A native of Appleton Wisconsin, Leslie Roeder is descended from a long line of German and Norwegian workaholics. As a youngster in the early days of the preppie movement, Leslie feigned an interest in sailing just so she could wear Docksides and Lacoste shirts. She quickly grew tired of the little alligator, however, and thought it would be "really neat" to make her own clothes. A cute little smock with bicycles on it was one her first creations!
At the age of 19, like so many dreamers before her, she set out for New York City, foolishly believing she could make an impact by designing and selling her own clothing line. A few years later, she was designing and selling her own clothing line. Under the label flight o' fancy she sold to Barneys, Bloomingdales, and Macys as well as to boutiques in Soho. Loyal customers well remember her dirndl vest, a daring suede number that came in brown or black with green embroidery and was inspired by Fraulein Maria aka Julie Andrews in "The Sound of Music." After a decade of ready-to-wear work Leslie closed up shop and headed back to school, where she preceded to get a master's of industrial design from the hugely prestigious Rhode Island School of Design. Since then she has designed for Target, Nike, Victorinox, Lowepro, Timbuk2, jansport, and Infantino.
In her free time Leslie swims in bikinis she makes herself, reads crime novels and Pulitzer-prize-winning non-fiction, and enjoys hiking the alps and watching Monday Night Football.  Leslie dreams of designing a swimming paddle that can measure how far you swim. The product will be known as an eau-dometer.

Addendum:

Leslie has feigned a new interest in Lacoste shirts!  But her interest in Monday Night football has waned.

Leslie still swims in bikinis. And last summer she won an award after she participated in a public swimming program at her local pool. She swam 25 miles in 7 weeks. Other major achievements are twelve new patents! She still hasn't designed the "eau-dometer", but she is determined to do so. How can she swim the English Channel without it?!