VITAE APPAREL TURNS 5: CEO Q&A🥳🥳🥳

 5 F*CKING YEARS 🥳 Holy shit. (pardon our language but we can’t believe it!!!) It’s been a hell of a roller coaster ride, and we wouldn’t be here without you.

Not only can you celebrate with us by shopping our HUGE BIRTHDAY SALE with up to 80% OFF until Dec. 3rd, 2021 @ 9am PST. But we also were able to get our CEO to answer some Q’s to reflect on 5 years of Vitae Apparel.

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CEO Q&A WITH SELENE DIOR // @missss.diorr:

Looking back, did you think Vitae Apparel would be where it is today?

No haha, truth be told. When I first started Vitae Apparel 5 years ago, I didn’t think we’d make it this far, I never thought we’d have an amazing team of 20 women! It still blows my mind everyday that we are where we are now. I never knew that my small business starting from a little garage would turn into a big warehouse, and a one-person job would turn into a 20-person team! It still shocks me to this day. I am so grateful!

What has been the biggest f*ck up in the past 5 years?

There were many f*ck ups in the past 5 years, and I am grateful for each of them because I learned from many mistakes. One of my biggest f*ck ups was probably when I first started Vitae Apparel. I was 18, a one person show, and had no previous retail or customer service experience. I remember dealing with a few PR issues related to customer service, and I had no idea how to handle it from a customer service perspective. I was initially defensive (because Vitae Apparel is my baby), so unfortunately I came off as rude and impatient, instead of trying my best to defuse the situation. This will forever be my biggest f*ck up because not only did I lose a customer, but I let my ego stand in the way of my company’s image. It was a great learning experience and from then on, we pride ourselves in customer service and trying to help our customers have the best shopping experience.

What has been the best experience?

The best experience has been getting to grind side by side with the Vitae Team through ups and downs, figuring shit out as it comes, and coming up with new ideas. I love being able to share new ideas and do what I love every single day. I also have loved the experience of getting to know all the customers and ambassadors. It has been truly amazing, and continues to amaze me that we have such wonderful women supporting this brand. 

What is your funniest team experience?

In case you didn’t know, our team tries to do team events often - it’s a great way for team building, getting to know one another, and supporting each other outside of a work setting. There’s always good laughs and fun times with the team but my favorite would have to be our sunshine coast retreat!! We were kayaking and paddle boarding in the pouring rain with the team, then we finished the night off with a hot tub and drinks at night while looking out at the ocean. It was so amazing! 

What was the best decision you’ve ever made with Vitae Apparel? 

The best decision I’ve ever made was refocusing on Fitness Apparel about 2 years ago. It has been truly the best decision ever. I remember sitting there one winter thinking, here we go again, another slow season! I decided to ask our community what else they’d like to see from us. They said fitness apparel, then it hit me. It all makes sense, not only did I live in swimwear when I swam competitively, I also lived in fitness apparel! I got to work immediately, ordered some samples and got to designing. 6 months later our first fitness apparel collection launched and it sold out immediately! 

What is your proudest moment as a CEO of Vitae Apparel?

The proudest moment as a CEO of Vitae Apparel was when we launched our collab collection this year (2021). It was surreal. We were working with an influencer who we’ve been working with for years now named Laeticia Lavoie. Laeticia and I had been going back and forth on communication, designs, sampling, pricing, ideas for over a year... and it was unreal seeing the whole collection come to life. We invited her and her friends out to Vancouver and it was such an amazing experience to meet someone you’ve been in contact with for the whole year only through the internet… then to finally meet them, it was awesome! We showed them around Vancouver and they had so much fun in Vancouver with the Vitae Team. 

What are you most grateful for?

I’m grateful for my team, my community, my mentors, and other entrepreneurs who support me! I want to thank my team, for always dealing with all the last minute ideas, requests, and campaigns that I spring out (hahaha), for allowing me to make mistakes and learning to be a better leader, and for always having my back no matter what.

I want to thank our Vitae Community, seriously. It warms my heart reading all of your stories about how Vitae made you feel more confident. It makes my day knowing our community has so much love for us no matter what, and you guys are the reason I always want to improve, learn, and design better fitting apparel - something that you guys truly love, something that makes you feel like you can conquer the world, something that makes you feel powerful, confident, and to always strive to be the best version of yourself.

And of course, I’m forever grateful for all the amazing entrepreneurs I’ve met along the way, your story doesn’t just inspire me, it reminds me of my goals and plans for the future of Vitae. And thank you to all my friends and family that are ALWAYS there, supporting me through good times and bad. 

Where do you want to see Vitae in the next 5 years? 

I see us expanding into more sizes and continue implementing more sustainable and ecofriendly practices. I want to expand the team into 50 people and have more community events annually. We would also love to integrate ourselves into the local community more and have local fitness studios carry our designs. We want to become a part of your lifestyle.

Any hints for the upcoming years with Vitae Apparel?
Something cozy dropping in January. Maybe an exciting collaboration, but you didn’t hear it from me. ;)

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Thanks to our amazing and hard-working CEO, Selene Dior for sharing her experience with Vitae Apparel from the last 5 years.

Thank you again for supporting us and being part of our community. We couldn’t have been able to reach 5 years without all of you. We can’t wait to see where we’ll be in the next 5.

LET’S SHOP + CELEBRATE, BABES!

With love,
Vitae Apparel