Rachel Peru
Model & Body Confidence Activist
I am Rachel Peru, wife to Mark and mum to three grown-up children, and proof that reinvention does not have an age limit. I started modelling at 46, and by 47 I was walking in swimwear alongside Ashley Graham, breaking barriers, not because I looked like the industry’s idea of a model, I am a silver haired size 16. For the last 10 years I have continued working as an international model, collaborating with many of the leading lingerie brands. I use my social media platforms to reach and inspire women who are struggling to feel good in their bodies. I am proud to have been included in Platinum magazines top 50 over 50 influencers to follow list.
My story has been featured in Metro, the Daily Mail, Forbes, Platinum Magazine, OK!, the women’s weeklies, and on BBC Radio.
That experience showed me exactly what is missing from lingerie and swimwear marketing: women like me. Bodies the industry overlooks, sizes it skips past, years it airbrushes out. So Tina and I founded AWWA — Accepting Who We Are and The Big Knickers Network, to challenge that gap head-on. We tour independent lingerie boutiques and stand as live mannequins in the shop windows, because sometimes the most powerful thing you can do is simply stand there, in your body, unedited.
I deliver body confidence talks, stood in my bra and knickers, reaching 1,000 women across the country in person. I am also the voice behind Liberté: Free To Be, my podcast where I have interviewed more than 160 women over 40 , putting midlife women firmly in the spotlight and practising exactly what I preach. In September 2026 I launched my first Liberté Ltd swimsuit designed for women like me, with every campaign image featuring women over 40.
Because we cannot be what we cannot see.
Tina Boden
Business, Life & Body Confidence Coach
I am Tina Boden, wife of Neal, more commonly referred to as Mr B, proud Mum and Nannie, Coach, Speaker and a third generation self-employed businesswoman with over 37 years experience building, growing and exiting businesses.
After decades of running businesses and learning that success means little without happiness, I became passionate about helping women create a work life blend that truly works for them – not someone else’s version of success.
For a decade from 2012 to 2022, I campaigned with Tony Robinson OBE to champion the UK’s micro business community. In 2015 we launched #MicroBizMatters Day, the first online day of recognition, action and learning for micro business owners everywhere. Over the past 20 years I have also helped raise almost £500,000 for charities and community causes across Yorkshire including three legacy funds for people whose lives have been taken from them too soon.
Today I help women build business, life and body confidence through coaching, mentoring, speaking and Your Life, Your Blend – a 6 month online programme I wrote in 2023 to help women design a life that fits with their commitments, ambitions and values. As Co-founder of AWWA – Accepting Who We Are and The Big Knickers Network with Rachel Peru , we champion visibility and confidence for women in midlife and challenge ageism in lingerie and swimwear marketing
Based on the beautiful Yorkshire Coast, I combine practical business coaching with the restorative power of the sea through Blue Blend Days, my unique work life blend approach, helping women step away from the noise, reconnect with themselves whilst building lives and businesses they do not need a holiday from.
Because I believe midlife deserves to be your best blend of work and life yet.
