Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Alecia Aguilar. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Alecia thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

Our mission is to create sustainable activewear sets that support the cause behind Mental Health Awareness. Our brand’s priority is making our customers feel comfortable and confident in their athletic wear to express how physical exercise can benefit Mental Health. My mission is meaningful for me because I found exercising to be the best coping mechanism for anxiety during my time in the Navy.

The frustration I felt over not knowing how to relieve my stress led me to run away from my problems. When I ran my first mile, I noticed that my world didn’t seem to be crashing anymore.I began to fall in love with fitness because it made me feel better mentally. Over the years, I became known as the “Fit Girl”. Feeling completely misunderstood, I wanted to create a conversation starter that explained why I started my fitness journey. As a result, I designed the t-shirts with the phrase “I WORKOUT FOR MY MENTAL HEALTH”. I knew in my heart I couldn’t have been the only one who worked out to improve mental wellbeing and lower stress levels. That is why I strongly believe in our mission of spreading mental health awarenss by wearing. Our goal is to improve mental health through physical activity.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

We are Awearness Athletics, fitness wear that spreads mental health awareness by wearing. We currently sell t-shirts, crewnecks, and hoodies. Our current products are sourced from fair-trade vendors that offer organic cotton products, as we care about sustainability and ethical manufacturing.

As we have high morals when sourcing our products or materials, we may have to spend more time and money to find resources that adhere to our beliefs. While this challenge makes us scale slower, we are confident that our products are reaching the right people.

Creating designs that speak to our mental health community is something that we’re most proud of with our brand. After getting so much positive feedback from our first design, ” I workout for my mental health”, I decided to evolve the brand into something bigger. Feedback included “I can relate to this”, “I agree with this”, and “I love this message!”.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

The lesson I had to unlearn is that I had to do everything myself. It is more common for military leaders to take responsibility for both accomplishments and failures. The military environment is a rushed, pressure-filled environment where mission completion is essential. As a result, I often completed projects on my own in my military career. The biggest break through I have had as a person and as a business owner is that it is okay to ask for help. As I spread awareness about the cause we are supporting, I continue to receive support and care from the community. I had to unlearn that I was the only person who had to do things on my own and learn that asking for help is okay.

Have you ever had to pivot?

One of my greatest pivots was deciding to start a podcast for my business. Despite the effectiveness of wearing mental health awareness, I knew I had to do more to help the mental health community. Over the course of this mental health journey, I have gained a deeper understanding of the fact that people will begin to improve themselves mentally, emotionally, and physically on their own terms. Taking into account that it is out of my control if someone wishes to start their mental health journey, I decided to share stories of others in order to help those who are ready and willing to start. That’s why I started The Self Awearness Podcast, where we share mental health journeys from all different backgrounds. There may be someone who is ready to begin their mental health journey, but is waiting to hear a story they can relate to or an example of how they can get started. Our episodes have reached multiple cultures, industries, and regions, and I can’t wait to share more stories in the future.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://awearnessathletics.com/
• Instagram: @awearnessathletics
• Facebook: @awearnessathletics
• Youtube: @awearnessathletics
• Other: @awearnessathletics Tiktok

Image Credits
@hollieklimekphoto