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When it was time to expand our popular brand of Belevation Maternity shapewear, belly bands and pregnancy panties, we decided to relocate to rural North Carolina and arrived in the spring of 2017 knowing only a handful of folks.
Fields of sunflowers and tobacco plants lined the roads on our commute to work. As a consequence of cheaper overseas labor and component prices, most factory jobs were long gone. The town of Biscoe welcomed Belevation with open arms.
Interior and exterior water lines were expanded to accommodate dyeing equipment purchased from a shuttered South Carolina hosiery factory. Employees were added. People needed jobs here.
Knitting, dyeing, packing and shipping now co-exist in the 14,000 sq ft. refurbished textile building, built for a maternity dress company in the 1970's. Quality and inventory control issues can be addressed at lightening speed with all aspects of Belevation's manufacturing under one roof.
Products are sent out daily throughout North America and the EU. Orders from Belevation's website are shipped directly to consumers as well. To accomplish this takes a 6-7 day work week, definitely cutting down on family time, but the way we see it - Belevation is all about families. During our three years in central NC, members of seven local families (including husbands and wives, mothers and fathers, and sons and daughters) have worked with us.
With the world now under the threat of the corona virus, we are doing all of this with our Belevation Face Masks on and hand sanitizer close by. We're happy to still be able to pick up fresh peaches and local produce at farm stands on the way home. Our head mechanic provides a dozen eggs from his farm for each employee every week.
Are we keeping things authentic at Belevation? Absolutely!
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During the summer of 2019, Belevation discovered our trademarked garments had been copied by a Chinese company and are being sold on Amazon under odd sounding names like Peauty and Diravo. (When you mix pregnancy and beauty, do you get Peauty?)
Diravo even had the nerve to steal Belevation's photography. Yes, shockingly those are Tiffany and Jessica - our beautiful Fort Bragg military-mom ambassadors in Diravo's Amazon Ads. (Hire your own models or Photoshop some, instead of confusing customers with stolen product images Diravo!)
If you order from these companies you will NOT be shipped authentic Belevation products made by US workers. Instead you will receive plagiarized intellectual property, shipped to you by a fake company called Meatball Box. How do these criminals even come up with these names?
If Jeff Bezos doesn't see a problem with this, we don't know what's wrong with him. The issue is now with our legal team.
And it's up to you, Mom's and Dad's. How people shop has never been more important than under the serious world-wide virus threat we are currently experiencing. It is a time of reckoning.
After years of decline in American manufacturing, let's bring our industries home again - supporting American workers and communities. This is not a political issue. It's a common sense issue. Americans must control their own destiny.
With thanks and respect for our extended Belevation fan club and your loved ones, we hope you will only be minimally inconvenienced by Covid-19. Belevation-Mom, Pop and Family
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We need your attention, ladies. Belevation Maternity has done it. Effective February 2020, all Belevation Seamless Women's Maternity Shapewear Mid-thigh PettiPants and Belevation Support Briefs will have Cotton Gussets.
With this comfort-friendly change, Belevation has taken their popular Maternity Shapewear PettiPants and full coverage Pregnancy Granny Support Panties to the next level.
OB-GYN's agree that underwear with cotton-crotches naturally wicks away moisture, assisting with vaginal health and preventing yeast infections which women commonly experience.
As the direct manufacturer of this respected expectant mom shapewear, Belevation has complete control over their product design. Adding superior Supima Cotton gussets to the brands existing Nylon Spandex blend offers an exciting advantage for the health and comfort of new mothers.
Expectant moms can shop for Belevation's Made in the USA Pima-Cotton Gusset Maternity PettiPants and Support Briefs on Amazon and on Belevation's own website.
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BISCOE, NC September 2nd, 2019 — Breathing new life into an old hosiery mill has proven to be “a heck of a retirement project” for Tom and Susan Miles.
The couple has transformed the former Jeanette Maternity/Bossong Hosiery plant in Biscoe into a modern producer of supportive maternity undergarments called Belevation — the Belly Elevation Innovation.
The website, belevation.com, explains: “Through constant effort and lots of trial and error over the past decade, Belevation’s garments have become mom favorites on both Amazon and on the company’s website.”
Tom Miles, who has about half a century of experience in textiles, is a graduate of the Philadelphia College of Textiles. His career has included stints with Allied Chemical, Milliken and Springs Industries as well as freelancing with New York knit converters. In the late 1980s, he opened New Jersey-based Circular Knit Service, dealing with such apparel icons as Polo Ralph Lauren, Tommy Hilfiger and Abercrombie & Fitch.
Tom is from New Jersey but lived in North Carolina for much of his childhood as his father moved around in the textile industry. He, himself, worked in the South until mills began closing. He then moved back to New York and started his own business.
Susan said she grew up in New York and studied art and fashion. She met Tom in the New York garment district.
When textile production began being outsourced overseas, Miles found himself with a fully-electronic seamless knitting machine that was made for men’s sizes. But instead of knitting men’s apparel, he and Susan decided to produce supportive maternity undergarments for pregnant women. Their line of products has expanded to include shapewear for postpartum women as well.
Belevation started out in a small building in Fort Mill, S.C., just outside Charlotte. As sales grew, they realized they needed larger quarters and they began looking for a bigger building.
When Bossong decided in 2017 to consolidate its operations in Asheboro, Tom jumped at the opportunity to buy the 14,000-square-foot Biscoe building.
“Tom used Excel to lay out the floor plan and it fit like puzzle pieces,” Susan said.
Initially, Belevation knit the fabric but farmed out for sewing and dyeing. Now the sewing is done in-house and a new dye house opened at the site on Jan. 1 of this year.
The company now has six high-tech knitting machines of various sizes and a workforce of 8-10.
