Have you seen the ultra-cool Belly Huggers? These smart and fun clothing accessories help moms from pregnancy through post partum and breastfeeding by keeping belies covered and allowing your regular clothing to go the extra mile (or several miles )

These stretchy fabric bands wrap around your waist under your regular shirt, giving you the look of a layered t-shirt, and keeping those stretch marks and love handles under wraps. (yay!!)

Here’s my interview with Brandy:

Tell me a little about yourself.

I am a native of New Orleans but have lived in northern CA for the past 12 years. My husband is a jazz guitarist and teaches music to elementary students.
After earning a BA in music, teaching music, and teaching kindergarten, I became a work at home mom. I now have a 2 1/2 year old son, Tucker, and a 2 week old daughter, Violet.

How did you get the idea for your product?

With the birth of my son, I found myself laid off from my teaching position. We could not afford to spend money on expensive nursing shirts so I made do with my own wardrobe. I started wearing my husband’s tanks under my shirts as my clothes fit me different after giving birth. It seemed silly to have to raise both shirts to nurse. I eventually came up with the simple idea of The Belly Hugger.

Tell me how you got to the point where you were selling your product.

I already had my own retail web site called Momma Bird’s Nest. In the beginning stages of MBN, I planned to create a lot of the products myself. I love sewing and crafting. When I got the idea for The Belly Hugger, I took a picture of the one I had made for myself and put it on the web site. I quickly started getting a lot of interest. The single best move I did was adding The Belly Hugger to my banner on Mothering Dot Commune. That is when I started getting wholesale orders.

How is your business going?

I am now able to add funds to our personal accounts. That helps! I no longer sew myself. That didn’t last long. I use a sewing contractor in San Francisco. I would like to see The Belly Hugger even more successful but with a new (fixer upper) house, toddler, and newborn, I can only do so much. That’s O.K. for now. Life is such a journey. I’m going along for the ride.

How do you juggle your business with the rest of your life?

I do my best to work while my children sleep. With the birth of my daughter I needed to organize my time even more. I find it very important to compartmentalize tasks and find a separation between work and family time.

What future plans do you have for your business?

I would love to see The Belly Hugger become a household name as a product for moms.

What advice would you have for someone that is interested in starting
their own business?

Everyone works differently. For myself, if I planned too much up front, I knew I might not actually get started. Starting a web-based business is a great way to start since you can learn as you go. I didn’t even set out to sell The Belly Hugger wholesale. Business just started to grow slowly and pretty soon I found myself buying bulk fabric and heading off to sewers in San Francisco. So my advice is “just do it”. Start small if you want but just dip your toe in the water. You may be surprised how much comes your way when you finally get wet.