Tarentum boutique, 4 His Glory, strives to boost women's confidence

After working as an aide for people with autism for more than 40 years, New Kensington resident Judy Leonard’s post-retirement plans were to travel and relax.

God, she said, had another plans.

“When I retired, I was trying to see what I was going to do with my life,” Leonard said. “When covid-19 hit, everybody was stuck at home. So, when I was stuck at home (during) covid, it gave me a lot of time to think, and it gave God a lot of time to change my life.”

During lockdown, she lost 175 pounds, which she attributes to the workings of God.

“During that time, God took me through a time of ‘Judy, start loving me.’ ”

Though she feels the weight loss was a result of her self-love discovery, it wasn’t the point.

“It really wasn’t the weight, it was the way that I felt about myself.”

And it’s that self-love she hopes to spread through her clothing boutique, 4 His Glory, which recently relocated from New Kensington to Tarentum. The shop’s mission is to make women feel confident in their bodies, no matter their size.

“I didn’t want to be another store,” Leonard said, “I wanted to be a place where women could come, where they could try on different things, different types of clothes, different colors, something for them to feel good about themselves.”

Leonard greatly enjoyed her time as an aide, “I really got to know my clients, and we bonded just to show them that you could do whatever you want.”

Though she’s ventured into a new professional field, she still keeps in touch with past clients.

“We’re like family. They’ve seen my kids grow up. They’ve been to the weddings, to the graduations. When you get into the field, if your heart is really there, it’s not just a job. It’s definitely a calling.”

To further her mission of sharing God’s love, Leonard intends to start a podcast called “But Him.”

“It’s going to be about me telling my story of what brought me to the point where I didn’t feel good about myself.”

The name of the podcast, she says, originally was going to be the same as the boutique’s, but, after some brainstorming, she realized the true purpose.

“There’s always someone saying, ‘You’re not gonna be (anything),’ and we don’t realize how deep that gets into our spirit. That was always in my spirit, that ‘I could never do this, I could never do that,’ and God showed me ‘yes, you can.’ ”

It’s because of this that she feels no one but Him could show her what true love looks like.

Though she is the boutique’s sole owner, she sings the praises of those who have helped her along the way, including her landlord, her church community and her close friends.

Leonard has a deep appreciation for “people who come in and say, ‘What do you need done?’ when they know you can’t pay them. They’re willing to come.”

While she is aware that there are plenty of boutiques in Tarentum, Leonard feels “there’s enough for all of us to survive.”

She hopes her store is “a place of safety, a place where you can have a good time, where you can laugh, where you can feel good, where you can feel happy. I want all of the happy and glorious feelings that you get in my place.”