The Miles have been fortunate to find local employees who are experienced in the business.
“We have a couple of women who worked 12 years for Bossong,” Susan said.
“We have a close group of competent people,” Tom added. “They don’t work on piece work but on quality.”
Susan said the garments are “heavily inspected.” Any items with tiny irregularities are given to the health departments in Montgomery and Stanly counties for donation to needy women.
The Miles decided early on to cut out the middleman and sell their products online. Most of their Belevation garments are sold on Amazon with the rest from their website.
“We only ship top-quality products,” Susan said. “Since we cut out the middle man, we can sell at extremely affordable prices.”
She said they started when the economy was down, their name wasn’t recognized and they almost quit. “So we gave the internet a try,” Susan said. “We increased our volume on Amazon. We’re a small shop but they made a big impact.
“We want to let people know we’re here and we grow jobs.”
Keeping with a “buy American” theme, Belevation gets its yarn from Sapona Manufacturing in Cedar Falls and Dyna Yarn in Graham.
When the yarn comes in, it’s run through one of six knitting machines, from 16-20 inches in width. The fabric is then washed and cut, with the gusset sewn to the band.
Now the dyeing is done in-house on a German dye machine, “which is fully electronically controlled,” Tom said. “The operator puts in the proper dyes and chemicals. A boiler (which Tom bought and installed) generates steam for the dye machine.”
The Miles keep an inventory based on the online sales, which “are not massive volumes” but the future looks bright. “We are now in the EU (European Union) with dozens of products,” Susan said. The product line now includes briefs, maternity bands, pettipants and postpartum wear in four sizes and two colors.
“We’re contemplating taking outside work,” Susan said, adding that a woman is looking for someone to produce nursing bras, which she now gets from China. “We have the capacity to do more.”
“I would like to run two full shifts,” Tom said. “We’re working on some projects.”
Asked what the future holds, he said, “Different products.” This from someone who could be seriously considering retirement. But he’s always looking for the next challenge, according to Susan.
She put their latest enterprise into perspective: “It’s a labor of love.”
So, what is the problem? You know the drill. During the past three decades US supply chains have become increasingly dependent on foreign components. This is an issue close to our hearts at Belevation Maternity since we know that complex manufacturing infrastructure can't be retooled overnight.
In 2008, when our families knit design biz was no longer viable due to industry changes, we began the journey of building a brand of pregnancy support undergarments. Without a Kickstarter campaign, venture capital money or a PR firm, ten years later we are happy to report we did it!
Yes, we would have loved help from a publicist or a crowdfunding site, but we were always too broke and busy to make that happen. We had some laughs and shed some tears along the way during evening and weekend work sessions. We didn't hang out with Reese Witherspoon, Richard Branson or Oprah, but once we almost got on the Today Show.
It hasn't been an easy journey, but we needed to support our family. We are delighted that we have created jobs for others too, at the local suppliers where we purchase yarns, construction jobs for those who renovated our NC facility and jobs for the skilled employees who we work alongside everyday.
This Little Engine That Could tale was not a sexy story about a mom with an invention. We have been in the textile business our entire careers. Through our ingenuity and determination we are told by many that "we have created the best expectant and postpartum shapewear on the market today."
We are extremely proud that effective 2019, every aspect of the process of making Belevation's Maternity and Postpartum garments is now being done under our own roof in central NC. Belevation always believed that jobs could be saved utilizing advanced manufacturing techniques, paired with a commonsense approach.
We proved that the future can be bright for US companies, supporting American employment without utilizing foreign components, with no tariffs required.
More on this topic from McKinsey & Company.com:
Manufacturing the future: The next era of global growth and innovation
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After more than a decade making maternity undergarments, Belevation is taking the plunge with you into the next stage of pregnancy; Postpartum & Beyond.
As you know, giving birth is not for sissies. Vaginal Delivery or C-Section, it goes without saying that there's lots of blood, guts, swelling, tears and pain.
How about getting on track with breastfeeding for the first time? Remember to drink a lot and get support from experienced professionals since despite the myths, no one was ever born knowing how to breastfeed.
What about the multitudes of friends and relatives who will come to visit you, when all you want to do is take a nap? (Eat their casseroles, say thank you and hand them that baby for awhile, so you can get some SLEEP!)
Yes, you will need lots of help - especially for the first couple of weeks or maybe even for the first few months when you won't feel much like yourself. You'll actually be wondering "Will I ever feel like myself again?"
Then there's the annoying folks who ask "when are you going to have another?", immediately after you've popped out this one. Well, Belevation has long been asked "do we make Postpartum Belly Bands or Shapewear?” Now wholeheartedly we can say, "yes we do!"
Available for sale online in mid-October 2018, Belevation's new Postpartum line will include a Seamless compression Belly Band, a Postpartum & Beyond Shapewear PettiPant , Seamless Activewear Leggings and solid Postpartum Leggings, all with built-in compression to support the abdominal area, hips and back.
After giving birth, everything will feel new to you. There will be new daily schedules or for awhile, perhaps no schedule at all. But don't think for a minute that you have to go it alone. Find your tribe on a park bench or at an infant/mom play or exercise group in your area.
Try Belevation's new compression Belly Bands or our Activewear Postpartum Leggings and tell your friends about them too. We are proud to report that the Fit4Mom Pinehurst, NC group, (with lots of awesome Ft. Bragg, NC military moms) served as testers for our new locally-made postpartum seamless apparel.
Consistent with Belevation's reputation for offering quality, US made products at affordable prices, our technical staff has spent a great deal of time perfecting these new postpartum items.
For Pregnancy, Postpartum & Beyond, Belevation is an expectant Mom's go-to best source for seamless support garments.
We love taking this journey with you, today and always.
