Today we’d like to introduce you to Jennipher Wilson.
Jennipher, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I grew up in San Diego and spent a lot of my youth skiing, snowboarding, and skating. My love of board sports has been with me since I can remember and so when a boyfriend offered to teach me to surf at 24, I went for it. He lived in Encinitas and I fell in love with the town and the surf breaks and made it a goal to live in Encinitas someday.
Fast forward ten years later, after a moved to England to go to school and play football (soccer), a return home and a failed marriage, I’ve finally found myself in Leucadia giving 110% to my favorite of the board sports, surfing.
I have spent most of my career as a product manager for software startups and worked at TurboTax for four years. I love solving problems for people with elegantly designed software and never imagined I would end up creating an apparel brand.
It all started with me constantly on the lookout for surf-inspired clothing that fit my style. I’m not very beachy so the current styles for women don’t resonate with me. I had a hard time finding designs that were cool/edgy but not too masculine. So, I decided to create a couple for myself and printed them up on some tees.
When I’d wear them around Encinitas, a lot of ladies would ask me where I got them. That was the first sign that maybe I should think about this broader, was there a market that wasn’t being served and could I create something to fill this need?
I spent a couple of months following the Lean Startup methodology to test my vision and ideas and after seeing great results I decided to quit my job and go all in on Her Waves.
Has it been a smooth road?
It hasn’t been smooth but man has it been fun! I think the biggest struggle has been believing in myself and my ability to do this. Ten years ago, I would not have been ready or confident but after all that I’ve been through and all that I’ve learned doing software startups, I feel like I am finally ready and have the knowledge and skills to pull this off.
I love thinking big about shaking up and disrupting the status quo but I tend to be pretty unorganized so it has been a challenge for me to stay focused and make sure I see everything through, even the boring things like taxes and inventory tracking.
We’d love to hear more about your work.
Her Wave’s mission is to take how we (females) are represented in surf culture and turn it on its head. Adventure, femininity, rebellion, hope, and love – this is what we’re made of.
Forget the butt shots and stereotypes that plague the world of women’s board sports. It is time for us to narrate the story.
The best part about starting Her Waves is all the amazing female surfers, artists and entrepreneurs I have met and get to work with.
I want to create a space where we can design what we wear, shape the boards we ride and be behind the lens to showcase all our shapes, styles and colors.
All the clothing is designed by women who love surfing and I have recently partnered with Ashleigh of San Diego Surf Photos to take all our product and surf photos and to help get me organized.
We only work with eco-friendly, local companies to create our tees and tanks and all our packaging is 100% biodegradable or recyclable and we hope to bring more eco-conscious apparel in the boardsport industry.
Is our city a good place to do what you do?
I’ve found it harder to start an apparel brand than a technology startup here in San Diego. The best resources are in LA which thankfully, isn’t too far. However, there are some awesome local companies that have made it and who have been great to learn from.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.herwaves.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/herwavesco
Image Credit:
Ashleigh Yob @sandiegosurfphotos, Manny Vargas @mannyvmedia
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