Watch Our Condensed Case Study: Aja Cohen on the Retention Nation Podcast
Most small ecommerce founders have the same problem. They’re stuck behind a desk building the next email when they should be out making content, meeting customers and growing the brand.
Aja Cohen, founder of Transcendent Active, used to be one of them. Then she and the HiFlyer Digital team rebuilt her Klaviyo email flows from the ground up.
In the last 90 days, Transcendent Active’s flow revenue grew by 72%. She now heads into the holiday season with an email system that runs on its own while she does the work she loves.
Aja joined Isaac Hyman on the Retention Nation Podcast to talk about how she built the brand, why she became a Klaviyo evangelist, and how one change in mindset (“I don’t want to bother my subscribers”) changed how she runs her business.
TL;DR: Transcendent Active is a modest athleisure brand based in New Jersey. It moved from Mailchimp to Klaviyo, and HiFlyer Digital redesigned its full set of automated email flows as a one-time project. Flow revenue grew 72% over 90 days. The emails look as polished as a national activewear brand’s, and the flows do the heavy lifting. That frees Aja to focus on content, “advertainment” and in-person pop-ups. Her biggest lesson for other small brands: you’re not bothering anyone. Send the email.
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Key Takeaways
- Transcendent Active grew flow revenue by 72% in the last 90 days after HiFlyer Digital redesigned its Klaviyo email flows.
- Switching from Mailchimp to Klaviyo gave founder Aja Cohen the data, profiles and automations to run email like a well-oiled machine.
- Professionally designed, actionable flow emails make a small brand look as polished as a national activewear label.
- Automation freed Aja from the desk so she could focus on content, “advertainment” and in-person pop-ups.
- The biggest unlock was a mindset shift: you’re not bothering your subscribers. Consistent email builds the relationship.
- A one-time, set-price flow rebuild is the most leveraged first step for a small brand aiming for high six or seven figures.
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Prefer to read? Below are the key moments from the conversation and the retention strategy behind Transcendent Active’s growth.
Who Is Aja Cohen, and What Is Transcendent Active?
Aja Cohen trained at Pratt, grew up in New Jersey, and spent 10 years designing performance gear for athletes at Fila, Champion and Converse.
Then she ran into a problem no big brand was solving. She couldn’t find a single piece in her own closet that was modest enough for school pickup and technical enough for a morning run.
So she made it herself.
Transcendent Active designs modest athleisure for active women. Every piece is designed in New Jersey and made in LA. The brand is WBE (Women’s Business Enterprise) certified and has been featured in USA Today, BC The Magazine and The Jewish Link.
Aja’s own story shapes the brand. She’s Italian and converted to Judaism, and that background runs through her product and her content. As she put it on the podcast, it’s “pretty much my entire business.”
When she first launched, her friends in the fashion industry were surprised: “I never would’ve thought about that. You’re right, that is a need.” Years before, while she was still in corporate design, a European retailer had asked for more covered pieces for its customers. Most of the industry’s answer was to lengthen a hoodie and add a hood. Aja built a whole brand around doing it properly.
How Does a Modest Activewear Brand Keep Customers Loyal?
Aja says the product is the tip of the spear, and her customers back her up.
Many of them follow modesty guidelines and have to wear skirts. What they tell her is that with Transcendent Active, they don’t feel like they’re settling. They’re choosing it.
“Like, yesterday a girl, one of my good customers who ran the New York City Marathon, she’s like, ‘I’ll take four. Black Friday sale? Great, I’ll take four. This is the only thing I run in.'”
That’s what retention looks like at its core: a group of customers who all say the same thing, “I wear it five times a week at least.” The question every small brand has to answer is how to find more of those people.
Asked to rank what keeps apparel customers coming back, Aja put it like this:
- Versatility first. One piece that works for swim, running, workouts, travel, and dressing up or down. It also fits her sustainable approach: buy one thing and get a lot of use out of it.
- Timeless style. Nothing overly trendy. Classic Transcendent pieces customers layer with whatever is in season.
- Quality that matches the price. “I don’t sell a super cheap product, so it has to match the quality.” That’s also why she still manufactures in America.
She’s also clear about focus. With a small budget and a small team, she chose a lane (modern Orthodox, Teaneck, the Five Towns) and stays in it, instead of trying to custom-build for every request.
What Is “Advertainment,” and Why Is It Working?
Aja has stopped posting standard product content. Her strategy now is what she calls “advertainment”:
“Maybe I’m dancing, doing running yesterday, doing something fun, and then over it I’m doing a voiceover of like, ‘Hey, I became Jewish because of this,’ or ‘I found fashion because of this.’ But entertaining them, so they watch and they learn, and then they’re like, ‘Hmm, I like that outfit. Maybe I’ll buy that.'”
It started on TikTok around COVID and has since moved to Instagram and Facebook. The result surprised her. It’s reaching a far broader, more mainstream audience than her original niche. At her six-day pop-up in Teaneck, new shoppers told her, “I came because I love watching you.”
But advertainment takes time: filming, editing, styling and showing up. That’s why the email side of the business had to run without her.
Why Did Transcendent Active Switch From Mailchimp to Klaviyo?
