Dr. Denyse Ray
After more than two decades as a clinical first responder, and private practice practitioner, dedicating her career to helping victims of natural disasters, school shootings, and terroristic attacks remove their emotional mask, Denyse Ray, PhD, BCETS, FAAETS, retooled her skills to found Lady Ease shapewear as its founder.
Lady Ease under the leadership of Dr. Ray, has stepped up by re-establishing the legacy of textiles and apparel manufacturing in Hawaii. Dr. Ray has been attending meetings with deans of local and national technical schools including the University of Hawai’i campuses to discuss incorporating sewing, pattern making, embroidering and packaging into the curriculum to support the re-emergence of textiles and the “Made in the Hawaii/ USA ” efforts.
She remains active in a variety of civic and cultural organizations, including Kamehameha Lions Club, Volunteer Docent at Iolani Palace, American Association of University Woman, Member of Organization Of Woman Leaders of Honolulu, and Board of Directors Honolulu Executive Association, as well as a Director on the board of P.A.R.E.N.T. inc., a nonprofit with a focus on Child Abuse Prevention. Outside of business interest, she is writing her second book; Mirroring Images: The Traumatic Journey of Native Hawaiians. She loves all outdoor activities and enjoys sharing them with her family and friends.
As an entrepreneur, who built Lady Ease from the in-law suite of her home, she empathetically set her priorities and designed a washable, re-usable fashion face mask for women, men, and children using Eco-friendly fabrics. Dr. Ray, recently launched a collection of Shapewear designed specifically for women of color. Inspired by her own need and the need of every woman of color that she knew, she took a leap of faith and created MiNudes. It has been an uphill battle, but every great movement started somewhere.
