear with a mission to bring inspired athleisure designed for everybody in their pursuit of a purposeful existence.
How do you cultivate confidence?
Taylor: I cultivate confidence by sharing my life as authentically as possible through social media and working towards being an inspiration for all women. In college, I started sharing my fitness journey on social media and through years of posting and growth, it has become a cornerstone of mine and Vitality’s success. It’s where my passion for empowering women to love themselves and live a balanced lifestyle can be found in the inspirational messaging and consistent sharing of my story and our brand’s story is captured. For Vitality, my role as CEO transcends traditional boundaries as I guide our community members in pursuit of their dreams, becoming their best selves, and building confidence.
Chloe: As Chief of Design, I create each piece to not only fit but complement all women, bringing a story to each collection and sharing a message of inspiration and self-assurance. I take special care to ensure my designs encompass every shape while incorporating high-end fabrics to flatter and provide supreme comfort, successfully fulfilling individual needs while ensuring women feel sexy and confident. It’s my mission is to empower women to lean into their authentic selves and grow as individuals, combining artistry in design with community-focused messaging in each of Vitality.
What does being a woman-owned business mean to you?
Taylor: Being a woman-owned business means the world to me! Before we started Vitality, I knew workplace equality was an issue, but I didn’t fully understand until I became a CEO myself. In the beginning, I experienced imposter syndrome daily, battling a need to be assertive with perceptions of being too bossy, whereas my male counterparts are seen as direct. I always had to assert myself twice as much as any male if I wanted to be heard – in meetings with bankers, lawyers, manufacturers, etc. – and on my social platforms, I received criticism daily and still do to this day. But each challenge has motivated me to support women even more and that is why I cheer so hard for other women in business to keep going, and to refuse to let anyone tell them who they can and can’t be. It’s twice as hard to be a company leader as a woman. I want to be an example for women and young girls to chase their dreams no matter how big.
Chloe: It means the world to be a part of history and show the progress our society has made with women’s rights and equality in the last 50-100 years by being a women-owned and founded business. Not that long ago, a woman couldn't get a loan from a bank on her own just because she was a woman. It’s an amazing feeling to know that we are part of history by being two young women who went out and chased our dreams, continuously believing in ourselves and making the impossible real. I think the most heartwarming part of it is that (hopefully) we can inspire other women to reach for their wildest dreams because it's possible.
What was your business origin story?
We had always dreamed of running a business together since childhood, and we didn’t want to lead just any company; our passion has always been to empower women not only in what they wear but to go after their dreams without hesitation. We reflect this passion in all that we do – from business to personal lives – leading by example and sharing our individual journeys along the way, showcasing the unique challenge of being a woman in business.
We founded the brand in 2018 and it was born out of a gap we saw in the athletic apparel industry. At the company’s conception, athletic apparel offerings were developed for one specific body type, and representation for all people was lacking. We made it our mission to bring representation and empowerment to athletic fashion in whatever way we could.
Okay, coming up with a great idea and actually taking the steps to become an entrepreneur and launch your company are two very different things. How d:
Taylor: As sisters, we always dreamed of running a business together but we didn’t want to lead just any company; our passion had always been to empower women in what they wear and go after their dreams without hesitation. And having Steve be a co-founder as well truly balances us out as three Co-Founders.
In terms of how we started Vitality, as a woman in the fitness space, I saw firsthand a major lack of representation in the athletic apparel market for all shapes, sizes, and backgrounds. We were determined to ensure no one would have to feel self-conscious, uncomfortable, or unseen in athleisure again.
So, when Chloe, Steve, and I moved back to Denver in 2018, we took the leap and co-founded Vitality! We used all the savings from my online fitness coaching business and personal experiences and made it our mission to bring representation and empowerment to athletic fashion in whatever way we could!
Sometimes entrepreneurship can be a hard and isolating journey. How do you stay confident along the way?
Taylor: Being an entrepreneur is extremely hard, and at times, a very isolating journey! But one thing that has always kept me grounded is having my family and close friends, who have known me my whole life, around me and being an amazing support system. They keep me sane and always have my best interests at heart. When times get tough, I not only look to my support system to get me through it, but I also look to our Vitality community to reignite my confidence and refocus on our ‘why’. Seeing messages from our community talking about how our pieces bring them confidence means the world to me and keeps me going. What we do is so much bigger than leggings - it’s about the confidence and empowerment our pieces and our community brings to our customers.
