The story of a~pira
It was in 2009 when my husband was working at a Golf Course that someone came in and noticed a vibe about it. He’s not the first to say it, my husband always has a way of seeming very calm, composed, quiet even. To the untrained eye he is a zen master and this particular customer made a single comment that would change our direction forever. He simply said, “man, you just seem cool and stress free”. Sitting around the kitchen later that evening, my husband recounted the story to me. We just thought isn’t that “cool and zen” look the good feeling that many of us strive to have and project? From that day, we made a goal to launch a brand that will make people feel good. Slowly a~pira began taking shape. Turning towards our root languages, we searched for a way to identify this vibe. We came up with Pira meaning “stress” in Sanskrit and a~pira signifying being “stress free”, just as the customer had noticed and just how we all wanted to be.
A~pira as a brand was unfolding to us little by little. There were times where we ignored it completely or there was too much going on in our life. We started to make a family and thoughts of a~pira, while always there, seemed like they were in the distance. And then...the turning point. I was exhausted, burnt out and tired of feeling terrible all the time. After having three kids, I neglected my fitness, health and well being regularly sacrificing for my work, social life and kids. My body had been hard at work for the past 5 years creating humans, but I was finally ready for a~pira. I was tired of not feeling or looking healthy, my husband the same. I was finally fed up and ready to make a change. I never had any interest in running a marathon (26.2 miles), but I committed to changing my mind, my body and my bad habits the basics. What happened over the next 5 months was an extreme transformation and an essential need to focus on my well-being. Health and fitness is contagious, because after I ran a marathon, my husband decided to train for his 6th marathon after a long break (that whole parent thing). Committed to getting healthy, we both gave up vices to provide healthier and cleaner options for our bodies and our family.
As I trained for the marathon, a~pira resurfaced. Running was typically a brainstorming session, creating designs and ideas as I hit the pavement. As I crossed the finish line at the Long Beach Marathon, I was wearing the very first a-pira shirt and again in February 2020 as my husband crossed the finish line at the Los Angeles Marathon.
Then it happened...COVID-19...the undeniable sign that it wasn’t just us, the world needed a break. Shortly after, the other ball dropped as George Floyd became a cornerstone of the Black Lives movement. We knew a~pira had to be a brand for the people, to remove barriers to live our best lives and to be free of judgement and persecution from others and even moreso from ourselves. This is the story of how a~pira was made. It is meant to be a movement for the people, to feel good again, to be open to new things, to be well and to be free!
Join us as we pave out a positive, healthy, stress-free future and become the best version of ourselves in every way. No judgements, No expectations, No stress.