We can probably all relate to the struggle of shopping for clothes, and with fellow SociEATy member Tina Beauvais being a clothing designer, I felt that I absolutely needed to bring her on the podcast for a conversation! Tina had been dealing with dieting and body image issues since she was about ten years old but discovered intuitive eating about six months ago, and her story is such an inspirational one not only because of her food freedom journey but also because of her journey as a clothing designer. Her career as a clothing designer with her company Embraced in Comfort ultimately began because of a suit that she designed for her daughter who has scoliosis. She walks us through both journeys and shares how her career has evolved as well as the challenge of deciding upon who her target market is and how she goes about her base design.

Tina and I also reflect on society's standards of weight and how those standards go into how clothing is manufactured and sold in stores. Tina offers some invaluable advice and actionable tips upon which you can act today – including the importance of remembering that confidence is your most important accessory, far more important than anything that you could buy. She also stresses the fact that you are going to look good in what fits you, regardless of how big or small that it is. We need to work toward removing the stigma of numbers because it's all arbitrary, something of which Tina gives so many examples!

This episode is jam-packed with helpful information, and I think that everyone listening to this will come away feeling so much better about this topic. If something doesn't fit you, that does not mean that something is wrong with you! Remember – the numbers are arbitrary! As always, I love hearing from you, so screenshot this gem of an episode and let me know that you have listened to it! I would also love it if you would share with me what you took away from this episode of the podcast and what was particularly helpful for you! Reaching out to us means the world to both myself and the guests!

Time Stamps

[1:52] – We learn that SociEATy member Tina joins Colleen in this episode and how this conversation came to be.

[2:58] – Tina shares her food freedom journey with us.

[4:37] – Tina talks about a couple of major wins that she has enjoyed since starting her food freedom journey.

[7:35] – Tina walks us through how and why she went into clothing design and started her company.

[9:51] – We learn how Tina's business has evolved over time.

[12:02] – Tina describes her process of designing clothes, revealing that it's usually more complicated than people realize.

[15:03] – We discover that the ASTM standards are usually arbitrary and not based on actual data.

[18:27] – Tina discloses that she bases her sizes on measurements.

[21:19] – Tina expounds upon how clothing stores usually manufacture their sizes.

[25:12] – We are provided with some advice from Tina about separating our emotions from the size of a piece of clothing.

[30:31] – We learn that the quality of fabric affects how a piece of clothing fits and about a strategy that Tina uses to test said quality.

[36:26] – Tina offers a few actionable steps that we can act upon today.

[39:47] – We discover where online we can find Tina.

Links and Resources

Colleen Christensen Nutrition – Website

The SociEATy - Become a Member

The SociEATy's Instagram Page

Colleen's Instagram Page

Diet Starts Tomorrow Podcast

Embraced in Comfort - Website