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Fast forwarding to 2017, after several decades of US textile trade deficits, Bossong began consolidating their packaging staff back into the companies Asheboro headquarters. The timing couldn’t have been better for Belevation’s CEO, Thomas Miles who had been searching in the Charlotte area for a larger space to expand his seamless knitting company.
During the spring of 2017 it was decided that Belevation would relocate to the 14,000 sq ft Biscoe building, with a June move-in date. Montgomery County, NC turned out to be the perfect place for Belevation, with the regions long history in the hosiery and apparel industries, a skilled workforce and nearby yarn suppliers.
A well-seasoned textile engineer, Tom Miles graduated from the Philadelphia College of Textiles (now Philadelphia University). He has thrived in the ever-changing US textile industry for a half century, starting his career with Allied Chemical, Milliken, Springs Industries and later freelancing for trendy NY knit converters.
Immensely creative, in the late 1980’s Miles opened NJ based Circular Knit Services, a knit design studio which supplied quick turn knit swatches to a who’s who of retail and apparel industry giants including Polo Ralph Lauren, Hilfiger and Abercrombie and Fitch.
With Asian Mills beginning to offer complete design to production packages though, around 2007 Circular Knit Services workload slowed for the first time in twenty years. This might have been an opportunity for Tom Miles to consider slowing down too, but that was not the case for someone always looking for the next challenge.
At the company’s prior location in Fort Mill SC, Miles began using a fully electronic seamless knitting machine to create a line of supportive Maternity undergarments called Belevation - the Belly Elevation Innovation. Through constant effort and lots of trial and error over the past decade, Belevation’s garments have become mom favorites on both Amazon and on the company's website.
Like a late life baby, Belevation Maternity has been a surprise for retirement age Miles and his wife Susan, who enjoys her role as an advocate for all things for and about Mom’s. The company will soon be adding a group of postpartum support garments and seamless leggings to their assortments. Lucille Ball would have loved them and we know that you will too.
]]>FORT MILL TOWNSHIP - In an area that grew up around the textile industry, all that’s left is the shell of a long-closed Springs plant, a few other artifacts and a giant legacy.
Unless you know where to look.
Tucked away in a business and industrial park that seems to be hiding in plain sight between S.C. 51 and Carowinds Boulevard, is a local manufacturer keeping the township’s textile tradition alive. The operation created by Tom and Susan Miles may not be on the ubiquitous scale of the former Springs Industries, but their company Belevation proves that if you have the know-how and find the right niche, local manufacturing can be as much about the future as is it was the past.
The couple designed, produces and sells a line of maternity support garments and fills dozens of orders daily. Their products are becoming so popular that the CEO of a major tech company is a customer.
It started with an idea not born from the need to fill a void in a marketplace, but from the ashes of their former company – and a need to feed their family. The couple moved to Fort Mill from New Jersey in 2005 in order to support a company they ran together.
But then things changed.
“Our source of income that we had relied on for 30 years had virtually dried up,” Susan Miles said.
The couple was left with a large – and costly – seamless knitting machine, but no product to sell and a teenaged son to support. They originally used the machine to produce items used in menswear, so naturally, whatever they designed had to have a larger diameter than the typical garment for women.
“We had to figure out what we were going to do, and I had one knitting machine that could possibly make a garment (for women), so I picked out a category of garments to make, and designed it to that machine,” said Tom Miles.
That’s how the Belevation Belly Band, PettiPant and Support Maternity Brief were born. Each is specifically designed to comfortably support a pregnant woman’s growing belly.
The couple is very proud of that cart-before-the-horse Belevation origin story, but it’s been far from easy. In the early years, Susan took a job at the Lowe’s store on S.C. 160 West across from Baxter Village in order to help make ends meet while Tom worked on perfecting their product line. She handed out samples to pregnant co-workers to get feedback while he painstakingly tweaked materials and CAD programming to invent a product line the two are proud of.
Initially, the couple had trouble finding companies that would dye and sew their relatively small inventory. Undeterred, Tom decided the solution was to rent space at a dye factory and color the garments himself. He also bought a sewing machine and took on stitching duties, too.
The couple encountered another hurdle when they attempted to find small boutiques that were interested in selling Belevation products.
“When we realized we weren’t being adopted by wholesale accounts, small stores and things, we were at another juncture asking ‘Do we keep doing this?’ and we almost quit,” Susan Miles said.
The solution, they found, was to drop the price and sell it themselves straight from their Fort Mill warehouse.
“That’s kind of what we’ve used a bit for marketing, that it’s direct from a few feet from where Tom is knitting the garments,” Susan Miles said.
Belevation’s website boasts that the company’s products are “Made in the USA,” and indeed they are, but the company’s sourcing goes deeper than that. Belevation only has a handful of employees, but the impact of doing business regionally is far reaching. All of the yarn comes from North Carolina plants. The products are also dyed in North Carolina before they’re shipped back to the Fort Mill warehouse.
The Miles’ son Alex and some friends designed the logo and packaging in Jerry Howell’s graphic design class at Fort Mill High School. He also designed the company’s website. The garment tags come from a company in Rock Hill.
The company hired photographers in Rock Hill and Baxter Village to take product photos for the website. The models, who in real life are a school teacher, a nurse and a banking employee, are all local too. Every business day Susan makes a trip to The Postal Route on Pleasant Road in Fort Mill to ship packages of maternity wear as far away as Alaska.
“It’s what is called ‘localism,’ ” said Shaw Kuester of Kuester Real Estate Services and chairman of the Fort Mill Economic Council.
“It’s buy locally, produce locally, ship it locally, and a lot of times it’s a lot faster, in fact, to do it that way and it’s a lot less expensive for everybody and you cut out the middle man. It’s the rebirth of the old local towns; It’s not necessarily going with a big franchise, it’s going with the local mom and pop shops.”
