Rising Stars: Meet Cierra Porter

Today we’d like to introduce you to Cierra Porter.

Hi Cierra, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
It’s kind of funny how I got the idea to start Amini. I’ve always been into traveling and photography was my main source of income, so every trip I would go on, I would reach out to brands to shoot content for them as a way to get some of the trips paid for. When my friend Halle Kearns and I were planning a trip to Thailand, I reached out to a few swimsuit companies to offer our services (her as the model, me as the photographer). No one answered me. I was so frustrated because that doesn’t typically happen, so I thought to myself, “fine, I’ll just start my own swimsuit company.” And there was the birth of the idea. I tribute it to my ego.

As I sat with the idea for approximately 37 minutes before pulling the trigger and deciding to go for it, I knew a few things were important to me to include with this company. I knew I wanted the company to be as sustainable as possible because even though I had this idea on a whim, I have always been IN LOVE with the ocean and the way that we are ruining it with our poor habits has always bothered me. On top of the sustainability aspect, I knew I wanted it to be ethical in the sense that the people who manufacture our designs have to be paid a livable wage and also have to have great working conditions. Luckily we found a manufacturer that fit the bill. And last but not least, my faith in Jesus is the most important thing to me. In the Bible, it talks about giving the first 10% of your earnings back to God, so I knew that 10% of our profits had to be donated. It’s always to different organizations, but with the intent in mind of loving people well and stewarding the beautiful earth, we have been given.

After deciding on all of this, like I said, 37 minutes later, I text my friend Aubrey Maggard to see if she would partner with me. Her and I had been close ever since I moved to Columbia, MO in 2010, where we went to junior high, high school, and college together. In college, we always talked about starting a business together but never landed on something that we were both passionate about. As soon as I had the idea, I knew she was the one to do it with. I texted her, “question. I am really wanting to start a sustainable swimwear line and just started doing a little research. is that something you would potentially be interested in doing together” and her answer was, “Ooo Yes! Love that!”

And from then on, we have both poured ourselves into research, listening to business podcasts, asking people further along than us for advice, etc. Because honestly, neither of us knew anything about starting a swimwear company, and let alone designing suits from scratch. Neither of us has EVER studied fashion. But what we lack in knowledge and skill, we make up for in unsubstantiated confidence (kinda kidding, kinda serious). Even though we knew nothing, we believed it would be something big. And that’s where Amini comes from. A belief in ourselves that we are able to change the world. And in case you didn’t know, Amini means “believe” in Swahili.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
It has been anything but a smooth road. I would say the biggest obstacle would be learning the world of manufacturers. Finding one that takes us seriously even though we are new has been hard. Especially when we are not willing to compromise on being ethical and sustainable. I don’t think people realize how much more it costs to work with manufacturers that do things the right way, so our pricing has been another thing that has been tough. We are doing our best to make sustainability accessible, but it can be hard when you’re competing with fast fashion companies that whip out $10 swimsuits. But I just urge people to remember that the companies that are selling those are still bringing in a profit, which means it only costs a couple of dollars to manufacture. And that means some woman, man (or child) is being taken advantage of just for our convenience. Just because we don’t see the negative effects of fast fashion firsthand doesn’t mean they don’t exist.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
First and foremost, I am a photographer and videographer. I feel like that has given us an upper hand when it comes to marketing. Basically, I do all of our photography and marketing for free. That has saved us so much money and time being able to do everything in-house. My goal was to set us apart as a swimwear company that focuses on the memories and magic that come with the ocean. I fully understand the concept that “sex sells,” and I think that’s what a lot of swimsuit companies aim for.

A promise that their suits will make you look as sexy as the models. I didn’t want to focus on bodies or sex appeal at all. I wanted to be countercultural. Of course, we have to have pictures of girls modeling the swimsuits, but I still believed we could do that in a way that wasn’t focused on how their bodies look in the swimsuits but rather their adventures in the swimsuits. I wanted our images and marketing to be all about the adventure, the joy, the memories, the nostalgia, the story of the ocean. My vision was for our brand to be elevated and tasteful. I feel as though our focus on the things that matter and the things that last set us apart. Our mission is to save the earth, spread love, and inspire belief. Everything about us has to resemble that.

Is there something surprising that you feel even people who know you might not know about?
I don’t think a lot of people know that we do everything literally in house and we are kind of just finding our way as we go. We built the website, take and edit the images, do all the social media posts, individually package and ship each order, handle all the marketing, etc. It’s a lot for two people, especially two people that don’t even live in the same state (Aubrey still lives in MO, while I am now in AZ). We are constantly blowing up each other’s phones with news and ideas and visions. I’m proud of our little dream team.

Contact Info:

• Email: info@aminiswim.com
• Website: aminiswim.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aminiswim/

Image Credits
Cierra Porter