Stacey Latona’s new #Golf apparel line for women offers a clean, stylish and comfortable look whether on the course, or off. #latonagolf #women
Welcome back miners to another episode of The Back N Report with our guest today Stacy Latona the founder and CEO of Latona women’s golf apparel Stacy hello and welcome to the back night report hi nice to see you thank you for having me so we’re enjoying some nice
Weather here in in Michigan a little bit uh not not nearly like the the hang on winter we normally get this time of year well yeah it is I I love this time of year Well number one today’s my birthday so whenever we hit Spring
It all starts to get a little bit better so I know middle of March is a good time frame good time we think of golf at this time there you go Stacy um tell us a little bit about the Tona women’s golf apparel when did you come up with this
Idea and how did you decide to start a new golf apparel line for women well I will tell you that um it was out of frustration I’ve been golfing for about 20 years not great but that doesn’t matter and that’s why it’s so important to look good cuz when you’re
Know play well you want to at least look good but you know I just was frustrated I have you know everyone has their own style their own personality and I felt like there was nothing that really spoke to me and I also have talked to a million women that have felt the same
Way um and I finally just got to the point where I was like if not me then who’s going to do it because no one’s getting it right and if not now then when um Now’s the Time I work in golf and I I’m you know confident enough in
What I do that I felt you know um it was the time to to just to move forward and and attempt to do it I’ve always had kind of an entrepreneurial Spirit anyway um so I did about I think uh 2021 I started sketching things I have never
Been in the I mean I’m not a designer by Nature I’m not sure how when you’re young and dress up bake The Dread all that stuff maybe maybe here and there I I don’t well I don’t recall I just know that I’ve always been a little more
Trendy I guess than than some some some people but again I’m I I like black white gr the colors for Lona are black white gray with a pop of red and it’ll always be that way because I feel like those are very chic very Timeless there’s enough patterns and other things
That that’s what you’re into um but there really wasn’t anything that was a little bit more fashion forward and and I think the biggest thing for me too was femininity um everything seemed to me to be designed for a man shrunken down um to the arms were not um you know uh cap
Sleeve you know to be a little bit more feminine for a woman it wasn’t form fitting the skirts are too you know long so too many too many buttons not enough zippers I mean it was a very kind of a conservative look um and a certain type
And it looked like a man was wearing it so I just thought it would be cool to have another option um that women could choose from so that was sort of why I went out and did it and here I am a couple years later I actually launched
In April of last year don’t mention you’ve had a pretty interesting career really uh you started out in broadcasting at a very young age spent on a long time in that you moved over to sports management uh you’re currently director of sales for the rocket mortgage classic the PJ tour stop in
Detroit every year uh and your state and mission for your clothing line is that this line of women’s clothing is a movement to introduce true fashion to golf apparel as a way to get even more women involved Golf and as we both know women in golf and juniors in golf are
The two fastest growing segments in the golf industry 100% um I think it was it’s gone from like in in three years 15 young girls getting into the game of golf went from 15% to like 36% in the last couple years and it is for the
First time in the history of golf young girls are exceeding young boys getting into the sport so certainly Co had a lot to do with that but also I think women have begun to recognize and quite frankly men with their daughters understanding that you know getting their daughters into this will change
Their careers and I felt like it did that for me and that was the other reason why I wanted to encourage women to golf not only because I do believe that when you golf you every time I step up to the tea I’m still nervous every
Single time that I’ve been doing for 20 years everybody is Stacy everybody I know right but what does that do it teaches you resilience it teaches you to face of fear you know put yourself out there and every time you get more comfortable putting yourself out there
You’re more likely to do it again and that’s the only way we can grow as human being so that to me is what golf has done for me I’ve been in situations where I had to play in prams with very very very good players and I I don’t
Even know how I brought myself to step up to the tea at that moment but I did it and I look back at it now and I go thank God I did that what a blast so um that’s part of it so I think growing the
Game of golf for women making feel good in their choices of how they look as well while they’re out there kind of helps Inspire them to get out there uh and I really do believe that um it has changed my life and my career-wise being
Able to say yeah I can play I don’t have to be good I can pick my ball up but if I want five hours with a CEO like my male counterparts have had for years and years and FYI just to get out of work for the afternoon absolutely there you
Go yeah you got you gotta learn you gotta be able to say you can play ladies that’s all I have to say so you you touch on a little bit that you’ve been playing for a long time how and why did you get started playing golf
Uh did you play in high school did you play at a young age did your dad help you how did you get going no none of the none of that actually I uh at the time I think I was in my first trip was uh when
I was in uh sales in radio and I noticed that everybody was getting out of work to go play golf and I thought I got to get some clubs um and I never had picked up a club um I think it was May I was maybe
26 27 and never picked up a club I’d been you know athletic I played you know softball and and volleyball and in high school but um yeah so um my dad didn’t play so it wasn’t that actually funny enough my grandparents played and I didn’t get it until now but my
Grandmother had two hole in ones like she was really into it I wish I I wish you was still here you know to talk to her about it and I think they’d be really proud of what I’ve accomplished in this particular sport um they’re probably watching but I am um yeah so I
Just picked it up to get out of work that was the first thing um didn’t really play I never play enough still to get good at it I don’t even keep score to be honest with you but I can tell if I’m better or not so it’s all about just
Having fun and and really golf is just another reason to drink beer Outdoors so 100% have a reason to have a cocktail and you know what I noticed about golf for me boating and golfing and I don’t have own a bone any more either but you