Chloe: This is a really good question! It is isolating. As an entrepreneur, you live a very different life than your peers. What they're going through in their chapters of life is a very different path than yours - so it can be very isolating - and at times you can feel very alone. Something that has helped me is finding a separation between work and my personal life. A year ago, if you asked me who I was, I would’ve said a business owner first before who I am as a person. It wasn't until I found some separation between my life and my work that I feel I am a whole person first and that is something that I've built that I'm really proud of. Focusing on my well-being as a person really allows me to be the best at my job.
If you had to list three traits or attributes that have been pivotal for your success, what would they be?
Taylor:
Embrace risk-taking: I have always been inclined to take risks when it comes to pursuing my passion. If we all followed our original paths in college versus following our passion and dreams, we wouldn't have had such a unique impact on people's lives.
Have perseverance: Chloe and I have had the dream to start a business together since we were young. Our unwavering determination to empower women and stay true to our purpose has brought us to where we are today.
Prioritizing your well-being: To be effective at work, it's crucial to be in your best mental and physical state. I wouldn't be able to lead our team if I didn't allocate my mornings to exercise, nourishing my body, and finding inner peace every day.
Chloe:
Embracing my inner artist: In my role, while I do manage all of our design and products, I think this can go for any entrepreneur because it's something that can set you apart from everyone else. Embracing the artist's side because it is something that can set you apart from everyone else. For us, it's what has set us apart and it also has driven a lot of the decisions that we made that changed the industry standard and sparked a lot of change in the industry (ex - our Signature Glute Seam).
Trusting your intuition: This is huge, especially, as a woman in business, we tend to have to really raise our voice in the room to be heard. And sometimes it makes you want to just go with the flow and be easy and not speak up when you feel that, you know, there's a different route you would want to take. So, I think trusting your intuition and honoring it by voicing it and following it, is very important. And finding that balance between fact and gut, that intuition is a skill that can be grown over time. The more you listen, the stronger that voice becomes.
Honoring your time and personal life as much as you do your business: Taking the time to take care of your mind, body, and spirit to ensure that you’re showing up as your best self. Shed the hustle culture and focus on creating a good standard of quality of life. If you can show up for yourself outside of work and prioritize yourself, you actually show up at work for a shorter amount of time, but in a much more efficient way. I think that's a really valuable lesson to learn that you often learn the hard way but avoiding burnout and chasing that work/life/play balance.
What's one myth you'd like to debunk about your line of work?
One myth that we, as a company, have been working to debunk since we started was that activewear is only for the societal standard of “fit” people. We believe that activewear is made for everyBODY, as stated in our mission, and it is something we are continuing to promote and debunk with every launch we do. We focus on designing pieces and collections to not only fit all bodies, but fit them well, and provide an outlet of expression for each individual.
What advice would you give to burgeoning entrepreneurs?
Taylor: If I were to go back and tell myself a few pieces of advice when starting this business I would say to stay confident in yourself and your decisions (your gut is always right), keep the "why" of your business, and what you do at the forefront of every single thing you touch, and the team you build around you means everything.
Chloe: Perfection is not achievable but progress is, and if you continually strive for progress and self-betterment it will reflect in everything that you do. Balance your work ethic with your desire to maintain a healthy mind and spirit, and make time to see the beauty in each day.
What words do you live by?
Taylor: I live by the motto, “If you want it badly enough and are the hardest worker in the room, you can do whatever you want to in this life,” and that’s exactly what I am doing. I pride myself on giving my audience an insight into my life through social media where I hope to inspire my community to chase their dreams while in pursuit of a purposeful existence.
Chloe: In this chapter of my life right now, I ask myself every moment of the day either ‘What is the kindest thing that I can do for myself’ or ‘How can I do this one thing out of love?’ And that's more outward facing. I think that's a really important perspective for me because if I don't treat myself with love and kindness and then go to pour it out into the world, I'll just be spinning my wheels and making no progress.
Any final words of wisdom?
Taylor: My final words of wisdom would have to be ‘believe in yourself even when no one else does.’ By going after your biggest dreams and following your passions, people might tell you that you can't and think you're crazy, but you have to trust your gut, have grit, and follow your heart to achieve great things.
Chloe: My final words of wisdom I’ve learned over the past five years while being a business owner is that with anything you possibly dream you want to do, you can accomplish it in some way. You just really have to start with the desire for that one thing, why you want to do it, your intention and belief that you’re capable, and then shed everything else. Don’t let imposter syndrome get in the way and don’t worry about judgment from other people.
