Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Julia Deney. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Julia, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

I was a fashion design major at Cornell University and separately began volunteering at a local autism preschool. Staff and parents would bring up their children’s struggle with clothing when I mentioned I was interested in childrenswear design. I then began an independent study working with this school and local families on making clothing more accessible and helping them with other sensory needs by integrating sensory tools into the sensory-friendly designs. I still didn’t see it as a business until Covid hit. I was months away from graduating, and the fashion industry was shut down. However, special education services desperately needed employees during this time. So, I began working hands-on with the kids I was designing for. I saw firsthand the impact of sensory dysregulation on inclusion and academic success and knew some of my designs could help. Seeing how widespread the problem was across schools and states. I decided to launch my designs as a business that could serve kids worldwide.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My company, Sense-ational You, is an adaptive clothing brand on a mission to increase inclusion and academic success for children with sensory processing needs through clothing that supports sensory regulation. Our clothing is both sensory friendly and made with built-in sensory tools from sound reduction to compression and more.
Sensory needs can be hard to understand if you don’t experience them, but are not something that can be ignored or just gotten over. When a tag feels like it is cutting into your neck every time you move, it is impossible to follow directions, handle changes, or deal with other overstimulating situations, such as loud noises. Sense-ational You’s goal is to increase awareness of the severe impact sensory needs can have and keep kids as comfortable as possible so they can be present and regulated. To do this, I integrate sensory tools directly into clothing in a comfortable and discrete way. For kids who hate loud noises but don’t like headphones, I added sound reduction into the hood of a hoodie. For kids that need comforting deep pressure, I added adjustable compression underneath a sensory-friendly t-shirt so there is no need to carry around a separate vest. For kids that always need a fidget, our joggers have four large pockets to carry around many options, and the side pockets are made with magnetic closures that double as a built-in fidget.
All of Sense-ational You’s clothing is made with even the smallest details in mind. Including stitching down the pocket bags so they don’t bunch up, securing the elastic waistband so it doesn’t roll, and using magnetic closures for a smooth, sensory-friendly experience so that even children who struggle with fine motor skills can dress independently. Our goal is always to help keep kids regulated, confident, and comfortable so they can thrive in and outside of school!

How did you build your audience on social media?

After years of work building it up, social media has proven to be one of our best sales channels. My best advice to other founders is to not be afraid to be the face of the business. This is not a task you should hire off right away. As a founder of a small business, you are the brand. Customers want to connect with you and your story. That is how they will gain trust for what you are building and want to be a customer of yours. This can be done far ahead of your launch, too! I began our social accounts nearly 2 years before our launch. It helped build excitement and gave us a base following to build on once we had a product to sell.

Okay – so how did you figure out the manufacturing part? Did you have prior experience?

While I majored in fashion design, the manufacturing world felt foreign and scary when I decided to start the brand. So to get started, I decided to hire fashion consultants who were already connected with trusted, ethical manufacturers and who could walk me through the whole process from tech pack to shipment delivery. The pros of this were I got a great handle on the process and how to communicate with manufacturers, and I had others working on a lot of the small details while I was still working full-time, so progress was not slow. The cons of this were that it was very expensive. Looking back, it was a lot of money spent before I had any revenue coming in. It helped that I was still working full-time and could cover the costs with my paycheck, but it wasn’t a cheap process. It did give me a lot of confidence heading into future production runs myself through, so if you can, I do think it is beneficial to have someone help you with the process the first time.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://shopsenseationalyou.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/senseational_you/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shopsenseationalyou
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/julia-deney-a07a87122/
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@Sense-ationalYou