Georgi Swimms: 22yo Mere Thompson relaunches swimwear brand after closing during Covid

After forcing to close her first business due to Covid in 2020, Sydney-woman, Mere Thompson is taking another gamble on her side hustle.

For the founder of new, Australian swimwear label, Georgi Swimms, the timing of their relaunch feels eerily familiar.

Working as the Creative Director of the Sydney-designed brand, 22-year-old Mere Thompson remembers the harsh lockdown which forced her to close her then four-month old business in March 2020.

Despite being a young brand, Georgi Swimms had then amassed over 1800 Instagram followers, a mailing list of 1500 subscribers, potential wholesaler deals, with plans to promote their brands at Coachella in the United States.

Then the pandemic hit.

“Covid started creeping in and it meant I slowly saw people who were looking at wholesaling and the opportunities I had just fall through completely,” she tells news.com.au. “I had panic attacks, I cried.”

“It really hit home in mid-February. I realised I quit my job, invested a lot of money into this and felt like I had made the worst mistake in the world.”

Although closing her burgeoning business was hard, Ms Thompson was forced to realise it would be the better decision in the long run. Picture: Supplied.

Gradually, her partner helped her come to the realisation that she would either need to push on and risk her business closing down in a few months or close down, salvage what she could and restructure Georgi Swimms to ‘come back better’.

“I just felt I had put so much time and effort into everything and I was just emotionally done. Instead I got a new full-time job and was able to kind of recoup the finances and reinvest,” she says.

“There’s all of those feelings of shame and embarrassment that come with (losing) money but my family and partner were so supportive and would say to me: ‘you haven’t lost until you quit’.”

Quit she didn’t. While working on rebranding Georgi Swimms, Ms Thompson found another role working in retail and merchandise management for a large chain. 18 months later, she’s relaunched her label, releasing a 12-piece collection, all made from recycled ocean plastics.

The brand also has a strong focus on sustainability and community involvement. Ms Thompson has committed to offsetting the carbon footprint from every order and $1 from each sale is donated to one of three NGOs (Clean the Seas, Restore the Land and Empower Her Choice) that support environmental sustainability and female empowerment.

As of September 16, Ms Thompson is relaunching Georgi Swimms with a focus on sustainable design, just in time for the Australian summer. Picture: Supplied.

While launching her side hustle in the middle of another harsh lockdown has brought back nerves, Ms Thompson sees it as a testament to her resilience.

“It shows me that I am resilient and I want it bad enough to work this hard,” she says.

“I think it instils confidence in the fact that even in a global pandemic, I’m more than happy to risk it all, buckle down and really give it my all.”

The balancing game

When it came to finding a full time job that could financially support her while working on Georgi Swimms, Ms Thompson says she wanted a role which wouldn’t ‘hinder her creative abilities’. And although her gruelling work schedule can ‘be a juggle,’ her goal is to work on Georgi Swimms full-time.

“It was a smart move. My predominant work is at night and working afternoons, so it kind of gave me the ability to really use my mornings for Georgi Swimms and have structure,” she says.

While the 22-year-old eventually wants to focus on Georgi Swimms full-time, for now she’s juggling the role with a full-time job in retail management and merchandising. Picture: Supplied.

For people looking at balancing a start-up with a full-time job, Ms Thompson recommends people make sure they communicate their needs with their managers and bosses.

“I think it’s easy for employers to accept the fact that you have a side hustle, but they don’t understand what is going on in your day to day life,” she said. “I think if you are more transparent with that and are open about the fact that you may need to have certain days off, more times than not, they’re going to be accommodating.”

This article was created in sponsorship with SEEK