Here’s the thing: You can have the softest sweater and the stretchiest jeans out there, but your fashion game is still N-O-T-H-I-N-G without comfortable and supportive bras. When you constantly find yourself tugging at your straps, sneaking a finger under the bra band when the girls get hot, and struggling with back and shoulder ouchy, then it’s probs time for what Rhonda Shear would call your ‘Ahh moment’!
Enter Rhonda Shear Intimates and the wildly popular ‘AHH Bra’- mind blown! Yep, bras can be comfortable after all!
AND we have the pleasure of interviewing Rhonda Shear herself and she is everything you would expect – the former ‘Friday Night Crush’ is funny, smart, beautiful- and successful!
You were an actress, model, and comedienne. What were the steps that led you to plunge headfirst into the world of lingerie?
Rhonda: I have been reinventing myself for my whole life and have taken my experiences from each career to build into the next. For years in LA, I often played scantily clad and over the bra-top characters, but rarely did I find comfort or support in the intimates I was put in.
I was inspired, as so many innovators are, by necessity. My curvy body just didn’t cooperate with the bras on the market at that time. I took what I learned from professional costumers and red-carpet stylists to “reinvent the bra” and design a line that could truly work for EVERY body.
Your brand tagline is “Find your Ahh moment”. Did you have one particular ‘Ahh” breakthrough moment?
Rhonda: My Ah Ha + Ahh Moment started with the launch of my brand 20 years ago. One of my most successful items, the Ahh Bra, was a seamless leisure bra that I sold on HSN. One day a host, Bobbi Ray Carter, and I were trying to describe how comfortable it was and came up with it being like putting on a sigh of relief… Ahh! The Ahh lifestyle was born.
The Ahh Bra alone has sold over 35 million units worldwide and created a huge demand in our industry for easy-to-size, comfy-to-wear intimates.
Turns out, I wasn’t the only one looking for something comfortable and supportive to keep “the girls” happy. My line now builds on the idea of creating inclusive intimates that feel great, look beautiful, and are accessible to all. Everyone deserves an Ahh Moment and intimates they can feel relaxed in!
There. He. Was. My high school sweetheart! We met up – after 26 years apart – in New Orleans over the holidays and…15 days later, we were married!
RhonDa Shear
Congratulations on 20 years in business! What is the secret to your success?
Rhonda: Thank you! It has certainly been a journey with lots of ups and downs and spandex and lace. I don’t know how much of a secret it is, but I built this brand with an amazing team, hard work, and by listening to my customers. We take feedback and look for what isn’t available to develop affordable intimates that really fill the needs of the women who wear them. When people feel seen, and especially when they feel comfortable, they keep coming back.
My start with the Home Shopping Network was truly about great timing and a clear vision that has now grown into us being one of their strongest brands. We are on air every month with new styles and amazing deals.
rhonda Shear
What has been the absolute highest point for you since starting out?
Rhonda: I really feel the proudest of my line when I hear from customers that it has helped them in some way. So many women have struggled to find affordable or prosthesis-friendly bras in fun colors, prints, and skin tones or intimates in a full range of sizes. I set out wanting to make comfortable bras but hearing that my bras have given women back their confidence and made them feel beautiful when they needed it most means more than anything else.
You started the company with your husband. Is the business still a family affair?
Rhonda: It is! My husband, Van, and I launched the brand together and over the years have built an amazing team around us. My stepson also works with us!
Finally, the Truth About 20 years of Rhonda Shear Intimates – and how she sold over 35 million "Ahh Bras"! Click To TweetRetail was a rocky road for the last few years and then the pandemic hit – how were you able to keep your business going?
Rhonda: We were very blessed to have the continued support of our customers and the patience of our retailers throughout the pandemic and its many shipping delays and general struggles. We made changes to our processes, donated thousands of masks, and continued making intimates for all. With so many people working from home, we actually saw a rise in sales in some areas as people ditched underwire bras for more comfortable styles and loungewear.
Running a fashion company is extremely detail oriented and whatever can go wrong, does go wrong! Who manages the day to day to make sure disaster doesn’t strike?
