Anna Jerstrom, founder and designer of Calavera, Inc., spent nearly a decade of her life immersed in the demanding field of international investment banking but she longed for something different. Very different! She had dreams of attending a surfing camp in Costa Rica and once she finally did it, surfing became her life. She quit her job and moved to Costa Rica so she could focus her energies on becoming a surfing pro.
While mastering the art of surfing, Jerstrom was faced with swimwear issues most woman deal with: tops and bottoms that won’t stay put, made worst by the demands of surfing. Because of this, Anna set out to make a better bikini and Calavera was born.
Anna took time out of her busy day to talk to MyCity4Her and shared stories about her incredible journey including the best advice she’s received, the mistakes she’s made along the way and more in her Q&A 4Her interview.
Did you ever imagine yourself achieving what you have?
At the risk of sounding arrogant – Yes. You have to believe that it is all going to work out in order to “survive” entrepreneurship. It is such a tough and uncertain road and faith is a big part of what carries you forward. That being said, it is still an awesome and mind-boggling feeling to see something you care so deeply about resonate with other people.
What in hindsight would you say you underestimated about your industry or business and why?
I come from the financial service industry and had never actually made anything and must admit I had grossly underestimated the complexity and challenges involved in getting a product developed and manufactured. Every little detail matters and there are so many things that can go wrong in the process. While I was use to giving people I worked with guidelines and they’d go figure it out themselves, I found myself in a situation where I had to be completely explicit in my instructions. Since I had no experience and therefore “did not know what I did not know” it was a long and painful process, but I learned. For example, now I know that I have to specify the thickness of the thread and the number of stitches per inch or the thread will pop when the fabric stretches… I know that you have to make sure the fabric is cut in the correct direction and that it is the same weight as was used for the samples you made or you end up with a completely different sized garment..and I know that it is a terrible feeling when you are sitting there with 300 bikini tops that have different sized left and right cups…Like I said, I learned the hard way.
What is the best business related advice you have ever been given?
When I started out as a first time entrepreneur I reached out to as many people as I could that had walked down that path already. I collected a lot of good advice but here is the catch; no-one knows your business as well as you do and I found that while it is really important to listen to people with experience, it is much more important to listen to yourself. There are a thousand ways of getting to the same place, and you can easily get lost if you start paying too much attention to what other people think and not enough to what you think yourself. It is important that you gather the relevant information in order to make your decision, but never let someone else make it for you. However, I have a few “pet phrases” told to me by wise people that I consulted on this journey. The best one is also the simplest one – Just do it! (it had an x-rated word squeezed in there as well but I figured better keep it clean…). Nike was really on to something when they coined that phrase.
What do you love most about what you do and why?
I love that I get to work with something that I am so passionate about. For me surfing isn’t something I do, it is who I am, and to be able to occasionally sit on my surfboard and call it
work is amazing.
What – if you knew then what you know now – would you do differently and why?
A million things. Being an entrepreneur and a start-up is all about making mistakes and taking risks. In the beginning, I use to get upset when the world did not spin my way or I made the wrong decision but I quickly learned that what is important is how you solve the problem, not whether you have it in the first place. I use to feel sick to my stomach when I had messed up and now all I do is figure out how to fix it in the most efficient way possible. It is easy to think that successful people are successful because they do everything right, but my belief is that they are successful because they can react and adjust in a dynamic manner.
When you’re not working how do you like to spend your time?
Surfing of course!
How do you define success?
My financial advisors always shirk when I say this, but I really don’t care about making loads of money. For me, success is walking down a beach seeing someone I don’t know wearing something I made. It has happened a couple of times and it is a weird and wonderful feeling. However, in the end my investors and I will benefit just the same because if I am to see a bunch of people in a Calavera suit every time I go to a beach I need to sell a whole lot of bikinis!!
If you had to share one final thought with our audience of thousands of women in
business – what would it be?
For me, it has been difficult to stop and take joy in the good things rather than just dealing with the things that needs fixing. Building a company takes hard work and dedication so if you are going to do it, make sure you take time to enjoy the journey.