It’s a stark contrast to what happened to textiles globally in the past decade. The trend among American textile manufacturers has largely been to shift production overseas where labor and materials are a fraction of the cost and working conditions are largely unregulated, including the exploitation of children and other vulnerable workers.
What Tom and Susan Miles are doing represents a far-reaching impact Susan said has become very dear to her.
“These are (future) jobs for our children that we want to keep in our communities,” she said.
For 120 years, Springs Industries employed thousands of South Carolina workers. It was arguably one of the industry’s largest employers in the state. Springs closed its last manufacturing plant in the Carolinas in 2007. The plant’s closing was a devastating blow to the people who worked in the factories. Much of Springs’ holdings were sold to a Brazilian company and the Montes Claros-based operation now known as Springs Global is related to the old Fort Mill empire mostly in name only.
After the long, slow decline, the domestic manufacturing landscape is slowly improving. The number of people working in the sector is slowly climbing back to where it was nearly a decade ago, though no one expects the number to reach last century’s high water mark. The latest Bureau of Labor Statistics report shows roughly 239,000 manufacturing jobs in the state.
In 1995, that number was close to 350,000.
And while textile jobs account for a fair share of the total – Chinese-owned Keer America opened a sizable plant in Indian Land two years ago – it’s still a sector in flux, Tom Miles said.
“The trouble with the textile industry is that when they say ‘it’s coming back, it’s coming back,’ Yes, but the infrastructure is all gone and the infrastructure to put that back together is like Humpty Dumpty – it’s very expensive and difficult,” he said.
Tom Miles has a master’s degree in textile engineering and was also at one time a Springs employee. He worked for the company’s knit division in New York City in the 1970s.
“He has a lot of experience, he’s an older person and should be retired by now, but this is his hobby and his vocation,” Susan Miles said.
Tom likes to joke that he works for free. The couple works seven days a week and couldn’t remember when they took their last vacation together. But they consider it worth the effort.
“It’s a labor of love,” Susan Miles said. “You have a bigger investment emotionally in making sure everything goes right.”
After eight years of trial and error, the couple finally feels as if they’ve got a winning product line. Susan said the demand is outpacing the production and they’re working hard to keep product on the shelves. And besides quality, the company aims to provide value.
“We give a quality product at an affordable price because a lot of women don’t have a lot of money to spend on things,” Tom Miles said. “They can’t go out and drop 50, 60, 70, 80 dollars on a pair of underwear… I like to be able to help these people out.”
Belevation operates four – and soon to be five – machines on one shift a day and produces roughly 1,500 garments each week. The company bought several large dying machines from a plant that closed in Lancaster and wants to begin putting those to use, but a larger building may eventually be necessary. Tom and Susan would like to add a shift and find outside partners with textile experience to help grow their business, they said.
Belevation products are sold on the company’s website, belevation.com, and also, for the past three years, through online retail giant Amazon.com. Susan said she is very proud of the company’s consistently high reviews and ratings on Amazon and said it is the result of their small business approach.
“It’s fun that the machines are right here and we are shipping the garments in the next room,” she said.
More and more all the time, in fact.
“The products seem to have a life of their own at this point,” Susan Miles said.
]]>Much of that production used to take place here in the Carolinas, where country roads are littered with shuttered textile mills and the unemployment has not sprung back. With this trend repeated around the country, regions which relied heavily on manufacturing bases are equally hurt.
Legendary Eastman Kodak finally declared bankruptcy, citing foreign competition as a cause. But tune into How it's Made, on the Science Channel and you will get a glimmer of the excitement from the creative process of making something.
Family legend has it that my first childhood factory tour was to Chocolate World in Hershey, PA. Hershey Chocolate World now takes you through a simulated experience, but back then you went through the real factory. Imagine the smell of that much chocolate!
Ironically, I chose my career based on a factory tour. Located at the corner of 54th St. and 6th Ave. in NYC from 1970 - 1980, the Burlington Mill was intended to showcase Burlington's products. Mesmerizing from the first glimpse. "Visitors were invited to step onto a 155-ft long moving belt called a “rideway” for an 8 ½ minute ride through the amazing world of textiles." Accommodating 500,000 a year, The Mill hosted more guests at the time than the New York Stock Exchange or The United Nations, though few remember it now.
Craving more factory tours, we've since been through the Crayola Factory in Easton PA, the Celestial Seasonings Tea plant in CO, The Pendelton Woolen Mills in OR, and most recently a local craft brewery in Charlotte, NC. And then - there was Stoke-on-Trent in the UK, where my husband got to see so many plates that he almost lost his appetite for dinner. I was in Spode heaven. Intended as a fun peek at our Belevation facility, contact us if you're in the neighborhood. As I said, we love factory tours.
]]>It has been a grass-roots effort for husband and wife team, Thomas and Susan Miles. From early in the development process they reached out to pregnant women and mom bloggers around the country for fit advice. The result is a group of attractively designed, amazingly comfortable maternity undergarments which provide great coverage and a gentle lift. Available in a maternity support Band, everyday maternity Brief, and a PettiPant shapewear garment, Belevation is unique for another reason. Sold exclusively online through their own web store and on Amazon, pricing is kept low because there is no middleman. Products ship daily from Belevation's production facility at near wholesale prices for shapewear of this quality. Check out Belevation in the May issue of Apparel Mag and give us a shout out as American-Made products once again take a strong place among the apparel industries noteworthy innovators. To our customers, fans, our expecting fit models throughout the country and to Apparel Magazine for this honor, we say thank you!
]]>In 2013 I wrote a Mother's Day post called Being a Mom: Doing It Your Way. It explored varied mom-styles such as Helicopter vs. Free Range parenting. I confessed that I have Helicopter tendencies.
