There’s one thing deeply shifting about witnessing a room filled with achieved girls fall 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 Remarkable Women 2025 celebration. It wasn’t simply the size of the occasion or the glittering lights on stage that struck me—it was the stillness that descended when Karen Levine’s phrases have been learn aloud.
“You are a survivor. You are a exceptional girl. And sure – at some point, you’ll even be pleased about the loopy trip.”
That line, lifted from Karen’s “Letter to My Younger Self,” lingered within the air like a benediction. It was private, uncooked, and profoundly relatable. In that second, it turned clear why Karen wasn’t simply being celebrated—she had change into the emotional coronary heart of this 12 months’s occasion.
I’ve admired Karen Levine from afar for years. As a girl navigating my very own profession twists and turns, her story all the time 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 changing 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 little thing from closeout merchandise to liquidation finds. But necessity has a manner of awakening creativity. Night after night time, affected by menopausal night time sweats and more and more annoyed by scratchy sheets that left her dry pores and skin irritated, she started trying to find a higher answer.
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 material sourcing, obsessing over finishes and efficiency blends till she landed on a high-performance athletic-grade SMART material. It felt as gentle 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 ignore: the trade time period for her ultra-soft brushed end was “peach pores and skin.” She lived in Georgia. A model was born.
But PeachSkinSheets wasn’t constructed in a single day. Karen knocked on doorways—figuratively and actually. She hand-packed orders along with her youngsters. She took buyer calls whereas driving carpool. She wrote handwritten thank-you notes, slipped shock presents into packages, and constructed a fiercely loyal neighborhood one sheet set at a time. “The fortune is within the follow-up,” she usually says. And she means it. To this present day, she personally replies to buyer emails—one thing virtually remarkable for a CEO in 2025.
That authenticity—that hands-on devotion—is strictly why Karen was chosen not solely to attend Remarkable Women 2025 however to assist form it. Her deeply human journey helped encourage Nexstar to create a wholly new phase: Letters to My Younger Self. It was Karen’s concept—her story, her resilience—that breathed life into the custom. All 130 honorees have been invited to write 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 throughout 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.
During our interview, which blossomed into a fantastic skilled connection, Karen informed me one thing I maintain replaying: “Success is never linear. The hardest components? They’re what make you robust sufficient for the remaining.” And her story proves it.
Today, PeachSkinSheets boasts over 50,000 five-star critiques and affords 34 vibrant colours—from calming neutrals to daring hues like Retro Rose and Emerald Green. The firm is family-run, and plenty of staff are single moms themselves—a nod to Karen’s personal journey and her dedication to lifting others as she climbs. Whether it’s donating to catastrophe reduction efforts or sponsoring vacation drives for households in want, PeachSkinSheets continues to give again in significant methods.
But maybe what’s most exceptional 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 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.
Where does she go from right here? Karen hints at new merchandise and collaborations on the horizon, however principally, she’s centered on staying linked to the individuals who made all of it potential: her clients. “Comfort,” she informed me, “isn’t nearly material. 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 perhaps—simply perhaps—being grateful for the loopy trip in spite of everything.
ALL IMAGE CREDITS: Karen Levine
