We were lucky to catch up with Georgie White recently and have shared our conversation below.
Georgie, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to go back in time and hear the story of how you came up with the name of your brand?
I started the swimwear brand as a spin off from Ocean Soul Retreat which I launched in 2015. The swimwear brand is called Ocean Soul Bali. Both brands are driven by connection; connection to self, connection to the ocean and the environment.
In the retreats, our programs are tailored around core components to connect you back to your body and then we bring in the Ocean through Surfing and Freediving. The swimwear is an active swim brand for all water based activities, Surfing , Freedivng, SUP, Wake surfing, paddle boarding etc.
Georgie, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
As I touched on above, It started off with retreats. I started those as I wanted to help people to find a stillness within and establish reconnection and clarity in life. During that time, I was manufacturing products for the guests. Being a surfer myself, I was tackling the waves and battling keeping my swimsuits in place. I nearly lost my bikini and the thought of having to paddle ashore sans bikini, I quickly went on the hunt for a one piece.
I couldn’t find anything that I loved, so I got busy with the manufacturer designing what became our first one piece, The Sulawesi long sleeve. I would wear it when surfing with the retreat guests, and kept getting requests from them to make some for them. That’s where it all started.
The main problem we solve with our suits, is creating swimwear that stays on whilst you are above or below the water, and allows you to be present with what you are doing.
We use a beautiful Italian sustainable fabric that is made from recycled fishing nets from the ocean and provides up to 50+ UPF protection. And we give back to support the Island of Bali. So It’s an all round feel good product.
Can you talk to us about manufacturing? How’d you figure it all out? We’d love to hear the story.
I have been through a few manufacturers now, as we aim for consistency in our products and there have been some absolute nightmares that have come through in production!
During Covid, I was back in Melbourne and one of the shipments for our new sleeveless one pieces were so small, we ended up with kids sizing. That was tricky to deal with in terms of operating online with mixed sizes from different productions and the amount of returns was massive and obviously along with managing customers during this time.
The next big one during that period was equally as tricky to deal with. The next shipment got to Australia, and the manufacturers had used regular nylon instead of sustainable fabric! The sustainable fabric is imported from Italy, and with all the world closed down and the shipping delays that were happening globally, I like to be generous of thought, and choose to believe that they were just doing what they could, to to keep their business going and staff employed. But the knock on effect of that was very costly and hard to navigate. There’s no way to get these things fixed, repaired, changed and no recourse once the product has left the country.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
Covid was a time of pivoting for all of us! As mentioned, I was running retreats and selling swimwear on the side through the retreat website. Obviously we know what happened with travel in that time, so I put a big pause on the retreats and focused on building the swimwear into its own ecommerce store. It has taken a lot of pivoting and a whole new ball game, but it is deeply rewarding and still links in with the retreats with our strong ties to Freedivng, surfing and connecting to the ocean.
I look forward to getting back to the retreats later this year and combining both businesses. It’s been a massive learning curve and lots of mistakes along the way, but equally a huge amount of growth and is deeply satisfying
Contact Info:
- Website: www.oceansoulbali.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oceansoulbali/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/oceansoulbali/
- Youtube: @OceanSoulBali
Image Credits
bottom left and top right – surf images @liquidbarrel under water images @yahiabarakah lifestyle @nicolerosart