Climber Crush Wednesday featuring Jeein Shin of Shiner Goods
HAPPY CLIMBER CRUSH WEDNESDAY! We have another awesome feature for you today, and if you keep reading, there’s a special **discount** in there for you! Let’s put our hands together for @jeeinshin: Founder, Creator, and Designer for @shinergoods — an LA-based women’s hemp climbing pants brand!
1) Tell us a bit about yourself, Jeein! What do you do for a living and how did your climbing journey begin?
Hi LCC, I'm Jeein Shin. 6 weeks ago I was Design Director at a local high-end activewear company. Before that I was designing for companies like Abercrombie, J Crew and Woolrich. I recently took the leap and quit my job to focus full time on my side hustle; Shiner Goods. Shiner Goods is a hemp adventure apparel brand with a mission to make the world’s lowest impact, highest comfort clothing for badass ladies.
I started my climbing journey about 6 years ago when my husband and I lived in Brooklyn. My girlfriend invited me to join her at the climbing gym and I was immediately hooked. I loved that it was mentally & physically challenging. Plus, we'd always grab tacos and beer afterwards. It was a great intro to climbing.
2) How did Shiner Goods come to fruition? Was there a particular moment you recall that made you think, "the world needs this product?" Or was it something you always wanted to create?
Shiner Goods happened pretty organically. Once we moved to LA 4 years ago and I got introduced to outdoor climbing, I started looking for a comfy, classic high waisted pants to climb in but couldn’t find them. So I wondered if I was the only one feeling frustrated by the lack of options out there. I ended up putting up some fliers for a survey at different climbing gyms and learned that other women felt the same way and saw that there was a gap in the market.
That’s when my background as an apparel designer and a climber merged — and Shiner Goods was born.
3) When you decided to create your own business, did you have any thoughts that may have prevented you from getting started? How did you overcome them?
So many! Even with great feedback from the surveys, I was still wondering why does the world need this product? Would people want to wear natural fibers like hemp while climbing?
I decided to answer these questions through R&D and decided to share the process through Instagram. It was important to me that I took time to produce a high quality product that had a purpose in the world. So for the last 18 months, I tested 3 different fabric qualities and had about 20 climbers field test the pants. They gave me honest feedback to improve the pants every step of the way.
4) Where did the inspiration for the name of your brand and logo come from?
Shiner Goods was in part inspired by Shine Theory. The idea brings women together to empower one another which was perfect for the kind of company I want to build. I love the positive, supportive, community based meaning — which led to our unofficial tagline: When you shine, I shine, and we all shine on. Also, my last name is baked into the name :)
5) What are some unique qualities about Shiner Goods that you want to highlight?
Shiner Pants are made by women for women. We just launched our first product (Shiner Pants) after being in development for the last 1.5 years with over 15 field testers. The pants have been worn, torn, tested, and perfected by dozens of local badass female climbers to ensure we created the comfiest women’s climbing pants ever.
Hemp is super rad! It's one of the most sustainable and magical plants that detoxify the soil it grows out of. It's also moisture wicking, antibacterial, UV resistant and gets softer with more wear.
6) The COVID-19 Virus has affected so many in the world. How has the pandemic affected Shiner Goods? What are some ways you can suggest to our followers they can help support small businesses?
The biggest thing we ran into as COVID-19 spreads is the production delay. It's our first production run and we were so close to receiving the samples before things hit us hard. I'm just thankful for everyone's understanding, love and support. I'm also thankful to LCC for featuring us in these uncertain times. So we’re offering 35% off the pre-order price + free shipping for the rest of this week. Go to shinergoods.com or our FB page to get into the comfiest climbing pants!
7) Being an apparel designer and small business owner, you must be really busy! How do you find the time to balance work, climbing, and "you time”?
It did get little intense when I still had my day job working long hours with a side hustle that took up my mornings, nights and weekends. I didn’t have time to climb as much as I used to but it was important that I tried to find time for it.
Family time is important to me. My husband and I both work a lot so we always try to find time to make dinner together, chill with our dog Leo or catch a movie with friends.
8) What is your biggest piece of advice for women with dreams of venturing into business in the climbing industry?
I’m not sure if I’m in a position to give anyone any advice. I just followed my intuition and I’m at the beginning of my journey.
But I’d love to pass along a word of wisdom that I got from Amy Smith, a Chief of Giving Officer at Toms who said —"Build the business that supports your purpose. You can’t go wrong following your heart.”
9) Describe the importance for Shiner Goods to donate 1% of sales to the 1% for the Planet Organization?
Climate change is real and so is the threat it has on our playgrounds.
Yvon Chouinard said “We have bigger responsibilities as people, as business owners to support the organizations who are willing to do the work”. Participating in 1% for the Planet is our way of combating climate change for a better, cleaner future.
10) Are there any future projects you are able to share that fans of Shiner Goods can look forward to in the 2020?
New colors and styles! We will be introducing 2-3 new colors this year in Shiner Pants and expanding our styles. Look out for hemp shorts, tops and accessories
We'll also be throwing community events, so stay tuned!
11) Lastly, is there anything special you'd like to say to the climbing community? This is your space to talk about anything we haven't discussed!
I honestly hesitated to start Shiner Goods. There are so many products in the world, do we really need more? Many of my girlfriends are in fashion, focused on sustainability and best practices. I realized that shifting consumer behavior is hard for large established companies. And by starting my own brand that puts people and the planet first, we have an opportunity to create something really special. Something with purpose that helps us feel good inside and out.
Every time we make a purchase, we're voting with our dollars. I believe every purchase makes a statement, especially if you can invest back into your community and support local or small businesses.