Written by Nicole Caputo
Growing up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania there were few days of sunlight, and the summers were as fleeting as the birds in the winter time. So when I saw a young lady succeeding in her bathing suit company based out of Pittsburgh, I asked myself how? I had to know how she managed to excel in an industry that was seasonally dependent on the time of year, while also competing amongst an extensive amount of online stores offering bathing suits at record low prices. As a marketing major, I was quickly drawn to her company due to the creative style in her branding. I also took notice of how the advertising included people from all walks of life into the photos portraying the products that were available for purchase. The company's all inclusive style caught my eye and quickly became something I wanted to know more about. The brains behind this enticing company is a young lady by the name of Cat Simms. In 2021, she created the SVVIAA Swim company when she recognized her passion for empowering other women and her desire to create a community where vulnerability was transformed into confidence through collaboration within the fashion industry.
Although I grew up knowing of Cat Simms, I had never spoken to her in person, just through social media, so this was a meaningful experience for me. With my admiration for her creative eye in her marketing as well as her success at a young age, I have felt inspired by her for a long time and have always wanted to know more about how she managed to accomplish such success. To me, her company did not appear to be a typical bathing suit company, but rather a community. I took notice of how she used different models in every shoot and how the photos were taken in a way that advertised not only the bathing suits, but the beautifully unique person behind the camera. Being in a swimsuit is a very vulnerable place to be. In recent years the industry has begun to shift towards empowerment, rather than the idealism of perfection and Cat’s company is a catalyst for this transition in society. Without words, just through images, I was able to see the bigger picture behind what her company’s vision truly was. I saw the empowerment of women, the beauty in being unique, and that anyone can feel confident when they realize that they are wearing the bathing suits; the bathing suits are not wearing them. As I began to see the meaning behind her company, it only felt right that confirmed my beliefs with the owner herself through the story of how the SVVIAA Swim company came to be.
Growing up an hour outside of Pittsburgh in a small town called Butler, Cat attended a catholic school consisting of only around fifty students per graduating class. She explained how the limited number of people in the school made it very difficult for her to network and branch out into the world. With entrepreneurial parents growing up, Cat noticed the amount of autonomy and overall freedom that her parents had as a result of being private business owners, which struck an interest in her entrepreneurial spirit and curiosity. Immediately following her high school graduation, Cat chose to attend Penn State University where she hoped to gain the network and skills that would be essential in her future business pursuits. After four years of discovery, Cat graduated with an advertising and public relations degree, minoring in digital media trends and analytics as well as a concentration in international studies. She described herself as being an ever seeking and curious person, so she wanted to learn as much as she could during her college experience. Upon graduating, Cat continued to explore her curiosity, by venturing into learning the process of running a business step by step.
Although college played a significant role in educating Cat on what it means to run a business, she explained to me that the majority of her understanding came from simply researching the process independently through Google and YouTube. With intentions of creating a community that empowered women, Cat’s mind went directly to the idea of starting a company in the bathing suit industry. The vulnerability that is associated with wearing a bathing suit is a very intimidating and consuming feeling that women across the globe feel every time they step into summertime. Cat recognized that this overbearing feeling that many women experience could be transformed into a much more positive sense of belongingness and confidence. The idea was born and she began to work religiously on manifesting these ideals through her original designs and creativity. The SVVIAA Swim company was established in 2021, and since then the company on average reaches around 400,000 people across the United States every 90 days and continues to provide personable service, a strong sense of community, as well as quality swimsuits in a variety of sizes and designs.
To create this newfound community, Cat used her knowledge of how to start and run a business to find a manufacturer, create a website, and to obtain all legal requirements to begin operation. Once the products were designed, received, and advertised through instagram, the SVVIAA Swim company quickly began to attract women from all over looking to help Cat with promotion. There were no requirements for participants to have a modeling background, a tiny waist, or flawless skin, Cat welcomed anyone to take part in the opportunity to be unapologetically themselves in the bathing suits of their choice. By taking volunteers through social media, her company has featured over 200 models over its lifespan. In order to promote the importance of self-love, Cat does not edit any of the pictures in which she takes. This allows people to feel comfortable in knowing that who they are and what they look like in all of their unrefined and natural beauty is enough for the company, and more importantly enough for someone to feel confident. By establishing this welcoming community, Cat has been able to limit the costs of hiring models, and also has been able to bring her ideas to life in the photoshoots. As the main photographer for the company, she takes all of her photos on an iphone, with the exception of a few photographers that have volunteered to collaborate on various projects. Regardless, the photos are designed to capture the models in a way that displays their confidence in the suits as well as themselves.
The SVVIAA Swim company is currently run solely by Cat Simms. I truly admire her for successfully creating her own marketplace website, keeping up with her social media, scheduling photoshoots, communicating and coordinating the models, as well as designing, ordering, and shipping the bathing suits. For one person to balance all of these factors incorporated with running an expanding business, Cat has demonstrated what is possible when dedication and passion coincide. Due to the company's continued growth and outreach, Cat explained how she spends far more time on the company now than she did when it was in the startup phase. The communication with customers and the coordination of the models is what she has found to be the most time consuming part of the company at this point in time. In order to show her customers that she cares, she continuously conducts follow-ups to be sure that all concerns are addressed and that all admiration is met with gratitude.
When I asked Cat if she would go back in time to start up her company again, she said, “Absolutely. Starting this company was the best thing I have ever done. It has been so rewarding to create and support such a large community of women who believe in not only my company’s vision, but who have also found beauty and confidence within themselves throughout the process. Being able to build other people up and to see the trickling effect of support spread from one person to another through my company, is a big reason why I continue to work so hard.” She even went on to describe how the women who have come into the shoots as strangers, have left as best friends. Not only that, but many women have told Cat how wearing the suits for the company’s photoshoots was “the most beautiful that they have ever felt.” As a result of this strongly built community, she exclaims that she would not change a thing about the company. The butterfly effect of SVVIAA Swim has spread so much positivity, love, and happiness to women all across the United States, and Cat Simms feels as though there is nothing more that she would have wanted to get out of starting a company.
From the first time I encountered the SVVIAA Swim company, I knew it was a place where I too, felt empowered, enlightened, and intrigued by what the company had to offer. For the last two years I have watched her company transcend into what it is today, and I am so grateful to have spoken with such a kind hearted, self-motivated, and successful entrepreneur. Her advice to an aspiring entrepreneur like myself was as follows: “You are going to have to be motivated by more than money and it comes down to having a deep passion for what you are doing and pursuing. It is important to never give up on your aspirations, to work through the adversity, and to believe in yourself more than ever. People might not always believe in you, but if you surround yourself with authentic people who help to build you up, you’ll continue to attract what it is that you need to achieve success. Find good people, work hard, be ethical, and know that the power to succeed comes from within and that you can achieve anything you put your mind to.”
Ever since our interview, I have been able to find that spark within myself to pursue my entrepreneurial endeavors with passion, drive, focus, and optimism. Just like the idea behind SVVIAA Swim, a successful entrepreneur is not defined by a specific set of traits, but rather an inner drive to take the risks necessary to bring an idea to life. Upon speaking with Cat Simms, I have realized that having belief in yourself and passion for what you are pursuing are the building blocks to success. The rest of the adversity can be overcome as long as your drive and passions are within and true to yourself. The advice and insight that I gained from Cat will continue to inspire my pursuits in and outside of my professional career through the process of believing in myself, and working as diligently as I can to follow where my passions lie.
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