How it all started: The Story from Founder Sean Feeney
My background isn’t in apparel or fashion, it’s actually in corporate sales. For eight years I did this and resented every waking second of it. Every year would go by and I would make more money in this career, but year over year I found myself less and less fulfilled and less happy. For so long I chose to ignore this inverse relationship because I’d trained myself to think money was everything. But in 2014, life threw me a curveball. My six-year relationship and engagement fell apart, someone very important to me was struggling with addiction and to top it all off, I was unexpectedly laid off from my job in corporate sales, all within 3 months. I remember sitting with one of my best friends on the eve of what would have been my wedding day talking about how I felt like maybe I should give up and move home to be closer to family. He looked at me and said, “Ok, you got dealt a shitty hand, but like my grandfather always said, this too will pass.” Those simple words stuck with me. Right then and there I had a choice to make: take the easy road and feel bad for myself or pull myself together, bluff through the hard times, put up a fight and play another hand. I hate to lose, so I chose to play another hand—only this time it was going to be on my terms and everything was going to be different.
I’ve never really done well with authority. I don't like answering to people and rules aren't really things I'm prone to following, so naturally I had to be my own boss and if there was going to be rules, I was going to be the one making them. The next choice was even easier; I was going to do something I did when I was six-teen and since then dreamt of pursuing; start a clothing brand. But I was going to go about it differently than most. I wanted the freedom to take this brand where I saw it going. I wanted the freedom to create the vision that was in my head without anyone else's input. So instead of looking for investors, I funded the brand with all the money I had saved during my eight years in corporate sales. To me, it was better than anything I could have ever bought. This time I was going to put my passion, my vision first. The other difference, I was going to do it all, every aspect.
For the next eight months, I dove into learning everything I could about the apparel industry. I educated myself on graphic design, clothing design, trends, what to look for in patterns and textiles, legal aspects of starting a business, license requirements, getting the licenses, I even learned how to build an online store. As luck would have it, a friend of mine happened to move his screen-printing business from Temecula to San Diego. Epic. Not only was I able to pick the styles, create the designs, but now I also got to do the actual screen-printing. It didn’t stop there; I relentlessly practiced photography so that I could be the photographer behind all the photos of the brand. As time went on, The Lomas Brand started to take shape. It was alive. It carried a passion for community, the beach, ocean and surfing; a love for photography; and a simple, yet eye-catching fashion taste. The Lomas Brand was about breaking norms, taking risks, being happy and free. It wasn't about listening to what I should do but rather listening to what you want to do. I worked fourteen-hour days and would fall asleep excited about waking up to work the next day. I realized that finally at the age of 29, I found what I was supposed to be doing. Or more so, it found me.
The reason why I’m writing this is because I want you to know where this brand came from and what it represents. How appreciative I am of all who have helped and supported so far. When you order something, I want you to know that I hand selected the material, designed the final product, screen printed it, inspected it, packaged it and mailed it. All of that is a huge thank you from me to you for giving me the chance to live out my dream.
And if I could leave you with any advice it’s this: speaking from experience, when your chips are low, always play another hand. You never know what you’ll get. I’m glad I did.
-Sean
Founder and Owner
The Lomas Brand