Cork cousins launch new fitness wear business

Two cousins have blended their shared passion for fitness, fashion and wellness to launch their own range of fitness wear.

Amerie O’Shea, of Blarney, and Noelle McElhinney, from Rathpeacon, are the dynamic duo behind MimiNell – which is what they’re known as to their family and close friends.

Their main motivation for launching the business was because they couldn’t find active wear where they could move freely and be both comfortable and stylish – so they decided to design their own.

Both mums-of-three, they are very active on a daily basis. Noelle recently completed her yoga teacher training while Amerie got her yoga teacher qualification four years ago, and opened her own studio in Blarney called The Yoga Space, two years ago.

Amerie has worked in Peter Mark for over two decades as a manager and Noelle has worked as a hairstylist for over three decades, which equipped them with a range of valuable skills, but nonetheless, designing their own clothing line was a “massive learning curve”.

They have spent the past two years working consistently on their ideas, designing and tailoring the various styles of active wear for MimiNell.

“We set out to design active wear for ourselves, with our own practice and lifestyles in mind. 

"We wanted to create a clothing range, that would be suitable for both social and leisure activities, whether you’re a busy mom on a school run, heading for coffee, out running, or heading to gym or a class,” said Noelle.

“Our initial product focus was on designing a multi-purpose fitness top, with a built-in bra to offer support to women of all sizes, along with high rise leggings to offer maximum support.

“From having our initial idea and brainstorming, we contacted lifestyle clothing suppliers both home and abroad to check the various options available to us.

“Once we found a suitable supplier, we began the arduous task of tailoring our styles, choosing what materials work best, focusing on sizings, quality and hold.

“We left no stone unturned in relation to getting the quality of our product exactly how we wanted it,” said Amerie.

“The journey so far has been both exciting and challenging, with lots of ups and downs. From gaining insights into manufacturing, learning how to grow our business, along with enhancing our digital skills, including the daunting task of designing our website (which would have been totally out of our comfort zone).

“We have had plenty of challenges to overcome along the way, but are very lucky to be supported by such a great support system in our families, and have found LEO Cork City to be of great assistance also,” said Amerie.

The leisure wear market is a busy one – what sets them apart?

“Without a doubt, the high quality materials that we use, along with our attention to detail in our designs.

“Our active wear is designed for women to move freely in both comfort and style. We aim to empower and inspire women to express their creativity through movement,” they said.

The cousins say they’ve been overwhelmed by the support of the people of Cork.

“We launched our website Miminell.com in July, and we have been shipping both nationally and internationally since then.

“We have been running pop-up shops monthly in The Yoga Space in Blarney,” said Noelle.

The biggest lesson they’ve learned in the last two years is to stay true to “our authentic selves and listen to our gut feelings”.

“It would have been much easier to take short cuts, or settle for things, but we stayed focused on our vision. We are now so proud of our products,” Amerie said.

Noelle added: “I just turned 50 in December of last year and I just had a gut feeling there was something else in me... and there was!”

Since launching, they have already expanded their range of clothing and are currently working on their next range for summer, 2025.

It would have been much easier to take short cuts, or settle for things, but we stayed focused on our vision. We are now so proud of our products.