Ellen Thompson
Havre Daily News
ethompson@havredailynews.com
Renelle Braaten wasn't joking when she told her husband she'd get her patented bra on Oprah.
Her sports bra will appear on the "Oprah Winfrey Show" today as part of "Boot Camp Follow-Ups," a series about a 12-week diet and exercise regimen Oprah has been advocating.
When Braaten asked her mother to help her make a prototype for the vest-like bra 13 years ago, she didn't think she was going to try to make a business out of it, she said. Then she realized that other women were looking for the same product she was.
She sells stabilizing bras that help large-breasted women work out comfortably, that pregnant women can wear to reduce painful bounce and new mothers can wear and still breast feed easily.
Braaten can't afford big advertisements. Instead she's focused on getting her product into the public eye through other means.
"You have lots of different avenues for marketing and I have no desire to go to a big city," she said. The Internet, Braaten said, was her most useful tool. She tries to get her bra featured in sports bra reviews. It's been in several.
Braaten began writing to Oprah several years ago, but her product finally got to the media mogul indirectly. Drew Barrymore wore the bra to train for the movie "Charlie's Angels," which came out in 2000. The bra was recommended to Barrymore by her trainer for the movie and the trainer had started using it when she was pregnant with twins. Barrymore recommended the bra to fellow actress Jean Tripplehorn, who recommended it to her publicist. Braaten sent several bras to Tripplehorn's publicist and dropped a hint.
"You never know when somebody's going to know Oprah," Braaten recalls writing.
Well, the publicist didn't know Oprah, but she knew the creative director for "O Magazine," and that was Braaten's first big break.
Her bra has appeared in the magazine three times since 2002, paving the way for a television appearance today.
In the meantime, Braaten's Second Street business in Havre has grown, with eight employees. Locally, her bra is sold at Master Sports and her office sometimes sells seconds, she said. She has retailers in the United States and overseas.
The bras were once made locally. Now they're made in Puerto Rico. Every bra is inspected in Havre though, Braaten said, before being sent to retailers.
Braaten said her business is constantly reorganizing as it grows. "It's a lot of guesswork," she said.
Braaten gets some help from her husband, accountant Wayne Koepke, who Braaten said handles the financial side of the business.
Sales grow from one year to the next and Braaten said she's been hearing back from women who love the product.
"That's probably what floored me the most is how many testimonials we get," she said.
Braaten's product can be found on the Web at www.enell.com.
Braaten said her business is constantly reorganizing as it grows. "It's a lot of guesswork," she said.
She gets some help from her husband, accountant Wayne Koepke, who Braaten said handles the financial side of the business.
Sales grow from one year to the next, and Braaten said she's been hearing back from women who love the product.
"That's probably what floored me the most is how many testimonials we get," she said.
Braaten's product can be found on the Web at www.enell.com.
