A Valley innovator, Charlotte Bowens, is redefining outdoor gear for the plus-sized community with her company Conscious Gear and its premiere product, the VestaPak. Bowens, originally stirred by her personal health wake-up call, has designed a hydration pack that bucks the norm with a vest style to better accommodate bigger bodies. According to an ABC15 report, this week, her entrepreneurial efforts were acknowledged with a $10,000 grant from Verizon to propel her burgeoning business.
Working at Arizona State University, Bowens encountered first-hand the shortcomings of the fitness industry’s one-size-fits-all approach. After waiting for the industry to adapt, she launched Conscious Gear. With the VestaPak getting highlighted in USA Today as a top gift for outdoor enthusiasts, she's secured a spot for her innovation in the wider market. She told ABC15, "I do this work because I love doing this work and I want other bigger-bodied folk to know that they matter too."
Bowens' transition to the fitness realm was catalyzed by alarming health check-up results, which she described in an interview with ABC15. "The doctor was like, 'look, you got high blood pressure, high cholesterol, you're borderline diabetic,'" she said. "I was morbidly obese and, from what they could tell, a little depressed." Her commitment to transformation culminated in completing a 50-mile ultramarathon, an achievement that underscored the gaping need for more inclusive fitness gear.
Tapped into Verizon's Small Business Digital Ready program, which offers resources to burgeoning enterprises, Bowens entered and won their grant contest. "We picked Charlotte because she's one of our very active engaged users on the platform," Claudia Hidalgo, Verizon Arizona Director of Small Business Sales, told ABC15. In using the grant, Bowens plans to expand her staff, streamline order fulfillment, and maintain her office space. Her designs, seeking to include hiking shorts and shirts for plus-sized individuals, are poised to widen Conscious Gear's inclusivity impact. The entrepreneur also aims to solidify her product's presence in REI Co-op stores nationwide.
Beyond business growth, Bowens' narrative champions the more extensive capacity for minorities to carve out space in industries traditionally not attuned to their voices. "For minority people, [sic] know, like, yes, it's going to be hard," she said in a statement obtained by ABC15. "You're going to have to be on your hustle and on your grind, but you too are just as capable and deserving of being successful as a business owner as anybody else."
