Sway Collective was formed in 2017 by Don and Holly Swope.
Holly grew up in Michigan with a passion for snowboarding, wakeboarding, and soccer. She attended Colorado State University where she received her Bachelor of Science in Fashion Design. After completing her degree, she moved to Huntington Beach, California, and quickly started her career as a design intern for Billabong. In 2006, she was hired at Quicksilver to design Roxy, Roxy Girl, and Teenie Wahine. She move to Fox Racing and established the Women's department and served as Design Manager. She took a promotion as Design Director at Manhattan Beachwear, and later Raj Swim where she directed and designed lines for companies such as Victoria's Secret, Sports Illustrated, Good American, and SKIMS to list a few.
Don grew up in Southern California and Texas with a passion for Lacrosse (All-state honors). He enlisted upon graduation in 2005 into U.S. Navy as a Cryptologic Technician (CTR). Only nine short months after joining he volunteered to deploy for eight months to Afghanistan. After returning home he successfully screened for a special assignment with Naval Special Warfare's Tactical Information Operations program. There he completed combat deployments with SEAL Team 7 (2009), SEAL Team 5 (2010), 75th Ranger Regiment (2012), SEAL Team 1 (2014), and Seal Team 5 (2017). Throughout his career, he has served in many leadership roles with teams ranging from 5 - 500 Sailors and managed portfolios worth $67M. Don received his Bachelor of Professional Studies in Business and Management from Excelsior College in 2019.
All military branches, commands, and clubs use branded merchandise to promote esprit de corps, fundraise, and because it is fun / looks cool! Don spent many years on the buying end of these deals and was often frustrated by the interactions with vendors. Companies were unreliable, dishonest, sneak in hidden fees, or even say an order "Wasn't worth our time...".
How....? Well, we weren't sure, but we knew what we were lacking (Customer service, priority, consistent pricing, transparency, and having to go to X different companies for different items), and built our business designed to meet those needs. We were lucky enough to be mentored by some of the best in the business, which helped us set up our processes and made introductions to top-of-the-line suppliers and decorators. The first year in business was a learning experience, like any other business, but we worked early mornings and late nights to ensure the products were on time and above expectations. Every year since our military client base continues to grow through word of mouth and we love providing products to communities that are near and dear to our hearts.
Although we started our grind with friends, family, and the local network of small businesses we quickly gained a following through our quality work, customer service, and creative solutions and have serviced over 100+ clients strictly through word-of-mouth referrals in our first 3 years.
Our side hustle turned into the main hustle due to the pandemic. Like many people around the country, Holly's company furloughed the entire staff for an undefined time. This was the shock we needed to dedicate ourselves to growing our business and taking luck, chance, and fate into our own hands. Instead of her usual design meetings, Holly woke up at 5 am and started cold calling companies across the nation for work. We made relationships with overseas manufacturers to supply PPE and other essential items to hospitals like the University of Michigan, Dignity Health, and various EMT companies whose supply lines were shut down. Those deliveries turned into relationships, those relationships referred us to other large firms, and relationships turned into reoccurring orders, and before we knew it we grew into something real! We now service the entire spectrum of businesses from 1-person side hustles to companies with 5,000+ employees.
We have strategically aligned ourselves with industry partners that allow us to perform bigger than we are and at competitive pricing. We offer boutique-style customer service and aim to position ourselves as an extension of your company. Think of us as your personal subject matter experts, focused on solving your problems, achieving your goals, and furthering your brand exposure.