Jaleesa Brown redefines support for full-figured women

For years, Jaleesa Brown thought the problem was her body.

The Houston native struggled to find bras that fit her properly growing up, especially as someone with a smaller frame and larger cup size. Shopping trips often felt frustrating, uncomfortable, and discouraging, with few fashionable or supportive options available for women with fuller busts.

“I grew up with challenges finding bras that fit me, especially having a small frame with a larger cup size,” Brown said.

Like many women, Brown became accustomed to settling.

Then a trip to Los Angeles in 2011 changed everything.

While visiting a friend, Brown decided to go bra shopping, believing the city’s fashion scene might offer more options for women with fuller busts. What she found was eye-opening.

“I was in bra heaven for the first time in 20-something years of life,” Brown said.

That experience sparked an idea that would eventually become Uplifting Bras, Houston’s only mobile bra retailer specializing in cup sizes D through N.

What started as a personal frustration quickly evolved into a thriving business rooted in confidence, inclusivity, and body empowerment for women often overlooked by mainstream retailers.

Since launching Uplifting in 2013, Brown has transformed bra shopping into something many women never realized it could be: Affirming.

Her vision is simple but powerful — to eliminate the idea that women with larger busts must settle for bras that are uncomfortable, unattractive, or ill-fitting.

“We want women to fall in love with their bras instead of just tolerating them,” Brown said.

Today, Uplifting offers much more than bras and underwear. The business has expanded into swimwear, sports bras, shapewear, and specialty solutions for women looking for comfort and support without sacrificing style.

But what truly sets Uplifting apart is Brown’s mobile bra fitting experience.

Through free Bra Fit Parties held across Houston and surrounding areas, Brown brings personalized fittings directly to women in their homes, at private events, and in community spaces. The experience creates what many customers describe as a judgment-free environment where women can shop, learn, and feel seen.

“You have a lot of women that get discouraged because they’re so used to not finding anything,” Brown said. “They stop wearing certain things. They cover up. They become self-conscious.”

Brown says she sees that especially among Black women and younger girls with fuller busts who often struggle with body image and confidence because they have never been properly fitted.

“I try to reach as many young girls as I can because I want them to grow up knowing this is what support should feel like,” Brown said. “This is how a bra should fit, and this is how it should not fit.”

For many clients, the experience becomes emotional.

One longtime customer said attending an Uplifting Bra Fit Party completely changed how she viewed herself.

“I didn’t realize how uncomfortable I had been for years until Jaleesa fitted me properly,” the customer said. “It wasn’t just about buying a bra. I finally felt confident in my clothes again.”

Brown says proper bra fitting has a far greater impact than appearance. Wearing the wrong size can affect posture, comfort, skin health, and self-esteem.

“You don’t want to wear the wrong size because it can cause irritation and discomfort,” Brown explained. “Our bodies change constantly as women — hormones, babies, weight changes — so it’s important to get fitted regularly.”

She recommends women get professionally measured at least once a year.

Brown also believes many mainstream retailers fail women with larger cup sizes because employees often lack specialized fitting knowledge.

Before launching Uplifting, Brown worked at Victoria’s Secret while in college and saw firsthand how customers were often squeezed into sizes that stores carried rather than properly measured.

“A lot of times people are being told they’re a size just because that’s what the store has,” Brown said. “But that’s not necessarily their real size.”

That gap in the market is exactly what Brown built her business to address.

And over the years, Uplifting has grown into more than retail. It has become a community.

Through events, fittings and conversations, Brown has created a safe space where women can openly discuss body confidence, breast health and self-image without embarrassment or shame.

That mission also inspired Brown to launch the BoobTube Podcast, where she hosts candid conversations centered on breast health, confidence, and wellness.

The podcast tagline says it all: “Conversations about breasts where breasts are abreast.”

Guests include doctors, holistic wellness experts, and professionals discussing everything from proper bra support to breast health awareness and body positivity.

For Brown, the goal has always been bigger than lingerie.

It is about helping women feel supported — emotionally and physically.

It is also about showing how Black women entrepreneurs continue building businesses rooted in personal experience and community need.

More than a decade after launching Uplifting, Brown says she is proud to see women walking away not just with better bras, but with renewed confidence.

“Because sometimes confidence begins with something as simple as finally wearing the right bra,” she said.