We Have A Solution

There is the old saying that "Good things come to those who wait." I've always found that saying to be true, especially when it has come to running Vegan Athletic over the last four years. I never felt like I needed to rush decisions, rush designs or put pressure on others involved to make things happen for this brand. I felt the same way when I decided to end the manufacturing side of the brand a few months ago when it got to a point where the business needed more financial backing and more people power to take it to where it needed to go. I took my time and spoke to a lot of great people from around the world who offered a lot of advice and help, and after all of that, I still concluded that closing our manufacture of apparel down was the right decision to make for the position I was in.

A month after I made that decision, I received a message from a guy who had reached out initially to offer help and advice. Cameron was, like so many other customers, bummed that Vegan Athletic was closing down the apparel production, but understood the position I was in, mainly as we had spoken in a lot of detail over the months leading up to that point about what the brand and myself needed to continue. That message led to a phone call where Cameron said he hated to see Vegan Athletic leave the apparel market and may be able to offer some solutions to help. By this point, I had made peace with the decision to stop production, but Cameron insisted that he wanted to see Vegan Athletic continue because the brand empowers so many plant-based athletes all around the world. He told me to wait few days for him to speak to a close friend of his who he thought might like to be a part of the solution.

A couple of days later Cameron rung back with news that his friend and business partner, also named Daniel, were interested in seeing what it would take not just to get Vegan Athletic back up and running, but what it would take to continue the progression of where this brand is heading into the future.

Both Cameron and Daniel are proud plant-powered athletes and are huge advocates for vegan athletes. They have very extensive athletic backgrounds and plenty of entrepreneurial experience. Cameron has spent the last three years building up his own online plant-based organic superfood company and has a certification in plant-based nutrition from the Center for Nutrition Studies at eCornell University.

The more I started to get to know Cameron and Daniel, the more I began to think that there was a possibility that Vegan Athletic could be looking at the very well aligned team it has been needing.

At this point, the Vegan Athletic social channels started going quiet. Over the last three months, the three of us have been working on this new direction together and I can now officially say I am super excited to have them part of the bright future of Vegan Athletic.

I honestly didn't see this coming, I didn't think it was possible that there would be someone, in this case, two people who could understand the philosophy of the brand, who would understand our customers and audience and who could appreciate the level of detail that has made Vegan Athletic the brand it became. Both Cameron and Daniel have the experience in the areas that I was not able to bring to the table, and I have been able to build a brand that they could not find anywhere else that met all the right attributes they have wanted to invest themselves into.

For those of you who have been loyal to Vegan Athletic since the beginning, who have supported me in taking this brand from a small side project into a very well respected and wide-reaching international name, I want to assure you that I have thought long and hard about making this decision to allow Cameron and Daniel onboard. Because this decision always came down to supporting you, the ethically conscious community of athletes who are redefining what the modern athlete can be.

I've seen what a positive impact the words vegan and athletic can have when printed on apparel and I am so happy to have waited. I took my time to make this decision, and as a result, good things have come, and good things will continue to come for Vegan Athletic in the future.

There will be a lot more information about all of this news and when we will be opening the shop back up very soon. We have catching up to do, we have new timelines and goals to plan and I think everyone is going to be stoked to know that we will continue to manufacture from the same factory who have been making our apparel from day one.

For now, I just wanted to share this with everyone so we can all throw a little fist pump around the world knowing that we are going to be able to continue making good things for good people again!

Big love,
Daniel B