My Why? Behind the Brand with Pebby Forevee

Hi, I'm Pebby. I am 33 years old and I have struggled with body image issues my entire life. I get asked all the time, why I created Pebby Forevee. And it's really impossible to talk about that without first talking about who I am, what I stand for, and quite honestly, what I've been struggling with my entire life.

I remember being eight years old and seeing that I had cellulite for the very first time. And in my mind, cellulite was bad because I've heard my mom complain about it my entire life up until that point. I remember who I was with, I remember what I was wearing, I remember where I was, and I also remember that I never wore shorts again.

This was hands down the pivotal moment that caused me to start loathing my body and my self image. It was the foundation in which all of my insecurities began to grow. And it's ultimately the very reason why I created a flattering t-shirt company. I was the girl, and sometimes still am, the one that would wear really long shirts, really heavy clothing, hoodies in 90 degree weather, because I was more comfortable with physically stuffing myself into something that would hide my body, that would allow me to hide behind this shell of skin. It was easier for me to do that then to mentally prepare myself to go out into the public, wearing something that was seasonally appropriate like shorts or a tank top.  Because I literally could not handle how I viewed myself. What I thought I looked like and how other people would perceive me, which was not socially attractive. 

I had thick thighs. I've had an athletic build my entire life, even though I'm not athletic in the slightest, but those two things do not go hand in hand. I feel like I was trained to believe either by society or parenting, that it's only good to have an athletic build if you are athletic. The other only acceptable body type is thin and toned. I didn't fit in and I've always been a super creative and artistic person. I've always loved fashion design and merchandising. I was a little girl who would tear up magazine pages and plaster them on my wall floor to ceiling. My whole room was a giant collage and fashion design in particular has always been my thing.

And I started to try to think of different ways that I could implement a style that would, my God, allow my skin to breathe in the summer, but wouldn't make me completely paranoid about how I looked, not only to other people, but to myself. Keep in mind, I physically and mentally cannot handle the way that I looked myself. It wasn't necessarily about how others viewed me.

That was the icing on the cake. It was definitely some internal things that I had to deal with that caused me to create this brand. But whenever I did so many women reached out to me and said, "I have been struggling with the same thing." And so I was like, "Whoa, here we go. Let's fix this problem then, Sis."

And so I remember trying to think of different ways. I could create silhouettes that would be flattering on all body types, truly all body types. And the way that I started it was I started to create an off shoulder neck line. And I would basically just take scissors and cut off the neckline of a shirt. And what that did was allowed you to have a more fashionable and edgy look to your outfit, but then allow your skin to breathe a little bit in the summer time. I remember whenever I first started to make them and sell them on Etsy, I had had other things on Etsy, cause like I said, I've always been super artsy. They were like little cards that I had dipped in tea and had hand stamped with "Thank you" on them. And no one wanted them. Can you imagine? No one wanted these adorable hand stamped little tea cards? But those things set up there for like three months and no one took a bite. The very first time I listed a shirt on Etsy, it sold within an hour. An hour! These shirts started to sell like hotcakes, size small, medium, large, extra large, two X, three X, four X. And I realized that my theory had been confirmed that I was not alone in my body image issues. It didn't matter if you are a size small or three X, we all struggled with the same thing. We wanted something that was easy to wear. We wanted something that whenever we put on in the morning, it didn't take a lot of thought process. It didn't take us completely terrorizing our closet to find something that looked good with what we wanted to wear. We wanted something that made us feel good about ourselves whenever we left in the morning and how you feel about yourself — listen to me — how you feel about yourself whenever you leave for work in the morning is going to take charge of every decision that you make for the rest of the day.

Imagine how you feel whenever you leave the house and you know you look good. You should feel like that every day! Pebby Forevee is such a personal brand to me because it basically encompasses how I feel about myself. I'm constantly looking for something that is cute and edgy, but that also is primarily flattering because if I don't feel good in it.

If I don't feel like I look good in it, I'm not wearing it! 

Pebby Forevee is a brand that wants you feel to like you can express yourself and feel confident while you do so and feel comfortable while you do so. It is a brand that is an extension of my insecurities that so many women deal with. And that's essentially why I started Pebby Forevee.

I wanted to help other women find the quick and easy fashionable, pleasing, flattering solution to the first decision that they make of the day, which is to get ready and go conquer the world.