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

Shelby, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today How did you come up with the idea for your business?

Well, upon my Lipedema diagnosis, it was apparent that a lot of awareness needed to be brought to the disease, as very few medical professionals were knowledgeable about it. I brainstormed ways to help spread awareness, and I thought why not bring together my love for flowers & directly showcasing how Lipedema looks! And then Shapely Vases LLC was born!

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I’ve been a professional plus size model and influencer for many years-helping women love their bodies despite what the main stream media (or trolls online) say. I’ve been determined to normalize plus size bodies in a world that tends to shame them. I founded & created Shapely Vases LLC to help bring representation to millions of women who look like me. Shapely Vases currently makes 12 inch vases made of my actual body in a Greek- inspired style. The purpose of using my actual body is to showcase the details of my legs, a primary limb that’s affected by Lipedema. Approximately 1 in 9 women have Lipedema, which means there are millions of women who potentially relate to how I look. These vases are just a start, there are lots of ideas in the works to help spread Lipedema awareness!

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

My business is currently self funded, which is NOT easy! We are still in the beginning stages of things but I’ve been working lots of double shifts at my nursing job to help fund Shapely Vases LLC. In addition to self funding, we are looking at grants as well, to help speed production along.

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

I had the idea for Shapely Vases for a long time before I figured out how to execute it. I had no idea how to bring the idea to life, until my dear friend Veronica introduced me to Josh & Cree from DuCray Designs. DuCray Designs were able to scan my body & 3D print the vases. Which is our current manufacturing process. It sounds a lot easier than it is, Josh did lots of work on tweaking & producing samples until we landed on the final style. They do so much work behind the scenes to be able to print the vases, it’s truly amazing.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: Instagram.com/shapelyvases
• Facebook: Facebook.com/shapelyvases
• Other: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@shapelyvases?_t=8eM568l1gVP&_r=1

Image Credits
Shelby Fetterman