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Key Takeaways
- Cela built the sportswear she couldn’t find, combining color, performance and silhouette into one brand.
- Before launching Oner Active in 2020, she built a community of 1.5 million followers, ensuring demand from day one.
- Despite revenues of $191 million last year, she still faces challenges. Her advice: cry for five minutes and then move on.
Krissy Cela was literally sewing her own workout clothes — cutting waistbands, trimming tops, dyeing fabric — because she couldn’t find what she needed. The problem wasn’t just one thing. No brand met all three of her needs at once: color, performance and silhouette.
Then there was the matter of price. Premium activewear brands like Lululemon were charging up to $128 for a pair of leggings.
That frustration became the impetus for her brand One activewhich will generate revenues of $191 million by 2025. Cela says Oner Active’s non-toxic Soft Motion fabric went so viral that one style in one color sold 15,000 copies in 10 minutes. Now Cela is taking on rivals Lululemon and Alo by doing what they don’t want to do: making attractive sportswear at fair prices.
“I’m never going to charge someone $100 for leggings. That’s just not going to happen,” she says.
It’s that kind of blunt honesty that has made her so successful. Her current Instagram and TikTok accounts have a combined 4.4 million followers.
She breaks down the market this way: Nike performed well, but the silhouette (how the clothes look on your body) was terrible. Alo has the look, but it’s a lifestyle brand, not built for performance. Lululemon pioneered quality, but women are getting tired of the shapes.
Enter Oner Active to fill the void at a price “virtually accessible to anyone who wants it.” Cela says the brand now sells one piece of sportswear every nine seconds.
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Overcoming obstacles
Cela arrived in Britain from Albania on a small boat and truck at the age of five. The boat almost capsized. She lost her toys and family photos. Her parents worked three jobs to keep the family afloat. Years later, she built a huge online fitness community before launching Oner Active in 2020. She knew exactly what her audience wanted, because she was her audience.
While her story is inspiring, it hasn’t necessarily gotten any easier. She still encounters obstacles all the time. “Last year I had more no’s than you could ever imagine,” she says. “B2B partnerships, talent said no to working with us. It was heartbreaking.”
Even as the brand grows, solid profit margins and a dedicated community continue to slam the doors. “You start to wonder if all your decisions were wrong,” she says. “Why do other brands get more recognition than Oner if they don’t do half of what we do?”
Then there’s the matter of being a female founder.
“People don’t like women talking about numbers,” Cela says bluntly. “When guys talk about numbers or driving nice cars or having nice things, I think, ‘Oh my God, brother. Where did that come from? I want to know how you did it.’ If I show off too much or talk about numbers too much, it’s like, “Well, she didn’t get there on her own. Well, she had help. ”
Oner Active is Krissy’s brainchild, but she has learned that being a great leader also means building the right team around her. In 2023, she brought on CEO Zach Duane, who, along with Krissy and the 87% female leadership team, has played a key role in scaling the company.
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Keeping the momentum
The temptation to give up is constant. “It’s very easy to doubt yourself. It’s very easy to just throw in the towel,” says Cela. “I think the reason people are successful and others aren’t is just about keeping that pace, that momentum. You can’t stop, because eventually something happens is is going to happen.”
Her advice to entrepreneurs is brutally simple: “Cry a little, give yourself five minutes, but you have to keep going. Time is so limited. If I’m going to waste my time standing still and indulging in sympathy, then it’s me withdrawing from that precious resource.”