Bra Boss HQ is OPEN!!!

Come and visit me at Bra Boss HQ for a private bra fitting!

​Welcome to my third blog!  I realise that time has absolutely flown by and my last post was at the end of June! They do say time flies when you're having fun, and that is certainly true. My last post covered the prep and planning (and a heck of a lot of painting!) of Bra Boss HQ and setting up my own business and this one will cover those first few weeks of trading!

​Read on to see how my first week went!

So after hanging up my paintbrush (and completing 20 coats of paint in total!) It was time for the fun part - ordering the stock and kitting out Bra Boss HQ. Trying to continue the Pop Up Business School mentality (done is better than perfect) I roped in, sorry, 'gathered' my lovely mum, friends and my boyfriend who all helped to transform my summerhouse into the lovely little fitting studio it is now.

Luckily I already had a few bits stored away from my last role such as running rails to hang stock on and a random concertina screen that I bought ages ago on a whim to act as a fitting room. My mum (who has such a great eye for the finishing touches) sourced a brilliant mannequin from a vintage market and some lovely little trinkets too. Space was always going to be a bit of an issue, but once the screen was up, the desk was in and the storage unit was in place, it all fitted in amazingly well! 

Bra Boss HQ in Faversham

Bespoke, private bra fitting in Faversham

Ordering the stock was of course going to be the fun part and I'd like to think my forte, but this was actually incredibly stressful and I spent such a long time agonising over what ranges and what sizes to stock. When other people ask me, "so how many bras do you need to have to fit people?" it's like asking how long is a piece of string. To give you an idea of just how overwhelming it can be ordering in a new range - one style can have over 96 sizes - and that's just in one colour. Can you start to see how this can quickly escalate and get out of control!! 

I knew that as I am specialising in Sports, Maternity and Mastectomy I needed to focus on those areas and pretty much had that covered, but I also wanted to have a small collection of everyday bras to offer too. Hey, if you're in the wrong size in your sports bra - chances are you're likely to be in the wrong size for your everyday bras too....!

Everyday bras can mean so many things to so many people - some may live in soft non wired, and others might love a strapless bra. Using my previous knowledge as Area Sales manager for various  lingerie brands, I decided I needed to offer a "wardrobe" of bras. I therefore included two full cup options, two plunge styles, a smooth T-shirt and a non wired which would get me started nicely! Regarding the size curve, I used an educated guesstimate and selected the most common sizes that I would usually encounter when working at bra fitting events and taking orders from the lingerie boutiques I used to visit. After a while, the best selling sizes do come as a second nature - and before you start to think oh that's probably all the 34B's and 36C's - its actually more likely to be 32F or a 34G! So after creating an epic spreadsheet, I sent some emails, made some calls and the orders were on their way!

Once the bras had arrived, been unpacked and hung nicely, the Bra Boss HQ was pretty much there! It had been a long journey but such an enjoyable one. There is nothing more rewarding than watching your dream slowly come together. I already had my first booking in the diary which made me feel incredibly excited but also quite apprehensive at the same time. It was action time!

After hanging up my final sprig of decorative eucalyptus and hanging up some boob - related photos around, the doors to Bra Boss HQ are finally open and ready for business!