Hi friends! April is coming to a close and it has been a hugely busy month, so I’ve barely blogged. But man has progress been happening!
Obviously the big one is that the Fat Disorders Resource Society conference was this month. I spent the first part of the month prepping outfits for the official FDRS fashion show and then the informal (what’s everyone wearing to the conference fashion show – lol!), and poster presentations, travelling, and doing so much networking and friend bonding. I think it took a full week for me to come down off of the conference high and to go through my action items from all the meetings I was able to have. I cannot wait for next year, when I plan on having a lipedema footwear booth! So on to shoes…
Yesterday I had a fabulous meeting with our hopeful manufacturer. There’s a ton of lingo involved in the shoe industry, but when you’re a startup, Minimum Order Quantities (MOQs) can bankrupt someone with small funding, because sometimes you get a manufacturer who requires you buy several hundred pairs in a color and style to get started. With us, we need just a few pair to try out because we’re going to learn on round one, what feels good, what our ladies want changed, what they love, how the calves are fitting, and all that. So this manufacturer actually reached out to us because she wants to grow with LegsLikeMine as we get the fit perfect and is willing to hold off on the big orders until we know our shoes meet the needs of a big portion of lipedema ladies.
We met yesterday to have the shoe designer and consultant brief our manufacturer, so now the manufacturer is pricing and sourcing the materials we need. We are SOOOOOO close to making shoes now. I wanted to show you a couple of snapshots from my zoom call because we’re down to what materials my focus groups and fit models believe will feel good based on other footwear they own. BUT LOOK AT THE COLORS we’ll be able to pick from. My gosh I feel a little teary-eyed!
These are shoe linings and then what we might use for the back stretchy part of the calf boot. SO MANY Colors!
Have I mentioned that once we get black and brown boots done, I’m going to make some RED boots!!!!
Anyway, I’ve also been working with the narrator, who just finished the audible version of Aqua Therapy for Lipedema and Lymphedema, and I got a possible modeling gig, like a real one. I’m SO excited, and also scared which means I’ll be funny at the gig. I’ll tell you more about it later once it happens.
And finally, I’ve started the 10-month process it’ll take to write SUGAR MAMA – a book about sugar addiction and lipedema. I’ve gotten a lovely group of twelve ladies who identify as having a sugar addiction, a registered dietician and health coach together, and we’re going to detox on sugar and see how it impacts our lipedema symptoms of inflammation, fatigue, brain fog, etc. My prediction is that yes, we will fall of the horse occasionally, but that once we figure out a good method that doesn’t feel like deprivation, we will feel better and have less lipedema issues.
So this month’s been a lot, but a great lot! I’ll keep you posted on the footwear and all the goodies.
So, what do you think about those color options???
Yay!
Susan
