Upstart Startups: Slim-Ease

Carrie Glaude, CEO, left, and Patty Hennessy, COO.

Two NH sisters who bemoaned the cellulite that still shows below a lot of shapewear have developed a product they say gives women an instant leg lift, called Slim-Ease.

The idea for Slim-Ease began when Carrie Glaude was on a boat with her family, complaining about the way her legs looked. She pulled up her thigh and asked, “What if my legs could look like this?” Her husband joked, “Let’s get some tape!” 

Instead, Glaude, and her sister, Patty Hennessy, decided to create a garment that could not only smooth out women’s hips and stomachs, but also lift the skin not covered by the garment to help it appear smoother. “From the knee to thigh is not addressed by garments,” Glaude says of cellulite or crepe-y skin that many women become self-conscious about.

After four years in development and almost 100 prototypes, the sisters launched Slim-Ease this year. Their patented shapewear is made of compression fabric and dual zippers that make it easy to put on, Glaude says. It retails for $119 on slimease.com and comes in sizes small through 3X.

Hennessey says they wanted to produce shapewear that would work for all women and body types. They began asking a variety of women to try Slim-Ease in its many iterations, using that feedback to further improve the product before taking it to market, Hennessey says.

Before starting Slim-Ease, Glaude worked at a private high school and Hennessey was an office manager in a dental office. “It was a leap of faith,” Glaude says, noting that both sisters left their jobs to pursue their new company full time.

The sisters, who run the company from their homes in Francestown and Dublin, say they are in negotiations with shopping networks and are launching a skirted version due out soon. “We want every single woman in the world to feel confident,’’

Glaude says. Adds Hennessey, “We know so many gals who won’t go near the shore or golf course because of their legs. Confidence is everything. All women are beautiful, and this is making their legs gorgeous.”