‘No bounce’ Enell Sports Bra gets a lift from Oprah Winfrey

‘No bounce’ Enell Sports Bra gets a lift from Oprah Winfrey

The story of how Oprah catapulted the Enell Sports bra range into our lives.

enell sports bra high impact

Phone calls to the Havre, Mont.-based ENELL Inc. drew a steady “busy” signal. That was good news for the sports bra company that drew rave reviews from Oprah Winfrey.

When the call finally got through, Renelle Braaten, president and founder of ENELL, had barely a moment to speak.

“Can I call you next week?” she asked. “We’re just trying to do damage control.”

The “damage control” was actually a frantic flurry of activity, the fallout from Oprah’s enthusiastic endorsement during her “Lose Weight With Oprah” episode. The segment gave a staggering boost to a business that had been thriving even prior to the broadcast.

“We’ve been growing more and more,” Braaten said. “But nothing like when Oprah hit. Now it’s ‘Oh my God!’"

In the weeks following Oprah's plug for ENELL, Braaten had to hire additional employees to answer the phone. Down in Puerto Rico, where most of the bras are manufactured, they’re scrambling to train more seamstresses.

Curvy women outside wearing Enell Sports Bra stretching“Now the retailers who wouldn’t return our calls are begging us for our product,” she said.

Almost as soon as the show aired, the phones started ringing. Virtually overnight, Braaten figures, they were six to seven months backordered.

So what’s all the fuss about? And why did Oprah include the ENELL Sports Bra on her “must have” list? According to those in the know, it’s the best sports bra, hands down, particularly for full-figured women.

“Nothing touches ENELL for serious activity,” said Linda Cetrone Levy, co-owner of TLC Lingerie in Billings. “It’s one of those products: What they say about it, it’s true.”

Active women in the gym wearing Enell Sports Bra showing the back support in colour Hope

  • The no-bounce bra, made of Naturexx, a high-performance fabric that wicks moisture away while providing strength and garment life;
  • Enell features a front closure and wide straps; and
  • The wire free band provides a secure fit that moves with your body.

Besides Oprah’s endorsement, numerous magazines — including Sports Illustrated for Women, SELF Magazine and Runner’s World — have praised the Enell sports bra.

For Braaten, ENELL Sports Bras is more than a business. It’s a necessity. The longtime resident of the small town of Havre, who worked as a barber for 30 years and also happens to be an avid volleyball player, couldn’t find a sports bra that offered the support she needed.

She turned to her mother, a skilled seamstress, to come up with a solution. The first prototype was a conglomerate of odd pieces of elastic and fabric pulled from her mother’s sewing basket.

“It worked. I used it,” Braaten said.

Thus was born the ENELL Sports Bra. Over time, Braaten made connections that guided her through the process of building her business. A friend’s father helped her get a patent. A Bozeman firm offered advice for naming the company — she dropped the first and last letters from her first name to coin “ENELL.” A Portland designer “dressed up” the bra with a few finishing touches.

Undoubtedly her best decision was getting in touch with Oprah. But the link was certainly no gimme.

“I knew she obviously needed one (ENELL bra),” Braaten said, laughing. “I saw her on the treadmill on her program.”

Braaten’s attempts to contact Oprah and her trainer, however, proved fruitless. Eventually, Braaten reached Kathy Kaehler, the “Today” show’s fitness consultant. Kaehler, who was training actress Drew Barrymore for her role in “Charlie’s Angels,” tipped off Barrymore to the benefits of the ENELL Sports Bra. By way of a circuitous route of Hollywood connections, word finally reached Oprah, who has sworn by the bra since first using it.

In the several years since, Oprah has included the ENELL Sports Bra on her “O List” and in the “Love That” section of her “O” Magazine. 

Group of active women wearing Enell sports bra

 

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