Name: Margaret Shrum
Job Description: Creator of The Lingerie Diet
Company info: http://www.thelingeriegoddess.com/
What Is The Lingerie Diet?
Through her one-on-one personal shopping service and her exclusive online Circle Community site, The Lingerie Diet is Margaret’s revolutionary program where lingerie education meets empowerment and expert support. In the simplest terms: it’s a means of real transformation, a way for you to rediscover your innate sensuality, exceptional glamour and confident beauty. It’s teaches you to live the fine lingerie lifestyle…EVERYDAY, and having the high self-esteem to match. The Lingerie Diet takes you through Margaret’s version of the word “D-I-E-T”:
D – decide to own your beauty
I – intend to love yourself now
E – essential self care
T – together with community
Who?
The Lingerie Diet is the brainchild of Margaret Shrum. Margaret has been working in fashion, particularly “boudoir fashion,” for over two decades. Her unique combination of life coaching/lingerie consulting—what she calls The Lingerie Diet—has been transforming the lives of busy New Yorkers for the past few years. Now she’s bringing her means of transformation to women everywhere through her online community site called ‘The Circle’.
Click Here To Join The Circle Community For Free
How?
Join the Circle Community and take the 30-Day Lingerie Diet Challenge, so that every woman, no matter where she lives, can discover her own glamorous sensuality. In addition, our Circle community site offers support, coaching, advice, community, and a wealth of regularly-updated news, profiles, and information about living life the way you were meant to: sensuously.
Why?
Because here at The Lingerie Diet we feel every day should be about being in touch with your sensuality, about feeling confident, sexual and sensual, and about experiencing pleasure. We should always feel deeply sensuous in our own skin, even when we’re running to the store for milk. Especially while we’re running to the store for milk! Read more, including the five secrets of The Lingerie Diet.
WHO ARE YOU?
1. What made you decide to start your company?
After graduating from Fashion Careers of California in sunny San Diego, Margaret packed her bags and began her career in fashion in San Francisco working for Bebe. Margaret also created and designed her first line of bustiers, known for their highly decorative 80’s style. Exactly one year later, Margaret moved to the Big Apple and was offered a sales position at Barneys New York in the Lingerie Department, which she embraced and helped grow the business, literally doubling sales each year for a period of over eight years. She began in sales, was promoted into management and recruited into buying. Her role directly involved her in the merchandising and buying of over ninety international lingerie lines.
At Barneys New York, she attended the Paris Lingerie trade shows, helped create private label and worked with artisans and designers to build unique collections for the Barney’s clients. She had the privilege of working with designers and vendors from La Perla, Andra Gabrielle, Danielle Hanson, Prada, Jil Sander, Grazia L’liani, Kristina Ti, Cappucine Perrari, Chantal Thomas, Sabia Rosa, Collette Dinnigan, Fifi Chacnil, Carine Gilson, Hanro, Donna Karan, Laurence Tavernier and many more fine lingerie collections. She also was part of the team that opened the first La Perla flagship boutique on Madison Avenue in 1995.
During these early years, Margaret selected lingerie, fit and styled numerous celebrities including: Madonna, Nicole Kidman, Sally Fields, Susan Sarandon, Winona Ryder, Barbara Streisand, Rosanne Barr, Gena Davis, Goldie Hawn, Bette Midler, Glen Close, Diandra Douglas, Marissa Tomei, Debra Harry, Kate Capshaw, Paulina Porizkova, Kate Moss, Brooke Shields, Annie Lebowitz, Catherine Denueve, Mary Tyler Moore, Danielle Steele, Betsey Johnson, Mariah Carey and many more. She also advised many celebrity men select gifts for their loved ones, including, Jerry Seinfeld, Bono, John Malcovich, Johnny Depp, Daniel Day-Lewis, Tom Cruise, Tim Burton, Liam Neeson and more.
Working hands on with celebrity clients, literally fitting thousands of women in fine lingerie contributed to the solid foundation for her life’s work. Her expertise and passion continued to grow from there. After enough tireless encouragement and support from her clients, fans and closest friends alike, she decided to finally step into the spotlight herself, so that she could touch the lives of so many more women worldwide….and that’s exactly what she did.
It’s Margaret’s hope for every woman — including her own daughter — that she enjoy her size, shape and age at every point throughout her lifetime.
2. Where do you see your business in 5 years?
In 5 years, I see my business becoming global and I see myself training women to become Compassionate Lingerie Personal Shoppers that help serve women with education, inspiration and to empower women to see and celebrate their unique beauty using lingerie as a tool. I also see a Lingerie Foundation being formed to help supply women in need with lingerie, since it is a 68 billion dollar industry I want to partner with the large and small companies to give back to the community.
