CLOTHING FOR PLUS SIZE (FULL-BODIED)WOMEN.

Big and beautiful 33 years old Ailene Harrison-Malcolm had a dream but was never really pushed to fulfill that dream until she was made redundant in 2002. At the age of 29, without a job she knew exactly what she had to do.

Because of her full-bodied figure, finding attractive clothing had always been a major concern for Ailene and some of her friends over the years.  Today Ailene and other full-bodied women like her in Barbados have no such concerns.  Those concerns were put to rest when she opened her store- Full Elegance Boutique in Bridgetown, just downstairs of the BYBT office in October 2002.  Full Elegance is the only clothing store in Barbados that carriers all types of clothing for full-bodied women.  The business is a sole proprietorship.

Having made the decision to open her own business, Ailene recognized that she needed business management training, She began working on a strategy to get her business plan prepared and her business started.  During this process her friends were very excited, but her family was not as excited.

Ailene was introduced to the Youth Entrepreneurship Scheme (YES), a youth entrepreneurship development government programme, which is mandated to train young people in business management skills and offer technical support in these areas.  She enrolled in the YES programme and became exposed to business management principles including book-keeping; marketing strategies and customer service management.   

While at the YES programme, Ailene learnt about BYBT. "I thought the requirements sounded easy, they didn't seem out of my reach, like the banks'."   She made contact with BYBT and was given directives on what to do, soon after she was given an interview with the General Manager.   "when I had my first interview with Mrs. Brandon, I was really surprised, she treated me like a businesswoman, not just like a woman about to sell clothes.  That really lifted my spirits and boosted my self-esteem.  I left BYBT saying, I can do this, I am going to do this".

In October 2002, BYBT disbursed a start-up loan of BD$5000.00 which she used to purchase stock for the business, having used her savings of BD$6000.00 to rent the store and put in fixtures.  At the end of her first month in business, Ailene made a profit of BD$1,745.72 and that has only improved since then. By April 2006, the loan was repaid in full, always on time and never owing.

Ailene notes that her family now has a new respect for her.  This young female entrepreneur who got married in February 2006 to a self-employed person, pointedly reported that she and her husband are great support for each other.  Her cousin who is also a self-employed person told BYBT "when Ailene decided to start her own business we all thought she was crazy.  Ailene was a cashier, what she knew about starting a business"!.  Now that same cousin makes the point that she is very proud of her success and seeks her out for advice. 

Despite her hard work and dedication to the business, Aileen is quick to point out the tremendous contributions which her mentor made both to the development of the business and to her personal development as well.  Her BYBT approved business mentor is Selma Husbands, a Senior Business Development Officer at the Youth Entrepreneurship Scheme, and now Acting Manager, and additionally, quite interestingly, also a full-bodied woman herself.  In talking about her challenges, she lauded her mentor for her cool, calm approach to solving conflicts and dealing with problematic situations. While she started her business with two employees, Full Elegance Boutique now has only one fulltime employee.  A full bodied woman herself, the employee, Sheryl Elliot-Small, has been in her job almost as long as the store has been opened.  She loves her job and always looks forward to opening up in the mornings to new possibilities and new faces entering the store.  Ailene plans to start a training programme schedule for her employee with the help of BYBT in 2006, to expose her to elements such as customer service and the like.

Selma,her mentor, speaks very highly of this successful young entrepreneur. She noted "as Ailene's Business Development Officer at YES, I was very impressed with the true entrepreneurial characteristics which she displayed.  I realized that she had a viable business idea and that there was good potential for growth.  She also exhibited the tendencies/abilities to manage money well, willing to listen and learn, take advise and communicated well. It was a tremendous pleasure working with Ailene, I learnt quite a lot from her, especially about fashion."

In the future Aileen hopes to expand to at least one more location and extend her product line to shoes and other accessories for full-bodied women.    However, while her financial situation is comfortable, she admits that she still has anxious moments when thinking about her finances, since she can never predict what will happen on a daily basis.  Because of her contact with BYBT she argues that not only has her standard of living improved, but she has had significant growth in her self-esteem, self-confidence and business management skills.

She has told several young men and young women about BYBT and the help she has received.  She is also on the look out for new styles to clothe the full-bodied woman, whether it be the casual look, the sporty look, the mature look, the younger look, the semi-formal or formal look, she has it all.  To keep her one of a kind, unique look for her target group, Ailene is presently in discussions with suppliers in Canada, a place where no other Barbadian store is presently purchasing from.

So has this full-bodied, attractive young entrepreneur fulfilled her dreams?  Yes, yes, yes, she excitedly responded. "BYBT gave me my very first loan and treated me like a big business woman (no pun intended).  They are always ready and willing to go above and beyond to help young entrepreneurs succeed.  They really have proven over the years that they have our interests at heart."      

The tables have now turned in the industry since regular sized women are attracted to her store despite the fact that the clothes are way too large for them.  They comment that they cannot find such attractive clothing anywhere and some even complain that she is discriminating. But what amuses her even more is that regular sized customers -size 10 -14- purchase the clothes and have them altered.  Of course being the savvy entrepreneur that she is, Ailene is seriously thinking of having a line of regular sized attractive clothing in her store to satisfy those customers as well and definitely increase her profit margin.