A beginning with (a lot of) water in the eyes
It didn't take more than a couple of years in my basement selling well-known swimwear and swimming equipment before the dream of establishing Watery's own swimming brand started to creep in.
A big and difficult step that simmered for a long time, but the famous aha moment came for me late one evening in August 2018, when I was, as always, advising Watery customers on the chat until 22:00.
A mum (and morning swimmer) wrote to me. I could see that she had placed 7 orders with us in the last 1.5 years - cool was my first thought, but she quickly elaborated on her initial "Hi":
βI have just received the fifth pair of goggles in 3 weeks from you guys. Like all the others I have tried and subsequently returned, they leave red marks around the eyes and water pours in like a waterfall after a few laps. Is this really the standard, Daniel??β
I knew the frustration quite well, both from other customers and from my own nearly 10 years as a competitive swimmer (just look at the picture of me at a typical training camp). Not only were these established brands expensive, but many had a poor fit and all seemed to be designed for the elite. And the colours? Fifty shades of boooring..
This was the final straw that led to the creation of an alternative water sports brand that produced quality swimming equipment and swimwear in colourful Scandinavian colours with direct distribution to customers and therefore could actually be sold at a fair price.Β
This "standard" the mum was looking for ended up being Watery itself.