Rochelle Behrens is about to hit it big — and Washingtonians can say we knew her before she was famous.

The lobbyist-turned-fashion designer has snagged a coveted spot this week on “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” where she will promote a button-down shirt that she designed. While Behrens appears to be on the cusp of major success, it has been a long road from K Street to Rodeo Drive.

Roll Call interviewed Behrens in January 2009, when she was working full time at Quinn Gillespie & Associates and warehousing her designs in her Logan Circle apartment. At the time, she was designing a full collection and juggling a duel life.

Two years later, Behrens has quit her lobbying gig to become a full-time fashion designer. These days, she has zeroed in on “the Shirt,” a button-down top that features hidden buttons to keep the garment from gapping around the chest.

Now “the Shirt” is going national. Behrens’ design has already been featured on “The Today Show,” NPR and the Daily Beast, and it will be featured Thursday on Oprah’s “Five Things You Need to Do in 2011.”

No one knows yet whether, in typical Oprah fashion, the studio audience will get “the Shirt” for free.