Are present and that’s all we can ask for is to be present right and I think that you when you’re out on this beautiful course you’re present and I think what’s cool about it now that I’m in the PGA Tour world as well is that it’s a great destination like if you’re
Going to go on vacation and you can say hey I’m GNA stop by this tournament you know or I’m gonna take one time say I played this course it leads to other opportunities to talk in business about oh yeah I played that course it’s that camaraderie that you have now um you
Know in this field that it opens up communication when you know talking points with people that you may not have otherwise had anything in common with pretty much every man in the business world has at least picked up a club so and along that line to
To add to that as I visit uh upscale resorts around the country uh it it just pleases me to know in to see the women’s groups that are there you’ll have four ladies there on a Go Girls golf getaway or maybe 12 or something like like that
And they’re playing 18 holes in the morning and they’re going to the spa or they’re going retail shopping or you know something in the afternoon to make a full day and having a good time and I think it’s fantastic I I just love to see the ladies out there when we’re
Doing that and your Line’s going to make them look better while they’re out there uh you said that said at the Michigan Bel show I had a lot of men coming up grabbing giving their credit cards grabbing CL saying my wife’s at the bar
Be right back I just want to show it to her hang out of my card literally and I’m like I’m getting a service for the men as well cool cool you know well there’s a ton of women’s golf apparel lines out there now in the market what sets Lona apart from your competition
Well I appreciate you saying that and the first thing I’m going to address with that is that I don’t believe in competition I think it’s all about creativity there’s enough room for everyone that’s the first thing the second thing is is I really I mean do we
Need another man’s Polo for God’s sakes like you know we we need more options women women and we we love to shop so there’s nothing but I’ll tell you a couple little nuances that set me apart besides again black white gray pop of red I think that that’s that’s not
Traditional for what you see out on the course um I have a uh every one of my Logos is magnetic for your ball marker it’s on the back of every skirt and on every shirt and your your ball marker just adheres right to it which is great
When you’re walking up and you’re like where the heck is it again you know you know that there for you um so that sets it apart there’s a place for your Teese and your cell phones in the scor um little things that women will appreciate
That men have no idea about is that I’m was very particular on the skirt underneath the skirt that it didn’t roll up because that happens to us and we’re constantly pulling it down so it’s very form fitting it kind of sucks you in a little bit um and again kind of back to
That femininity it’s it’s um designed uh to kind of hug your curves a little bit more it’s designed to be more on the stretchy tight side um and form fitting where a lot of and again may not be for everyone but what I love about Latona is
That you can go from the you know on an errand in it and look kind of cute and sporty go to the golf course then you can go into the clubhouse kind of looking Chic all the way through and even if you’re not a golfer honestly
I’ll wear it with a lul 11 top I’ll throw a skirt on and I’ll run out you don’t have to be a golfer but it is functionally you know available you know and and and geared towards golfers but a lot of women don’t golf on their
Husbands Say Hey I want you to go to this thing they’re like I don’t know to wear and then they go try to find one thing and they’re like are you kidding me just like I’ve said for years this is it this is all we have to choose from so
Um yeah so it’s a it’s it’s a more almost like at leisure wear which is I know a big buzzword right now but I think that it kind of fits in that category as well well I saw your line in person at the Noby golf show a couple
Weeks ago and I just caught my eye and and uh so really happy to uh to learn more about it um you even host your own YouTube video series where where could you find out if if people want to know more about you yeah lip out with Lona um
I started that I’m always taking out 800 things at one time but you know I have a as you’d mentioned I have a a very interesting trajectory in my career I started um as an honor personality uh many years ago I think I literally was
19 years old when I started I wanted to be on the radio and I went went for it and had hosted co-hosted morning shows and whatnot for many years so all of a sudden all these podcasts started popping up and I thought you know what
I’m going to do my own because I was working on Latona and I wanted to be able to kind of again Inspire more women talk about the details of golf and and just kind to take the guest workout for somebody that was brand new that’s kind
Of the way I started it I have I’ve need to do more I’ve had some opportunities um but obviously with a full-time job and everything going on with Lona Latona in general um it’s finding finding the time but I do enjoy it and I just wanted
To kind of use some of my broadcast background for it too so where can we find that oh you go to YouTube Just lip out with Lona and check it out yeah so if I want to if I want to buy some Latona clothing for a for a lady friend
Or something uh do I just buy online are you in retail stores anywhere where do we find your product yes Laton golf.com certainly always will be available online I’m just now starting to get them in a couple of country clubs but obviously they’re private so you have to
Be a member of the country club um I will say if you are a member of a country club and you can let the pro know or whoever makes those buying decisions please have them give me a call um and reach out to me as well because I am right now working on
Finding um a rep that can help me get into to the country club so that’s the next phase of it and also ideally I would love to be in a boutique I’d love to find like a kind of a smaller high-end Boutique that is in you
Know uh uh the Hamptons and you know New York and where all the big markets are you know of across the country and be their golf line that’s I my ideal um u in my in my head what I’d love to do not that I would ever turn down the you know
Um a large store but I want to be really careful in protecting the brand I don’t want it put you know on clearance racks and people not really understanding you know what I’m trying to do with it I really want to keep it very um Quality and high-end and and that kind of
Thing been talking with Stacy Lona who has started her own women’s golf apparel line Lona golf so women Stacy so thank you so much for taking a few minutes and uh chatting with us today we we really uh appreciate learning more about the Lona L thank you so much and follow me
On Instagram and Tik Tok Lona golf thank you Stacy
