Today we’d like to introduce you to Kirbi Smith.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
After graduating college, I began teaching and coaching in Atlanta, GA and also became the Dean of Students. Although I loved my job, I started to get the urge that it was time to transition. At around the same time, the founder of Active Faith Sports started telling me about ideas of starting a Christian sports apparel brand. The thought of merging faith and sports, two things that were so important to me seemed perfect. After praying and getting confirmation, I decided to move back home to Houston. Neither one of us had any business background so I went back to school to get my MBA while helping to launch this new company. We literally were working out of a garage, trying to go to as many local events as possible to help make people aware of the brand. It was a long slow process.
Trial and error with sampling and having to learn that apparel space because we weren’t designers either lol The first product we had were wristbands that we gave to players just as an introductory to the brand. Next the buyer in Lakewood church also gave us a chance and carried us in their bookstore and the word about our brand began to spread. I am currently the Chief of Operations and lead the Women’s Division. In these roles, I’ve played an integral part of the company’s growth from infancy to being a global brand with sales in over 90 countries. The brand has been named by Inc. Magazine as one of the 500 fastest-growing private companies in America and also has been featured in Sports Illustrated, Time Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, ESPN and more.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It’s been a bumpy road at times with smooth sailing the other times. But the journey has been an exciting one. Mainstream sporting-goods stores said they couldn’t carry us because it was faith-based. Big Christian retailers wouldn’t because they couldn’t grasp what our brand was, couldn’t see the vision and didn’t think their customers would buy it. That became a blessing because we were then forced to have to go to e-commerce and social media, where the world would quickly go. The next year, the Christian retailer that had turned us down came back. In three and a half months, we did $2.4 million with that retailer–then it went out of business.
Sometimes, you don’t understand the storms you’re going through until you come out on the other side. We’ve had athletes in almost every major sports league organically wearing the brand but because of their endorsement deals with other sports apparel brands, we aren’t able to promote that. That has been a challenge because we know if we were able to leverage the visibility of all those athletes in our apparel, I believe that would take our brand to an even higher level. There’s a reason those companies are paying millions of dollars to have them endorsing their brands.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Active Faith is a Christian premium sports apparel brand. Active Faith’s vision is to use the platform that sports provide to share the Gospel and inspire people to not only be active physically but active in their faith. Our premium sports apparel is manufactured with the highest quality to meet the standard of both professional athletes and everyday people while also displaying inspiring Christian messages. Whether the brand is worn to represent your faith and minister to others who may not know Jesus or if it’s worn for the intrinsic value it provides for its owner, Active Faith is more than just another sports apparel brand. I’ve loved watching the way Active Faith has grown globally. Our customers write in all the time telling us about some of their experiences. Some examples are they were in the gym and someone asked about their shirt and it opened up a conversation to start talking about Christ that wouldn’t have happened otherwise. The customer that tells us about how the inspiration on the apparel helps them get through physical therapy or chemo treatments. It’s a reminder that what the brand sought out to do is being accomplished.
If we knew you growing up, how would we have described you?
Growing up, I loved all things sports. My dad and both my uncles played in the NFL so not loving it probably wasn’t even an option. Being the only granddaughter on my mom’s side, I was definitely a tomboy. I ran track almost year round, played basketball, volleyball, flag football. I was and still am very competitive. It could be taboo or racing upstairs, I wanted to win. In school, I was the same way. I was also always in a leadership role, I was President of every club and organization or captain of whichever team I was playing at the time. I’ve always loved helping, volunteering, and having a good time. I was super social and didn’t meet a stranger. I had a huge heart and wanted everyone to feel valuable and important (still do).
I would throw huge birthday parties every year to kick off the summer because I love to have a good time. I value family and friends and spending time with them is something I always loved to do. My faith has always been something that was important to me. I would lead the prayers on my team before our games, host bible studies with my teenage girlfriends and was involved in youth groups at the church I grew up in Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church in Houston. I was very inquisitive or “nosey,” LOL I thought I would be either a psychologist or detective. I guess it’s still never too late. 🙂 I had an entrepreneurial spirit early on from selling things at school like candy to t-shirts to lyrics to songs (before the internet).
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: activefaithsports.com
- Instagram: iamkirbi
Image Credits
@PaytonRuddock, @Gregnoire, @Obigrant
