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

Selina, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What do you think matters most in terms of achieving success?

Success is deeply personal and cannot be measured by someone else’s standards. Its about defining your own goals based on where you are and where you want to go, then taking deliberate and realistic steps to achieve them. Using others’ achievements as motivation rather than a benchmark is a healthy approach because it keeps the focus on personal growth rather than comparison.

You cannot go from A to Z without LMNOP. Growth and success are incremental, and every step along the way adds to your foundation. Adjusting your goals as you evolve is also key, as it ensures your vision remains aligned with your current reality and aspirations. I think this mindset is particularly valuable to entrepreneurs, I know it is for me.

It’s amazing how sometimes the most challenging times can create the space for us to explore new opportunities, mine was starting a swimwear business during covid in 2020. Balancing major life events-planning a wedding, navigating an unpredictable housing market, homeschooling my kids while being laid off from work and launching a business during a global pandemic is my testament of resilience and determination for just how bad I wanted something from myself.

Taking moments to prioritize myself, step by step, to build something meaningful is not an easy process, even still, and it can get overwhelming but I challenge other entrepreneurs focused on the end game to reflect on their abilities to adapt under pressure, accept change when needed, be teachable, and grant yourself grace when you just don’t have the answers. Get clear about your strengths and weakness early in your own development stages and reflect on those often to allow room for growth and watch as your drive manifests itself.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

In my lifetime I’ve had a few impactful vivid dreams. One dream showed me owning an apparel company, the dream was so insightful and detailed that morning I had to write it in a notebook next to the bed. Follow up details to the dream continued to come to me while I was actually awake, visions, while driving and when sitting on the couch watching a movie. That year the thoughts would become so colorful and loud that jotting notes became the norm. That notebook sat in a corner of the room for years after that, life just kept happening and I got busy.

It wasn’t until the unexpected pause of life, when covid shut everyone down, that’s when the thought of the notebook came to mind. The notes were unfinished sentences but it was a pivotal moment to get to work. Let me be very clear, I am not formally trained in fashion or business but I was able to educate myself with online tools made during the pandemic by the masses. YouTube, Zoom, Fiverr, Small Business Administration, Google and webinars were my college and best friend and still are. Once I chose manufacturers for swimwear I was off and running.

My name is Selina Ward, Owner of Mieux Swim the better aesthetic swimwear brand. We are the a safe space for you to be your most confident self in swimwear. A place where you are always exposed but never naked. I collaborate with women through swimwear to increase their desire to feel confident in swimwear. I introduce preparedness and motivation through my ability to observe, listen and act while purposely serving women. Mieux is a French adverb defined as “better” I chose this word because I’ve always wanted to learn the conversational language of French. Moreover, our goal is to be better than we were yesterday rather than be better than someone else. Mieux Swim is a brand of self reflection, we are a maximum self-love movement. Like most people, we are all a work in progress and we should strive to better self everyday and we hope others want that for themselves as well .

Through swimwear we want you to know being different is acceptable, freeing and beautiful. Our swimwear is the celebration of our sizes and skin tones. We have classic contemporary cuts to sleek silhouetted styles. We create what works and deter from making swimwear a complicated and judgmental experience. We focus on being better not perfection, we want you to love yourself exactly where you are in your journey.

We also want you to love others as you love yourself. Purchasing from Mieux Swim allows us to donate to community organizations, schools and sponsor programs empowering young adults & upcoming youth. We also partner with generous manufacturers, every swimsuit piece produced for us a donation is made to educate women in their communities. We do offer environmentally conscious product options. Most products are made from post consumer & commercial waste such as fabric waste, carpeting, abandon ocean fishing nets and traceable plastic water bottles, Here your purchase impacts others and the earth.

Have you ever had to pivot?

Just recently I asked my loved ones a question that would open up my eyes to a reality that I obviously had ignored. I asked them to list what they thought of me good and bad. Let’s just say it was therapeutic on purpose. They gave answers written down so I could keep them and reference later. They listed many great and positive things but because I want to be better than I was yesterday I immediately went to the negative so I could do the work.

Collectively they agreed I am present but not always available. They respect how hard I work, They support my dream of one day being a leader in luxury swimwear but they need me too. At first I felt guilty, then ashamed but then a sense of appreciation came forward and I knew I needed to thank them for their sacrifices and for their forgiveness. They’ve allowed me to keep moving this way until I asked and they’ve made things work when they likely needed me to intervene. For that I’m grateful but now that I know that I am giving myself permission to shut the laptop, turn off the phone and not talk swimwear at certain times of the day. I hadn’t realized how much swimwear has consumed my time and theirs. Being present isn’t something I can rewind and time is happening now even as I answer these questions. As an entrepreneur you must humble yourself to hear others that genuinely love you. You must be able to be ok with not being ON all the time, give yourself permission to show up for all the roles you play in peoples lives time is precious.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

Let’s talk sampling! Sampling in swimwear is extremely costly and almost never ending. You sketch, you produce the sample and you revise. Make what you envision! People will have feedback, comments and input but when it’s your money being spent on revisions you must be diligent in knowing what outcome you want. I have made swimsuit samples and heard it all, people will likely have opinions of how this or that should be for them specifically. You must remember your audience is broader than that one person and are they speaking to buy your product or are they speaking to speak. I had to learn to take feedback and use it when I wanted to use it. People aren’t going to know your plan, your target market, or understand the goals of your business but they will always have opinion. Take it lightly, swallow it with love and maybe even jot their comments down for later. Do not feel obligated to meet their demands based on one conversation, take time to think about it maybe resketch and then if YOU like and feel the changes need to be made then act. Remember you cannot please everyone and your brand may not be for everyone’s liking but there is a space for you, the is an audience for you. Sampling is expensive, time consuming and necessary so use your feedback and revision opportunities wisely.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.mieuxswim.com
• Instagram: @mieuxswim
• Facebook: @mieuxswim.com
• Twitter: @mieux_swim
• Youtube: @mieuxswim
• Other: Threads: @mieuxswim

Image Credits

TLS Shoots LLC
DP Gotcha Photography