Part 1

23 Samples Later and a Firm Handshake

I’m Aliki (AKA Mama VnM), founder of VnM Sport – I've been asked a few times about our journey so I decided to take some time and get it out! And if I've learned one thing, it’s that building a business is a lot like riding a motorcycle.

You’re going to hit some bumps, maybe fall off a few times, but you dust yourself off, hop back on, and keep going. And sure, some family and friends might call you a little kookoo, but hey, that never stopped us, right?

In 2008, when I first dove into this, I had zero experience with manufacturing – but I figured, how hard could it be? Spoiler alert: it’s hard, especially when starting from scratch. Finding a local manufacturer in North America was like trying to find a unicorn.

Eventually, I found one brave enough to take me on. I started with men’s tops, and let’s just say my perfectionism kicked into overdrive. While most folks settle on 3 samples, I decided that wasn’t nearly enough. Nope, not for me – I went through 23 samples before I was satisfied. Yeah, you read that right – 23. Major kudos to my first manufacturer for putting up with me.

But alas, even the Starbucks coffees I brought to every meeting weren’t enough to keep them on my side, and I got the boot. Lesson learned: You can’t bribe people with caffeine forever. But, just like when you drop your bike, you get back in the saddle and keep going.

Next on the list? Finding the right fabric. I’ll never forget meeting with a fabric distributor at a local coffee shop. I was dressed to impress, shook his hand like I meant business, and told him all about my vision for VnM Sport. What happened next? He looked me dead in the eyes and said, "I was this close to telling you to go suck an egg." (No joke.) But then he paused and said, "You know what? I lost a deal with the founder of Lululemon when she started out, and I’m not making that mistake twice." And just like that, I was back in business.

The journey from that first meeting to where we are today hasn’t been smooth, but it's been one heck of a ride. I’ll be sharing more stories of how we got here in the coming weeks, so buckle up – there’s more to come.