We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Jasmine Sanchez. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Jasmine below.

Alright, Jasmine thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

My journey with Vessel Athletics is really rooted in my beginnings with running. I began running in college when I was an undergrad studying Business Administration and Entrepreneurship at San Jose State. I knew from an early age that I would be an entrepreneur, and always found myself tinkering on ways to create a better [X] solution.
At the time, I didn’t see myself as a “runner,” and only took it up to stay in shape. Eventually, I signed up for a local 5k, and to my surprise, I actually enjoyed it! Soon after, I found myself signing up for more races, each time I’d take it up a notch, registering for a longer distance. Eventually, I discovered how special the running community is. There’s so much camaraderie and encouragement. You meet people from all walks of life who share the most inspiring stories. I discovered that a “runner’s high” is a thing. I fell in love and soon after saw myself as a “runner” (despite the fact that I was a runner from the very start).

Fast forward to the inception of Vessel Athletics and the Hydroshirt™, which was born out of my own challenges in finding a comfortable hydration solution for long-distance running. Traditional options like hydration packs, vests, and hand-held bottles were either too bulky, heavy, or simply inconvenient. This frustration sparked the idea for the Hydroshirt, a solution designed to seamlessly integrate hydration into a runner’s apparel, eliminating weight and minimizing slosh for an enhanced running experience.

Although this started as a way to solve my own needs, I quickly learned that other runners were unsatisfied with the options on the market. After conducting surveys and interviewing many runners, I learned that there was an opportunity to create an even lighter hydration product. Furthermore, there was also an opportunity to design a product that prevents the bounce/slosh of a water bladder. Our aim was not just to create another product but to revolutionize hydration for runners. Today, our product, the Hydroshirt™ is the first hydration shirt that allows runners to seamlessly carry water while minimizing weight and slosh, and maximizing comfort.

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?

My name is Jasmine Sanchez, and I’m the Co-founder and CEO of Vessel Athletics. Founded in 2019, Vessel Athletics is a functional running apparel brand. With the launch of our first design, the Hydroshirt, we have redefined on-the-go hydration by allowing runners to seamlessly carry water within their apparel while eliminating the inconvenience of weight and slosh. The Hydroshirt embodies our vision of functionality and comfort, making it the first of its kind to offer athletes a truly integrated hydration experience.

In addition to founding Vessel Athletics, I’m also the Program Manager and a founding member of Founded Outdoors. Founded Outdoors is a national platform for outdoor entrepreneurs that supports emerging businesses through its programming, support and community. More specifically, I help run Embark, which is a virtual, 3-month startup program designed to fuel new and aspiring entrepreneurs from Black, Indigenous, Latina/o/x, and Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI). This program was developed in collaboration between REI Co-op Path Ahead Ventures and Founded Outdoors and was started back in 2021.

My work is driven by a profound passion for entrepreneurship and a dedication to empowering fellow entrepreneurs within an industry close to my heart.

We’d really appreciate if you could talk to us about how you figured out the manufacturing process.

Ah, the long road of manufacturing was a challenging and enlightening journey. Yes, we do manufacture our product, but discovering the ideal partner who could navigate the technical intricacies of the Hydroshirt design was far from straightforward. A crucial requirement was finding a manufacturer with the necessary in-house capabilities and a willingness to accommodate lower minimum order quantities. Low minimum order quantities is often overlooked for emerging businesses, but helpful to have.

Our search led us to collaborate with AJG, a design and sourcing agency based in Austin, Texas. They’ve been a big part in getting us across the manufacturing finish line! Through it all, I probably reached out to over one hundred manufacturers and eventually narrowed it down to a few options. We ended up finding a partner who checked all the boxes for us, including our criteria for technical sportswear expertise, important factory certifications such as BSCI and WRAP and a commitment to high-quality production.

Today, I’m happy to share that we recently received our first shipment of Hydroshirts (they look great) and we will be selling this limited batch through our Kickstarter campaign which is set to go live on May 7, 2024!

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

It really comes down to being closely connected to the community you’re building for. For me and my co-founder Jalen, this came natural given we are part of many local running communities. Over the years, I’ve been part of other initiatives and opportunities offered through the running industry/community, such as early volunteering involvement with the Running Industry Diversity Coalition, attending Take The Lead, an annual retreat for women of color in the run industry, attending events such as TRE and The Big Gear Show and of course, my involvement in Founded Outdoors. Beyond that, we’ve been adamant about involving our end users in our design and prototyping process so we can build a solution that actually solves a need.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.vesselathletics.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/vesselathletics
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/vesselathletics
• Other: [email protected] , https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/vesselathletics/the-hydroshirt-hydration-built-in-your-shirt