Today we’d like to introduce you to Helene Delince & Stephanie Vincent
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
We’re here today with our very own brick-and-mortar business through a happy accident that started almost 30 years ago. Helene missed the deadline for signing up for her internship in college. She ended up receiving the very last one which was assisting in admin work at a small Upper East Side lingerie shop. When she was offered an opportunity to stay on and learn the retail business she worked her way up the ladder and helped expand many lingerie and bra fitting shops in New York City. As for Stephanie, the impact of attending a fashion high school and learning about lingerie from the garment construction side is what made her get her working papers while in high school and receiving professional bra fitting training at the same Upper East Side lingerie shop as Helene. Through years of working a few luxury retail jobs and wearing different hats, the decision to work for ourselves and open our boutique was made 8 years ago.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
The road to entrepreneurship is never smooth. Wish it was though! The primary struggles will always be tied to finances. Building enough capital, receiving loans, and worrying about overhead costs in a physical location, We started our business and poured everything we had into it and have continued doing so.
As you know, we’re big fans of The Fitting Curve. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
At The Fitting Curve, we provide the wonderful service of expert bra fitting! Because of our trusted expertise, we provide a positive and empowering shopping experience that can generally be confusing, filled with self-doubt, or even traumatic for some people at other lingerie establishments. We are very proud of the positive feedback and validation that we get from our customers of how easy we’ve made the bra shopping experience for them. We’re also really proud of the lives we change in our fitting rooms. Our clients range from preteens to seniors and we get to begin or expand breast health and body-positive conversations with each and every person who shops with us!
We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?
As the daughters of a single Haitian immigrant mother, it is hard to subscribe to the idea of luck playing a role in our lives or business. We’ve worked hard, over-exceeding most times, simply to be seen in both life and business. In an industry tied to the fashion industry, one that is continuously not very inclusive or diverse, perhaps we’ve had the bad luck of being two Black women with the audacity to be our own bosses.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.thefittingcurve.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thefittingcurve
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thefittingcurve
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/the-fitting-curve-rockville-centre
Image Credits
Azikiwe Aboagye Photography