Meet Rachel Ritter and Jessica Blomeyer of Bout Betties

Today we’d like to introduce you to Rachel Ritter and Jessica Blomeyer.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Rachel and Jessica. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
We’re sisters who are new to derby but have always had an underlying yearning to become hard hitting roller derby chicks.

Jessica “Taco Bruiseday” skated with Peach State Roller Derby & Rachel “Ratchet-Face” is currently in Augusta, GA & skates with the Soul City Sirens. It all started one wintery afternoon in 2010 after watching “Whip it”, Bout Betties would never have existed without the inspiration from a very close friend of ours who just happens to be the most badass derby broad we know. Jessica & Crystal aka “Bricks Hit-house” started talking about how awesome it would be to join a local league. Unfortunately, a lot of talk… and time went by and neither joined.

Being fresh out of the military, it was inevitable that we would all go our separate ways but Crystal, being the bad ass that she is, she went and joined the South Shore Sirens in Oahu, HI in 2011. She continued to grow as a player and become better & better with every passing year. Once she moved back to the States all three of us started talking about subscription boxes & the need for one for all the derby peeps. We have another subscription box called CMYfabriK Box, that teaches people how to sew by sending new instructions, supplies and tools each month. We learned alit from that first box, so we brought that knowledge to Bout Betties which helped us navigate the turbulent roads of entrepreneurship, a little more knowledgeable.

Fast forward to November 2015 after attending one of Bricks’ bouts in NY, that’s when we had our own moment that started getting the ball rolling. We knew we both had a love for the community that was built into derby & thought it was about time we started something that would cater to them specifically. In early 2016 we both decided it was long overdue that we both join a team in our cities. When we started, there were 2 other derby subscription boxes, but over the last year we’ve slowly become the only roller derby lifestyle box that ships internationally and caters to a wide audience of badass athletic women.

We love finding awesome derby lifestyle products to share with the community, so stay tuned to see what we find for you next!

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
It hasn’t been the smoothest road, but it could always be a lot worse. Neither of us have business degrees so that means we have to learn as we go. This translates into making mistakes every once in a while, but ultimately these hiccups help us to get better and keep improving. We started our own athletic apparel line in January and since neither of us have fashion degrees either, we sent out a pair of custom leggings that were super cute but didn’t have reinforced stitching. Just a little thing our manufacturer could have brought up, but never even crossed our minds. We had several subscribers email us about their seams ripping in embarrassing places while at practice, due to this oversight.

It sucked for us for a little while but we had another round of them made (with reinforced stitching this time) and that design is still one of our fan favorites. It’s really cool for us to see designs we dream about, draw up then have made, become real life pieces that these women wear in their games. We love helping them look fierce and strong in their bout pictures, because we really adore the roller derby body- no matter what shape or size it is. We strive to be size inclusive, that’s why we offer S-3X in our apparel. It’s tough to deal with hiccups in the moment, because it feels like a big deal at that moment and everyone is watching or waiting for us to fail… but again, we know that it’s problems like these that help us to grow as a company.

So, as you know, we’re impressed with Bout Betties – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
As of now we are the only roller derby lifestyle subscription box company out there in the entire world. We like to think that we offer the best experience out there for new skaters and to those that have been playing for years. Each month we introduce new designs and products that we make ourselves, but also make it a point to highlight new artists, partner with small Etsy shops but also bigger skate shops and gear manufacturers. We send out a fun mix of apparel, accessories, healthy snacks, gear and stickers each month so it’s always something new and always a fun, exciting experience each time.

We specialize in product curation, so we’re able to provide items that skaters actually want/need, but for lower prices that they would pay buying it all separately on their own. A box is $35 a month, but most of the time the retail value can be double that or higher, depending on what’s included that time.

We’re most proud of the community we’re slowly building. Our subscribers use the hashtag #BAbetties when posting on Instagram, so we’re able to find them all over the world. We see them every day, learn their names and see how they live the derby lifestyle, so over time we feel like we’re getting to know them, one picture at a time.

So, what’s next? Any big plans?
We love coming up with custom designs for apparel, so we would love to continue to building the brand while providing fun and bold apparel for today’s derby athlete.

There’s a lot of products we have in store for the next year, we’re slowly rolling those out as we finish them.

Pricing:

• For the full box, it’s $35 a month for one box, shipping is included for shipping in the States & APO/AP addresses. Discounts are available when you subscribe for 3 months at a time.
• For the Lite box it’s $19.99 a month. Discounts are available when you subscribe for 3 months at a time.
• We also have a Juniors box that is $29.99 a month, shipping is included. Discounts are available when you subscribe for 3 months at a time.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.boutbetties.com
• Email: support@boutbetties.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bout_betties/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BoutBetties/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/Bout_Betties
• Other: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgszAPWiKdyjlEJfYLsQU5w?

Getting in touch: VoyageATL is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.