Shelly McCarron Harvey wasn’t looking for something new to do. The Fort Worth physician was already overscheduled, balancing work — a bustling allergy and immunology practice — with a family that included five children, all of them teenagers.
Then, inspiration struck.
It came to her a few years ago — oddly enough, while she was doing laundry. She popped open the door to the clothes dryer and out flew several foam inserts that had become separated from the sports bras and swimsuit tops in the load. Suddenly, she had a thought. Perhaps these inserts were the solution to a situation that had been annoying her for ages.
That situation involved evenings, exhaustion, and an overwhelming urge to relax and unwind in the family room. Mostly, Harvey just wanted to be able to take off her bra and relax in her favorite pair of pajamas. Unfortunately, a revolving door of five teenagers plus their friends made enjoying that level of comfort distinctly uncomfortable.
“I was always having to wear a robe or a puffy vest over my pjs to look appropriate and not mortify the kids,” Harvey says.
If she could just find a pair of pajamas that incorporated strategically placed liners like the kind used for sports bras and swimsuit tops, she reasoned, her problem would be solved. Except, she couldn’t find any. So, she decided to have them made for herself.
That might have been the end of it if she had not told a few friends and co-workers about her plans. Turns out, they had the same dilemma — and they loved her idea. The more women heard about her custom pajamas, the more encouragement she received to turn her personal project into a business.
Harvey admits that the idea of becoming an entrepreneur intrigued her. “I watch a lot of ‘Shark Tank,’ and I listen to ‘How I Built This’ on NPR, and the entrepreneurs who do well have identified a need, they have faith in their idea, and they find ways to work around problems and turn a ‘no’ into a ‘yes,’” she says. “I’m a pretty stubborn person, which is not always a good trait, but I just felt like I could be persistent enough to make the idea a reality.”
So, Harvey announced the formation of McCarron Designs and set out to figure out how to produce her first product: her signature pajamas. And in the process, she transformed from doctor to designer.
One of the first things Harvey did was involve her daughter, Alexandra McCarron Harvey, then a sophomore at All Saints’ Episcopal School. Together, they began researching fabric, design, and production. “I literally Googled ‘apparel manufacturing Los Angeles,’” Harvey recalls. After narrowing down a long resource list to a few promising leads, Harvey and her daughter headed west for in-person interviews and site visits — with a few college visits thrown in for good measure.
Over the next year, Harvey and her daughter worked with their LA-based design team to create a pajama top design featuring front pockets specially constructed to conceal removable inserts. A soft mesh liner inside each pocket provides the structure necessary to both hold and conceal the inserts. The design is so innovative that Harvey has applied for a patent on it. She also has a trademark pending on the McCarron Designs logo, a circular motif that Harvey says brings to mind the femininity of a flower and the toughness of a throwing star. “The ‘petals’ around the center star look like ‘Mc’ for McCarron,” she adds.
Harvey is especially proud of the material, a bamboo-spandex mix. “It was woven and dyed especially for this project,” she says.
The process wasn’t without its challenges. Delays became a constant problem, first because of issues at the factory and later because of the California wildfires and the COVID-19 pandemic. It was frustrating at the time, Harvey says, “but the missteps and delays usually resulted in better ideas or revisions to the original plan.”
Now that the first production run of top-and-shorts sets has arrived, Harvey and her daughter have been hard at work promoting them online and in person, via trunk shows and private parties. So far, it’s been an easy sell. “They appeal to everyone from college girls living in dorms to moms and grandmothers who want to be comfortable yet modest around family members and friends,” Harvey says. “People have also suggested to us that new mothers who are breastfeeding might appreciate them, too.”
Success has come so swiftly, in fact, that Harvey says she and her daughter are already working on expanding the line, this time with a company based in Austin. Next up, she says, will be pants, along with new colorways, including gray and navy. Eventually, Harvey would like to allow customers to purchase pieces as separates rather than sets so they can mix and match colors, styles, and sizes. “I want these to work for everyone,” she says.
Harvey hopes that one day McCarron Designs will become as well known as Spanx — another entrepreneurial venture that began with a woman and a dream. Harvey also admits she’d love to be a guest on “How I Built This,” hopefully providing the same inspiration to others that she received from listening to the show.
Whatever happens, Harvey says she’s already received the richest reward: the opportunity to collaborate with her daughter. “She is so creative; I loved working with her from start to finish and watching her think outside the box to solve problems,” she says. “We had such a great time — I know it brought us closer together, and I think we started something really special.”
Find McCarron pajamas on Instagram at @mccarron_pjs; to purchase, visit mccarronpjs.com. Pajama sets are $112 and come in sizes XS – L.
