Why I Closed My Sustainable T-Shirt Business (And What it taught me about marketing)
I thought marketing a brand I loved would be easy. I was wrong. A while ago I set up a sustainable T-shirt business called Sea & Piscine. It was partly for the planet, partly for fun and partly because I wanted to know what it really feels like to be on the other side of the brief. Not just a copywriter helping a founder launch but the founder too.
I wanted to walk in my clients’ shoes. To experience what it’s like to build something from scratch, invest your own money, put your ideas out into the world and try to make people care. I figured I’d have a head start. I know how to write ads, craft product pages and run campaigns. Surely that would make it easier?
It didn’t.
Running a business while juggling client work, family life and everything else is hard. Doing your own marketing when you’re also the designer, customer support team and warehouse manager? That’s something else entirely.
And yet… it worked. At least some of the time.
I had customers I’ll never forget. Kind strangers who left glowing reviews. A handful of promotions that hit just right. A few peak-season weeks when orders flew in and it all felt worth it. Sea & Piscine was never going to become a full-time gig but it wasn’t a failure either. It made money. It did good. It brought people joy. And I’m proud of what it was.
But in the end I couldn’t give it the time or energy it needed to grow. I wasn’t willing to compromise on quality, ethics or customer experience. And without consistency, a side project like this can only go so far.
So I’ve decided to close it down.
Still, what I’m left with is worth far more than the sales. Because starting a small business, even one that doesn’t last, is a masterclass in empathy.
I know how lonely it feels when no one responds to your content. How frustrating it is to believe in what you’ve made and still not get traction. How tempting it is to throw in the towel when something doesn’t sell, even when you know it’s good.
I know what it’s like to be at the mercy of suppliers who go quiet, platforms that update without warning and software that glitches at just the wrong moment.
I’ve felt the highs of getting it right and the gut-punches when I didn’t.
Most of all I’ve learned that not everything has to be permanent to be valuable. Sometimes the win isn’t in the results. It’s in what you carry forward.
This brand might be ending, but I’ll take everything I learned into every future project and into every client conversation with more understanding, more humility and a deeper appreciation for what it really takes to build something that matters.
So here’s to Sea & Piscine. The little brand with a lot to teach.
I might not have nailed my own ecommerce store but I have delivered big results for brands like Microsoft, Logitech and Lenovo.
IF you’re launching, pivoting or just need words that convert, we should talk.
Drop me a line to discuss what you’ve got coming up and how I can help you smash your goals.