Ep 529: Chub Rub to 2M+ Units Sold – The Lean Growth Story of Thigh Society

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In this episode of the DTC Podcast, we speak with Marnie Rabinovitch, founder of Thigh Society, the size-inclusive brand known for anti-chafe slip shorts. Marnie shares the origin story behind the product: a personal, frustrating experience with thigh chafe that sparked her to create something that simply didn’t exist—lightweight, breathable long-leg underwear that isn’t shapewear.

She bootstrapped the brand with $8K in savings, grew it slowly while working full-time, and only went all-in when the opportunity was undeniable. Thigh Society has since sold over 2 million pairs, thanks to Meta ads, creator content, and a product that customers evangelize.

Highlights:

• Product-market fit came from real lived pain
• Paid Meta ads drove both growth and PR
• Founder content outperforms typical brand campaigns
• Lean team; fully remote, fully freelance
• Resisted wholesale early to focus on simplicity and DTC margins
• SEO and content strategy born from the words customers actually use

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Timestamps:

00:00 The origin of Thigh Society

03:00 Solving a real pain point with long-leg underwear

08:00 Bootstrapping with $8K and building a prototype

12:00 Growing to $500K with no paid ads

18:00 Use cases beyond chafing: sweat, comfort, modesty

22:00 Meta ads and why founder content works

29:00 Why Thigh Society stayed DTC

34:00 Paid social leads to organic PR

36:00 Direct response ads over brand-building

38:00 How SEO and organic language drive rankings

Hashtags:

#DTC

#ThighSociety

#FounderStory

#EcommercePodcast

#DirectToConsumer

#MetaAds

#BootstrappedBusiness

#ProductMarketFit

#AntiChafe

#ChubRubSolution

#WomenInBusiness

#ComfortWear

#StartupJourney

#ShopifyBrand

#CustomerRetention

#OrganicGrowth

#UnderwearForWomen

#CreatorContent

#SEOForEcommerce

#AuthenticMarketing

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