It’s a safe bet that when most Americans hear bamboo they then think Panda or maybe China, when they should be thinking women’s t-shirts.

Dale Lips, owner and manager of Amazing Tee’s and More, is out to change bamboo’s hard, tubular reputation with her 100% organic bamboo women’s t-shirts that are made from bamboo fiber.

Bamboo fabric has more than a few advantages over its number one competitor, cotton, it does not fade, stretch, stick or shrink and it naturally absorbs 4-times as much moisture as cotton.

“I want a woman to put on one of my t-shirts and think it is the best looking t-shirt she has ever had,” Lips said.

Three years ago Lips started work on Amazing Tees and More and two years ago she launched her website amazingteesandmore.com, where she sells over 45 style and color variations.

“ I decided to do eco-friendly because of my interest in the environment and also because of the quality of the most sustainable fabric, bamboo,” Lips said.

With experience working in new product development for no longer existent Greyhound Financial, as well as a six-year tenure as director and president of Arizona Blind and Deaf Children’s Foundation, Lips set out to expand the bamboo t-shirt market. Her vast business experience and knowledge in business start-up would serve her well.

Initially working 7-days a week, 10 hours a day to get her company off the ground, Lips drew on her specialized skills in marketing, finance and personal favorite, strategic planning.

“As a small business owner you can spend every possible hour in the day and not get everything done,” she said.

Despite the extreme time commitment and singular pressure of being the owner and operator of her own company, Lips prefers the freedom of being her own boss.

“I wanted to have the reward for myself and family rather then building it for someone else,” she said.

Since amazingteesandmore.com’s first month of operation two years ago, Lips has watched as the number of visitors to her site has increased by 4-times and her sales have risen 5-times.

Lips recently started offering bamboo medical scrubs on her website as well, being a naturally anti-microbial fiber, bamboo is a perfect fit for medical attire.

Her main focus remains offering the best possible product for her customers with the added knowledge that bamboo is grown with little pesticide and fertilization and actually produces 35% more oxygen than a group of trees of the same size according to greenbydesign.com, and don’t forget the upgrade in appearance.

“Most ladies tops are not flattering, they flatter men or are too small in the stomach as you get older and gain weight,” Lips said, “ so there was a real need.”

As Lips expands Amazing Tee’s and More to include special orders to eco- friendly businesses as well as increases her selection on her website, she doesn’t forget why she is doing it and what it takes.

“If I am an employee at another company I don’t get direct results for my efforts,” she said,“ There is a certain personality for an entrepreneur, you need to be a risk taker, comfortable with the unknown and uncertainty, an ambiguity.”

Sources:

Dale Lips, DL. (2010). Retrieved from http://www.amazingteesandmore.com/shop/

Martha Danly, MD. (2008, December 11). Impress your friends with these fun facts about bamboo. Retrieved from http://greenbydesign.com/2008/12/11/impress-your-friends-with-these-fun-facts-about-bamboo/