Underlines chats with Kate Taylor, Founder, CEO and the woman behind the latest innovation in breast aids (EVENLY Bra Balancer™) which is only one step on her journey to help women with mismatched breast sizes. She will be doing a Trend Workshop on Tuesday 14th February during the INDX Show.
Kate is a woman on a mission – prior to starting Evenly she worked as a programmer for IBM post-university and was working freelance as an IT and Digital Marketing Consultant when she was name one of the BIMA100 for her work developing a palliative care app for hospice patients (the 100 most influential people in digital and tech in the UK). As well as her indubitable IT skills she is a creative thinker – she explains how she began her journey to develop the Bra Balancer™.
How did the brand start?
“The idea first came into my mind in 2014 whilst I was living in Australia and it started with shoes not bras! At the time I was wearing a lot of slip-on ballet flat shoes and due to the fact that I have one foot slightly smaller than the other, I was getting frustrated at one of my shoes constantly falling off. I had always wanted to have my own product business, for many years keeping a notebook full of potential ideas, and so I decided to look into starting a business selling mis-matched size shoes. But when I started running the idea past friends, a lot of the women exclaimed, “Shoes aren’t my biggest problem, bras are!” Like the majority of women, I have a difference in breast size but assumed it was an issue unique to me and made do by tightening my bra strap on the one side and doing my best to disguise it in foam cup bras. How was I to know I was in the majority when all we typically see in lingerie advertising are perfectly round, perfectly symmetrical breasts? Suddenly my eyes were opened to the misleading reality a lot of us have been exposed to and I got to work on creating the perfect solution.
How did you recognise the demand for the Bra Balancer™?
“I began to investigate bras – could I create bras with mismatched cup sizes or adjustable cup volumes? With that mission in mind, I started working with one of the top bra designers in the UK – responsible for co-creating the game-changing Ultimo gel bra. I also twice attended the industry-leading Interfilière lingerie trade show in Paris and gained as much knowledge as I could about bra design, materials and new technologies.
I discovered that lingerie design is expensive and technically complex – a bra is an expert piece of engineering! So whilst I continued my R&D into the bra, I decided I wanted to bring a faster solution to the market, so I could start helping the women struggling with the physical and psychological effects of breast asymmetry sooner. I also wanted to test if there really was a market for the bra I was working so hard on. As no other brands are out there talking about and catering to breast asymmetry I worried that maybe there was not really a demand for solutions. I was very quickly disproven!
And the process of research and development?
“I began designing the Bra Balancer™ ranges and scoping out the manufacturing in early 2020 and by October of that year, whilst the pandemic was in full swing, I began retailing them directly to customers online at evenlybreasts.com. My first few orders were from customers in the UK, Australia, USA, Canada and the Philippines. Women quickly started joining Evenly’s free breast asymmetry support group on Facebook – The Uneven Titty Committee – and opening up about their struggles and I knew Evenly was going to be able to make a real difference to women’s lives.
“Evenly is uniquely dedicated to breast asymmetry no matter what the cause and I believe that standard bras need to be fixed to support real women and their unique and beautiful bodies. Breast asymmetry can be caused by a number of factors – our breasts are sisters not twins and they change as we go through life changes like perimenopause, breastfeeding, through surgeries for cancer, or due to conditions like Poland Syndrome. Breast asymmetry can lead to issues like back and neck pain and poor posture due to the difference in mass between the larger and smaller side.
“The Bra Balancer™ helps to alleviate the musculoskeletal issues that come from breast asymmetry by using a silicone breast form to mimic the size, shape and weight of the larger breast – balancing a standard symmetrical bra out. Each Bra Balancer™ is a clear breast form shape so it works for women with different skin tones and sits invisibly under clothing or swimwear. The aim is to make women feel good and give them confidence and a community where they know they are not alone and their bodies are beautiful.
“The potential global demand for this bra is huge, which is why we are now looking to work with experienced partners to bring this bra successfully to market”.
You want to develop bras and not just balancers?
“I am proud and excited to say the bra design for breast asymmetry is now finalised and the patent protection is pending. I am now seeking bra retailers and manufacturers who are interested in licensing the design to bring these much-needed bras to market. Our recent breast asymmetry survey data shows that 85% of women with breast asymmetry ranging from ‘very slight’ to ‘extremely significant’ would buy a bra specifically designed for breast asymmetry if it were available, and would be willing to pay an average of 22% extra on top of the cost of a regular bra. The potential global demand for this bra is huge, which is why we are now looking to work with experienced partners to bring this bra successfully to market”.
A Typical Week in your life
“Evenly is still founder-owned and operated so every week is very different as I wear many hats! I also have a very young daughter, so business is regularly juggled alongside childcare. I do have an excellent team of colleagues supporting the everyday running of the business but there is still much work to be done to oversee the operations, finances, marketing and customer service. Outside of those duties, a typical week will consist of meetings and activities to strategically growth business and expand our reach. Just recently for example I have been holding calls with the University of Portsmouth and NHS clinicians to scope out a research project to look at whether the NHS is sufficiently supporting women with uneven breasts. I have also been building partnerships with our new wholesale stockists for the Bra Balancer™ and of course, preparing everything we need for the Indx Intimate Apparel trade show.”
Your proudest moment to date?
My proudest moment to date would be winning the Innovate UK Women in Innovation award in 2021 and receiving a £50k grant to further grow the business. Winning the award was a huge privilege to me personally but also, I see it as a huge boost to the millions of women globally who are struggling with the impacts of severe breast asymmetry. Breast asymmetry has finally been recognised as an important issue with very real impacts on women’s lives and the award win demonstrates that it is considered an area of innovation worthy of the government’s support and investment.
Also in 2021, I was named Business Insider Magazine’s 42 under 42. Through both of these awards, I am proud to have been selected as a role model to hopefully inspire more women into innovation, product design and entrepreneurship.
And the next big challenge?
Fortunately, there are not many challenges to overcome at present – only opportunities. There is so much opportunity to grow the business through the bra design licensing, wholesale partnerships, research with the NHS and other healthcare providers and increasing our export capabilities to meet the growing demand for our products overseas. I suppose, the main challenge will lie in figuring out how to fit everything in!
What has been your worst move so far?
There are no business moves I particularly regret, however one thing I do wish I had done differently was believe in myself sooner. From initially coming up with the idea in 2014 and starting on the bra design path a year or two later, I then stopped working on the project altogether for a number of years. I had convinced myself I was wasting my time – that the reason no similar products existed was because they weren’t wanted – and I let imposter syndrome set it. It was only when a friend suggested I consider another solution which I could bring to market sooner than the bra to test my hypothesis and the Bra Balancer™ was launched that I regained my confidence and work on the bra R&D resumed. That time was so unnecessarily wasted and I wish I could go back in time and shake myself by the shoulders!
Ultimately what do you hope to achieve?
My aim with Evenly is for the brand to become synonymous with breast asymmetry support. To be seen as the global market-leading experts and to finally give women struggling with the physical and psychological effects of breast asymmetry the life-changing support and products they have been crying out for. You can find out more about our mission and join the community here: evenlybreasts.com
