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

Hi Rachael, thanks for joining us today. What can you share with us about the story behind how you found your key vendors?

Like any industry, clothing manufacturing in Los Angeles faces challenges, including rising labor costs, competition from overseas production, and the need to adapt to changing consumer preferences and technology. My first production run was conducted with a middleman (who I found through a posting on Craigslist!) who connected me with patternmakers, cut and sewing rooms, and a production house that was open to smaller production runs, I had to go this route because it was hard to find these divisions without committing to large quantities. The process is very sketchy. Most locations are kept a secret and are sometimes in the strangest/most dangerous neighborhoods. I have gone into sewing rooms through a backdoor in a car repair lot or a side door through a cafe. Sometimes I feel as if I am going out to a Speak-Easy but it’s just not that cool or fancy. I know why the majority of brands send the process overseas, however, I wanted to stay local due to the convenience of proximity and the ability to maintain quality control over the production process and most importantly support our local economy.

Now that I have a handful of seasons behind me, I have secured many of the same patternmakers, graders, sewers, as well as fabric and label suppliers which helps streamline the production process each season.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I live in Manhattan Beach, with my husband and three boys. We live in a small beach cottage (one of the last ones standing) with no front or backyard. With not much space to play, we were blessed, that all our boys were born with a strong love of the ocean and surf. When my oldest son was as young as 3 years old he would spend all day in the water. He would only get out to change up a surfboard for another board. It was hard to get him to reapply sunscreen and he would get out with rashes. I looked for something for him to wear under his board shorts and wetsuits to prevent the rashes but all I could find was black swim speedos. Always having a love for prints I designed a printed surf short and we called it, The Salty Grom, SHRED guard. From there many other styles were created and can be found on our website, www.thesaltygrom.com, and various stores around the country and Hawaii.

The Salty Grom is very much like my other child, the brand has a lot of sentimental value. The Salty Grom logo is taken from a picture of my son jumping naked off a palm tree in Bora Bora. At the time he was just 4 years old. That being said, when people ask if my intention is to sell the business/brand I tell them it would be very hard to part with it because of its history with my boys and family.

We are different from other swim/surf/sunwear brands because we remain true to our product providing functionality, sun protection UPF 50+, exclusive prints, and most importantly using sustainable fabrics. We conduct business domestically here in Los Angeles, this includes all sourcing, manufacturing of samples, cut and sew, and production. Every season we work with our print designer. We work and collaborate on the elements within the pattern and the colorways for each design. This is by far my favorite part of the process every season. It is rewarding to see your product on kids and grown-ups that you see in passing but do not know firsthand.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

I graduated with a degree in business accounting and economics. I left college with the notion that I had to make my way into the financial world and that is where I belonged since I dedicated 4 years to that study. My first job in the financial industry was for a small brokerage firm in San Francisco. They had me cold-calling households out of a telephone book during dinner time! I lasted a week. Years after I tried my part at a very established bank, CSFB (Credit Suisse Financial Bank). I worked in The Private Client Services division which was a great learning experience. However, my skin wasn’t tough enough to handle the male-dominated department. That is when I knew I would focus only on my fashion/buying experience and never look back to the financial world.

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

I stopped working when I was pregnant with my first child. I had only a small sum of money saved from when I quit the workforce to become a stay-at-home mom. After my second son, I started to crave a creative outlet and the need to have some other focus than raising my kids, I invested the money I had saved and started my brand, The Salty Grom. My intention was to begin with that amount of capital, start small and if the brand was successful I would take any profit made and put it right back into the company. It has been five seasons now that I have continued to do this. I have strayed away from loans. This has been both positive and negative for the business because it has been a slow growth without much risk. There will be a pivoting point where I will be forced to take some degree of risk to in order to grow the brand.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.thesaltygrom.com
• Instagram: thesaltygrom1
• Facebook: The Salty Grom
• Linkedin: Rachael Wixom

Image Credits
Summer Hopper Photography