MAMAS IN MIND

For most mums-to-be, pregnancy is a time to relax before baby arrives. But for Lisa Ebbing, she used the time to mastermind a business.

Fed-up with struggling to find fashionable maternity lingerie, she teamed up with her best pal Ange Sloan and decided to launch Hotmilk.

“That was back in 2004 and since then, we’re stocked in an impressive 27 countries and six continents,” says Lisa. “Pregnancy and then those early stages of motherhood are times when a woman navigates through extreme changes in her body. So we wanted to make underwear that empowered mothers to take ownership over their own personal journey.”

With a background in photography, Lisa, 43, has a natural eye for pretty things. And Ange, 45, brought in her skills in sales to the business. But they both admit the success is down to their focus on body positivity and diversity.

Mum-of-three Lisa explains, “We have always wanted to encourage mothers to embrace their bodies and to showcase the full beauty of every woman, in all our varying shapes and sizes.

“We felt there was simply too much pressure on mothers to bounce back, which is just not realistic.”

Ange adds, “We are all unique and even more so on our journey of motherhood, and the changes our bodies go through. We are, however, no less beautiful in who we are when it comes to size.”

Based in Tauranga, the duo sell over 100,000 bras, which range from sizes eight to 20 and cups A to J, every year, locally and in countries including Australia, the UK and North America.

But Lisa says it’s really no surprise that New Zealand backed body diversity way before any other country. “We’re not followers, so I’m sure we saw this issue and got stuck in straight away. We like to speak up,” she laughs.