support4women.net

Give someone a hug today - it'll do you both good

A strange title I hear you shout! Exactly! Well now I guess I have to explain it to you?

I started a Leadership course for small businesses this week – see previous post. We had a 2 day residential to get to know each other and build up trust between the group as we’re going to be journeying together for the next 10 months.

We had a great 2 days. Day 2 was quite emotionally challenging for me. I certainly want this course to challenge me, and it’s what I need to help me move the business forward to the next level of growth. But I guess I hadn’t expected to need quite as many hugs as I got from the female members of the course.

And as I’m impatient to get moving with growing the business (anyone interested in offering a bras4mums bra fitting service around the UK? Still planning how I do this, but it’s certainly needed), I want someone to help me with my business plan. Hence the spreadsheet support someone has offered.

So, it does go together. Some of you may find you need a hug every time you re-do your business plan. Or that you avoid business planning, or re-checking your plan? Well, I’m finding that my new tweet friends are giving me a tweet-hug, and my new course mates are going to give me the support I need to grow bras4mums across the UK. The support you get from people, their knowledge and their ability to say just the right thing at the right time -it’s fab!

Give someone a hug today – you’ll feel better, and you never know how much it will mean to them.

A Which report published this week could not recommend any

A measure is only a guide

High Street bra fitting service, stating, “Fewer than 1 in 3 shops measured up and no service was good enough to recommend.” Just style reported that even though the report focused on larger busted women (DD+), smaller busted women also got a poor service

I have to say I’m disappointed, but not surprised. My business was set up almost 6 years ago after I got awful advice from a ‘trained bra fitter’ running an independent business. But I still see women who tell us of their awful experiences in High Street Shops.

I’ve always based the bra fitting service we offer at bras4mums and bras4all on good fitting advice. We will not let a woman buy a bra we believe is ill fitting. If she insists, we make a note on her fitting record, in case she has cause to complain.

We allow up to an hour for each fitting at our shop and with our home fitting service. This allows time to educate the customer as well as try on a variety of styles and sizes to ensure good fit. At the shows we attend, this isn’t possible, but our fitters do their best in a very busy environment, and will spend as much time with a customer as required to ensure good fit and comfort.

One of our main frustrations as bra fitters, are the sizes available from suppliers. Even though bras4mums offers the widest range of maternity and nursing bras in the UK, we don’t feel there is enough for a lot of the women we see. We need more 28-30 back sizes, more F+ cups, and particularly more HH – J – L cups. Despite our good communications with our suppliers, they are still not listening as we’re only a small part of their income. For example, HOTmilk have decided to no longer manufacture 30 band sizes. It turns out that we’re one of the very few stockists of this size, and not big enough for them to manufacture just for us.

Yes, bra fitting services should be better and more consistent. But so should bra manufacturing! You can even buy a bra from the same manufacturer in a different size to normal due to the fabric being more/less stretchy. It’s frustrating!

So, if in doubt, give us a call. Our bra fitters are trained to offer advice by phone and by email. We may use a tape measure as a guide, but not as the final ’size answer’, as all bras fit differently. See how we size you up for an initial guesstimate and starting point.

Recent training sessions we’ve run have surprised the attendees, and disappointed sales assistants. During the day they’ve not only realised that they are uncomfortable in their current bra, but that the range that they are stocking will not fit most of the women who shop there! Stores need to start asking women what they want, not relying on suppliers who want to sell bra patterns they already have.

Don’t let anyone tell you it’s the right fit if it’s uncomfortable to wear. But please do remember, that you may not be wearing your bra right. Do listen to advice on this – an ill fitting bra really can affect your health.

Related article – Why aren’t we taught how to wear a bra at school?

What cake brings you success?

I’ve decided that this is going to be my strapline for 2010. It’s certainly tasty and feels very positive.

My themeword for 2010 is FOCUS, and is part of my Challenge 2010. I decided that I need to FOCUS on my business, my family, my friends and me! Not much then!

But today, I noticed that @RebehakHarriman was going to get cake to help her focus. And that’s when it came to me – “Cake is the key to success”!

And it makes sense doesn’t it? All those ingredients we have to use to make different cakes, all have to be measured out and mixed together in the right quantities to get the excellent results we all enjoy eating. continue reading…

There are a lot of challenges being sent our way at the moment. These are in no particular order, but all important in different ways.

