There’s one thing deeply shifting about witnessing a room stuffed with completed girls fall right into a hush—not as a result of somebody informed them to, however as a result of the second calls for reverence.
That’s precisely what occurred in Los Angeles this previous June when 130 honorees gathered for Nexstar Media Group’s Exceptional Girls 2025 celebration. It wasn’t simply the dimensions of the occasion or the glittering lights on stage that struck me—it was the stillness that descended when Karen Levine’s phrases had been learn aloud.
“You’re a survivor. You’re a outstanding girl. And sure – someday, you’ll even be pleased about the loopy journey.”
That line, lifted from Karen’s “Letter to My Youthful Self,” lingered within the air like a benediction. It was private, uncooked, and profoundly relatable. In that second, it grew to become clear why Karen wasn’t simply being celebrated—she had develop into the emotional coronary heart of this yr’s occasion.
I’ve admired Karen Levine from afar for years. As a girl navigating my very own profession twists and turns, her story at all times resonated—as a result of it was by no means about perfection. It was about persistence. About reinventing your self at a time when society quietly suggests you’ve aged out of innovation.
Karen launched PeachSkinSheets at 48, simply after being laid off and turning into a newly single mom of two. She didn’t have a background in textiles—her earliest forays into entrepreneurship started on eBay within the Nineteen Nineties, promoting every thing from closeout merchandise to liquidation finds. However necessity has a manner of awakening creativity. Night time after night time, suffering from menopausal night time sweats and more and more annoyed by scratchy sheets that left her dry pores and skin irritated, she started looking for a greater resolution.
She couldn’t discover one. So, she made one.
That’s the origin of PeachSkinSheets—not in a flashy lab or company boardroom, however in a storage in Atlanta, with Karen experimenting and studying as she went. She dove into cloth sourcing, obsessing over finishes and efficiency blends till she landed on a high-performance athletic-grade SMART cloth. It felt as tender as 1500-thread-count cotton—however with out the shrinkage, wrinkles, or pilling. It depraved moisture, saved sleepers cool, and solved her personal bedtime dilemma.
The irony was too candy to disregard: the trade time period for her ultra-soft brushed end was “peach pores and skin.” She lived in Georgia. A model was born.
However PeachSkinSheets wasn’t constructed in a single day. Karen knocked on doorways—figuratively and actually. She hand-packed orders together with her kids. She took buyer calls whereas driving carpool. She wrote handwritten thank-you notes, slipped shock items into packages, and constructed a fiercely loyal group one sheet set at a time. “The fortune is within the follow-up,” she usually says. And he or she means it. To today, she personally replies to buyer emails—one thing nearly unprecedented for a CEO in 2025.
That authenticity—that hands-on devotion—is strictly why Karen was chosen not solely to attend Exceptional Girls 2025 however to assist form it. Her deeply human journey helped encourage Nexstar to create a completely new phase: Letters to My Youthful Self. It was Karen’s concept—her story, her resilience—that breathed life into the custom. All 130 honorees had been invited to put in writing their very own letters, every a window into the soul of a girl who refused to surrender.
Karen additionally gifted every honoree a customized PeachSkinSheets journey case and mirror—objects meant to be sensible, sure, but additionally deeply symbolic. When host Leeza Gibbons held up the mirror through the occasion and invited every girl to mirror on her personal journey, there have been few dry eyes within the room. The reward of seeing your self clearly—scars and all, nonetheless standing—is highly effective.
Throughout our interview, which blossomed into a beautiful skilled connection, Karen informed me one thing I maintain replaying: “Success isn’t linear. The toughest components? They’re what make you sturdy sufficient for the remaining.” And her story proves it.
At this time, PeachSkinSheets boasts over 50,000 five-star critiques and affords 34 vibrant colours—from calming neutrals to daring hues like Retro Rose and Emerald Inexperienced. The corporate is family-run, and lots of workers are single moms themselves—a nod to Karen’s personal journey and her dedication to lifting others as she climbs. Whether or not it’s donating to catastrophe aid efforts or sponsoring vacation drives for households in want, PeachSkinSheets continues to present again in significant methods.
However maybe what’s most outstanding is what Karen has constructed past the enterprise. She’s constructed perception—for girls over 40 who suppose it’s too late, for moms questioning in the event that they nonetheless have room to dream, for anybody who’s ever felt like life knocked the wind out of them.
Karen Levine is a testomony to the ability of reinvention. Of turning a private downside right into a nationwide model. Of selecting kindness and high quality over shortcuts and scale. And of proudly owning your story—even the messy chapters—as a result of they’re usually the place the magic begins.
The place does she go from right here? Karen hints at new merchandise and collaborations on the horizon, however principally, she’s targeted on staying linked to the individuals who made all of it attainable: her prospects. “Consolation,” she informed me, “isn’t nearly cloth. It’s about being seen. Being heard. Feeling secure sufficient to relaxation.”
In a world that usually equates success with pace, Karen Levine reminds us that there’s energy in constructing slowly. In selecting coronary heart over hype. And in holding up a mirror not simply to ourselves, however to the ladies beside us, and saying: Look how far you’ve come.
And possibly—simply possibly—being grateful for the loopy journey in any case.
ALL IMAGE CREDITS: Karen Levine