You see back in the 1980's, I was a college student just old enough to consider becoming a mom and spent a lot of time in New York's up-and-coming Soho area. The Etan Patz disappearance, (in the news again recently) haunted me, as it did many others: Wary Children Who Became Watchful Parents, May 8th 2015.
But the joke's on us moms, since babies do grow up. In my case as the mother of an only child, I tried to hold on as long as possible, but these things backfire. It jumped from my not letting my son around the corner by himself, to his going on multi-day treks in the Appalachians with friends, to later moving to Europe and traveling just about everywhere.
So take a deep breath, moms. It's gonna happen, no matter what we do. Just smile and ask, "so how did you like Istanbul?"
]]>When purchasing seamless maternity support items from Belevation you are buying factory direct garments made in the USA, with no middleman. As a Made In the USA manufacturer we are able to be responsive to customer feedback and make product improvements.
We hated to see the flowers go, but we realized that the daisy pattern had to be removed in our Belevation Maternity Support Belly Band. While the breathable mesh daisy is perfect in all of our undergarments, the Support Band is used on top of jeans or other slacks. We decided the belly area of the garment needed to be a bit sturdier.
Next, we took our new band out on the road to expecting moms with backaches, women who are lifting toddlers and to those struggling to find "me time" for prenatal workouts. The word on the street was clear. We had made some awesome product improvements that positively impacted the bands support, fit and comfort.
So as your belly's getting bigger, Belevation's getting better everyday. Enjoy!
]]>If you ever have the opportunity to hear Lenore speak, I definitely recommend that you go. She's hysterical. Her prime target though was me - a self admitted worry wart with helicopter-mom tendencies.
Sure, I played outside with my friends from sun up to sun down when I was young, like most in my generation. I get it - that if we keep our kids in a protected bubble, they can't grow. Makes perfect sense, but I'm not about to recommend that you let your nine year old ride the subway themselves. Maybe at twelve, with a friend or a sibling - but it all depends. It depends on you, your kid and where you live. (Crime may be down in New York, but Cleveland's not looking so good this week, Lenore.) With every decision, at every juncture my best recommendation is that you do it your way.
Sure there's so much mom advice out there and often you won't have support from your husband, your mom or dare I say it, from your mother-in-law. It will be really hard when your kids are telling you that everyone's going or everyone wears that. "Oh well, this mom is saying no tonight". And the experts will drive you crazy. There are articles on great interactive apps for toddlers and other articles telling you that letting your baby play with your tablet or smartphone is a mistake. Should you spy on your tween on their social media sites, a new trend called Cyber-Parenting?
But you and most importantly your child will be happiest if you helicopter on one issue, but later (on a separate issue) free range. Some smart-phone apps will seem acceptable, while others your friends may like, won't feel right for your kids. So in honor of Mothers Day, here's that old song My Way, (not by Frank, who made it famous), but from singer Shirley Bassey, with a heart-felt mom's version. Happy Mother's Day from Belevation Maternity Support!
]]>Belevation Maternity Underwear has evolved from being a twinkle in our eyes in late 2007, to the status of a savvy preschooler - in 2013. Having worked as a B2B service for the textile industry for many years, we had a lot to learn about the best way to reach 21st century consumers.
It's been a very slow process, but we haven't quit yet. Along the way, I've held several dumb second jobs to help pay the bills, but my low pay and under appreciation in those positions has just driven me harder toward Belevation's business success.
So here it is; my best advice for mompreneurs, women who can envision working incredibly hard, but doing it on your own terms. This list is for you:
1. Make sure someone in your house has a day job so you're not putting all eggs in one basket. The Small Business Administration says most businesses fail in the first 5 years. Know that upfront and protect yourself accordingly.
2. Do as much as possible yourself to keep costs low, then reach out to students who are highly skilled at things like websites, but have lower overheads than pros.
3. Make a website right away and get lots of help with SEO. Word Press content management sites are great since they are easy to self-maintain.
4. Network, network, network. We can’t be an island when it comes to anything.
5. Know the competition and be better in your niche. Evaluate what your niche is.
6. Set up your personal and business Facebook and Twitter accounts separately. Potential clients needn't know who you’re voting for, or if you’re in a bad mood.
7. Even though personal should remain personal, keep friends and family up to date online about your business news. Hopefully they will help spread the word.
8. Use advertising selectively. Ads are really expensive and can bust a budget.
9. Send out press releases to news orgs and try to get free mentions. Give back to the community right away since good deeds are newsworthy, so it’s a win win.
10. Giveaways are king with bloggers – so be prepared to give away products and services often to get free publicity. Well worth it compared to buying print ads.
11. Read a good newspaper like the NYT daily. Savvy biz owners need to stay abreast of what’s happening in the world. Read on a tablet on the treadmill, so you can fit in some exercise. Busy people need to kill two birds with one stone.
12. Enjoy your successes, nothing feels better than knowing you've accomplished something yourself. You'll have the best stories to tell on the school bus stop too.
]]>A perfect New Years present for 2013, Belevation recently learned that it has been honored with a Mom's Choice Award for our Belevation Maternity Support Brief.
Created in 2004, The Moms Choice Awards are modeled after the prestigious Parent and Teachers Choice Awards which focus on toys, media and educational products. Broadened to include a wider assortment of consumer products for families and children, a team of 155 unpaid MCA volunteers from around the country review submissions.
We waited nervously after sending out 5 Belevation Brief product samples ( in a variety of sizes), to the Virginia based Mom's Choice offices. In 2008, 1200 applicants submitted products to MCA, but only 300 were selected as honorees.
