We’ve all heard of sayings like “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take” or “If you never ask, the answer will always be 'no.'”
Or if you’re a little bit on the Gen Z side, there’s a variation that goes “Delulu is the Solulu” (Being delusional, in a good way, is the solution).
We’ll tell you a little secret: Love, Maddie, as a brand, was built on nothing but sheer delusional courage.
Hi, I’m Maddie and I founded this functional lingerie brand with Lily of the Valley and allow me to share my story. Our story.
I started working when I was 16 - working odd jobs, several irregular stints at a time. Put it simply: Constantly on survival mode
I’ve tried my hand at entrepreneurship and all my ventures (yes, every single one of them, albeit profitable at one point) FLOPPED.
Hard as I tried, the biggest challenge was to get my brain out of “survival mode.”
I was great at starting things and getting by - but staying consistent and achieving growth wasn’t my strongest suit.
Nonetheless, I am grateful to have established a small but very engaged following on social media and in 2021, I received a message from a wonderful lady by the name of Ly asking for a branded collaboration.
It wasn’t the first time I received an offer but this collaboration wasn’t like others I’ve received in the past - they weren’t very strict with the posting guidelines. They simply wanted me to try out their products. And if I did love the products enough to want to talk about them - they want me to post it with a messaging that feels right to me.
At that time, I was grieving the loss of not one but two loved ones. I was dealing with alcohol dependence, on top of many other things and another “branded collaboration” wasn’t exactly a priority for me.
However, Ly was very persistent and after weeks of back and forth, we were able to come up with an agreement.
Shortly after that, I slowly understood what Lily of the Valley stood for as a business. I eventually found my way to Camille, Lily of the Valley’s founder and she was an absolute delight. They invited me to join their live event and my affinity towards LOV just grew fonder.
We stayed in touch and one day, I simply decided to pitch this crazy idea to start my own lingerie line. Camille and her team saw the vision and agreed to give it a try. I sought the help of my high school friend, Erica, to come up with the sketches.
And on September 15, 2021 - we officially soft launched Love, Maddie with our first four core designs.
As I write this, I feel my imposter syndrome intensify. There’s just no other way to put it. I remember telling the team that it still hasn’t sunk in until now even though we’ve been around for a year now.
We’ve built a small but solid community. We’ve had quite a number of challenges and unexpected wins. And I would like to believe that it can only be uphill from here.
Working on this business has (in the best way possible) forced me to grow in ways that have been uncomfortable but undeniably worth it. Amidst all the chaos, things somehow fell into place. All because I was “delusional” enough to believe I could do it. All because I found the courage to ask.
Each Love, Maddie piece is meticulously designed and crafted with love. More than just functional lingerie, it is actual tangible proof that dreams can come true. Go ahead and live your best life, whatever that means for you.
