Today we’d like to introduce you to Carlie Christenson.
Hi Carlie, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start, maybe you can share some of your backstories with our readers?
When I was 9 years old, puberty hit me like a ton of bricks #earlybloomer. My body started to change, my hormones began to rage, and my self-image plummeted. Boys would tease me about my budding chest, and my mom’s friends would always comment on my womanhood, “oh, look, she’s blossoming!” I had had enough. At age 9, I drew up my prototype that would become Boob-eez® “Headlight” Hiders – a line of nipple covers purposed to help young ladies – like myself – feel FREE and CONFIDENT in the skin they were born in. This business and I have quite literally grown up together. After graduating college at The College of Charleston in South Carolina, I started working on Boob-eez® full-time out of my hometown in Atlantic Beach, Florida.
I’m 25 now and live in a big yellow house by the sea in Neptune Beach, Florida, with my Mom, Dad, and not-so-little sister (age 23). My family is my world, my team, my mentors, and the loves of my life! We work together on boob-eez® and beyond. My goal in life is to one day spoil them in the same way (or better) as how they have spoiled me.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I’ve always viewed “failure” as a learning experience. With entrepreneurship comes much rejection, be it rejecting samples during the prototyping process, getting rejected by investors or potential customers, and even feeling like you’re rejecting yourself. Imposter syndrome is a huge obstacle to overcome, and it took me literally YEARS to feel empowered on my professional journey.
In 2006-2007, I was asked to be on a show called American Inventor. Think of American Inventor as the Shark Tank of the early 2000s, where contestants competed to win seed money to fund innovative ideas. I was a budding preteen, about 11 years old, with a bright idea purposed to help preteens navigate puberty (aka, nipple covers for girls). Like American Idol, my mom and I had to pitch to multiple people and panels before making it to the filming portion of the show. It was exhilarating, pitching in front of a panel of judges with lights, cameras, and microphones pointed our way. I felt good once my pitch was over, sure that I had a shot of moving to the next round, but unfortunately for us, 2 out of the 4 judges voted ‘yes’ to boob-eez®, leaving hard ‘no’s’ from the other two consisting of men without children. You needed just 3 yes’s to move on to the next round. In hindsight, I feel like those men just didn’t get it. Still, at the moment, I was devastated — My first experience getting rejected with the possibility it would be aired on National Television.
From this point, moving forward, Boob-eez® became my secret life throughout school. I didn’t feel confident talking about it anymore because with rejection comes feeling invalidated. But Boob-eez® continued to exist and grew steadily until I found a re-invigorated passion for my business during my first year of college. Since then, I have been growing boob-eez® to be impactful for women of all ages – every age, shape, color, and size and I couldn’t be more proud of myself and my sister for a business.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Boob-eez?
Boob-eez is a fashion-fix accessories line + lifestyle brand purposed to make life easier for ALL women – every age, shape, color & size! From nipple covers and stick-on bras to apparel pieces and sassy bralettes, Boob-eez® has got you covered in more ways than one. At boob-eez® we are passionate about building a community of women that will benefit from the brand as an outlet to break the ice – to educate, empower, and allow a space to view our bodies as beautiful.
We are known for our minimalist apparel and provide the bare minimum to women because we believe all bodies are beautiful just the way they are! Not all ladies are comfortable ‘freeing the nip’ – this is why I created boob-eez as a preteen – because bras are uncomfortable and, in some scenarios, unnecessary. Our claim to fame is our silicone nipple covers that are H2O-resistant, washable, and reusable. They offer razor-thin edges that blend seamlessly into skin and flex and form to the natural curvature of breasts for all-day wear. Our covers are also tested and approved hypoallergenic in the USA, making them 100% medical grade. We have tons of magic tricks up our sleeve for women’s future innovations, so stay tuned!
Do you have recommendations for books, apps, blogs, etc.?
Favorite podcasts that help me live my best life include NPR’s ‘how I built this,’ as well as listening to TED Talks of all genres from science to understanding crypto. I also LOVE following entrepreneurs on TikTok and Instagram and deem a lot of helpful tips & tricks that way. Some of my favorite “influencers” are @sarablakely, @mikiagrawal, @rachel.cargle, @amandamccreight, @madelinependleton, and so much more. I do wish I read more books!! So far, I’ve loved Master of Scale by Reid Hoffman. I live and breathe entrepreneurship every day, so in my downtime, I love to read travel writing pieces, listen to crime podcasts, and binge and show or two.
Pricing:
- Our nipple covers start at $16 on boob-eez.com
Contact Info:
- Website: boob-eez.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/boob_eez/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/boobeez
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCewaTKokg_QaNNwV6z-ZW6A
- Other: https://www.instagram.com/carliehannah/
Image Credits
Boob-eez Lifestyle pics: Marilia Capeli (@mcapelicreative) Carlie studio headshot: Deanne Dunlop (@deannedunlopphotography)
