We were lucky to catch up with Sweat Equity recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Sweat 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?

Sweat Equity was founded by Collin Swinton, a basketball trainer who noticed that many of his players were struggling with confidence. To help mitigate this reoccurring issue, Collin decided to make wristbands that said “belief in self” to help remind them to be confident in the hard work they would put in. Once he saw how this added motivation to his client, Collin decided to take this strategy to a bigger scale, so he decided to come up with a performance and athleisure apparel brand to reach more people. From there, he assembled a team with Myles Humphrey and Kris Smith and that’s when our vision for Sweat Equity came to life. Our logo, a shield, was designed as true protection from your insecurity, fears, and doubts!

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

We dove head first into the apparel industry because we wanted to offer a brand that not only provides quality gear but also delivers a message that resonates with our consumers on a personal level. That message is the motivation to push past your struggles and know that you’re protected from doubt and failure when you wear our clothing.

Our athleisure brand sets itself apart with innovative QR code technology and motivational messages on our clothing. Manny pieces of our clothing have a QR code that customers can scan with their smartphones to access exclusive content, such as daily motivational messages, workout playlists, and even exclusive coupon codes to our site. This provides an interactive and personalized experience for customers, making them feel supported and motivated to achieve their goals. Additionally, many of our clothing features motivational messages that encourage customers to push themselves to their limits and stay committed to their fitness journeys. By combining QR code technology and motivational messages on our clothing, we offer a unique and empowering experience that helps our customers feel confident, motivated, and inspired to achieve their goals.

As a team, we are incredibly proud of the reaction we’ve gotten from those who have bought into what Sweat Equity stands for. It has been a tremendous experience to create a brand that is not just stylish, but also provides an empowering message and experience for our customers. It has been truly humbling to see people resonate with our message and feel motivated by our products. We believe in promoting a healthy and active lifestyle, and Sweat Equity is our way of contributing to that movement. We are grateful for the support we have received so far and look forward to continuing to grow and make a positive impact in the athleisure industry.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

Starting an athleisure brand during the 2020 pandemic was undoubtedly challenging. With restrictions on in-person gatherings and events, we had to find new ways to promote and sell our clothing. One of the biggest challenges was not being able to attend fitness events or pop-up shops to showcase our products. Instead, we had to rely on our network and social media to promote our brand and connect with customers. This meant investing time and resources into continually building a strong online presence, creating engaging content, and building relationships with influencers and other members of our community. While it was certainly a difficult time to start a business, the pandemic also presented opportunities to be creative and innovative in our approach to marketing and sales. By adapting to the circumstances and leveraging our network and social media, we were able to build a solid foundation and started to establish ourselves as a reputable and respected athleisure brand in Atlanta.

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

As we began to build Sweat Equity, we quickly realized that it was important to unlearn certain aspects of our approach in order to stay focused on meeting the needs of our customers. Initially, we had been preoccupied with trying to compete with other brands in the market. However, we soon realized that this approach was misguided and ultimately unsustainable. Instead, we shifted our focus towards truly understanding the needs and preferences of our target market and tailoring clothing to address those needs. By prioritizing the needs of our customers over the competition, we were able to create and build our own identity which helped us avoid riding the coattails of other brands. This approach allowed us to create a more authentic and customer-centric brand that continues to thrive and grow over time.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.sweatequity-apparel.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sweatequity.apparel/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/se.apparel/

Image Credits
Instagram: @trubandztv Instagram: @lofiyokai