Your Story Made Here: Ofabz Swimsuits

Your Story Made Here: Ofabz Swimsuits

By Melissa Long - 21Alive
By Ian Hoover- 21Alive

May 27, 2015 Updated May 27, 2015 at 12:47 PM EDT

Olivia Fabian was a competitive ice skater. Her mom, Cheryl, made all her costumes…and lots of other people's costumes too. So when Olivia was in college at IVY Tech, she entered a contest to come up with a business plan and Ofabz Swimsuits was born.

Olivia Fabian says: "We thought, well, you know how to make skating costumes, what about swimsuits because more people swim than skate…."

They won and got seed money to do a full production run. A web site and marketing soon followed. The suits are designed in a retro style….like the old pin-up girls of the 40s. with comfort and fit in mind. And Ofabz has found legions of fans as far away as Australia.

Mom still handles the design end of things, while Olivia does the business and marketing:

Olivia says: "I really enjoy going after new businesses and the marketing side of it and the social media and the advertising of the suits and the photo shoots. "

Cheryl Fabian says :" A lot of our meetings have been at Starbucks with the swatchbook or I see a pile of scraps and I'm like 'Oh those colors are weird together….but do you like it?"

Advice for young entrepreneurs?

Olivia Fabian says: "I would say to surround yourself with people who know more than you know and are more successful than you are at that moment because they encourage you that this isn't something that's a 'maybe you can do it…you CAN do it….it's whether you choose to or not."

Cheryl says: "If we had put ourselves in a box like here's what we need to be doing at a certain point…we'd be a lot farther behind than we are now. "

Look for Ofabz suits at small boutiques across the country and of course right here in Ft. Wayne! And check out Ofabz.com

Another one of our young millenials starting her story, right here!

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