Two celebrations. Two hemispheres.
While our Finnish founders Minna, Kalle and Hannu were celebrating winning Startup of the Year, our American founders Tammy and Ludo were flying to Sydney.
Their son Lenny was throwing a party at the new VIBAe Bondi Beach, and they wanted to be there to support him and celebrate with him.
It’s been quite a season for VIBAe.
IT STARTED WITH FRIENDS IN A CAMPER VAN
If you’re new here: VIBAe didn’t start in a boardroom. It started in a snowstorm on top of Finland’s tallest mountain. Friends from Malibu and Helsinki, a camper van and frozen toes. Ludo sketched the first shoe on that trip.
Kalle and Minna run things in Helsinki. Kalle’s 80 year old mother Riitta works the Saturday shift, still at war with the cash register. His sister Anna answers your messages from Barcelona, where her husband Agustin runs our store. Our shoes are made by a family-run factory in Portugal. You can meet all of us HERE.
THE KID WHO RUNS A CONTINENT
Lenny is Ludo and Tammy’s son. He runs VIBAe Australia. Mostly on his own, mostly on flat whites, and most likely in shorts.
His motto is “Keep it simple.” Opening a store is about as simple as it sounds...
For Tammy, the trip was a bit of a homecoming as well. She’s the Aussie of our founding five, and her son had just opened a VIBAe store in her home country.
THE PARTY
WHY FAMILY
People sometimes ask whether it’s hard, running a global company with your parents, siblings, in-laws and old friends.
Yes. Sometimes.
But it also means that when some of us win an award in Finland and some of us open a store in Australia, there’s plenty of pride to go round. Everyone celebrates in their own corner of the world, and everyone’s cheering for everyone else.
That’s not a strategy. It’s just how we’ve always done things.
COME SAY HI
If you’re ever in Sydney, Lenny would love to meet you. Come try on a pair, then walk down to the beach in them.
VIBAe Bondi Beach
124A Roscoe St, Bondi Beach
Open daily, 10am to 5pm
+61 426 580 019
Roscoe Street is right in the middle of Bondi. It’s full of independent shops, cafés and that easy beachside pace, and the famous beach is just a short walk away.
