Hi, I’m Andrea Kelly!

For as long as I can remember, I have struggled to find the right gear to fit my body, settling for products with sub-par feature sets, undesired colors, or ill-fitting men’s product – because that’s all that was available.

Or relying on online purchases for greater selection, buying five items to return four, waiting a week for receipt, and paying for shipping on both ends.

Never mind what happened when my luggage was lost, or if I busted a zipper during a multi-day snowboarding trip. There would be no “popping down to the shops” to pick up replacement items….unless it was accessories. Gloves? Yes. Goggles? Sure. Pants? Swimsuit? Fat chance. Because next to no-one offered technical apparel in my size in store, let alone a small specialty shop in a remote ski village.

I spent years accepting that the apparel industry didn’t consider me as a viable customer, that I was part of a niche community, and that I’d have to make do.

The tides turned for me in 2015, when the NPD Group (now Circana) published that 69% of women in North America were plus-sized.
Sixty-nine percent.

Most.

Most women are Plus Sized. 

Not so niche after all, it seemed. The majority even.

With this new information, I felt a sense of relief that I wasn’t the only person being ignored by all the outdoor apparel brands. It wasn’t just me experiencing these frustrations. I was part of a larger community of people feeling unseen, undervalued, not worth the effort to consider. I wasn’t the problem. It was the apparel industry that was the issue.

And then I reminded myself what I’d been doing for a living. For the past 15 years I’d been building product for the very same outdoor apparel brands who had been overlooking people just like me.

I actually was part of the problem.

Well, shit.

So I vowed to Make Plus Equal. Since 2015 I’ve made it my goal to shout from the rooftops about the need for size inclusion in the outdoor apparel industry, and to implement change from the inside out by educating and guiding brands to open their arms to a (literally and figuratively) larger customer base. I’d like you to join me in my mission.

Is it challenging? Yes. But it’s important. And I can help you and your teams along the way.

With over 20 years’ experience in the outdoor apparel industry, I help outdoor apparel brands who are interested in, yet cautious to serve diverse groups of people, especially those outside of the “traditional norm”. By sharing countless years of hands-on experience, case studies, product and market knowledge, consumer insights, and customer relations, I guide brands to feel more confident about driving their business forward as they build more inclusive collections, more diverse marketing, increase their revenue and market-share, and grow their customer base by earning the trust of long-overlooked, loyal, excited customers who just want to get outside with their friends and families.

No one deserves to settle. As someone who was excluded for years, I believe all people, regardless of size, shape, race, age, ability, and identity deserve the same choices. No more. No less. Just equal.

More brands being inclusive = more people included.
More choice = less settling.

Sharing my scope of knowledge in size equity with brands who are ready to champion inclusion in the outdoors helps me accomplish my mission.

Let’s work together to Make Plus Equal.