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

Pattie , appreciate you joining us today. Crazy stuff happening is almost as certain as death and taxes – it’s technically “unexpected” but something unexpected happening is to be expected and so can you share a crazy story with our readers

I’ve sold my Booty Shawls® to women of all shapes, sizes and ages. They use them, as you’d expect, for layering over leggings and yoga pants for workouts. But I love hearing about the creative ways they are put to use also. One woman is an alpaca farmer and uses our Audrey Hipburn style to hold her sheering clippers in the generous pocket. Another woman rides a motorcycle in a group that does charity rides for veterans and also loves Audrey’s pocket for hands-free riding. Another woman is a photo journalist at the White House who also uses the kangaroo pocket for holding camera lenses.

But I got an order from a guy who wanted to order one for himself for a Halloween costume. No problem. He and his wife were serious costume creators and wanted to go as a pair of Greek mythological creatures. For his half goat/half man creature, he made a goat head mask in paper mache and created a white body suit. He asked where the flap of the Booty Shawl would be. He explained he needed it at his midline to allow for the large paper mache phallus that was apparently part of mythical creatures anatomy. I told him we make custom Booty Shawls too and we could put the cross over slit where ever he needed it to be. We’re all about service.

As is customary, I asked for his waist and hip measurements and how large the gap should be to accommodate his manhood or goathood. We made his custom Lauren Bashawl and sent it off. He promised he would send pictures of the final costume so I could share it on social media. The shots came back. The costumes were beautiful. Professionally planned. Exquisitely detailed. The Booty Shawl worked perfectly. Unfortunately the mythical creature was too realistic to share in public.

Pattie , 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 interest in sewing started when I was young. My mother worked at a fabric store, so I was surrounded with fabrics and patterns. We didn’t have money for new clothes, so we sewed our own. Fast forward 25 years to my life in advertising. I spent the last 30 years as a copywriter/creative director in the advertising world, mostly working on automotive accounts. I built brands like Jeep, Cadillac, Lincoln.

When I wasn’t shooting commercials, writing scripts, and meeting with clients, I was a fitness instructor- pilates and aquatics. The early morning and weekends girl. I switched from auto advertising in 2008 to healthcare advertising to align my advertising career with my passion for health and fitness through movement.

It was my exit plan from advertising. Working on healthcare advertising and in the movement field, I learned a key insight. People, no matter what age, shape or condition, want to feel as good as they possibly can. Confidence, well-being and feeling your best is the essence of health. And moving confidently helps bring that out.

I’ve trained people from a 92- year-old WWII nurse, to then, Carolina Panthers quarterback, Cam Newton. And everyone in between. Their goals are all different, but the motivation is the same- performing and feeling your best, no matter what you’re going through.

Like most women today, I was on the run from early morning to bedtime. As you can imagine, I spent a lot of time changing from fitness wear into bathing suits and then into business attire. In today’s world of leggings and yoga pants, it’s a challenge to feel comfortable and at ease when there wasn’t enough down there, to your leggings. Or when the yoga pants felt a little too revealing. At a certain age, you realize gravity wins. :)

I wanted a functional, well-designed accessory that I could slip on over leggings, add a jacket and a sweater and go. Something versatile, fashionable, flattering that polished the profile while I ran errands, went to the office or out with friends. Because who wants their bits and pieces on display in the grocery store? Or to wear long tunic tops all the time? I had a closet full of short tops, sweaters, jackets that I wanted to wear, but they didn’t cover the goods, front and back.

Traditional shirt extenders were bulky and un-tailored. Tying a jacket around the waist looked unkept. I couldn’t find what I wanted. Booty Shawl® was born out of necessity in 2014. Together with operating my pilates studio, this little “hip-hugging friend for your back end” is my full-time position and passion today.

If I needed this time-saving, wardrobe extending little accessory, chances are, other women did too.

We’ve covered the bootys of yoga and pilates devotes, dancers, swimmers, golfers, tennis players and instructors of all persuasions. Beyond the studio, Booty Shawl is a wardrobe staple for office, errands and evenings out. Women have put them to work in some amazing ways. Photographers, neo-natal nurses, horse back riders, motorcycle riders, alpaca farmer. I LOVE hearing the creative ways women have used their Booty Shawls to be more self-assured and do what they love.

Like a scarf for your neck, Booty Shawl is a wrap for your bum. It expands your wardrobe so you can wear all your favorite short tops with leggings or yoga pants and feel good about yourself. Think of it not so much as a cover up, but as a confidence booster.

And confidence is really what the Booty Shawl brand is about. Giving women of all ages, sizes and shapes an extra bit of self-assurance. In today’s world of impossible body imagery, to be comfortable and confident in your own skin is a gift.

Booty Shawl supports women of all ages, sizes and shapes on their journey to greater health, growth and self-discovery.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

Going from advertising to starting Booty Shawl® was a big pivot. I went from concepting creative ideas for giant brands to coming up with ideas for Booty Shawl styles. From producing TV commercials around the world to learning garment production in the US. While very different in form, many things translated. Creative thinking. Tight deadlines. Working with budgets. Knowing your audience. Finding the appropriate media. Bidding jobs. And perhaps most important- trusting your gut.

The differences were expected. I went from a huge, full time support staff to setting up a small tight circle of people. The learning curve was huge because now I wear many different hats. But I always tell myself, do what you can and try not to sweat the small stuff.

Do you sell on your site, or do you use a platform like Amazon, Etsy, Cratejoy, etc?

I sell on Etsy and on our website: bootyshawl.store I chose Etsy first because it was an easier platform to build on and had a built in audience. I used Shopify to set up our website next for it’s broad base of apps and support. It also has greater flexibility for designing an e commerce site than Etsy.

But a website, on any platform requires more work. It can sit out there for months with no traffic unless you find ways to drive people to it. Organic social posting helps. But it wasn’t until I did paid advertising on both platforms, that I started to build steady traffic.

Fees for each site vary, but in the end, they come out about even.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://bootyshawl.store
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/bootyshawl
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/bootyshawl
• Other: https://bootyshawl.etsy.com

Image Credits

Photos by: Joe Vaughn, Bill Morgan