TALK US THROUGH THE EVOLUTION OF BOND-EYE SWIMWEAR?

The Bond-Eye brand was an idea that came to me when I was on a ferry. I had just sold my shares in Running Bare and was letting my mind run with my next move.

I saw an opportunity in swim, a category I had experience in, and was ruminating over potential brand names for a business. I was always in Bondi and had always wanted to take a piece of Australian lifestyle to the world. We were designing Lisa Ho Swimwear under license at the same time and both brands were embraced by the market.

I knew how to create a beautiful product, but not how to run a business, and so I began the biggest learning curve of my life. I poured everything I had into the business and was living on zero salary for the first few years while making sure the team got paid. We worked incredibly hard and delivered some beautiful swimwear, which sold at retail. The business struggled financially and just as we were getting it together, it was embroiled in a legal dispute. I pretty much lost everything, traded my way back with another brand I started which also helped fund a Bond-Eye brand resurgence several years later. There was a huge turning point with a new design team and a renewed creative direction inside a smarter business. Many lessons learned, very painful at the time, and a better person for it. The Bond-Eye brand has never looked back and is now stocked in many of the world’s best retailers with a dedicated and growing global following.

WHY IS BEING AUSSIE MADE SO IMPORTANT TO YOUR BUSINESS, YOUR CUSTOMERS AND YOUR TEAM MEMBERS?

It is not easy to manufacture here in Australia and while there are more resources involved and significantly higher costs, being able to proudly state, Made In Australia is a major value add. Australia is a brand in itself and being made here is brand validating by lifestyle association. For our team members who are living and breathing the brand and production, there is a sense of pride in Australian made.

WHAT ARE SOME OF THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS YOU PUT DOWN TO YOUR SUCCESS?

Great people, the business is nothing without the people. The people factor is so often overlooked, and I am acutely aware of how important a strong culture is to the success of a business. We are all humans and individuals with different thoughts, characters, motivations, needs and the challenge is to bring everyone together in harmony united to a purpose.

Never give up. It could be called stubbornness but I think to be a Founder and Business owner you have to have a level of grit and determination to have everything you own on the line and meet every difficult situation that comes at you head on.

Never stop learning and always be open to learning. Business and life is perpetual and we are always living and evolving.

Stop looking at what everybody else is doing and do you. Build unique brand DNA from this and this is how you grow loyalty and customers.