00:00You guys like She-E-O, huh? You can take that. Take it, girl. Take it and run with it.
00:05My name is Elizabeth Taylor, and I am the She-E-O of Curvy Beach Bathing Suits.
00:13I came to NYU drama school when I was 18 from Southern California.
00:17After I graduated, I decided to love my body as is, and went on auditions,
00:22and met with agents, and was told point blank,
00:25you're too pretty to be the fat girl and too fat to be the pretty girl.
00:28Someone suggested I start plus size modeling,
00:31and I fell into the industry that I've been in, gratefully, for about 13 years now.
00:35Being from California and going to Miami Beach a lot,
00:38I just wanted something edgier, not necessarily sexier,
00:42but the iconic bathing suit, and I knew I couldn't find it.
00:45So I knew there was a market for more ranges of sizes for string bikinis.
00:50I was more than happy to make my apartment my workspace.
00:53This is the living room of my fifth floor walk-up,
00:55and it truly acts as my studio.
00:59This is just a little bit of clothing I have.
01:01It's a vintage collection that I've gathered over the years.
01:04It's very hard to find plus size vintage,
01:05so that's where a lot of my inspiration is from,
01:07and that also motivates me to make great clothes for women of all sizes.
01:11But this is really where I use as my office.
01:14I do my sketching here.
01:15I've been using the same sketching croquis for three years now,
01:19but I think it has good energy to it.
01:20My swatches, color cards.
01:23Again, it's all about fabric, because that's what the customer's putting on her body,
01:27so it's very important that I have beautiful soft fabrics.
01:30And then my other home base would be my bedroom,
01:33where I do my immediate work.
01:35So that's text in the morning, emails to important people, warehouse, factory,
01:39and then once I've had my first cup of coffee, I set up in the living room.
01:44I told myself I would spend $10,000.
01:46That was to get the patterns made, to start the production.
01:49But I'll never forget the day I needed to buy the plane tickets for my models and I
01:53to go down to Miami to shoot.
01:55And my hand was shaking on the computer.
01:57It was like $1,500 of airline tickets.
01:59I was freaking out.
02:01And I called my model, and I said,
02:02I can't deal.
02:04I don't know if this is the right thing to do.
02:06I've not sold anything.
02:07I'm freaking out.
02:08And she said, Elizabeth, don't be like our clients
02:11that spend all this money on development,
02:13but they don't spend any money to promote it.
02:15We deserve what the other companies do.
02:17And then I purchased the ticket, and that's how it all started.
02:20I made the first hundred suits, and they sat right here in my living room.
02:23And every day I would wake up and stare at the box,
02:26and suddenly I doubted myself.
02:28It's very hard without being emotional to describe what it was like
02:31when the video, the refinery video hit.
02:34I was going to a play with a friend, and I was selling maybe one a week.
02:37So I get up to go to the ladies' room and I check my phone,
02:40and suddenly ten orders had appeared.
02:41And then we walked across the street, and another ten orders had appeared.
02:44And I was like, what is going on?
02:46And I checked my email, and the video had gone live.
02:48And there was already like a hundred thousand views within a few hours.
02:51By the time I woke up that morning, I had sold every single suit out,
02:55and that became crystal clear that not only had I made my money back,
02:58but I was starting to have a profit.
02:59When the women started getting their bathing suits,
03:02that's when it became the dream.
03:04And they're sending me photos and how happy they are,
03:07and they're on their vacations with their kids,
03:09and even they're in their backyards.
03:11They're sending me selfies in their bathrooms,
03:13and they're writing me their histories and their feelings on their body image,
03:17and that's when I knew that this was more than a bathing suit.
03:19I make Curvy Beach swimwear.
03:22I make honeymoons fabulous.
03:25I make an item of clothing you never thought you could wear.
03:29I make happiness.
03:30The end goal for Curvy Beach would be Curvy Beach in department stores worldwide,
03:37boutiques all across the United States,
03:39me moving to Miami where I can be inspired every day,
03:43but always having an apartment in New York City,
03:45and continuing the legacy of body love,
03:48following your dreams,
03:50and feeling good about yourself through swimwear.
