Yoga mom gets swag-bag attention at the Golden GlobesProducts from designer yoga line will be given to celebritiesby Patricia M. Murret | Staff Writer  Naomi Brookner⁄The Gazette Gaithersburg mom Tami Mensh started a clothing line called Unitees and will be giving away the shirts at a Golden Globes party hosted by the television show "e;Access Hollywood"e; later this month. |
SW_PHOTO=8565>Tami Mensh of Gaithersburg keeps reminding herself to breathe.She is expected to debut at a celebrity gift lounge hosted by the television show Access Hollywood. The "e;Stuff You Must..."e; lounge will welcome celebrities on Jan. 11-12 at the Hotel Sofitel in Los Angeles. "e;I want to see where this path leads me and wherever it goes, I'm going, there are no mistakes,"e; she said. "e;And if nothing else, it's going to be one hell of a vacation."e; Two years ago, after turning 40 and putting her youngest child in Kindergarten, Mensh turned to a spiral-bound sketchbook emblazoned "e;Tami's Big Book of Ideas."e; Inside was a product development line of yoga and exercise gear she sketched, drawing on her background in fashion merchandising, advertising and marketing. "e;Unitees"e; she called the soft cotton and thermal hoodies, T-shirts and form-fitting pants. "e;You put the shirts on and it's like a daily mantra,"e; Mensh said. The designs, sold on www.shopunitee.com, come in trendy colors and sport hand-stitched or silk-screened sayings such as "e;breathe,"e; "e;simplify"e; and "e;enjoy the journey."e; She has sold nearly 5,000 items since May 2006, mostly in Montgomery County, said the stay-at-home mother of three and yoga enthusiast. "e;This is what I wear, this is what I'm about, it's very current, very comfortable,"e; Mensh said. Her friends dubbed the line "e;bed-to-bus stop"e; because it works as yoga gear, loungewear or pajamas. She's hoping the easy style will be a hit in Hollywood. "e;I see Gwyneth Paltrow wearing 'good karma' because she's into yoga and looks good in light blue,"e; she said. "e;I see Kelly Ripa or Julia Roberts in 'live, love, laugh.'"e; Last spring, she and a cousin, Jill Balow of the Lakelands, had a local company make 72 T-shirts for a fashion show at her children's school. They packaged the $30 to $42 items in clear Chinese take-out boxes, she said. "e;People gobbled them up, and so we said 'We're really onto something,'"e; Mensh said. The women each invested $3,000 producing gear marked "e;simplify,"e; "e;breathe,"e; "e;peace of mind,"e; "e;24.7.365,"e; "e;unity"e; and "e;in the moment"e; with a triangle logo signifying mind, soul and body. They sold their wares at home shows, tea parties, boutiques and yoga studios from Gaithersburg to Potomac, continually reinvesting their profits. When the product landed on a Web site called "e;Style Bakery"e; under "e;Designers on the Rise,"e; she got a call inviting her to Los Angeles for the Access Hollywood event. She expects to spend nearly $25,000 giving away gear at the party. "e;It's shooting for the stars because it's a big investment and it doesn't translate necessarily into dollars,"e; Mensh said. "e;...I can't not do it."e; If the Golden Globes aren't televised due to an ongoing Hollywood writers' union strike, the party will still go on, Mensh said. Her neighbors Mindy Saffer and Debbi Ascher will come as her manager, publicist and party-going friends. "e;I want to see where this path leads and wherever it goes, I'm going,"e; Mensh said. "e;There are no mistakes."e; !-- Ad juggler and Google ads as part of photo calc (called thru includes) --> |