We are passionate about our cause, my journey started when I turned 35. I had a profound, life-changing realization - a wakeup call - in the form of a terrifying skin cancer scare. I call these moments “event triggers”. An event that drastically changed the path I was on and opened new and unexpected doors for me to mentally walk through. Event triggers change the course of your life. Your reaction determines if it is for the better or worse.
I remember lying in bed next to my husband Tom, with my kids 17 and 13 asleep down the hall, wide awake and wondering … “Is this it? Is this all that I'm going to give back to life - that I've been a good corporate citizen?" I asked myself, "Is this all there really is? Am I where I want to be?"
For years, I had been so focused on work that I didn't see that I was sacrificing my health, close relationships with family and friends, and truly everything foundational that is needed to build a successful career. But what is success? And “why” are you are doing it? Based on who you ask you will get the range of measurements from annual compensation, weight control/loss, to quality time with kids, etc.
As I thought about the seriousness of my potential diagnosis, it became evident that I was NOT where I wanted to be. Worn out, unfulfilled and worried about my health and future, I felt a distinct lack of balance. But I couldn't put my finger on the “why”. I was fortunate to be married to an amazing man, blessed with two awesome kids and multiple promotions at work. So it made me stop and think, that based on “others” perception of my life, I thought I was extremely successful. But in retrospect, they were assessing my success and happiness on the things they felt were measurements in their own lives and jobs, and I was accepting that as my measurement of success.
So the self-journey began, I didn't want the sentence on my tombstone to be a tribute to my professional triumphs, as proud of them as I was/am and as hard as I worked to achieve them. No, I wanted it to speak to my character, my commitment to my husband and children, and my desire to give back to society. I realized that I wanted to leave something important behind. It became jarringly clear that I didn't want to leave this earth at 100 years old with nothing of true value to show for it.
That's when I realized life was too short. I needed to get healthy to be here for my children and husband, but also in order to propel my business and career forward.
That's when I began to reprioritize. I started exploring what it would take for me to have a more balanced life. That's when I thought what is the “why” of my life? Why do I think about the four areas of my life and just know that something is missing, “why” do I believe you can have it all? Can you be healthy and at peace, care for your family, have close friends that are fun, build a career or business, and leave a mark on this world?
At that moment, these questions running through my mind….Running my life in reverse, recognizing how one life event trigger had led to the next. A life event is an event in life, rather planned or unplanned, impacted and changed your course of life.
How lucky I was, how wonderful life was, and how could I have ever wanted anything more.
That was 20 years ago, and life has presented many new "event triggers". And every event trigger leads to the same end, how do I make a difference for others? So our story begins here.....
We are more than another online swimsuit company. Our vision was built on fulfilling two needs.... 1) For every woman to embrace their inner self and feel sexy and 2) To build dreams for children with cancer and memories for the siblings.
When you explore our site, you will find swimwear collections for everyone! Regardless of size or age! Our collections are designed for that 30 yr old mom, who is in her sexy prime but buried in a mommy life, that 40 year old who has embraced healthy living and is sexy hot, that 50 year old who has just figured out she is not as old internally and wants to embrace life, and those 60 & 70 years old that figured all this out and are still having fun.
And for our children, we have custom designed the ANACA limited edition line. 10% of the profit from these suits goes to sending children with cancer, and their siblings, to Disney World. As well, as funding treatments, and furnishing hospital treatment rooms. For more information on our charity, and events, check us out at aitana-naca.com.
