Annette Paxson's Well-Suited Success

Fifteen years ago Annette Paxson, dressed as a Martian, was one of five Florida International University students loaded into a Hyundai on the way home from a Halloween party. The group was stopped on the side of the road when five thugs on bicycles approached the car and demanded money. When the driver refused, the cyclists pulled guns and fired 18 shots.

Paxson was shot in the side. Two pals were also seriously wounded, one of whom died. The incident caused her to shift gears from a focus on marine biology to a major of law enforcement where she’d fight crime.

Today, Paxson has seven years of crime-fighting under her belt—first as a uniformed officer with the U.S. Mint Police, and now as a Special Agent with the U.S. State Department’s Diplomatic Security division. With her current role came the need for a new wardrobe, and that’s where she’s faced her biggest career challenge.

“Once I became a special agent, I was required to wear a business suit on protection details,” says Paxson, who’s based in Washington D.C. “Regular business suits did not meet the requirements I needed (belt loops, inside pockets and a jacket long enough to cover a handgun and other gear), so I had to get them specially made by a tailor.”

Market research led her to realize she could manufacture and sell these specialty suits to other women in similar clothing-challenged positions. This past January—after two years of planning and saving money—Paxson started Lawsuits, LLC.

With a $15,000 investment for suit samples, fabric swatches, business cards, catalogues, and a web site (the biggest expense), Paxson met with an intellectual property lawyer to establish the company’s name and trademark. Websites for the Virginia State Corporation and the Virginia Women’s Business Association proved useful for navigating the often complicated process of getting started.

“I laid out a timeframe for accomplishments and the money I knew I needed,” Paxson says. “There were many challenges regarding paperwork and not getting loans, so I had to constantly readjust my goals. The most important thing was to persevere.”

Since launching wearlawsuits.com , the company has had more than 50,000 hits, with word-of-mouth as its only form of advertising. The $229 wool-and-cotton blend pants suits can be worn by anyone, and Paxson will soon expand to sell women’s belts and shoes, specially made for law enforcement as well.

While there are many law-enforcement clothing vendors, Paxson says it is nearly impossible to find any that sell products made exclusively for women.

“As more women enter law enforcement, which has been a male-dominated profession for decades, our new goal should be making resources and equipment more gender-friendly,” Paxson says “I’m not looking to retire from side this business. I just want to help other women my field overcome the same dilemma I’ve had in finding suits for our line of work.”