Lynn... our Bolder Customs Guru!

Our Bolder Spotlight this month is customs guru Lynn! 

With more than 100 custom Bolder Garments, Lynn always finds the best fabrics and shares some great pictures. She has an inspiring fitness journey that will no doubt put a smile on your face. Here is what Lynn had to say when we reached out:

I am originally from Massachusetts. I played basketball and some softball growing up. In 2016 I was diagnosed with a large thyroid cyst. I quickly gained a lot of weight. I finally had surgery in January 2017. It took a few months for my throat to feel like it could swallow foods again. In the meantime I just kept eating unhealthy foods and gaining more weight.

One day, while I was downloading some vacation pictures, one hit me. I saw how unhealthy I really was. I know how awful my knees felt every day. It was in that one moment, I knew I had to do something. Running was not something I enjoyed except the back and forth on the basketball court, but the constant running, stopping, turning did a number on my knees. The weather here in Florida at that time of year can be best described as swampy. I bought a treadmill at Walmart, I bought a Fitbit and got to work. I ended up wearing a t-shirt and denim shorts on the treadmill. 

I started to really focus on nutrient foods and learning to fuel my body. I started losing weight and feeling so much better. When I went back to the doctor a few months later she was shocked and so happy. My weight was no longer in the obese category and more importantly my cholesterol went down in the normal category.

In January 2018, I was at a plateau and someone mentioned the group Hogwarts Running Club. I looked into it and felt right at home. Everyone is welcomed no matter what your fitness level is. You can only manage a half a mile, no problem! It was then I was introduced to the SparkleSkirts brand.

There was a pre-order of house plaid skirts and kilts. Our group was going to meet up in December of 2018 for the Universal Fun Run in Orlando. I thought I could try one of these skirts. Since it was a pre-order and would take awhile, I ordered two other HRC hikers. I wore one of them at the parks and realized how incredible they are! My phone, wallet, passes all fit in the pockets without a problem and I was so comfortable! Hello, theme parks in June are hot and I wasn’t miserable walking around in denim shorts. Decided right then I needed more of the hiker length (AKA SwingTall) and CasualFit for work.

Our official first race was the Universal Fun Run in December 2018. It wasn’t timed and had such a great time with my online running group. That event gave me the confidence to try other live races. I also love races that are charity driven. Our favorites are ones that are for children in foster care or charities that support them. Also with Potterhead Running Club (PHRC) (FKA Hogwarts Running Club), all our events are virtual, but on the suggested run date, we have thousands of people around the world walking and running together and supporting each other. I try an average of 30 miles a week and they are all in my skirts. My goal is about 1000 miles a year. Last year I ended up at 1,524.8 intentional miles. This year I am participating in an event for one of our sister online groups called Fans Run the World. The event is all year and the course is 365 miles and you just keep making laps until December 31st. I have about 100 miles until I finish my first lap. Also in PHRC we have two major events per year and each is 10 days. For personal safety there is a cap of 15 miles per day. When I first started on my health journey, I never imagined I could do that many miles in a day. I completely amazed myself on 10/25/2018 and capped for the first time. I had broken up the miles a few at a time!

Late that afternoon, I was determined and set out for the last 3 miles and it was nice out so I did laps around our neighborhood. On my last lap Miss V joined me and we just talked and walked that last mile. When I was done, I just couldn’t believe it. I had her take a picture and being funny she had to photobomb the picture. It was that day I decided that I am no longer worried about what my legs look like in the shorter skirts. No way was I going to keep walking in the swing tall. On a trip up to Universal for Rock the Universe, we all stopped in Sparkle headquarters (BHQ now) and I tried on Fresca and fell in love with it and the shorter length for my miles. Miss V is an amazing young lady, who is not girly (anymore). Our walking time gives us time to talk about anything and we have a great bond. I love when it is nice out and we walk at our favorite park next to Venice Beach. It is a nice 2/3 mile loop around a lake and the Gulf of Mexico on one side. I think my working out shows her that it is best to have an active and healthy lifestyle. When we do live races we always try and come up with fun outfits. When we do the races at Universal we wear our House Plaid skirts. Miss V also decided to wear her House Plaid skirt for her Senior Pictures that were taken in Universal. I have approx. 66 SwingTalls, and 30 SwingStyles. (That includes stock skirts, pre-orders and custom group skirts) Miss V has the Blacklight GoBold Capris and the SpareParts in Navy, Be The Finish, Mulitverse, 5 O’clock somewhere, Velocity, Deep Space, a pixel camo and the black and white HRC.

How many custom Bolder skirts or other Bolder garments do you have?

Swings: For Fawkes Sake, Goggles, Clever Girl, Funki Sweetie Denim, Gobble Gobble, Wild Confetti, Floo Flames, PurpleHaze, Swing Tall: Norbert, 3 different Whoville/ Grinch Who Stole Christmas, Grinch Chevron, Grinch Harlequin, Doughnuts, Spongebob, Hogwarts Castle, Spells & Charms, Poop emoji, I know I am missing a few (Currently in process, Pink Honeydukes, Blue Splatter, GreenHoneydukes, UO Love, & Weasley’s)

What is your favorite? 

Oh that is a hard one. I think my favorite custom swing is my Goggles one. My favorite Swing Tall is a tie between my Hogwarts Castle skirt and one I call Norbert. 

How is your experience with the Bolder custom team?

Can I just say how wonderful they all are? Years ago I would stop in on my way home from Orlando with fabric. Lily and I would come up with fabulous color combos and names. I thoroughly love working with Melissa on my skirts. She is always quick to answer a question and really has an eye for matching shorts with the busy patterned fabrics.

Help us help other BolderBuddies to find fabrics. Where do you get your unique and fun ones from?

I find fabrics at the big spandex stores online. Both are located in NYC, and can find some older prints there. I also love some of the smaller custom fabric groups on Facebook, but you really need to do your research on the company. There are a few really reputable ones. I think my favorite place to get fabric is from FunkiFabrics. It is located in the UK and there is a group in the USA that does group orders to save on shipping and fees. That is called FunkiFabrics Fans. I love their ColoureMe selections and creating my own color palettes. It is a great way to show off my personality. I have taken a simple gray scale chevron pattern and made it into something Grinch inspired. 

How do you plan your customs? Tell us about the timeline?

I have 3 bins overflowing right now so I go in spurts with my skirts. I tend to send some up when I have vacation planned and want a few new swing talls. I also like to have skirts that match my Potterhead Running Club (and their sister clubs) event shirts, whether it is a swing for the tech material shirts or swing tall for their t-shirts. I have samples of fabric on a Pinterest board and like to look and debate which ones I should send. Seeing all the fabric in one place helps decide. I can move them around depending on what event may be coming up. 

Future fitness plans or races

I had such grand plans for 2020 and signed up or planned to sign up for so many live races. Life had other plans. I am really looking forward again to Turkey Trots since those are low key and so much fun. I really hope that when it is safe to be in large groups again that Running Universal has their character races. I have my outfits ready... Goggles skirt and Fart Gun Shirt for the 5k and Clever Girl Skirt and Clever GirlRunning Club shirt. My fitness plan is to keep moving forward in live races or not, it is about maintaining a healthy lifestyle. 

How much does a cute outfit motivate you? How has Bolder helped you in your fitness journey?

I do live by the idea, “If I have to work out, get all sweaty and gross, at least I can look cute doing it!”

Lynn