Young Entrepreneur Making a Difference With Intimates for the Needy

Social entrepreneur Hayley Besheer, founder of Make a Difference Intimate Apparel (MADI Apparel), joins host Kelly Scanlon to discuss the line of women’s underwear that’s giving women in a variety of hardship situations comfort and confidence.

As a student at the University of Missouri, Besheer learned that underwear is the single most needed and under-donated item of clothing.  Through research she learned that women in many situations don’t always have access to new, clean underwear, including women in domestic violence shelters, victims of natural disasters, women in homeless shelters, and women in developing countries.

Rather than shrugging off that research, Hayley decided to do something about it. MADI Apparel designs and produces a line of women’s underwear, manufactured in the United States in Hemingway, South Carolina. The line features six styles, and for every pair of underwear purchased, Hayley gives a pair away to a woman in need. MADI Apparel has been likened to Toms Shoes, and has raised more than $20,000 on Indiegogo.

Listen to Kelly Scanlon’s past podcast episodes in the archives.