PVD Lady Project

Member Spotlight- Ro from Believe I Am

Ro McGettigan is a full-time mom to a beautiful baby girl, wife, owner of the awesome apparel company Believe I Am and an Olympian- we were lucky to grab some time with Ro and talk about Believe I Am so far:

Tell us about your business and the idea behind it. Tell us about your shop and the idea behind it. 

In short, Believe I Am is a collection of transformative designs and apparel that utilize sports psychology techniques used by pro athletes to help aspirational women succeed in life and in sport by developing positive beliefs about themselves. 

My business partner and I are both professional runners and we have created eco-friendly sustainably made products; a training journal for runners, a variety of women’s apparel, an inspirational print and greeting cards. We developed the metaphor of your mind being like a garden- where both flowers and weeds grow (positive and negative thoughts). We say people need to tend their garden and plant flowers. We tie the idea of having cues to anchor the mind on a positive statement (like we do when we are racing) and and wearing a positive word encrypted on a flower so that you “”embody”” the word (its a message to yourself and not the whole world). 

My business partner lives in Eugene, Oregon (she is the US National 5k champion & amazing blogger) so we do everything from a distance. My husband, Myles Dumas is a graphic designer for Nail in Providence. He turned all of our ideas and sketches into real things. So he basically rocks.

You can read more about us here.

What’s a typical day like for you running your business?

Since I have two other jobs, besides Believe I Am, I have to juggle lots of things during my day. I’m a mother to a 7-month-old baby and I’m also back into running training with the intention of getting back into world class competitions this summer. 

I like to have a To-Do list at all times otherwise I get stressed about what I “should” be doing. I have the best alarm clock in the world (my baby) that gets me up at 7am . I give her breakfast while I chug some coffee, then I’m out the door running by 8am. Most days I can get my training done before my husband has to go to work. By the time I’m back from my run, the baby is back in bed. This is when I attack my to-do list; ship orders, respond to emails, make calls. The rest of the day kind of operates around the baby’s wake/sleep times. I get to enjoy her and be with her, and then work on my business when she sleeps. I sometimes wish I could go to bed when she goes down at 7pm, but instead I eat dinner and tackle another  ”to-do” and before I know it, my phone alerts me to “get to bed!” and its 9:30pm and my husband and I are in the middle of some BIA task. I need plenty of sleep or I crash, end of story, but it is still a struggle to get to bed by 10:30pm.  It’s a little hectic but I love the balance of family and work. 

What inspires you? What inspires you in Providence/RI?

People. I love people. I think everyone has something to give, some special unique and inspiring characteristic. I love the Shakespeare quote, “Everyone I meet is in some way my superior.”

Nature. The natural world is just so beautiful. I just am in awe of the design and intelligence in all living things. I could cry when I look at a flower (no joke!) or the colors in the sky. 

I love the fancy architectural details on the buildings in downcity Providence. Why don’t we build that way anymore? My personal favorite has to be the building on Westminster with the elaborate peacock terra-cotta facade. 

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