Urban Intimates by Psychelia Terry

Published on www.chiqforher.com on August 7, 2011

Every woman deserves to feel feminine, sexy, and confident. For this reason many choose to wear lingerie. Not only does it make her feel sexy—it shows her sexiness. It enhances her best assets and hugs her curves. The average woman in the US wears a size 14, yet mainstream lingerie brands do not cater to the needs of the average woman.

Like many women, Psychelia Terry had difficulty finding lingerie that fit her body’s curves. She recognized the need for intimate apparel for women of all shapes and sizes, and was inspired to do something about it.

"I always saw that there was an opportunity to do more, do better, work harder, and empower women,” she said.

And this is exactly what she did. Still under the age of 30, Terry is the Founder of Urban Intimates a product line aimed at celebrating the appeal of the everyday woman. In November of 2009 she launched Urban Intimates. In less than two years since the company’s inception Urban Intimates is now nationally recognized.

Her success did not come without struggle. Born in Chicago to a young mother, but raised in a small poor city, Benton Harbor, MI,  she fought against enormous odds to attain the level of success she has achieved. She was raised by her aunt who always instilled in her the importance of pushing forward.

Terry had dreams of one day becoming the Vice President of a large corporation. She landed a job in sales and marketing, where she faced many obstacles in her career—including the glass ceiling. She continued to push forward and her work was rewarded with several promotions within the company. However, when expressing her goal of one day becoming the VP of the corporation, her boss discouraged her from pursuing this dream.

That crushed me,” she explained. “And the fact that he nicked it with no regard helped me reframe what’s next for me.”

Instead of becoming the Vice President of the company that she had dedicated 12 years to, she began working toward her new goal: becoming President of her own company. She organized her dreams and personal goals on a vision board and started moving toward them. With the support of her husband and co-founder of Urban Intimates, Vontoba Terry, they made this dream a reality. 

Terry describes Urban Intimates as a true home-grown business. She and her husband spent much time working in their home preparing and perfecting their product and business plans. As a result Urban Intimates landed a feature in Essence Magazine less than 2 years after the company’s founding.

"In regards to Essence magazine, that whole thing came about with a little prayer, a little luck, and a little hard work,” explained Terry.

Terry’s go-getter mentality is what landed her the Essence Magazine feature. Six months pregnant and at the Hoodie Awards, she was on a mission bring exposure to her Urban Intimates— a brand that strives to increase the confidence of women.

After being brushed off by several celebrities at the event, the discouraged business owner had not given up hope. She ran into the former Editor-in-Chief of Essence who was impressed by her ambition. She made no promises but took Terry’s information. Soon after, Terry received the phone call informing her that she landed the feature.

"The feeling inside was just surreal,” said Terry. “It’s one thing to know that this is real to you, but it’s another thing to know that America knows it’s real.”

With her lingerie brand being a huge success, Terry is planning to work on a new project—skin care. She considers herself a spa-junkie, and aims to bring her customers a product that combines her international spa experiences into one bottle. She describes the product simply as, “a luxury product made affordable.”

"I consider it for a woman in an urban community that has been working,” Terry explains. “For a woman that has been stomping these sidewalks, taking that cab, and that has been doing her thing, but has not taken time out for herself.”

After gaining national exposure through Essence Magazine, Terry is more confident than ever that this platform can not only be used to sell products for women of various shapes and sizes,  but also to promote women, their issues, and confidence level.

Terry encourages women entrepreneurs to create a vision board, write down their goals, and make it happen. She also advises women to never give up on their goals no matter what people say.

It didn’t have to happen to me, but because it did I take that humbly and I share that,” Terry says. “My prayer is that I continually use this platform to support women in their goals and in their visions.”