Alexa Suter is a college dropout. And she’s also the CEO of Huha, a women’s underwear company focused on making skin-layer basics with comfort in mind. The idea itself was created out of Suter’s personal experience with recurring UTIs and discomfort from synthetic fabrics like nylon and polyester.
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With sharp business instincts, Suter took the road less travelled—quitting her post-secondary program at 21 to build a career spanning real estate, fashion and marketing. She launched a skirt company called Sutie Skirts, founded her own digital marketing agency and emerged as an early adopter of influencer culture.
“I veered away from the traditional path. I left university and… got my business and negotiation skills through those couple of years,” she tells BCBusiness.
Prior to that, she’d grown up on the manufacturing floor of a warehouse, watching her entrepreneurial father create mechanical goods on a major scale.
She took this entrepreneurial spirit all the way to Canadian reality TV show Dragons’ Den, where she pitched Huha—at that time reporting annual sales of $3.9 million—and scored a handshake deal with one of the show’s “dragons,” Arlene Dickinson, for $400,000 for 5 percent of the company’s royalties.
That specific deal didn’t quite pan out—but with a little patience, Dickinson came in with something much better: a $20 million investment into Huha from her company, District Ventures Capital.
“I did crave mentorship, and I did want a partner,” says a now mid-30s Suter, “and I went with the investor that felt the most values aligned.”
If the sheer amount of undergarments sold are any indication (over four million units to date), the now-trademarked Mineral Undies enhanced with zinc oxide (which now come in a range of styles) filled a hole in the market for women looking to take care of themselves, starting with underwear.
Now Suter leads a team of 17 people, doing weekly check-ins with Dickinson after closing more than $45 million in annual sales in the 2025 fiscal year. How’s that for a college dropout?
What was your first job?
Cashier at McDonald’s.
What is the last book you read?
The Big Leap by Gay Hendricks.
What is your most-used app?
The Oura Ring app.
