Reflections… Sensi Graves

Life Lessons

WORDS SENSI GRAVES PHOTOS ERIC DURAN

If there’s one thing I’ve learned in business it’s that you never really know what’s going to happen. The best plans can be waylaid by an unseen competitor, the best-developed products surpassed by a new technology, or the best intentions thwarted by changing circumstances. Last March proved to be one such turning point in the world.

Like most, my initial response to Covid was worry. I had just finished up my biggest production cycle of the year in my swimwear business, Sensi Graves Swim, and therefore had a lot of money on my credit cards, my current source of production funding. With the global shutdown and so many industries immediately crashing to a halt, I felt a squeeze and a panic that I hadn’t experienced before, one of uncertainty and worry about what might happen next. I didn’t think that anyone would be buying swimwear. It is a luxury item, certainly not a necessity, and with people’s livelihoods on the line, why would they purchase from my brand?

In addition to the initial dread of not being able to pay off my credit cards and not being able to make ends meet, I also couldn’t travel to kite, which left me feeling quite anxious. Like most brands, kite companies were also feeling the pressure and my kite sponsorships got cut in half, which added to the general feeling of worry. One response to not knowing what’s going to happen is to freeze and not do anything. But the other response is to say, “I don’t know what’s going to happen or work, so let’s just try some stuff”. In navigating the global shutdown and through taking charge in my business and trusting in my kite career, I learned a few key lessons to navigating hardship.

SHOWING UP SHOULD BE YOUR BAROMETER FOR SUCCESS

Throughout my kite career and while running my swimwear company, I’ve felt immense pressure to get to a certain level and to perform. If I didn’t do as well as I wanted to in a competition, I would beat myself up. If I didn’t meet my sales goal for the year, I would feel really bad and take it personally. And then the pandemic hit and uncertainty ran rampant, and I was hit with a realization: your results don’t reflect anything about you, but come down to whether or not you show up and try. I realized that I had been leading my company and my kite career purely in a results-oriented way. If I hit the goal or got the result, I would be stoked. But if I didn’t, doom and gloom prevailed. But during the shutdown, I realized that no matter how hard we try at something, we can’t control the result. The only true thing we can control is our effort and our intention. Therefore, my energy shifted and instead of rewarding myself when I achieved the specific result, I acknowledged that it was only through trying things that I would make progress. Because you never really know what’s going to work. In creating a new standard for success, one in which showing up and trying was rewarded, I subsequently allowed myself to have more fun. Making mistakes don’t matter when just trying is your marker for success.

CUSTOMERS COME FIRST

The second thing I learned while running my business in a pandemic was that customers always come first. People can see right through sales tactics and sleazy pitches. Authenticity has been a word that’s been thrown around over the last few years, but throughout the pandemic I felt what it really meant to be an authentic business owner and human. Despite my panic and worry for what would happen to both my kite career and my business, I also developed a deep concern for those around me, those that were suffering much more than I was. I started thinking less about myself and more about how I could uplift and inspire those in my sphere of influence. Once I removed myself from the equation and made it about my customers instead of myself, I could focus on giving and serving. When you show up from a place of serving, you are naturally magnetic because people want to be seen, heard and supported.

Additionally, when I thought about serving our customers instead of selling to them, it got me fired up about the work I was doing. Supporting, inspiring and empowering women to feel good about themselves is important work. Knowing that this needs to be out in the world gave me a natural authenticity and stoke that really resonated with our customers. As a result, they felt empowered and supported and naturally wanted to buy from us. I feel the same about leading

“ As we continue to navigate challenging times and periods of unknown, I invite you to embrace change, embrace the challenge and continue to believe in and trust yourself, both on and off the water.”

women’s kite retreats through my brand in partnership with Colleen Carroll of Strut Kiteboarding. Our intention with creating the company was to empower women on the water, create more community for female kiters, and help them learn the proper skills to kite confidently anywhere in the world. Every time we put on a kite camp, we see how impactful it is for the women that show up.

Because we come from a place of truly wanting to serve our customers and of seeing how helpful and inspiring it is for these women, we are able to sell easily. We know that our product is worth it and needed. When you place your customer first and develop products and content that serve and inspire, you create a petri dish for cult-brand status to grow, even if there’s a global virus growing alongside it.

TRUST AND KEEP GOING

One of the things I teach in my business workshops and when I lead women’s kite retreats is that you are exactly where you are supposed to be. As humans, it’s easy to get caught up in comparison and keeping up with the Joneses. As kiters we’re always looking at what others can do on the water and thinking that we should be able to do the same. But the simple fact that we are not there can be utilized as a strength. When we let it be ok that we are where we are, and accept that we’re just learning to stay upwind or that we are still working for that promotion, we open ourselves up for more play and wonder and growth. In this pandemic I learned that my business is right where it’s supposed to be and that it will all work out, and that the same is true for my kite career. I learned to trust and keep going.

I lost my kite sponsor in July last year when Liquid Force Kiteboarding abruptly shut their doors and I was left with another blow to my income. But I had already been through the panic of not knowing what would happen and learned that trusting it would all work out is more beneficial than scrambling and panicking. And so, I didn’t panic and instead slowly started reaching out to kite brands. I fluffed up my kite resume and sent it round to only the brands that I wanted to work with. I was clear on what kind of partnership I wanted and I set up interviews with those brands. Because I wasn’t stressed and I believed that it would all work out, I enjoyed the process. I had fun being picky and having conversations with various brand managers. I ended up signing with Slingshot Kites based here in Hood River and it just felt right.

As we continue to navigate challenging times and periods of unknown, I invite you to embrace change, embrace the challenge and continue to believe in and trust yourself, both on and off the water. We never know what’s going to work; we can make educated and informed guesses but we never truly can know what will happen. When we strap on our seat belts and embrace the ups and downs, we can enjoy the ride a heck of a lot more. So: get after it, you got this… ■