HLN x Roar North
If it’s everyday activewear and functional fitness clothing you’re after, Roar North should be your go-to. HLN caught up with owner Ami Lowes to find out more...
How did Roar North come about?
Roar North was developed by myself at the back end of 2019. I was forever looking for leggings that were fit-for-purpose for both training and everyday wear. I was keen to research products and test them out in my local gym. Once I had an array of products that were tried and tested, it was time to launch!
This was a jump and it could have been a flop. I was entering the unknown. I’ve worked in the leisure industry for 15 years now, working at all levels up to senior management before taking a step back after having my son, Dougie. This is what gave me the opportunity to start a new venture and try out something new. I’ve always had a decent business head on me as I also own and run two holiday lets, (although they aren’t doing so well at the moment – thanks Covid!).
How did you launch?
To start with I set up on Etsy, as it’s low risk and a decent platform. I was making a few sales a week which was great – it was ticking over nicely and heading in the right direction. Then lockdown 1.0 came and I was able to start giving it my all. I was furloughed from work, I had all this spare time and Shopify were doing an offer of 3 months free listing on their platform. So I went for it, signed up to Shopify, created an online shop and started to flood social media with pictures, stories, videos.
Roar was continuing to grow in the right direction. I went back to work in August and orders were still coming in thick and fast. It was really great, and I really appreciated the fact that people were loving the products and supporting small businesses. I did several local pop-up shops and managed to get some Christmas fairs in before we went into the next lockdown. The run-up to Christmas was crazy and this was when I asked for help from my friend, Lucy. Lucy took over the day-to-day orders and is going to take on more responsibility as we grow. This is allowing me to look at other aspects of the business, such as more pop-up shops, more collaborations with gyms and new and exciting products and opportunities.
Do you do pop-up shops?
Yes! If you’d be interested in us coming to your gym to do a pop-up shop, please get in touch and we can arrange that once we have a bit more normality back! Recently, we’ve done a collaboration on leggings with CrossFit Fife and are in the process of another with Method Fitness.
It really is great to see what started off as a gamble, pay off. I have a super supportive network of friends and family to help out too, which always makes things easier!
To shop the collections, visit Roar North or visit their Facebook or Instagram.