Jodhi Meares shares the secrets behind Tigerlily and The Upside

Businesswoman Jodhi Meares has enjoyed remarkable success with her brands Tigerlily and The Upside, and the former model puts her success down to two factors.

Her seven-year-old brand has not only survived but thrived during Covid-19, and model Jodhi Meares puts The Upside’s success down to two things – her timing and her team.

Not long after selling her Tigerlily label, Meares was living between New York and Hawaii and was obsessed with yoga.

It was while travelling to and from the studio she noticed the evolution of yoga attire.

Yoga fanatic Jodhi Meares’ brand The Upside has thrived during Covid.

“It’s a movement I saw coming,” Meares told Saturday Confidential.

“I had just sold Tigerlily and thought ‘what am I going to do next’.

“I couldn’t help but watch how the aesthetics were changing around traditional gym wear and it was keeping me up at night.

“I could just see it coming, so I was like, let’s put the band back together.”

Remarkably, that band consists of people Meares has worked with since day one at Tigerlily.

Meares says she envisioned the evolution of yoga attire.

Many Tigerlily team members have joined The Upside.

“I have this incredible and extraordinary team,” Meares said.

“My head designer Ashlea Holdsworth and I are very dear friends. She came to me at Tigerlily as a junior, so I’ve known her her entire career.

“Also, my baby sister does all our sales and marketing and she has been there since the beginning. She is a powerhouse.”

Meares’ latest addition to the brand is a collaboration with artist Craig Waddell, with the pair creating a limited-edition T-shirt to raise awareness and funds for Cambodian child protection organisation Cambodian Children’s Trust (CCT).

The Upside supports the Cambodian Children’s Trust charity.

“I have worked with the CCT since day one,” Meares said. “Children and animals are my thing.

“Charlie Teo is a really good friend of mine, and he introduced me to CCT founder Tara Winkler. She is one of those beams of light … the work she was doing was so extraordinary.
“My famous line to her is, ‘when I grow up I want to be you’.

“Since then, every garment which has sold, a portion of the sale goes to the Cambodian Children’s Trust and all proceeds of the T-shirt will be donated to CCT to fund their Education Appeal.”

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