As a mother being a role model is tough in todays society. I’ve always been determined to encourage my daughter to be more confident and empowered than I ever felt as a child and so the backbone of XONI derives from building inner and outer strength, and helping women of all ages look and begin to feel the very best versions of themselves.

Although always involved in sport such as gymnastics since a young age I found my passion for training and getting fit came following the birth of my first and only child. I had gained a lot of weight and just didn’t feel myself anymore and so I set about getting into the gym and doing something about this. With the aim of keeping myself accountable and to help motivate and inspire me I joined a cross-fit gym where essentially peer pressure would mean I couldn’t give up and the support was incredible. This is where the sense of COMMUNITY really inspired me. I also began to research and develop my knowledge of nutrition as I realised very quickly that the one hour we train is probably more affected by the remaining 23 hours of the day and how we fuel and rest our bodies.

Through my fitness journey I was able to not only gain strength physically with my transformation but also emotionally and psychologically. I found myself able to challenge the anxiety around not being good enough and really push beyond my comfort zones. This was fuelled more so by wanting to be a role model for my daughter.

I spent almost 14 years of my life as an air hostess which was my dream job, I wanted to be cabin crew from the age of 7 following in the footsteps of my mum who was also cabin crew. I loved my career until this was suddenly ended by the demise of Flybe back in 2020. I was even the senior crew member working on the last ever flight into Exeter airport.

With a marriage breakdown a few months before my job loss then add Covid into the mix the next 12 months was an extremely tough time, as it was for many, I lost the mortgage on my new home I was buying and no longer had a job. I genuinely didn’t know how I was going to cope or provide for my daughter and this triggered my anxiety and hugely impacted my self worth and mental stability and strength. My maternal instincts kicked in and I secured a job in retail for a short time before I decided to start my own cleaning business. For me being in control of mine and my daughters own future was essential after everything I had been through so this is why I started my business.

I decided to also utilise this time to focus on a burning desire I had always had to design my own gym clothes and cross over casualwear so used this period to bring it to life. I had already spent years sketching, planning and creating mood boards for colours as well as corrections to fits from competitors all to find a niche so this became the platform from bringing together the elements of light in my life to date which was strength through community and empowerment. I wanted to build something not only that women could be proud to wear but loved to wear because it made them feel sensational. I wanted to create a group of like minded supportive fans that would build upon this piece and grow a fan base incorporating other businesses and partnerships to further support and empower females to become more confident with their bodies inside and outside the gym.

In 2021 I had almost 3 pallets of test garments that I simply didn’t like or that I had tested and decided was unfit for the brand and so when I say I road tested each and every item I literally picked them to pieces and changed stitching, details, support positioning, cuts, fabric blends and more to ensure absolutely everything was perfect and I was relentless about this as didn’t want anything less than the finished article.

Next came the name ‘XONI’ and I get asked about this a lot….

I always wanted something short and simple but also wanted to ensure that there was substance and meaning behind our identity and XONI was my final choice based on ticking all these boxes.

XONI essentially stands for ambition, independence, strength, reliability, determination and confidence.

This embodied what I wanted the brand to represent.