Colour for a grey day

Haiti – this massive disaster challenges us all. Not just for our money and support, but our faith, and our belief in our own God. Why has it happened? How can our God allow this amount of death and destruction? How can little insignificant me help?

Well, I’m no theologian, but I guess this natural disaster is just one of those things. We, whatever faith we are, we all share our sense of responsibility towards our neighbours around the world. That’s why I guess it’s more difficult for us to accept. Here in the cosy UK, we do have poverty, but not on the scale of Haiti. But what we do have is our way of praying, and of giving. So, lots of people are doing what they can to help the survivors of the Haiti earthquake. Here’s a few ways you can help: continue reading…

I have to say that I’m still unsure that I know what any of these things

I'm still confused, but enjoying my visits.

actually are, what they do, or how they work. But, after just over a month of ‘doing stuff’ with blogs, twitter, facebook and my bras4mums site, I’m having fun and have certainly seen an upturn in web traffic (I use Google Analytics to track my site) on bras4mums.

I’m certainly no expert, but I haven’t been afraid of finding out, or asking people, or sharing that I’m a newbie. Hubby thinks I’m mad and says I’ve started talking a different language! continue reading…

This is all new to me – blogging. So I’m not sure if you can help. But I feel that you may be able to help me with a quandry that I find myself in today. I’d really appreciate it if you can.

My Mum died last May after a long fight with cancer. She was 65. My Dad was

The River of life keeps flowing

also 65 and a very sociable person who had cared for Mum for a long time. The details aren’t important, but even though we knew it was going to happen, it was still difficult to cope with.

The difficulty I’ve got now, is that Dad is moving on. Again, that’s not a problem in itself. He’s always been a sociable person, and I never thought that he would be by himself for the rest of his life. continue reading…

Not only would I like the weather to change, to start getting back to normal without being sidetracked into sledging or making snowmen, but I would like to change some other things.

Be like a penguin

I was recently lent a book “Our Iceberg is Melting”, by John Kotter, (no, I’m not trying to be funny!), to show me how similar the penguin characters situation was to the church I’m involved in. There were 2 Methodist Churches in Chorley (Trinity and Park Road) and in October we became one on paper. The challenge now is physically become one church, so a major change management process is needed to intregrate congregations, activities, buildings and look at developing our community work.

The book is fab. It’s sub-titled “Changing and Succeeding under any conditions”, and I’ve started planning in my head how we can go about affecting change within the Redevelopment Group that is leading the process at church. It sets out through the story of penguins on a melting iceberg how they go about looking for somewhere new to live. The eight step process to successful change is clear, concise and makes total sense in my community setting: continue reading…

If you’re anything like me, my Mum took me to M&S when my breasts started to grow and then I wore the same size bras for ever.

It was only when I got pregnant that I really started to become more aware of

Nursing bra by Bravado

my breasts and my bras. My breasts grew massive in the first few weeks of pregnancy, and was told by an M&S fitter that this was unusual, (I’ve since discovered that this is normal!). She put me in a sports bra, which wasn’t that comfy, but I thought they were the experts, so I wore it during pregnancy.

I discovered NCT bras for breastfeeding, which were OK. But looking back, I probably wasn’t wearing the right size. continue reading…

This week is the week many people will be starting their new fitness regime to get a new shape / lose weight / feel better at the start of 2010.

Don’t forget that a new bra can get you a new shape without the need to lose weight! You can surprise your partner and friends by getting the right size, bra shape and correctly fitted bra. Sometimes you need to reduce your t-shirt size as a good bra can make all the difference to how you look.

We have surprised women all the time in the shop, exclaiming, “I can’t believe the difference the bra has made”. It’s a great feeling to help women look and feel better. It’s the part of the job I love most.

So, how do we do this for ourselves? The most important thing is how you fit the bra. Think down or low for the bra band. This should be firm and sit in the smallest part of your back. This is often a lot lower than where you usually wear your bra, but you will benefit from the support and shape it gives you – it shapes your natural contours, and lifts your breasts naturally from a firm base. It will bring your shoulders back and help improve your posture.

How not to wear a bra

If you’re worried about the overhang, then get a bra that is deeper than usual. A lot of fashion bras have very narrow bands. Older ladies that wear longline bras don’t have this problem, as everything is held in by the length of the bra. continue reading…