Taking the idea of a fashionable, well fitted, high performing activewear line into reality has been a journey from my roots in Australia to California to where I am based now in Sun Valley, Idaho. The journey has been filled with moments of great fulfillment along with some bumps in the road, but all well worth the satisfaction it brings me to have pursued a vision I knew could become a real business opportunity.
There were two key elements I knew I had to have in place. A great product and a great community to support and grow the brand. I knew I wanted the line to be fashion forward and something I could feel good about wearing all day long. It needed to stand up to high intensity workouts and then transfer to lunch with my girlfriends or a day of meetings. But more so, I needed it to be an authentic product that I knew my friends and other female influencers could get behind. We have been fortunate to build a global community of strong, beautiful, diverse, motivated women that represent all shapes, sizes and lifestyles. From our professional athletes to brand ambassadors to like-minded active moms and business women, Vie Active has built a community through events, partnerships and social media that make us a much greater presence than who we are alone.
In a time where social media enables us to share so much of our lives in such a personal and authentic way, we have seen the power of how this can connect women across the world to build a truly international community of like-minded women. We try to highlight real women doing real things and that brings out the best in everyone. Women who squat together, sweat together, smile together, laugh together are connected by a bond that can only be made by embracing, supporting and encouraging one another rather than comparing or creating false ideals.
I personally do not believe that there is such thing as the perfect modern day women; and the sooner more women can get over this false ideal and start to embrace the notion of perfectly imperfect the stronger our network of women will be. We started an online campaign a few years ago called #BeFlawsome with the intention of showing that each woman’s so-called flaws are actually the defining beautiful elements that make her who she is. We have found great support in this reminder to #BeFlawsome rather than perfect.
Beyond our online presence, our group of worldwide ambassadors has helped raise awareness across the globe. From Bondi to LA to Sun Valley to New York, we have beautiful faces and bodies showcasing our brand in the gym, at the studio on the bike along with at the grocery store, in meetings or at our kid’s schools. Our ambassadors are leaders in the activewear community but they are also real people like us. Businesswomen, moms, friends, daughters and I think that is what has made our ambassador program so strong, is that it is real.
We will be celebrating our five-year anniversary at the end of next month and when I think about what I am proudest of and what I wish for as we grow is to be able to build a brand of women, by women, for women. Empowering us to be perfectly imperfect every step of the way and continue to commit to a life of love, joy, grace and beauty in our everyday lives.