Building a Bra-nd. Part Two.

Jade’s talked about how we make our products—how she tests, questions and improves them until she believes they’re fit for purpose.

That’s her side of building Exsto.

My side is looking at the market and asking:

Where’s the opportunity?

What’s everyone else saying—and what’s getting lost in the noise?

Activewear is a crowded space. There’s no pretending otherwise. Some of the biggest brands in the world are already here.

But for years, I felt women were still too often an afterthought.

Nike and Adidas were built into giants across sport. Gymshark came up with a strong focus on men’s bodybuilding. Of course, these brands make products for women now. But when I looked at the industry, I couldn’t see a brand putting women at the centre in the way I believed they deserved.

That felt like an opportunity.

Not to make another brand with a women’s range.

To build a brand for women from the start.

Then came the next question: how do you earn their trust?

The obvious answer in this industry is to pay people with huge followings to wear your products and tell everyone how great they are.

I’ve never been sure that was the right way for us.

It’s a strategy we’ve questioned plenty of times—especially when we see other brands in a similar space using it and getting attention. You do wonder if we’re making things harder for ourselves.

But I couldn’t see how paying someone to say they loved Exsto would build the kind of trust we wanted.

We wanted women to see people like themselves wearing our kit. Women who train, compete, work, raise families, start again, and show up even when life’s a lot. Women who choose Exsto because they actually wear it—not because we’ve paid them to stand in front of a camera.

That approach is slower. It’s harder to control. And there are no guarantees that a customer will post about us, tell a friend, or come back.

But when someone does, you know it means something.

That’s why our customers and community are at the heart of how we show the brand. We don’t want to build a picture of perfection for women to look at. We want women to see themselves in Exsto—and feel that they belong here.

Is that a crazy strategy in a market where brands can buy attention at scale?

Maybe.

But we’re not trying to build a brand that looks big for a moment. We’re trying to build a legacy brand that women trust for years.

Our ambition is to become the largest gymwear brand on the island of Ireland.

That’s a huge thing to say when you’re a small business from Northern Ireland. But why should Ireland be any different?

Lululemon has put Canada on the map.

Nike is synonymous with America.

Adidas came from Germany.

Ireland has always punched well above its weight. Why should this industry be any different? Why couldn’t a brand from here stand alongside the biggest players in the world?

That’s what we’re working towards.

Jade is making sure the products are right.

I’m looking for the space we can own, the noise we can cut through, and the ways we can earn people’s trust without pretending to be something we’re not.

And every woman who wears Exsto, talks about us, gives us feedback or brings a friend along becomes part of that.

We’re still at the beginning of the journey.

But I believe the next great gymwear brand doesn’t have to come from America, Germany or Canada.

Why not Ireland?

Mike 🤍