Rhonda: Truer words have never been spoken! In any business, things can go wrong, and when you are talking underwear, its personal. I am so lucky to have an amazing team that brings my ideas to life and are meticulous in perfecting our fit, colors, and details to ensure our styles look as good as they feel.
My product development team sources the latest technologies, highest quality yarns, fabrics, trims, and dyes, and works diligently with our factories to perfect styles and fit. We test all our pocket bras with a prosthesis, fit styles on all sizes AND ages, and put every product through quality testing.
“You have to work hard and really pay attention to all the details. Consistency in fit, color, style, and messaging can make all the difference as you build your brand.“
Rhonda Shear
Our readers are super nosy, so of course they will want to know all about you personally. Can you share your childhood and background?
Rhonda: I love a super nosy reader, gimme some scoop! I grew up in New Orleans and as a teenager got into beauty pageants, I know, I know, look at me, Honey Boo Boo, Miss Louisiana, all the tiaras! I also had a high school sweetheart, but more about him later… After high school I went to Loyola for Communications and had big plans of becoming a broadcast journalist, I even ran for office in Louisiana, but just had to visit LA.
After being “discovered” on a Bob Hope special, I started getting roles on sitcoms including Happy Days, Married with Children, A-team, Dukes of Hazzard, and Chips and in movies like Spaceballs and I just couldn’t leave. When USA network started looking for a host, I grabbed my hairdryer and got in line. Something about my big hair and deep neckline in that sea of pantsuits got the network’s attention, and I became the host of USA: Up All Night every Friday for almost a decade.
Rhonda: During that time, I also began to hone my voice as a stand-up comedian and made it my mission to prove that funny can also be sexy. I even posed for Playboy! I took my comedy and cleavage on the road and successfully headlined comedy clubs across the country.
One day, my single-and-over-40-self got curious on the internet, as one does, and signed up for Classmates.com. There. He. Was. My high school sweetheart! We met up – after 26 years apart – in New Orleans over the holidays and…15 days later, we were married! Now what? He was a businessman, and I was a comedian, and we didn’t even live in the same state.
A couple of moves and many brainstorms later we decided to create a business together, to make up for all that lost time. I had always struggled to find intimates that fit, HSN was looking to test an intimate apparel brand, and the actress in me very much enjoyed being on TV so Rhonda Shear Intimates was born!
And we like to ask everyone: what did you want to be when you grew up?
Rhonda: Who wants to grow up?! My idea of success is still changing and growing. It’s ok to have more than one dream!
We’re very interested in your success with the Home Shopping Network – can you tell us some ‘behind the scenes” details?
Rhonda: My start with the Home Shopping Network was truly about great timing and a clear vision that has now grown into us being one of their strongest brands. We are on air every month with new styles and amazing deals. Being on a large network allows us the ability to buy deeper into products that customers love, and we pass those savings along to all our customers and retailers. We work closely with buyers and customers to design quality products that women of all shapes, sizes, and ages love. Not an easy task, but a challenge that we embrace every day!
Sometimes unexpected events change our direction. For years you were based in the Hollywood – why did you relocate to Florida? Was it romance?
Rhonda: It was a bit of business with a side of romance! Van and I wanted to build a life together that was truly ours and after creating the line we thought it would have more opportunity to grow if we lived nearer to HSN’s studios. We were right! We love our community here in Tampa Bay and have been able to build a wonderful life and a brand here!
In your opinion, what is the most important quality one needs to be successful in the fashion industry?
Rhonda: You have to work hard and really pay attention to all the details. Consistency in fit, color, style, and messaging can make all the difference as you build your brand. You have to know yourself AND your customers. Listening leads to creating the solutions customers really need.
What is one thing that has surprised you about running your own lingerie business?
Rhonda: There is so much that goes into making lingerie. I always say foundation is where fashion starts, and I thinks we can all agree that the fashion industry should really thank a lingerie designer. We make it all look good.
For new designers who are hoping to enter the fashion industry – what is your most important piece of advice or something you wish you had known when you were starting out?
Rhonda: I would say be true to yourself. I design my line for my own ever-changing body. If it doesn’t work for me, I know it won’t work for my customer either.
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