We were lucky to catch up with Tyler Carnie Sasser recently and have shared our conversation below.
Tyler Carnie , appreciate you joining us today. It’s easy to look at a business or industry as an outsider and assume it’s super profitable – but we’ve seen over and over again in our conversation with folks that most industries have factors that make profitability a challenge. What’s biggest challenge to profitability in your industry?
It also takes a long time before it becomes profitable. So, you need to keep these things in mind because the market has become highly saturated and it only continues to grow.
Tyler Carnie , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
My name is Tyler, my husband and I found the brand “Untethered Water”. Prior to starting up the brand I was working in the yachting industry for four years at a stewardess, and before that I studied marketing and brand communication. With these two unique passions , I combined an idea to capture a premium-niche market to roll-out the Untethered Water brand.
On The last yacht I had worked on, I realized that not only the guests, but crew, have a passion for water-sports and adventure. It was brought to my attention that both guests and crew started wearing a garment called a “poncho robe” when taking-off on the tender trips for diving, snorkeling or surfing excursions. This became a common occurrence, seeing almost every single person coming out with a “funkier” and new poncho robe on excursions, to protect themselves from bad weather, to dry-off and change after being in the ocean. I then realized this trend grew, and quickly – it became a huge talking point. Through my experience, I knew that on most yachts, this type of garment would not be deemed “professional” ; however, this specific yacht that I worked on happened to be a tad “laid-back”. And for this, an idea quickly grew in my mind..
To produce a uniquely designed “towel poncho”. A range of lighter sun resistant and thicker cold weather resistant ponchos, to protect avid ocean goers from the harm of diverse weather conditions out and around the ocean. Towel ponchos with a more high-end touch, simple designed colors that can cater to the needs of yachts, hotel boutiques and swim teams that we embroider with personalized logos.
We want people to make the most of their aquatic-based lifestyles without always having to drag a towel around, having to take off and throw on different items of clothing when making a trip to the pool or ocean. There is something so easy about just putting your towel poncho on before getting in the water and then throwing it back on after a swim. The garment is so spacious, it allows you to change under it too. We worked for months to create poncho towels with high-end fabric that are water-absorbent, uv-protective. Simply just adjusting the simplest things such as; the trimmings, and arm-coverage from previous poncho towels we have seen to make it more comfortable and effective outdoors.
Since we started the business, we found that we could expand into so many different markets and people love our products so much because our poncho towels are simply two things; comfortable and practical.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
When you start out, there are times that sales are low and you feel helpless. So, maybe you try to tweak your marketing tactics and strategy – sometimes it works out but realistically it does not always. You have to find ways and get creative to generate sales and get your name out there even if that means focusing on a more “offline” approach. Having an online business can be difficult but you need to constantly remind yourself that there is always a way and the only time you fail is when you give up, you are your own worst enemy if you do that. You have to continue to push yourself as a business owner and just keep going because you will have a breakthrough at one point or another.
Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?
We have realized that we need to focus more on an offline approach, some would say it may be outdated but because we aim to sell more products in bulk to swim teams, boats and hotel boutiques we do a few pop-up event, cold and warm calling and just try get right up front with the potential clients rather then trying to do once of sales online that also requires a lot of work and large budget for ads.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.untetheredwater.com
- Instagram: @untetheredwater
- Facebook: @untetheredwater
- Twitter: @untetheredwater