Co-founders Heather Aiu and Rachael Leina`ala Soares are former roommates who each invested $2,000 to start the business Aloha series. Considering it was a significant portion of their respective savings at the time, the investment symbolized their commitment to solving a gap in the waterproof bag market.
After a successful Kickstarter campaign, the pair launched the Aloha line, which produces Hawaiian-style waterproof bags. A Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign helped them gain their first customers and dealers. Today, their company is a multi-million dollar brand with retail stores in Hawaii, California and the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida.
Here’s how they turned their initial $4,000 investment into a business that allows them to live the lifestyle of their dreams.
Addressing early challenges
Starting a business with minimal capital required Rachel and Heather to be scrappy and resourceful. They invested their initial $4,000 into necessities like a partnership agreement, a logo, and samples of their first package.
At the time, Rachel was working as a flight attendant and couldn’t find a stylish waterproof bag to carry her bikini while traveling. Heather also knows that fitness buffs and yoga practitioners can use a bag like this to carry their sweaty workout clothes.
The pair launched an initial Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign to gauge interest and found good demand for their idea. Aloha Collection raised just over $6,000 in funding on the platform and fueled the next step in growing their business.
Taking risks at trade shows
Thanks to the success of their Kickstarter campaign, Heather and Rachael were able to order some samples and use some of the funds to meet potential buyers. So they spent $2,000 to buy a booth at Magic, a Las Vegas fashion trade show they’d heard about through friends. They drove to Vegas from Southern California, stayed in the cheapest room they could find (the Excalibur was $29 a night), and bought some fake palm trees at Home Depot to decorate their booth. “We ended up getting some of our first Hawaii customers who are still our customers,” Heather said.
The Aloha Collection also caught the attention of a Japanese dealer, who wrote a check for $30,000 as a deposit on the spot. “This is the most money I’ve ever seen in my life,” Rachel said. “I looked at Heather. I was like, ‘Oh my God, we just had a big hit in Vegas.
Develop hero products
Rachael found that Tyvek, a synthetic material, had the functionality she wanted for the Aloha Collection’s first bag, but adding design to the material was not common. “One time, after we got the bag, the print started to rub off,” Rachel said. “It took us a while to figure out how to actually retain the print on the coated Tyvek.”
Rachel says focusing on different areas of the business makes collaboration easier.
Heather handles the business side of working with manufacturers, while Rachel designs products and sources materials. “Rachel’s special sauce is like having a real eye for things,” Heather said.
Towards omnichannel
Heather and Rachel’s gamble paid off, and the brand grew steadily over the next few years through wholesale and e-commerce sales. But during the pandemic, Heather and Rachel began to worry about how reliant the business was on e-commerce. As of 2021, 80% of their sales come from their website. “We never want to put all our eggs in one basket,” Heather said. “Our dream has always been to be 50 percent e-commerce and 50 percent other business.”
Due to the volatility in the wholesale market and the rising cost of online customer acquisition during the pandemic, Heather and Rachel decided to take matters into their own hands. They capitalized on some COVID-19 rental deals by opening two Aloha Collection stores in two popular beach destinations: Waikiki, Hawaii, and Encinitas, California.
These stores have helped them attract new customers and create a brand experience that evokes the aloha spirit they hope to spread. “We want our store to feel welcoming, like you’re walking into someone’s home,” Rachael said.
Live and grow your business authentically
Heather and Rachael, both Native Hawaiians, say the brand’s focus on the authenticity of Hawaiian culture and creating a global “o’hana” (Hawaiian for “family”) is part of their success. The business donates 5% of its profits annually to Hawaii conservation organizations.
The founders of Aloha Collection wouldn’t be able to do this if they weren’t true to themselves. The two co-founders share a passion for travel and started their company in a remote location in 2014, before travel became as popular as it is now. “The beach is our home. Travel has always been a source of inspiration,” Heather said.
To learn more about the Aloha Collection’s growth over the past 10 years, listen full interview Shopify Masters.
