The last time The Atlanta Voice spoke with the CEO and President of luxury swim and resort wear brand Yacht Club Access, Natasha Simmons, was right after the Colombia Mission Trip back in 2022.
Fast forward four years, Simmons has unveiled her newest collection called Yacht Club: Pura Vida Collection, which gives elevated, coastal, global, and tropical luxury.
The collection includes matching sets for families, kids, and dogs, and features sustainable materials sourced from Costa Rica and Brazil.
“We have gone from fast fashion to now cut and sew, which, if you’re a designer, or if you’re familiar with the fashion world, it’s very expensive,” she said. “In our process of curating the designs, I went back to those moments where I had all these visions of how I want my brand to be, and seeing little things with how Victoria’s Secret does their stuff and all the brand, higher-end brands, and just taking little tidbits to make it my own.”
With this collection and the pattern Simmons chose, she said, it brings her to the mind of Costa Rica, where she wanted to bring forth the culture, the sustainability of green and eco-friendly. They also used recycled and upcycled fabric compositions, specifically sourced from Costa Rica and others from Brazil.
Additionally, Simmons says the Colombia trip taught her so many ways to go about her own journey.
“At that time [of the trip], I had a vision for what I wanted Yacht Club to be, and it just seemed so clear of what that vision was, but it was so hard to carry out it,” she said. “Through that time leading up to now, I’ve done so many turns, so many pivoting, and it’s been a lot.”
Simmons says she knows now she can get to her end goal and not sprint forward to get there.
“I don’t have to go down the lanes that everyone else did. When this idea or this roadmap or direction doesn’t work, then I can try something else, and that’s why a lot of entrepreneurs fail,” she said. “Just because one way you thought about how you’re going to get there didn’t work out, don’t mean you give up. The first three years in business, most people don’t succeed because that’s the grimmest time.”
Fortunately, Simmons came from a family of entrepreneurs, so her first three years were her assessing the market and learning what she needed to learn.
In 2023, at that three-year mark, that’s when Simmons decided to push forward and achieve the certifications and licensing.
What drives Simmons as an entrepreneur, she says, is her experience with teenage homelessness. Through lots of reflection, Simmons says she had to take pauses and get to know who she is, what her purpose was, her true passion, and clean out the childhood trauma by going on an apology tour for the things she has done.
“It’s always stuck with me, and fast forward to know, a lot of entrepreneurs don’t expect to end up meeting the higher version of themselves,” she said. “What drives me is I want to show other women, whether they’re entrepreneurs or not, that you are worth more than what you think you are. You’re worth going inside yourself and facing those dark holes, those black places, and becoming a higher version of yourself.
After the Colombia trip, Simmons says she came off the trip with a vision, passion, motivation, courage, and boldness.
“I engulfed myself in the industry of business and fashion. I took moments in time of reading and watching documentaries about all the high-end designers, listening to successful people about their journey, how they’re getting there, and even, like celebrities and reality stars, and the ones who went into the fashion lane and how they got started,” she said.
Yacht Club, according to Simmons, plans to expand online, build a VIP influencer club, and explore retail opportunities in airports and malls. The brand aims to become a major luxury brand like LVMH within five to ten years, introducing new product lines and expanding globally.
For advice to other entrepreneurs, Simmons says to be prepared to reintroduce yourself, and the journey has its challenges, but what makes it hard is the blockage that we carry.
“When you remove that blockage, that’s when your journey becomes a bit easier because the things you’re manifesting and you’re wanting will be attracted to you,” she said. “Don’t be afraid to pivot”.
The Pura Vida Collection is planned to drop in the summer, and when it does, people can shop at the official Yacht Club website.
