WHEN Emma Clark watches Coronation Street the hard hitting storylines don't always command her complete attention.

Instead she finds her mind wandering to the actor's underwear. Don't worry, there's nothing kinky going on here, Emma's just thinking of her business interests.

Emma, 30, is the founder of bust-boosting company MaxCleavage. The business which started in her dining room seven years ago, is now a worldwide concern.

That's why Emma, who has moved from Southend to Chelmsford, will sit and watch the TV and say to herself "I'm sure she's wearing one of our bras."

It's not just the characters on the Street who have benefited either.

Her company's swimwear helped Jayne Middlemiss triumph on Celebrity Love Island, and it's set to adorn the bedroom walls of teenage boys across the land when it helps enhance the natural assets of the Hollyoaks girls in their next calendar.

It was a bad experience with swimwear of her own whichprompted Emma to champion the cause of smaller breasted women everywhere.

"I remember trying to get a bikini for a girlie holiday when I was 18," remembers Emma.

"All my friends had enormous boobs and I didn't have any.

"So my mum and I ended up buying a bikini and she sewed some padding into it. In the end it looked fantastic."

Unfortunately when Emma was on the plane she realised she'd left it at home and had to try to buy another once she arrived.

"There was nothing with any support at all. I just felt really self conscious and that it wasn't fair," she says.

"I had quite a few experiences like that."

Then Emma saw a TV programme about a 14-year-old girl who was saving up for a boob job. Remembering her own experiences, she felt compelled to do something about it.

"I think breasts are a sign of femininity and womanhood and if, when you're growing up, you don't get them, you do think What's wrong with me?'," she explains.

"It seems the only option is surgery, which is fine if you want to go down that route, but personally I didn't. You've got the expense of surgery and you've got the dangers that can go with it. So I started looking for an alternative."

Emma began importing breast enhancers from America. Nowadays her company sells sophisticated gel filled and liquid filled bras, but back in 2000 you had to inflate them with a small pump.

"Once you pumped the pad up to the maximum you ended up with these rock hard boobs," laughs Emma.

She soon realised creating a natural-looking bust was more important than a big one.

"There's nothing more false than having your boobs under your chin and nothing round the sides," she says. "That's why gel works so well, it creates a much more natural look."

It wasn't long before the business struck a chord with the bra buying public, and Emma had to move it out of her dining room and into a business unit in Shoebury.

Within a few years they had outgrown that as well and moved to its current home in the Victoria Business Park, Southend.

Emma now has six permanent staff, plus her husband, Gavin, who is in charge of IT for the company.

She also has another regular at the office - her 20-month-old daughter Amelie.

Having Amelie has been not only a big boost to her personal life, but also her business one.

"It's been such a blessing," says Emma, "It's made me think more about how I was going to develop the company and less about running it."

The biggest thing to come out of that was the launch of their own swimwear, designed by Emma herself.

"It's been a massively scary job," she admits. "Especially as when you start to do your own stuff you have to commit to so many thousands, where as when you order from manufacturers you can just get 40 of those, 20 of these.

"It's been a huge investment and a huge risk for us."

It seems to be one that's paying off though. "The brochures went out last week and it's literally as if someone has turned on all the taps," says the entrepreneur.

Long-term she hopes to develop more ranges of her own. Until then, she can take comfort from the army of women who already know the brand.

Emma claims it's not un-common for girls to ring up in tears because they're so desperate. "One girl said she'd saved up £2,000 for breast surgery. She then discovered our company, bought our swimwear and used the money for a trip around Australia," she smiles. "She was absolutely thrilled."