Like most founders, Aja started on Mailchimp because it was the name she saw in ads. Her first launch email went to whoever was in her inbox, maybe 50 friends. She knew you had to send an email when you launch a product. She didn’t know much beyond that.
She later moved to a different platform. Then Isaac kept telling her the same thing: “You’ve got to switch to Klaviyo.”
She was honest about how that felt at first:
“It sounded like, this is a job. This is gonna be exhausting. New software scares every single person.”
Once the switch was done, though, Klaviyo became her aha moment:
“Once Klaviyo starts, it’s just a well-oiled machine. I can track, and there’s data, and there’s flows, and there’s automations, and the profiles, finding out how long they’ve been a customer, what they could potentially purchase. Now I’m like a big Klaviyo… I get on my Klaviyo soapbox.”
She’s now one of the platform’s most vocal fans. Her advice to every founder she talks to is simple:
“First you have to switch to Klaviyo. Then you’ve gotta have Isaac do the flows. Like, just have him set up the flows. Just do that.”
What Did HiFlyer Digital Change in Transcendent Active’s Email Flows?
The biggest project we did with Transcendent Active was a full redesign of its automated email flows. It was done earlier this year as a one-time, set-price project.
Aja explained why this mattered so much for a small brand:
“Flows are so… I find them very overwhelming because of just the little sections and this and that. When you had one set price of just redesigning flows, that is a great thing for a business, a big business, a small business, whatever.”
We focused on three things:
1. Design that looks like a national brand
Aja had been designing her emails one way. Our team designed them another way: clean, professional and on-brand, so a small Teaneck label sits comfortably next to the biggest names in activewear.
“I like when the email does look professional, like it was any brand… I feel like it’s okay for it to look like Athleta. You’re getting them in the door, and they’re already seeing me from other angles.”
2. Emails that drive action
Pretty isn’t enough. Every flow email was built to be actionable: clear products, a clear reason to click, and a direct path back to the site. Then each one follows up automatically based on what the subscriber does next.
3. A personal touch where it counts
The polished flows sit alongside Aja’s own voice. Before her pop-up and fashion show, she sent a plain-text “letter” email, which Isaac had long encouraged her to do:
“You hit them with the heartfelt letter of like, ‘Hey, I’m really working hard on this. I really want you to come.’ They feel connected to you, and they want to buy because they care about you and you care about them.”
Designed automations for the heavy lifting and personal letters for connection: that mix is what turns a list into a community.
How Did Transcendent Active Grow Flow Revenue by 72% in 90 Days?
With the new flows live, flow revenue grew 72% over the last 90 days.
Aja sees it every month in her Klaviyo analytics:
“You can see on all of the analytics that they’ve gone up… You’re seeing the profit right before your eyes after it being updated.”
And that’s only the revenue Klaviyo can attribute. As Aja pointed out, many customers click an email, leave, and buy later through another channel. The email started the sale, even if it doesn’t get the credit.
Isaac compared flows to an engine: they run all the time, but every engine needs servicing. Flows get stale. Aja already plans to refresh hers next year:
“Say we did it again next year. It’s a good thing to just update, ’cause then they get stale, flows.”
How Did Email Automation Give Aja Her Time Back?
This is the biggest result, and it doesn’t appear in any revenue chart.
Before, a founder like Aja could lose whole days at her computer building emails. Now the flows run in the background, and she spends her time on the work only she can do.
“Today I need to make like 15 videos from the fashion show… But that’s the fun stuff. That’s how you get the people. So I can’t just be doing this little computer thing today. I use Klaviyo, it’s automated. And one day of just filming and making videos is worth a lot in the long run.”
On the day we recorded, her entire email to-do list was this:
“I need to just clone yesterday’s email, send it to another group, and send it at 11. That’s the only work I’m doing today besides this podcast, and then I’m making videos.”
Her automated flows go out on their own, triggered by what each subscriber does. Aja focuses on social media, advertainment and her community, and her flows do the heavy lifting and make her money.
Why Are Small Brands So Afraid of “Bothering” Their Subscribers?
This may be the most important shift in the whole story.
Aja used to think the way most small founders think:
“Do they really need to see an email from me? I don’t wanna bother them. I don’t wanna flood their inbox.”
Now she pushes back on that idea:
“Do you know how many emails are in my inbox? Who cares? I saw an ad about Skims, and it was like, Kim is sending you two emails every day. Why can’t you get them from me?”
She also compared it to a party invitation. A friend emails, then texts, then reminds you to RSVP, and you still might miss it. If your own friends need three reminders, your customers do too.
Isaac put it plainly: being afraid to email is a barrier to growth. Subscribers who want to hear from you will engage. Those who don’t will ignore you or unsubscribe, and you don’t need them on the list anyway.
Aja also sees what happens when founders don’t email. She has bought from friends’ small brands and never received a single email from them. Her father has run a successful hair-replacement business since the early 1970s and doesn’t collect email addresses.
“Imagine if you had just one email. One email.”
Today she’s proud to be the brand that shows up: “I’m the only one that annoys you with email.” In her case, that’s how the business grows.