3. Who was your inspiration?
My Mom was my inspiration. I like to think of myself as a “sensuality stylist.” My interests began when I was a little girl, playing dress up with my Mom’s glamorous clothes, gowns, jewelry, accessories and high heels. I loved how I looked, especially when I put on a little of my Mom’s signature perfume, Chanel N°5, and her bright red lipstick.My favorite thing to do was get all dolled up and walk through my sunny San Diego beach neighborhood—I was a courtesan at age 5! I flirted with the little boys, the neighbors and even the dogs!
What bliss it was to feel as though the entire world was waiting for me, Margaret, to appear.Yes, my journey as The Lingerie Goddess began back then, and my love of all things feminine and sensual became my life’s passion, one that has sustained me through my own life struggles. And today, I can think of no greater delight than to teach other women how sensuality brings not only great pleasure—but transformative strength!
4. What turns you on?
Laughter, Love, Pleasure, Romance, Beauty, Confidence, Lingerie of course!
5. What advice do you have for tomorrow’s female entrepreneurs?
Go after your passion and be patient as you birth your business. Support other female entrepreneurs and know that there is plenty of business for all.
6. Tell us a sexy secret ;-)
Five Fun Facts About Margaret:
1. Growing up in San Diego, I am a huge fan of boogie boarding, surfing and anything that has to do with the beach. Swimming, scuba diving, snorkeling and spending time on boats are some of my favorite hobbies. I even opened a scuba diving business in NYC in 1998, which is still thriving and has a very strong technical diver following. I have gone scuba diving in some of the most beautiful places in the world, including The Cayman Islands, Hawaii and Cozumel. Underwater, I swam with dolphins, nurse sharks, Caribbean reef sharks, hammerheads, manta rays, stingrays, giant eels, barracuda, sea turtles, jellyfish, marlin, groupers and a whale shark. My dream is to spend time diving and relaxing on the beach in Fiji.
2. I was and still am obsessed with NYC! From the time I was a teenager, I had always dreamed of the bright lights of the big city. After completing my degree in Fashion Merchandising and working in San Fransisco, I packed my bags at age 22 and moved across the country to Manhattan. Talk about being a risk-taker….I had $900, no job and knew one guy that I met at the famous Limelight Club in NYC that I had met while on vacation. 20+ years later I am still living in Manhattan and have had over 2 decades of fun exploring this amazing city ~ there is nothing like it! Opportunity just oozes out of the sidewalks and the “best” of everything, especially the people, are all here.
3. I ran the NYC Marathon in 1995 and I am still very proud of myself for accomplishing such an incredible goal. Before running the marathon, the most I had ever ran was about a 5K. It took me 6 months of focused training to get in the best physical shape of my life and participate in the marathon. It took me under 6 hours to complete it and I desire to run another Marathon someplace beautiful like Italy and run it under 5 hours. I have also volunteered for two NYC Marathon’s for a group called Achilles Heels, for runners with disabilites. One year I crossed the finish line with a wheel chair runner from Russia, who spoke no English, and we both burst into tears and hugged each other when he completed his run. Another time I assisted a blind runner who was 70+ years old and had the most gorgeous attitude about life. Running is a powerful gift, I am in such appreciation for the strong healthy body I have.
4. I worked in Banking for 5 years, selling financial services to consumers and small businesses at Citigroup. I was licensed to sell life insurance, mutual funds and annuities. I worked at the World Trade Center on 9/11 and was one of the fortunate people who escaped with my daughter who attended pre-school at the WTC. I missed my meeting at Cantor Fitzgerald, which saved my life. For the past 9 years my daughter and I receive letters from 3 & 4th graders from a school in California that my cousin teaches at. The children write us each year and call us on 9/11 to sing a song “I’m proud to be an American” to us and to let us know that they are thinking of us. It has been extremely healing as we read the letters and write the children back and send the class “I love NYC t-shirts” each year. We have probably received over 300 letters over the past nine years which is a beautiful act of love that we cherish.
5. Over the past 15+ years I have had a “relationship” with South Beach, Miami. It began with stopping over night whenever I traveled to the Caribbean for vacations. Then it became a fun weekend getaway, where my daughter was conceived. Next I spent 2 years living on the beach as I went through my divorce…I figured I may as well enjoy myself until we figured it all out! Now I have an apartment on the beach, where I live part-time with my 2nd husband who lives there full time. Yes, I live in NYC and South Beach and it keeps my marriage very juicy and gives me the space to focus on all the other important parts of my life! Eventually, I desire to live on the beach full time too.
