up with the concept for Aloha Collection? Rachael Leinaʻala Soares: I was working as a flight attendant, and after beach layovers, I always had a wet bikini with nowhere to stash it. I didn’t want to keep using plastic hotel laundry bags, so I made a simple pouch out of Tyvek [a synthetic material made from high-density spunbound polyethylene fibres] to have something lightweight and water-resistant that I could throw in my carry-on. Heather Aiu: I was working as a private mortgage banker, and one thing I noticed was that all of my most successful clients owned their own business. Rachael was always coming up with business ideas, so I came to her and said, ‘Send me your top 10.’  One of them was the Tyvek pouch, and it immediately clicked. We always joke, ‘What do you get when a flight attendant with a million ideas but no business background teams up with an international businesswoman who’d never taken an international flight?’ A match made in paradise, and the start of Aloha Collection. IR: What were the initial challenges of building up the business? How did you navigate them? HA: Cash flow and production were definitely our biggest early challenges.  Once we had a logo, a trademark and a couple of samples, our initial US$4000 investment was completely gone. We quickly realised we needed more capital to bring our vision to life, so we went back to the drawing board and launched a Kickstarter campaign. With the support of our friends, family and early believers in our idea, we raised US$6000, just enough to go into production and take the next step. RLS: In those early days, sourcing materials and finding reliable manufacturers was a real uphill climb. We were navigating an industry we had never worked in before, so there were a lot of learnings. That’s when we adopted a mindset that became our unofficial motto, “If someone says no, figure out how to find a yes.”  Every time we hit a wall, we stayed focused on moving forward, even if it meant getting creative or pivoting quickly. That resilience is what laid the foundation for Aloha Collection. IR: What have been the major ‘wins’ in running the business thus far? HA: One of our proudest wins is building a brand with real staying power.  Aloha Collection has been around for over a decade, and we’re still privately owned, growing and doing things on our own terms.  From day one, we saw a clear, white space and created our own lane in splash-proof travel and beach bags. That focus has helped us lead the category and build a loyal customer community around the world. RLS: We’re also incredibly proud of the leadership team we’ve built.  Bringing in our first CEO, Lynna Barnard, was a huge milestone. She brings a wealth of experience and has helped us scale thoughtfully while staying true to our roots.  Our stores have become powerful brand-building platforms, and we’ve expanded globally through more than 2000 retailers across 25-plus countries.  We’ve also grown our product line from two simple pouches to a full travel system, with new categories launching this year, including our first diaper bag.  Collaborations with Disney, Tommy Bahama, and Lspace have allowed us to grow with intention, and through it all, we’ve stayed grounded in our mission, with 5 per cent of profits going to Hawaii-based conservation efforts since day one, through our Malama Aina give-back program. IR: What strategies is the brand planning to tap into in the next one to two years to promote growth and brand awareness? HA: We’re focused on scaling growth through new categories, deeper collaborations and expanded distribution. Earlier this year, we tested a localised product moment with “The Big Show” on Oahu, featuring limited-edition drops created specifically for our Hawaiian customers. That format inspired our “Lucky 11 Anniversary Collection”, launching this summer, with a capsule of limited-run prints designed to bring that same energy online. On the retail front, we’re entering the college market with a University of Texas at Austin pop-up this fall and plan to scale that strategy into 2026.  IR: How has the industry changed since Aloha Collection first launched in 2014? In what ways has the business adapted to keep up with these shifts? HA: When we launched in 2014, direct-to-consumer brands were on the rise, and digital was the obvious place to start.  