Hi there,
My name is Grace, and I am the founder and one woman show behind Soi Body! I thought I would take a moment to introduce myself to you all.
I am 27, live in Melbourne and work full time as a footwear designer for a Melbourne-based women's and children's footwear and apparel brand. I have been very passionate about branding, beautiful products and fashion for as long as I can remember! I studied a Bachelor of Fashion Design at RMIT in Melbourne, and have gone on to work at some of Australia's largest retailers such as Witchery, French Connection, Sussan and more.
However, alongside my love for designing, I have also lived with a number of chronic illnesses, but have always been determined to never let them take over my life. Some of these illnesses include Thyroid conditions, POTS and my most recent and life-changing diagnosis of Endometriosis and Adenomyosis. Despite my attitude of not letting anything stop me from living my life, this diagnosis has certainly had a huge impact on my life, as well as my family and friends.
This really got me thinking, there has to be something out there that can help me manage my most major symptom, severe pelvic pain in a way that doesn't affect my ability to work, socialise and essentially live my life! I trialled so many products from stick on heat patches, wheat bags and TENs machines - to name a few, but nothing quite gelled with me in the sense, that it one, helped my pain enough, and two, I wasn't embarrassed to be using the product.
A large part of my week involves me styling daily outfits and taking pride in my appearance, which has always created a positive relationship with my own body image. Yet, all the products I had tried were really at odds with my personal style, which really started to get me down, as they were such a necessity for me, however, made me really self conscious. I was starting to see a gap in the market for pain relief products that can be an extension of one's personal style, and essentially another accessory to work with.
It wasn't until I was given an amazing opportunity to travel overseas for my current job that I realised that many of the products, mainly a wheat bag I was currently using, weren't going to be suitable for long-haul travel or be able to be used whilst staying in a hotel. Then I switched over to using a hot water bottle, which was great for flying as you can take them on the plane empty, and have them filled up after take off, and you can always get access to hot water in a hotel room. But, upon buying a hot water bottle, I was severely disappointed at what was available. There was only one size, that was bright red and came with a synthetic cover that was not cute. At that moment, I knew I had to do something with this gaping hole in the market.
From there, the idea of Soi Body was born! I worked on developing the brand for over nine months, where I went through branding exercises, designing, sampling and developing our website. And now, since July 4th 2024, Soi Body is a living and breathing brand that I created out wanting a brand to prioritise both function and form.
