Proud Poppy Clothing owner Tara McKeon a hit selling plus-sized clothes
A former Doreen nurse who gained 60kg during her pregnancy and couldn’t find anything stylish to wear decided to start her own clothing store. Catering for women of all sizes, it has become a smash hit, attracting 28,000 fans on Instagram in a year.
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After the birth of her son Brodie two and a half years ago, Doreen mum Tara McKeon decided she was ready for a career change.
The now 33-year-old was working as an emergency nurse at the Austin Hospital when she fell pregnant with her son, and took extended maternity leave.
“I ended up at the end of it just thinking ‘You know what, I think I want to try something new’,” she said.
During her pregnancy, Ms McKeon gained about 60kg.
“I got to 140kg then stopped weighing myself because I thought ‘This isn’t miraculously going to go down,” she said.
“Being a new mum and not being able to find clothes that fit or were breastfeeding-friendly, there were a lot of social occasions where I should have been going out and showing off my new bubba but I was just staying home because I didn’t have anything to wear.
“And I just thought new mums shouldn’t feel like that and plus-sized women shouldn’t feel like that so that was a very big inspiration (to starting my store.)”
Ms McKeon started Proud Poppy Clothing about a year ago, catering for women size 6-24.
At first the store was online only, then Ms McKeon opened a warehouse storefront in Campbellfield.
“We just grew so fast; we hit 28,000 Instagram followers today (Monday), which is incredible growth in 12 months,” she said.
Ms McKeon has also signed a lease for a new store in Doreen but hasn’t been able to open it due to COVID.
“But I’m excited to open that when restrictions are eased,” she said.
Ms McKeon said Proud Poppy Clothing didn’t use professional models in their photo shoots.
“We use a variety of women of all different sizes, backgrounds … and it's just a really nice point of difference,” she said.
But Ms McKeon said Proud Poppy wasn’t just a store for plus-sized women.
“Proud Poppy is designed to be a store where you can shop no matter your size and no matter your budget or disability or background; it’s somewhere for all women,” she said.
Ms McKeon said there was a real shortage of stores that catered for women of different sizes.
“Say I was a size 22 and my friend was a size six; there was no store we could go in and shop together and find equally as beautiful clothing together,” she said.
“So at the time I was about a size 22, I’ve lost over 40kg now, but I spoke to some of my size six friends who had the same issues finding clothes.
“So they were shopping in the children’s section whereas I was a 30-year-old shopping in the grandma section – there was no happy medium.”
Ms McKeon said Proud Poppy were “the queens of dresses”.
“I can safely say that, we’re well-known for our dresses,” she said.
“But we stock everything really, just feminine pieces that really showcase women’s bodies rather than hide them.”
Ms McKeon and Proud Poppy have been nominated for four awards in this year’s AusMumpreneur Awards – an event which celebrates mother’s in business across the country.
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