THE ORIGIN OF EMMA LOU/ WHY I MADE THE GLOW BAND
My name is Emma, and I’m the founder of innovative athleisure brand, Emma Lou. I am a certified personal trainer & pilates instructor, and was born and raised in California. I like to spend my time at the beach, reading a fictional book, hot girl walking, scouting for the best iced chai, and sketching pieces for Emma Lou. I currently reside in the beautiful Southern California area.
I wasn’t one of those people who knew they wanted to be an entrepreneur right out of the gate. High School was pretty rough, and I transferred colleges four times. I ended up graduating with a degree in Business Administration, but only after changing my major three times (3rd times the charm am I right folks). I was extremely lost, so I held onto the only thing that remained constant in my life: working out. I felt at peace with my headphones in, on a run, or doing pilates. I was good at it, so I thought that was my career.
After getting my personal training certification, I got a job at a gym a couple of months before the pandemic. During this time, I trained women of all ages, and became a sound board for most. A lot of the complaints coming from my clients were centered around their boyfriends, nutty mother-in-laws, and job drama, but the most prominent one was their appearance. I just couldn’t shake the fact that almost every single one of my clients were insecure about their stomach. More specifically, the lower stomach. It was wild. I thought I was the only woman on the planet who felt unhappy with their lower stomach. Now that I had access to all of this information on how women were truly feeling, I felt it was my responsibility to fix it.
Emma Lou came to fruition when I was 19 years old. I noticed there was a white space in the athleisure market since I kept hearing my clients complain about their bloating problems and how it was a huge insecurity for them. Every woman knows about the notorious ~lower stomach~, but the only product I could recommend to them that targeted this area was a waist trainer. Which, no shade, but they aren’t *super* effective or sustainable. Worst of all, you can’t walk into Trader Joe’s wearing one without everyone giving you the disapproving side-eye while you’re picking out avocados.
The Problem:
There wasn’t a single product on the market that wasn’t A) a waist trainer or B) a digestible supplement that aided women with bloating in the lower stomach area.
I grew up in California where the water is beautiful, but freezing, which meant I was always equipped with a wetsuit. My wetsuit kept me nice and warm, but also, whenever I took it off, I would be sweating. I cut out a chunk of my wetsuit and had my grandma sew it into the waistband of an old pair of biker shorts. Hideous? yes. Effective? Hell yes. The stitches were bright green and showed through the shorts, but the neoprene held strong and I felt my tummy sweat immediately. I wore it to the gym, on walks, and for grocery store runs for weeks and noticed a decrease in my lower stomach bloating, water weight retention, and just overall ~flow~ of things since neoprene is a heat trapping fabric and I was targeting my lower stomach and waist.
My clients, fellow gym staff, and friends, were dying to get a pair of my magic pants after they saw my results, so I decided to make a small batch of them with a manufacturer. I did a little more research on the best fabric for the problem I was eager to solve, and landed on what we have now, which is a recycled thermoplastic fabric, that has been scientifically proven to reduce water weight and bloating. There was an apparent bloating problem in women, and most of us struggle with it. It can be uncomfortable and inconvenient, which is why targeting that area was my #1 priority.
The Solution:
Create a garment that harnesses textile technology to target the lower stomach area with a scientifically proven fabric to target bloating and water weight.
After a couple months of reading business and self-help books (shoutout to “You are a Badass” by Jen Sincero & “Invest It, Sell it, Bank it!” by Lori Greiner for keeping me afloat), researching, testing, and typing away, I now had a full-fledged business that was now catching the eyes of publications like Vogue, Forbes, WWD, Popsugar, Shark Tank, & more, because of our innovative, stylish pants. I launched during the pandemic in 2020, when everyone was online shopping and looking for a little extra spice in their at-home workouts, so I really got to know my consumers and what they were lacking in their workout wardrobe.
Since then, I have been growing my brand and adding new pieces to the Emma Lou collection (which I store in my room, under my IKEA storage bed BTW), learning new things (like what a triple-stitch is), and testing out new fabrics and designs that I hope my consumers will love. I am a die-hard mood board fan, so every piece usually has a plethora of Pinterest images behind it. As you may know, owning a business isn’t cheap, so luckily I am still able to teach pilates and private training sessions to fuel my dream. And, teaching pilates helps me keep my finger on the pulse of the always-evolving activewear trends so I can see what people are loving (& not-loving).
As a pilates instructor and private trainer, I have helped tons of women with their fitness journeys and get the inside scoop on what exercises are the best for lengthening, toning, & strengthening the stomach and body. Pilates is a great way to promote mindfulness and become more aware of your movement. Below I am going to share two of my favorite full body moves to lengthen and tighten, which you can do anywhere, so it’s a win win.
To make your workouts even more spicy and fun, throw on a pair of our Glow Band leggings. Some of my favorite peices are the Elle Glow Band Leggings for a pop of color and flattering flare leg with a bustier inspired top (that makes for a great going out top too BTW) , and the Toby Glow band Biker shorts for a classic, staple piece, that’s buttery soft and knows your angles.
Until next time xoxo
Emma