I had a baby and like most other mothers out there, I was left with a little lower belly pouch. No matter what exercises or how much weight I lost, that pouch and I were like five and six…inseparable. I am a proud mother of two and that pouch is a loving and constant reminder of my best two accomplishments. How many others reading this right now know exactly what I’m talking about?

But, there just were days when I really did not need that reminder – the screaming and yelling at home was reminder enough. Hubby, as sweet as he was, would always tell me I looked great in anything I wore – but I just was plain not feeling it. So, just like many of you, I turned to the shapewear market.

From the moderately priced to the lavishly expensive; from the very comfortable to the extremely unbearable options; and from the matronly ones that reminded me of my grandmother to the supposed to be sexy and cute but really did nothing for you ones…I tried them all. What I found was that regardless of whichever one I wore, I still somewhat had that pronounced belly pouch, which left me very disappointed and lacking confidence.

The biggest disappointment came when I realized that though there was an abundance of shapewear, there was not an abundance of vibrant colors to choose from. My choices always were black, white or nude…seriously!? We already know we need help in some fashion or form, which is Debbie downer, but why can’t that help be pretty, colorful and sexy? I never felt pretty or sexy enough to have my husband approach me while wearing them. This was a problem, and a problem I knew many mothers out there suffer from.

I began asking other women if they felt there was a void in the market and surprisingly, a lot of women echoed my same sentiments. Encouraged and armed with ammunition, I began to do what I do best…started researching and looking for a solution and voila…Velvet Queen was born!

Why Velvet Queen?

Well, you all are queens and our shapewear is made to smooth you out and make you look and feel just like velvet. Once I made up my mind to do this, my wonderful husband and children gave me their 100% backing and I went to work. I came up with designs and after several iterations of samples and 10 months later, we finally hit a bull’s-eye.  When I saw the final samples in full color, I broke down crying. My designs that started in my head and on paper were now full-fledged products – it felt so surreal!

The next extremely surreal moment was during the first photoshoot. My designs were actually being modeled by real people and they looked amazing. Velvet Queen was truly born and alive and I could not have felt more proud. Our website came to life with beautiful pictures of my designs and we are happy to announce the birth of our Royal Collection. To experience the full brand, head over to www.shopvelvetqueen.com.