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Hyla Nayeri and Adrien Bettio, both 26, have built a hugely successful business their way—which means solutions-focused, nimble and women-led

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At just 26, Hyla Nayeri and Adrien Bettio are the founders of a multimillion-dollar brand: 437 swimwear and apparel.

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This story is part of our Drive to Thrive series, which profiles small and medium-sized Canadian businesses and the exceptional founders behind them. These entrepreneurial #GoldGetters are risk takers, opportunity hunters, solution seekers and, most importantly, goal chasers.

Drive to Thrive is brought to you by American Express, a proud supporter of Canadian entrepreneurs.

The best friends came up with the idea for the company while on an exchange trip in Europe during their third year at Queens University, where they were both enrolled in the commerce program.

“We were travelling to beaches all over Europe, and eventually started asking ourselves why we could never find any bikinis that were flattering as well as comfortable, but not frumpy,” explains Bettio. “At that time, most of the swimsuit companies people would buy from tended to cater to tall, slim model builds, and we were just regular women that didn’t feel like those suits were meant for our 5′3 frames.”

After returning from Europe in the summer before their final year at Queens, the pair sat down and began formulating a plan for a swimwear line. Their goal? To create swimsuits designed to be universally flattering and mold to the body “like a second skin.”

They officially launched 437 in July 2017 with four classic styles made from a soft polyester-spandex blend constructed with a double-layered design for a universally curve-hugging fit. (Aside from their all-woman team, their fabric remains their biggest selling point.) It took some time for the brand to gain traction—for the first year, they were only getting one or two orders a month—but a savvy Instagram presence eventually paid off. So did big-name co-signs from the likes of Halsey, Winnie Harlow, Charlie D’Amelio and Kylie Jenner, who has worn both their sarong and a pair of 437 bottoms, the latter on the cover of Vogue, no less.

Hyla and Adrien’s best advice for entrepreneurs

Just start!

For Canada’s entrepreneurial “#GoldGetters” who are hoping to create a business or brand of their own, Bettio’s advice is simple: “Start now.” “So often we have people coming to us asking for advice on getting started, and when we check back in with them six months later, they still haven’t [done it],” Nayeri adds.

Don’t be scared of getting things wrong

Prior to launching 437, Nayeri was interning at a business start-up, while Bettio was interning in fashion sales—so neither had tons of experience to fall back on. But that wasn’t a deterrent.

"[At Queens], we were in an environment where we were pushed to develop a strong work ethic and teamwork skills, along with developing a sense of confidence that we could do anything we set our minds to,” Bettio says. “We didn’t start the business with any real tangible skills, but we quickly learned by making lots of mistakes."

Capitalize on your passions

“When it comes to choosing your product or service, we always encourage people to think critically about what they’re doing and to only do something that they are extremely fond of,” says Nayeri. “Your life gets taken over and your work becomes a 24/7 thing when you’re an entrepreneur, so you should at the very least make sure you’re doing something you love.”

Now, the brand has evolved to include apparel, and both women are eyeing yet another expansion: selling in markets beyond Canada and the U.S. But like a lot of today’s entrepreneurial #GoldGetters, they also know work isn’t everything.

“Even though 437 is our baby, it isn’t our whole life, and the company does not define us as individuals,” says Nayeri. “We take time away from work to get re-grounded by spending time with family and loved ones.”

That work-life balance is essential as she and Bettio are well aware that, in their line of work, things can change quickly and plans “can end up out the window,” whether that’s because manufacturers go out of business and stop answering their calls, or a suit shipment arrives soaking wet from transit, or the world abruptly changes because of a global pandemic.

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“We’ve seen it all,” says Nayeri. “Ultimately, the company will grow as we do. We came up with 437 when we were 21-year-old university students, and here we are as 26-year-old women with different priorities and different tastes. We want the brand to grow with us and reflect our changing tastes. Who knows, maybe when one of us gets engaged we will come out with a bridal collection!”

And why not? The success of 437 – and of Nayeri and Bettio – is rooted in what they like and want to see, and also in their desire to simply work together.

As Nayeri says, “Our goal was never to make a name for ourselves, it was always just to create suits we loved and would bring other people the confidence that we ourselves felt in [them].”


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Advertising feature produced by Globe Content Studio. The Globe’s editorial department was not involved.

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