A Lake Country business celebrated its 10th birthday recently and shows no signs of slowing down.

Ten years ago, Chris and Addie Pafiolis welcomed their fourth child into the world and decided to launch a business from their kitchen table in The Lakes neighbourhood. After a year of creating a business plan, figuring out how to start it, where to get the materials and more, Sweetlegs 含羞草研究社� a body-positive apparel store 含羞草研究社� was born.

含羞草研究社淚t含羞草研究社檚 been a wild road with ups and downs and everything in between含羞草研究社� said Chris.

含羞草研究社淚t含羞草研究社檚 been a rollercoaster,含羞草研究社� added Addie.

Chris and Addie含羞草研究社檚 first location was down the road from their home in the back of Lakewood Mall, which eventually changed to a storefront store there. Before they were even open, people would knock on the door with their money ready, Addie added.

Over time as they grew, they moved to their current location at 104-9950 main Street in Lake Country. They also now have an e-commerce location on McCurdy Road in Kelowna.

Over the 10 years, they含羞草研究社檝e grown so much that they commonly set their products anywhere they go and have shipped orders all over the world.

含羞草研究社淲e含羞草研究社檝e been in Europe and Disneyland and see people wearing our products,含羞草研究社� said Addie. 含羞草研究社淥ur focus is to build confidence and that wasn含羞草研究社檛 out intention when we started. It含羞草研究社檚 so fun to see people out in the wild wearing them and it含羞草研究社檚 hard to keep your mouth quiet like 含羞草研究社業 made those!含羞草研究社�

Chris added they含羞草研究社檝e shipped orders up to the North Pole as well as Egypt and also every country.

含羞草研究社淥ur coolest one was during the pandemic, I saw on social media and saw Emily Hampshire from Schitt含羞草研究社檚 Creek wearing a pair of our leggings to the Grammy含羞草研究社檚,含羞草研究社� said Addie.

含羞草研究社淲e have fans all over the place, fans you would never expect,含羞草研究社� said Chris.

Of course over 10 years, ups and downs are going to happen but as worried as they were, they were able to make it through the pandemic.

含羞草研究社淲e expected the worst like everybody,含羞草研究社� said Chris. 含羞草研究社淚t was one of those things where you don含羞草研究社檛 know where it含羞草研究社檚 going but in the end, we did quite well.含羞草研究社�

Since then, other obstacles have provided a bit of a challenge as well.

含羞草研究社淭he rising costs has been tricky and we navigate that like any other business,含羞草研究社� stated Chris.

For the 10th anniversary, Sweetlegs hosted a 60 per cent off sale in store and online, had a draw for a superfan, a photobooth and cupcakes at their store, and created live videos with customers as they arrived to the store.

含羞草研究社淭he key to our business and our success is the staff, we got such a great team from marketing to the warehouse, the team makes this happen,含羞草研究社� said Chris. 含羞草研究社淚t含羞草研究社檚 fun building the relationships with staff and the customers.含羞草研究社�

含羞草研究社淎 big thank you to the community, we wouldn含羞草研究社檛 be here without everyone locally who supported us and helped us build our business,含羞草研究社� added Addie. It含羞草研究社檚 been empowering and kind of shocking to watch it grow.含羞草研究社�

As for the next 10 years, Chris and Addie want to keep their message the same.

含羞草研究社淚f we can just keep spreading body confidence and size inclusivity, that rewards us.含羞草研究社� said Addie.

Hand-in-hand with their 10th anniversary, Sweetlegs is launching an ambassador program on April 15.

含羞草研究社淚t含羞草研究社檚 something were super excited to launch,含羞草研究社� said Chris.

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