Success Story
| Region/Nation | South East |
|---|---|
| Sector | Consumer Goods & Services |
| Programme | Start Up Loans |
FittaMamma is an online retail company selling a range of maternity fitness wear. It was set up by Start Up Loans recipient and business woman Alexandra McCabe.
Alexandra was determined to help her pregnant sister-in-law feel good throughout her pregnancy. After discovering that there were limited options out there for women who were pregnant this led to the design and development of a range of stylish and specialist clothing for women who want to stay active in their pregnancy. Alexandra also developed a website providing information and advice for pregnancy and fitness. A keen runner herself, Alexandra equates productivity and positivity to staying active.
The heart of Fittamamma is to help mums look and feel good when their bodies are going through a transformation. Currently Alexandra has four people working with her including two full time. She used the Start Up Loan she received to push on and market the business after it was established. With international sales including strong traffic from the United States as well as the UK, Alexandra hopes to continue to expand the business online as it continues to expand.
Not only this, but women from all over the world are placing orders, and FittaMamma can now count a celebrity customer in their growing list of fans. The former model and marathon runner Nell McAndrew had been wearing FittaMamma during her pregnancy.
In 2016, Alexandra and Fittamamma increased the clothing range in order to offer more workout clothing options for different exercise levels and intensities, such as dry wick materials. They experienced a demand for slogan tops promoting an active pregnancy as mums-to-be wanted to show that they are pregnant and not overweight. This product was entirely consumer demand-led and is very popular. Further to this, they have developed a high end luxury range of technical fabrics for their workout products, with man-made fibres and materials designed to absorb sweat.
Fittamamma think it is important to support women through pregnancy through lots of advice, and as such send weekly emails targeted at women in different stages of pregnancy to explain what niggles ladies may be facing at that time. There is not currently one resource for women who want to exercise while pregnant, and the Fittamamma website and emails give ladies a resources to inspire and provide confidence to continue exercising.
They have also developed a strong partnership network of fitness instructors to assist women wanting to exercise whilst pregnant. This runs across the country and includes profiles on the Fittamamma website for yoga instructors, running instructors and pregnancy-friendly workout classes.
Alexandra aims to launch more products and more collaborations with other brands or fitness professionals, plus build stronger international collaborations in Australia and other English speaking countries first. She would also like to grow the range to include workout equipment. With FittaMamma by their side, the future is certainly bright for pregnant women who love to be active!
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