We built our foundation through e-commerce, word of mouth and grassroots marketing. However, over time, rising customer acquisition costs and platform dependency created challenges across the industry, and we knew we couldn’t rely on digital alone. We have invested in infrastructure, everything from hiring a senior leadership team to upgrading our tech stack with a new enterprise resource planning system and headless website. The industry keeps moving quickly, and for us, staying agile means balancing creativity and data, and always keeping the customer at the centre. Our category is more competitive than ever, but what sets us apart is our point of view; we don’t just sell bags, we share aloha. RLS: We have also made a big shift post-pandemic by diversifying into bricks-and-mortar. We opened our first stores in Waikiki, Hawaii and Encinitas, California. Then we realised that creating immersive, in-person experiences gave us something digital couldn’t: loyalty, repeat purchase and a deeper brand connection. Now, we see retail as a critical piece of our growth strategy. In 2025, our stores are projected to make up nearly 20 per cent of total revenue. IR: Hawaii’s distance from the US mainland often results in higher shipping fees and other related costs, making it more difficult for Hawaiian-led brands to expand. How have you navigated these challenges? HA: We’re Native Hawaiian-founded, but we’ve always run the business from California; our headquarters are in Encinitas.  That decision has given us more flexibility as we’ve scaled, especially when it comes to logistics, fulfilment and international expansion. To support long-term growth, we also established a distribution centre in Mexico, which allows us to better manage shipping costs and serve our customers more efficiently across global markets. RLS: Being Hawaiian-led influences everything we do, no matter where we’re based.  We carry that responsibility with us, in how we lead, how we build the brand and how we give back. Staying grounded in that identity is what keeps us focused, even as the business grows globally. IR: What does it mean for you to be a brand that is sharing the spirit of ‘aloha’ with the world? RLS: For us, sharing aloha is not just about the bags, it’s about how people feel when they use them.  While we want every product to be functional, we also want our products to bring joy, to make life a little easier or a little lighter. If a bag makes someone smile, that’s a win. We’re building an international ʻohana [family], one bag, one smile, one person at a time. HA: As Native Hawaiian founders, we feel a deep kuleana, a responsibility, to support and protect the place we come from. It’s our way of helping preserve the cultural heritage and natural beauty of our home.  Malama Aina means to take care of the land, and that’s always been part of our mission. IR: What is a piece of advice you would give to yourself at the beginning of your brand founder journey? RLS: Don’t wait for it to be perfect, just start. You’ll figure it out as you go. Some of our best moments came out of challenges we never could’ve planned for, and some of our biggest wins happened because we said yes before we felt ready. If you believe in what you’re building, trust that, and keep going. HA: Ask more questions.  Find people who’ve done it before and learn from them early. We had to figure out a lot on our own, every production hiccup, every shipping mistake, every growth curve. Yet that scrappiness also gave us grit.  Looking back, I’d tell myself: Stay curious, stay scrappy, and know that the hard parts are teaching you something. IR: What advice would you give to aspiring brand founders? RLS: Building a business is a marathon, not a sprint. You’ll learn as you go. The challenges are part of it, and they’ll teach you more than the wins.  Stay true to your vision, trust your gut, and don’t be afraid to take a different path than what you see around you. Most importantly, build a support system. Mentors and advisers can make all the difference, especially when you’re doing something new. HA: Start with your why and let it guide everything you do. Building a brand isn’t just about a great product, it’s about storytelling, values and community. Being from Hawaii, we have such a unique perspective and culture to draw from. We lean into that.  IR: Where do you hope to see the brand go in the next 10 years? HA: In 10 years, I see Aloha Collection becoming a legacy brand. Our vision is to solidify Aloha Collection as the category leader in beach and travel bags on a global scale. Over the next decade, we’re focused on deepening our brand equity while expanding our giveback efforts through a dedicated foundation that will extend the reach of our Malama Aina program, supporting re-generative tourism, food resilience and the protection of Hawaii’s cultural and natural resources. RLS: Our goal is to drive both brand recognition and meaningful connection. We want Aloha to be synonymous with beach and travel, globally known, but still grounded in values. That means continuing to deliver product innovation with purpose, while using our platform to share the spirit of aloha, build a global ʻohana, and uplift the communities that made this possible.