We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Denise Ruiz a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Denise , thanks for joining us today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

This is the story behind denise rae and my mission to help women all over feel beautiful, strong, and enough through the power of my Collection.
denise rae Collection was born after the unexpected loss of my mom. My mom was a unique woman full of faith, life, and love. She loved bright colors, stripes, and anything gingham. Growing up, she would remind me that I was beautiful, strong, and worthy. During my encounter with grief and pain, I reminded myself that I am strong. Grief and pain are very real! It waits patiently for you to face them; simultaneously, you learn to live with both feelings. I like to say that “beautiful things are born from grief and pain.” denise rae is a Women’s sleepwear Collection purposely made to empower women to discover or re-discover self-love. My Collection delivers countless hidden messages in each piece we make. I am beautiful, I am strong, I am worthy are just a few of the messages attached to our brand label. There is no telling which message you’ll get! It brings great joy to receive DM’s and emails from women sharing their hidden messages. That their message has resonated with them. I am proud to slowly build a community of women finding time to tune in with themselves, even right before bedtime. Besides a collection that empowers women, it was crucial to me to make a sustainable brand free of harmful chemicals, eco-friendly packaging, and one-of-a-kind prints, all of which I created in-house with my team. For us, quality is more than quantity!

Denise , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My name is Denise, and I have loved fashion for as long as I can remember. I studied Fashion Design at FIT in NYC. I’ve worked for several fashion houses in my career time: Armand Ventilo, Groupe Zanner/Little Marc Jacobs, and Dolce Gabbana, to name a few. I spent ten years of my career overseeing the Dolce Gabbana kids business for North America. I learned a lot about the luxury world and consumer behavior. It has been an excellent experience for me.
My fancy corporate job and on-the-go career took a turn after the unexpected loss of my mom. I was lost, hopeless, and broken. A year after her passing, my husband chatted with me and asked me to dig deeper and find myself again. I began assembling elements, creating motifs, searching for factories and brand concepts; every move was planned accordingly. I always ask myself, what would Mom do? I still do.
My experience in the industry has been a great asset to my brand. I learn something new every day about how the business has changed. However, it is important to me to lead from my heart and to keep present the purpose that started denise rae from the start. Self-love!

Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?

My small business has been self-funded. We calculate and evaluate every spending. It has been helpful that we created a business plan that we followed religiously. We have a minimal window to overspend. We have monthly “financial meetings,” similar to what any large corporation does quarterly to discuss all aspects of the business. Ours is monthly! The pressure is “real,” and it can be CHALLENGING! No doubt, however, our mission remains the same and we keep pushing forward.

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

Industry events, like trade shows nationwide, have been the BEST source o B2B. I get to meet so many store owners, which is the best and fun part of the business. Sharing your story and the inspo behind each print we create is magical. Another way we get new customers is cold-calling, and visiting boutiques nationwide has been a great source of new clients. You’ll have fun meeting and connecting if you are a people person.
As for DTC, participating in charity events and pop-up selling events allows you to connect with direct-to-consumer customers, and they are also excited to meet the designer and brand owner.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.deniserae.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stories/deniseraedesigns/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/deniseraedesigns

Image Credits

Maria Mazilhanov, Kevin Alexander Valenzuela