As an independent mom and pop manufacturer, Belevation is always looking for ways to stand out in today's crowded marketplace. You can only imagine how delighted we were when we heard that Belevation's Support Brief won a Mom's Choice silver medal in the women's personal care category.
Why is the Belevation Brief so special? Blogs out there speculate about the best kind of maternity underwear, but we are confident we know the answer. Sure, maybe our fulll coverage maternity panties are a bit frumpy, but that's okay. The buzz words here are comfort and gentle support (in all the right places) because feeling good while pregnant will never be out of fashion.
]]>Last week Belevation traveled to Kentucky, to the ABC Kids Expo, taking our place among the many companies exhibiting for the 1st time. The development of Belevation's maternity support garments is a mom and pop effort, but it was stunning to see the hundreds of mom innovators presenting their creations at ABC. Necessity is the mother of invention and the buck stops with mom, so she's on the front lines in the problem solving department daily. "Mom invented-and mom tested", from Atlanta, GA, was the Highchair Organizer, a cleverly stitched pouch that secures to the back of your child's highchair to hold all of those meal time essentials. Imagine knowing where everything is? Revolutionary!
Across the aisle from Belevation was BG Birthing Gowns by Cindy Lintel, a labor and delivery nurse from New York State. Inspired to make a more feminine version of the dreaded hospital gown, Cindy used her knowledge of the delivery process to create a graceful, versatile alternative for women. What a sweet and knowledgeable lady she is!
During the course of the four days at the KY Expo Center, Belevation bonded with our other neighbor Kemi, the designer of a new line of diaper bags inspired by African textiles, called House of Botori, based in Maryland. Kemi discovered that "although functional", existing baby products "always seemed to lack individuality." House of Botori is her response to that quest, as it honors her Nigerian heritage. Judging from the visitors at ABC, Kemi's colorful diaper bags will take their place among the most coveted baby shower gifts.
Then there was Dr. Jane of Tortle, mother of 4, who makes adorable baby hats in the most fashionable colors, but in her role as a neonatal pediatrician she educates parents about Flat Head Syndrome.
Positional Plagiocephaly, will effect "a staggering 40% of babies before age six months. Beyond the cosmetic issues, there can be trouble with binocular vision and long-term developmental issues."
According to Dr. Jane: "Positional plagiocephaly increased 600% in the last 20 yrs. due to 2 changes:" "1) In 1992 The American Academy of Pediatrics began its “Back to Sleep” program to reduce Sudden Infant Death Syndrome .(Incidence of SIDS have plummeted by almost 40%.)" "2) Infants are being placed in reclining carrying devices more than ever. Families on the go keep their babies in carriers, car seats, and swings for an extended time—frequently up to 20 hours per day."
Explore the Tortle site and google Plagiocephaly. Boy, this sure makes a case for more baby wearing; slings etc ... in your child's early months. Four amazing innovative mothers, each clearly with a lot to share for the benefit of others. If you want to fix a problem, definitely go ask a mom!
]]>North Carolina based expectant mom, Tasha found Belevation during an online search and drove to our manufacturing facility/offices from her home in Huntersville, NC on a quest for supportive maternity undergarments.
She tried on our Belevation PettiPants and Briefs, smiled and said "they fit perfectly - like they were heaven sent". Now she's looking and feeling great!
The perfect answer to thigh chaffing, great under dresses or skirts especially in the summer. The best solution to wear while pregnant to that upcoming wedding you've been invited to, but we've been told that you won't want to take it off, so you may need to buy an extra or two!
With Social Media all the rage, acronyms are everywhere. Even though these abbreviations are standard fair in our busy lives, there will always be a need for self-expression without short-cuts. BFF, best friends forever are those special kind of people who are willing to go the extra mile for you and listen to your long version. Since manufacturing apparel in the US isn't the easiest thing to do these days, LOL!, finding faithful friends who can offer Belevation encouragement has been so important! Today I'd like to highlight two special Belevation Maternity Support BFF.
When repeat customer Jessica wrote asking if we had a Mothers Day sale coming up, I gave her a preview code for our new X-Large Boyshort. Since I hadn't publicized the discount elsewhere, imagine my surprise as orders came in using the Mothers Day coupon. It turned out that Jessica was so happy with her Belevation products that she took time to share information about us on popular Mom sites. And a few days later when some of the posts were removed, Jessica went to bat for us yet again with a site moderator, insisting her Belevation posts be reinstated.
Orders were picking up as Jessica's Belevation message went viral and I finally figured what was going on. When I caught up with her, Jessica explained that she was "all about small business", since she came from a manufacturing background herself. You can see the beautiful line of solid cherry 18th century furniture that her family has designed and manufactured domestically for 80 years at Statton.com Jessica also designs a line of twig lettering, perfect to grace your nursery walls. View it on her gorgeous, newly created online Etsy store, called The Original Twig.
Another wonderful Belevation friend that I can't forget to mention is Michele from Atlanta, GA. Like Jessica, Michele definitely deserves a big shout out for the support she has offered. On all those lonely days sitting in front of the computer, when it seems nobody in the world is paying attention, Michele has been there "liking" everything on our Facebook page from our Belevation trivia, to the endless articles I re-post about pregnancy and parenting. A big thank you to Michele and Jessica for being among Belevation's BFF. We couldn't do it without you, nor would we ever want to!
]]>A network of online and community resources including a blog by Director Deb Flashenberg, a Nanny and Doctor Exchange, and the Ask the Experts column plus more can be found on the Prenatal Yoga Center website. Each month a vendor is selected to be featured at the Prenatal Yoga Center with extensive raffle and discount programs. Belevation was busy last month getting ready for this event, scheduled many months ago, so the anticipation added to this honor!
