Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in clothing but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Mckenna Haz, founder, and CEO of SEAAV, located in Victoria, BC, Canada.

What's your business, and who are your customers?

SEAAV is on a mission to make waves, not waste, by manufacturing sustainably made athleisure apparel from recycled plastic bottles. Every sale diverts lb of ocean plastic + 1% to our reefs.

Tell us about yourself

Mckenna has always considered the ocean her home. At the age of just 12, she noticed the damaging effects of plastic and trash and knew she wanted to make a difference. In college, her combined love of fitness, fashion, and (of course) the ocean came together to make SEAAV. It's easy to fall into the cycle of fast fashion, but Mckenna knew she wanted to take the route of transparency and thoughtful production to bring you clothing you can feel good about every step of the way. SEAAV treats workers fairly, utilizes eco-friendly packaging and materials made from recycled plastics, and plants a tree for each shipment. In fact, each purchase you make removes 1 pound of plastic from the ocean! With more responsibly made products to come and constant innovation, SEAAV strives to make waves — in our oceans and the fashion industry as a whole.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

It has got to be the fact that in our first year of business, SEAAV diverted over 100,000 plastic bottles from our shorelines through our ocean clean-up initiatives.... and in our second year, straight out of college, I've been able to pitch to a handful of major retailers.

What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?

It is very easy to be spread too thin; shutting off my work brain and knowing when I need to hand off work to someone else is something that I'm still working on!

What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?

  1. Trust your intuition; it never fails.
  2. Approach the process with humility; there is no one who is born to be an entrepreneur or learns how to be an entrepreneur in school. It is entirely experiential, and as a result, you have to be open to continuously learning and evolving your own abilities as a leader. I think every phase of the entrepreneurial journey is different. Someone once told me it never gets easier; it is just a different kind of hard.... and I don't think that's entirely true. I believe that approaching each stage with humility and an open mind allows you to continuously graduate and scale as your company scales.
  3. Never forget your mission! This is key to building out a strong foundation and building a loyal/core community.

Is there anything else you'd like to share?

Join us for World's Ocean Day this June 8th, 2022, at Miami Beach for a clean-up + sunset yoga!

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://seaavathletics.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/seaavision/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/seaavision/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SEAAV_Athletics
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/seaav-athletics/

If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solopreneur that you'd like to share, then email community@subkit.com; we'd love to feature your journey on these pages.

Feel inspired to start, run or grow your own subscription business? Check out subkit.com and learn how you can turn "one day" into day one.