Let’s be honest…we’ve all had a visible sweaty crotch at some point when wearing activewear! Lucky for us Alana Clarkson, has done something about that and founded Idea Athletic.
Alana, a mum to two girls, who works full time in recruitment for herself, spent over 2.5 years developing the solution and is proud to finally launch her invisiSweat creation to the world.
We recently sat down over Zoom and chatted to Alana.
What inspired you to start Idea Athletic?
I tried to buy the solution to an issue I was having. Which was the visible sweaty crotch and bust when I wore activewear! I could see clearly exactly what it was I was looking to buy and searched and searched for it and soon realised that it didn’t exist. So I started on my mission to create it. It was so clear to me that I was going to make this solution because I felt really blessed to be able to have an idea that didn’t exist.
But the bigger back story to it is I realised once I started on this mission of creation that I had done 10yrs of market research during my time as a gym instructor and had many conversations with women about sweat and activewear.
Then there was the “supermarket incident” that really kicked it off for me, where I looked like I’d peed myself after a session. That was my big turning point.
The activewear is sweat resistant and you have an Australian Innovation Patent for “invisiSweat”, how did you research and then design the solution?
Trial and error. In fact my very talented pattern maker who I went to with my idea has told me that I am the most sampled brand she has ever worked with. I think we went through around 25 to get to the finished result. I’m lucky she didn’t give up on me.
But how it all went was really a process of elimination. I had a really clear vision of the solution I wanted to create. I live in activewear so I had a pretty good understanding of what I liked and didn’t like but then creating this other completely different element to it which was the invisiSweat was a journey.
I spent so much time researching, then thinking about what fabrics would be the best, what thickness would be the best, what would work structurally within the garment. There was so many elements to consider.
And then from a design perspective, how were we going to make it look good without bulk.
Then once you get it there. You have to take it to the next testing phase which is with other women of different heights and shapes to see if it works for them and what they need.
It was a journey.
What challenges did you have to overcome at the beginning of your journey?
Where do you want to start? I work full time in our own recruitment business and I’m a Mum. So the juggling was real.
Also, I have no experience in the garment industry. I have no design experience. I come from a finance and recruitment background so all of this was completely new to me.
In some ways I am grateful for being completely green in that sense because I had no expectations. But it was a big challenge. Setting up a supply chain was really hard. I spent hours on the phone to manufacturers just cold calling. I was told no more than yes.
Then understanding the process from start to finish was challenging. I had a great idea, I had a great sample – How do I get it to the next step?
I learnt though that whenever I had an issue arise, I just had to pivot. At one stage I felt like I was continually pivoting.
What strategies did you first use to market your business?
I’m a startup business. So the marketing process right now is all about trying different avenues and seeing where we find our tribe.
Being a startup, there is many costs involved and you want to try and save money where possible but the one area where I chose to not save money and really invest was in the imagery. I’m so proud of the results as it really shows the brand and the product beautifully and because we are an online business I felt that this was key.
By way of marketing, I have to say I think the universe sent me the ultimate blessing. We relocated from Sydney to Queensland a few years ago for a sea change and the very first person I met was this glamazon who popped her head over the fence and introduced herself. She subsequently became my first friend too but also works for herself in digital marketing.
So flash forward a year or so and she was the first person I called to help me. She’s not only done an amazing job and is super talented she has also really invested herself into the brand and helped keep my costs down compared to me working with another firm. I’m super grateful for this and I think the strategies going forward are evolving and it’s an exciting phase in terms of marketing as we get the word out there and people get to see the brand for the first time.
But we have to find what works best and run with it. So in terms of strategy, we are trialing a few. I also do think the best marketing strategy is word of mouth. And we’ve had a bit of that already. That excites me, because the organic growth that comes from that is incredible.
What have you enjoyed most about starting your own company?
I would say the thing I have found the most rewarding is seeing my idea and the solution I have created come to life.
The fact that I can look at it and think to myself “I did this”, is very cool. No one set a single thing up for me, no one held my hand. It’s incredibly rewarding.
I’ve also really enjoyed meeting and working alongside some incredibly talented women who I may not have had the chance to work with otherwise. That’s been awesome.
There are so many things I’ve enjoyed. I’m grateful for the whole experience to date.
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