With fabulous facilities and highly trained instructors in convenient locations in both Manhattan and Brooklyn, the New York Prenatal Center offers an impressive and nurturing support-network for New York based mom-to-be. Check out a review of the center from last September by Dr. Carrie McCulloch, FITiST expert and Mom-to-Be. She supplies a terrific Mom-to-Be Rx: including critical tips on "Speaking Up and Making Friends". Watch the Center's recently posted You Tube video tour and don't forget to ask about Belevation Maternity Supports awesome March 2012 give-aways on the Belevation Support Briefs, and Belly Bands .
]]>As essential part of the development of all of Belevation's maternity support garments has been real life product testing done by moms-to-be. I was on just such a mission yesterday, when I arranged to meet Kacie before her prenatal exam at SEOB/GYN in Presbyterian Hospital in beautiful Matthews, North Carolina.
Earlier in her pregnancy, Kacie purchased our Boyshorts upon the recommendation of SEOB/GYN physician Dr. Salvemini, who used our products during her own pregnancy (I just learned this yesterday). Dr. Sal has also sent many of her patients to Belevation as well. Word of Belevation's prenatal support products was brought to SE OB/GYN by their ultrasound tech Heather, who joined the staff after a stint at my own GYN's office, (where Heather had done our product testing during her first pregnancy).
An added bonus of meeting Kacie in the waiting room of Southeast was that I finally got to say thank you to Dr. Sal and her team. ( I missed seeing Heather unfortunately though, as she had yesterday off.)
With the US government poised to implement new rules requiring drug and medical device companies to disclose payments and gifts to doctors, (a very good new law for consumer protection), I had picked an odd day to shower SE OB/GYN with gifts. It wasn't really much, for full discloser - just some healthy granola bars, herbal teas bags, Decaf Chai from Stash and a musical snowglobe with Belevation photos. A long overdue thank you after several years recommending Belevation to their patients at SE OB/GYN. So glad you love our products!
Thank you Dr. Sal, Heather & Kacie for being Belevation Prenatal Underwear fans!
]]>Last night on Netflix, hubby and I watched the 1991 Australian film, The Efficiency Expert. Set in a small town in 1966, Anthony Hopkins plays efficiency expert Errol Wallace. Charged with closing an under-performing moccasin plant, Hopkins emotionless character has a change of heart after he assists workers at a slot car race.
Along with modern classics like Tommy Boy, The Efficiency Expert falls in a special genre of films about saving small businesses. When actor Chris Farley's father Big Tom dies, Tommy goes on the road with side-kick David Spade trying to help their brake-pad company. With unforgettable scenes like the pair driving with a buck in the back-seat and Tommy setting a fire on a clients desk, the laughs are numerous. In a last minute cliff hanger, Spade and Farley prevail and the factory is saved.
Similar messages replay in other favorites from this genre including 2005 British-made Kinky Boots. After inheriting his families manufacturing business, Charles Price learns that Price & Sons Shoes is failing. While in despair about his many unsuccessful attempts to save the company, a chance encounter with a drag-queen, cabaret singer named Lola, helps Charles take the firm in a new direction.
Then there's Renee Zellweger in the 2009 flick New In Town. Like Hopkins, in The Efficiency Expert, Zellweger thinks she understands business until she is captivated by life in this Minnesota town. While corporate sees the workers of Munck Foods only as numbers, Zellweger finds a way to turn Munck around.
Make a resolution that 2012 will be the year you join the movement supporting local businesses. Shift Your Shopping maps out organizations throughout the US and Canada dedicated to re-energizing our retail and manufacturing economy. American Express got on board publicizing their 2nd annual small business Saturday, the day after Black Friday. Make this a year-round effort & bring back jobs to America. Why not buy some American-made maternity apparel today?
]]>Just in time to ring in the New Year in style, I couldn't wait to preview our Facebook book give-away for February - Preggatinis, Mixology for the Mom-to-Be. Author, Natalie Bovis-Nelsen is a Los Angeles mixologist and is the spokesperson for several household-name spirits and wine companies, including Fre, a division of Sutter Wines. Published in 2009, Bovis-Nelsen's book has definitely made a big hit on the mommy scene, with it's fun cocktails and great photographs.
The recipes center around healthful fresh juices and herbs and are especially great for baby showers. Cleverly organized by trimester, there's something for everyone in this pocket size manual, with a few alcohol cocktails offered to keep things interesting for Dad.
Perfect for those expecting on this New Years Eve, if you still want to enjoy the festive holiday atmosphere and great if you're currently breast feeding too.
Many of Natalie's (aka The Liquid Muse) wonderful recipes can be found on the Fre Wine website. Too late to turn back now, 2012 is definitely right around the corner. So, how about enjoying a Merry Berry Basil Mojito? Natalie Bovis-Nelsen, author of Preggatinis, Mixology for the Mom-to-Be
]]>Her impressive research and groundbreaking computer models examine name usage and popularity over the last hundred years in the 2005 book. Quoted in recent articles in both the New York Times and Time Magazine, Wattenberg, once a name-searching mom herself, said that people hunger to be different these days.
A result of the internet, a 2010 survey on the pop-culture website Lil-Sugar indicated that 64% of new parents Google their baby name picks before making final choices. Makes sense to see what unknowns may be lurking on your child's "domain" prior to taking the leap.
If you are in a name shopping mode, it's important to enjoy the process, even though it is one of your life's most important decisions. With tools like Wattenberg's Baby Name Wizard, there are now amazing resources to help you with the search. While reading the Times article, I learned about Kick to Pick - a newly released iphone app that claims to let your child pick their own name. Also available for iPod Touches, the app " generates names while monitoring the baby's movements. Any kick detected will then stop the generator at the baby's chosen name, ready for the parents to accept their child's choice or dismiss the name and start their search again." Available for .99 cents, it's definitely a game-changer to think of your baby participating in picking their own name.