How Is Transcendent Active Positioning for the Holiday Season?
Transcendent Active heads into Q4 with an automated email system already running, plus an in-person strategy that feeds it.
- Black Friday as a reset. Aja plans to use BFCM to clear older inventory and make room for new, more colorful pieces that go beyond the black bestsellers.
- Holiday pop-ups. A Chanukah pop-up in Livingston, NJ (Nov 15), the Young Israel of Lawrence in the Five Towns (Nov 24), and the Young Israel of Staten Island on Black Friday weekend (Nov 29).
- Online and offline working together. Pop-ups are where shoppers touch the fabric and fall in love with it (“I came in to get one dress and left with two others”). Email brings them in, and flows keep them coming back after they get home.
That last point is important. As Isaac noted on the podcast, customers who buy both online and in person can be at least six times more loyal than single-channel buyers. Aja’s pop-ups bring new people onto her list, and the flows turn them into repeat customers.
What’s next for 2027
- Quarterly pop-ups, starting MLK weekend, each tied to a new mini-collection drop.
- Activating her loyalty program. Loyal customers have already been building up points. Putting those points to work is a large untapped retention opportunity.
- Selective retail, only in places where the brand can still feel like a community and not “just another thing on the rack.”
What Does It Take for a Small Brand to Reach High Six or Seven Figures?
Transcendent Active is a small brand with big ambitions. To get from where it is today to the high six figures and beyond, it needs the same thing every growing brand needs: an automated retention system that works without the founder.
You can’t grow into seven figures by personally writing every email. The founder’s time is the most limited resource in the business, and Aja’s is worth more in front of a camera and with her customers than in an email builder.
That’s why we started her with a flow rebuild instead of a long retainer:
- One-time, one-and-done. A full automated flow strategy, designed and built at a single set price.
- Built to keep earning. The automations that matter most for a growing brand, designed to generate revenue around the clock.
- Room to grow. Once the foundation is live, brands can add campaign management whenever they’re ready, or simply refresh the flows each year.
For a small brand on a small budget, it’s the most leveraged first step in email marketing. As Aja said, “Email is for sure a home run, easy win when you’re starting small and you don’t wanna spend a lot of money. You’re not ready for ads or anything. It’s a no-brainer.”
What Can Other Small Ecommerce Brands Learn From Transcendent Active?
- Get on the right platform. Switching to Klaviyo felt like a big job. It became the foundation for everything that followed.
- Let flows do the heavy lifting. A professionally designed set of automations will outperform a founder sending emails by hand, and it gives you your time back.
- Look like a big brand, sound like you. Polished designed emails plus occasional plain-text letters from the founder is a winning mix.
- Stop worrying about “bothering” people. Consistency builds the relationship. Silence costs you revenue.
- Connect online and offline. Use pop-ups and events to grow the list, then let flows turn those shoppers into repeat buyers.
- Refresh your flows regularly. Flows are an engine, and engines need servicing. Revisit them once a year.
The Bottom Line
Transcendent Active didn’t grow flow revenue 72% in 90 days by working harder. It grew by building a system so the founder could work less on email and more on the brand.
Aja Cohen started out sending launch emails to 50 friends from Mailchimp and worrying about bothering anyone. Today she’s a Klaviyo evangelist with professionally designed, automated flows that bring in revenue while she films content, runs pop-ups and builds her community. She’s heading into the holidays, and into 2027, ready to grow.
That shift, from the tools to the design to the mindset, is what Isaac Hyman and the HiFlyer Digital team set out to build for every brand we work with. If you’re a small brand trying to reach the high six or seven figures, start where Aja did: get your flows built right, once, and let them do the heavy lifting.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much did Transcendent Active’s flow revenue grow?
Transcendent Active’s email flow revenue grew by 72% over the last 90 days after HiFlyer Digital redesigned its automated Klaviyo flows.
What is Transcendent Active?
Transcendent Active is a modest athleisure brand for active women, founded by Pratt-trained designer Aja Cohen, who spent 10 years at Fila, Champion and Converse. It is designed in New Jersey and made in LA.
Why should a small ecommerce brand switch to Klaviyo?
Klaviyo gives small brands customer profiles, purchase data and automated flows in one place. Aja Cohen called the switch intimidating at first, but said that once it was running it became a well-oiled machine.
What are email flows, and why do they matter for small brands?
Email flows are automated sequences triggered by subscriber behavior, like signing up, browsing, abandoning a cart or buying. They generate revenue around the clock without the founder sending each email by hand.
Will emailing my list too often annoy my subscribers?
Usually not. Big brands email daily. Subscribers who want to hear from you will engage, and those who don’t will unsubscribe. Being afraid to email is often the real barrier to growth for small brands.
Does HiFlyer Digital offer a one-time email flow package?
Yes. HiFlyer Digital offers a one-time, set-price flow build: a full automated flow strategy designed and built once, with the option to add campaign management later. Book a free audit at hiflyerdigital.com/book to learn more.
Want flows that do the heavy lifting for your brand, like Transcendent Active? See how we build them.
If you want to see how your email program stacks up and what it would take to improve it, you can start with a free audit:
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