A better headspace with BETR

Sam & Georgia with a rack of their athleisure brand BETR

Invercargill based athleisure brand BETR owned by Georgia & Sam has been created to not only provide high quality activewear, but also support those in need with an emphasis on communities and individuals battling mental distress.

Tell us about BETR and how it came about?
BETR is a brand that my partner Sam and I have founded and launched in November 2021. We started with t-shirts, tanks and men’s shorts as an initial product line. We have expanded to womenswear and are working on building an online platform and awareness of our brand, who we are and the community we are establishing.

Sam and I both work full-time and part-time shift work, and BETR is something we have built and continue to build in our weeknights and weekends in hopes that we can grow a brand that inspires, gives back and doesn’t compromise on quality, price point and style.

We are both active, in and outside of the gym and are aware of the profound improvement to our mental, physical and emotional well-being that comes with doing something for you, and for your future self.

Athleisure apparel is something we live and breath, with it being a rarity to find us in anything other than activewear (even before owning BETR). We wanted to build a brand to call our own, one that inspires others to strive to “BETR” themselves and within that, raise funds to give back to charity - this year the MHFNZ.

Here is an excerpt from our missions page on our website; 

A simple idea shaped by experience and clear goals, we founded betr. to create a line of apparel to fit modern standards and appeal without compromising on quality. 

Predominantly and foremost a fitness brand, BETR. has the projection to create collections to suit all styles of living and activities fit for purpose.

One of the key features that we wanted when starting the company was to keep it "real" with simple expression and creation.

​The name for our company actually originated as a eureka moment as we noticed the rise of fitness-based clothing integrated into daily life breeding a new term "athleisure".

We knew what we personally wanted to wear, we knew how we wanted our purchases to feel and perform under stress. Lastly, we knew that deep down we all want to be better, not only in the gym and in our physical bodies but in our mental and emotional houses. This led to the simple and ultimate truism, that you are and we are, betr. 

Our mission is to support those in need, with emphasis on communities and individuals battling mental distress. We are committed to sharing a proportion of each sale to a foundation that we believe can make a difference to those who need it most. 

For Mental Health and Awareness NZ (MHAW) week you shared stories based on the Te Whare Tapa Wha model. Can you tell us a little about that?

A core value of BETR lies within the concept of mental health awareness, opening the conversation and creating normality and understanding about the “internal worlds” of ourselves and others.

The theme developed by the MHAW this year was based on “reconnection”, which in this day and age is so important, as we turn more to technology and distraction than we do ourselves and the ones closest to us. Our stories which can be found on the highlight reel “MHAW” on our Instagram @BETR.Ltd, focused on different aspects of reconnection told through a story of a NZ bloke Greg who looked like he had it all going for him, but inside felt very different. 

From Monday to Friday we looked at different ways we could connect with ourselves, our loved ones, special places, community and nature. 

We thoroughly enjoyed bringing tangible tips to care for our mental and emotional houses and endeavor to incorporate more of this as we continue on our social media journey with the brand. 

What are your own top tips as a founder for keeping a balance between work and personal?

We will let you know when we find out! 

Haha no, but this is something everyone navigates differently and something we are learning along the way. Currently we both work in our “day jobs” full time, as well as working on BETR, marketing, balancing childcare, family and friends and our own physical and mental health can be a juggle and life can get busy! 

One tip would be to set boundaries, and have a plan. Sit down on a Sunday (or whenever) and write down all of the things that are upcoming in the week. Make sure to put in everything from work, to picking up the kids from school to when you’re going to work out that week, how you’re going to work out, do you need to schedule some time for self care or just time to chill? Write it all down and stick to it for at least a week, being planned and purposeful with your time means that you can make more time for the things you want to do! 

A diary is helpful or a google calendar for the tech savvy folk! 

Setting boundaries is important, make sure that work doesn’t bleed into home life, or if you have a side business like us, that your business meetings aren’t over the weeknight dinner. We *try* to keep business meetings to set times and allow space to have our relationship and home life as a separate entity. 

We have a website that we have designed ourselves www.betr.co.nz where you can browse and buy our clothing, we also have an Instagram/Facebook page Betr.Ltd where we regularly post content that is set to inspire, and create the BETR community that is expanding by the day.

You can find Georgia & Sam and their BETR activewear through the links below.
Instagram
Facebook
www.betr.co.nz

‘Baby got Batch’ burger from Take over night.