If you are interested in upholding more parental control, here's a simple method. You and hubby can make separate favorite lists from a baby name book, narrowing the search to a few alphabet letters that honor loved ones (deceased or alive depending on your tradition). Hopefully there will be at least one name in common on each of your lists. No matter how you do it, possibly combining several of these methods - have fun!
]]>I don't know about you, but I believe in divine intervention. It was that kind of moment, when Monique from Fort Bragg, NC wrote to me on our Belevation Facebook page. Several months ago, we decided to add a XL size to our line of Belevation Maternity garments.
We began making Support Bands and PettiPants in the new Plus, pre-pregnancy 16-18 size. Everything was going well, but two problems dragged out the process of adding the new size range. For one thing, my husband/our technical director - is a perfectionist. Months had gone by while he continued to perfect our seamless Belevation Support Brief.
I began to wonder if we would ever be ready to add our new XL sizing? Finally, after much attention - perfecting the brief, it was time to find a fit model to give them a test run. And then that evening, out of the blue - I received a note from Monique.
"Are you going to add plus sizes ever" she asked? Monique is herself an army veteran, a military wife and the mother of six boys ranging in age from 21 to 1! Twenty-four weeks pregnant with her seventh, Monique explained "that depending on if something runs large or small", she wears anywhere "from an 18-20 to a 22-24 (or 2x/3x)".
Unsure how our new Belevation XL size would measure-up, we sent a package to Monique, in Fort Bragg. One of the largest and busiest military complexes in the world, Bragg is home to almost 10 percent of the Army's active component forces. We were glad to help Monique and were hopeful that she would like what she received. An email arrived from her in my inbox around noon time the next day. "I received the package and I love them! I will say that its definitely NOT a 16-18. Its more like a 20-26 That is my normal size for most maternity clothes, and I fit in these just fine with room to grow the belly and no pinching etc. These are sooo comfortable! I am really impressed!"
Monique's feedback was an affirmation that our new Belevation XL size will be comfortable for a wide range of larger women. I guess all that special attention to detail paid off. And our other problem, our X-large labels had gotten lost on their way to us and had to be remade. Well - finally they arrived today! With patience and a bit of divine intervention, all things are possible. Just ask Monique about patience, as she is soon to be the mother of her seventh boy! Please give our new Belevation Plus size a try. We definitely know you'll like it!
Lately, I've heard from a lot of women who wish that they had known about our Belevation Maternity Support products during their other pregnancies. As a new company, Belevation probably wasn't around when you were carrying your other children. But I understand what you mean, as that's how I feel about Florida Physical Therapist, Micky Marie Morrison's book, Baby Weight. I had done some Yoga in college and loved it, but I didn't stick with it consistently enough to make a difference in my life. Then pregnancy came and hit me like a ton of bricks.
Morning sickness stretched into afternoon sickness, and lasted a full four months. After that finally passed, I somehow viewed myself as kind of fragile. OB-GYN researchers now understand that during most healthy pregnancies it's prenatal inactivity - not exercise, that puts moms-to-be and their babies at risk.
Micky Marie Morrison's new book Baby Weight, released in Oct. 2011, offers a comprehensive look at the changes the body goes through during pregnancy. Her unique vantage point as a health professional, prenatal fitness instructor and a mother makes Baby Weight an important new pregnancy resource. Good practice nutritional principles and information on hormonal and body mass changes are highlighted in a manner that raised my scientific IQ on the subjects.
Building upon this technical info, Morrison makes a strong case for the benefits of sensible, prenatal exercise. Minimizing excess weight gain and building stamina for delivery are certainly two compelling reasons to get moving during pregnancy. The second half of the book includes terrific photos of Morrison's Yoga based Core FitMama exercises, with modifications for your skill level and trimester. But then it gets even better.
As an International Childbirth Education Association certified fitness instructor, Morrison mentors moms continuing with the program after delivery - helping themselves regain stamina, lose pregnancy weight and fight off postpartum depression. Skillful guidance is articulated on how moms can also incorporate their babies and toddlers into these sessions. What a wonderful way to bond with your child, while fostering positive attitudes about healthful living right from the beginning.
Somewhere between Weight Watchers and Gymboree - I wish that I had Micky Morrison's excellent book Baby Weight, now available from Amazon and as Belevation's January book give-away! Like us on Facebook to be entered to win!
]]>Since we started doing Belevation product give-aways, we are contacted many times each week by mom bloggers who want to review Belevation products. Alba Garza is a pregnant Latin mom from Houston, who works full time in an office and writes a reallyinformative Blogger format blog, called IndependentMami.
Her post Oct. 11th post was about a new program from the AllState Foundation called Purple Purse, which supports efforts against domestic violence. Thanks Alba for getting me up-to-date on this important new program. (Purple was a really hot European color this fall - so it's coming our way...) Here's what Alba had to say about our PettiPant:
"I work full time in an office. I dress up everyday of the week in my dresses. The Belevation Mid-thigh PettiPant is perfect under my dresses and has made life easier for me. I have been wearing biking shorts under my dresses along with my undies and boy oh boy is that not comfortable after a full day of work.
I really loved the seamless Belevation four-way stretch microfiber construction that is made with moisture wicking, breathable mesh. They don't not ride down my belly. It goes all the way to the top. It is not cutting my circulation or cutting in the belly. It is comfortable for me and the baby. And best of all, I love the support it gives me."
Like Belevation NOW on Facebook and tell your friends too! Want to win your very own PettiPants? Here is how to enter: 1) “like” Belevation on Facebook, tell them Independentmami sent you. ***Disclosure-No monetary compensation was received. Product was provided to review. These are my honest opinions."
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