Juan Pablo Marín and his co-founders, Marcela Marín, and Carolina Mesa, who are also family, didn’t come from fashion when they decided to enter the industry. What they shared was a love of travel, the ocean and Colombian creativity, and in 2019, they turned those interests into Ola Azul.
They started small, funding the company with their own capital and learning an unfamiliar industry as they went. As they learned the business, they also began seeing signs that the idea could connect beyond their country. “What gave us confidence was seeing how people connected with the product, not only in Colombia, but also abroad,” Marín shared with ¡HOLA! US. “That made us realize there was an opportunity to build something much bigger.”
© Courtesy Ola AzulWhy swimwear made sense
None of Ola Azul’s three founders had worked in fashion before launching the company. For Marín, choosing swimwear wasn’t simply a business calculation. “It felt very natural to us because it connects so closely with Colombia, the place where we grew up, our climate, our landscapes, our love of color, and the way we enjoy life,” Marín says.
“It also gave us an opportunity to tell a Colombian story in a category where our country already has incredible talent and craftsmanship.”
© Courtesy Ola AzulDoing it as a family brought another dynamic to the business. “We know each other very well, we understand each other’s strengths, and we share the same long-term vision,” he says. That trust became especially important as Ola Azul grew and the financial decisions became more complex.
Learning the business behind the brand
The founders initially financed Ola Azul themselves and were careful about how they used their resources. But fashion required them to think ahead financially, often putting money into production, inventory, new collections and marketing long before seeing a return.
“Building a company is intense, and when you’re family, work can easily follow you home. But there is also an incredible level of trust between us,”
© Courtesy Ola Azul“Growth is not only about selling more; it’s also about making sure the business has the financial structure to support that growth sustainably,” Marín says. As the company has expanded, they have also become deliberate about when to enter a new market or increase production. The company looks at customer response, feedback from retail partners, sell-through and whether an opportunity makes sense for the long term.
The experience has changed Marín’s understanding of what successful growth actually looks like. “When you’re starting a company, it’s very easy to get excited about every new opportunity, but every opportunity also has a cost,” he says. “We’ve learned to pay much more attention to cash flow, margins, inventory, and where we invest our time and resources.”
And one lesson in particular has stayed with him: “We’ve also learned that saying ‘no’ to the wrong opportunity can sometimes be just as important as saying ‘yes’ to the right one.”
When Ola Azul started traveling
For Marín, there wasn’t one defining moment when Ola Azul became an international business. Instead, there were smaller signs along the way: seeing the brand enter a new store, hearing from buyers in different markets or receiving a photo of someone wearing one of their pieces while traveling.
“Those things never get old,” he says. “Sometimes you become so focused on what comes next that you forget to look back. Those moments remind us how far we’ve come since 2019.” Something else became clear as the brand traveled: the person wearing Ola Azul didn’t necessarily need to share the founders’ background to connect with what they had created.
© Courtesy Ola Azul“What was especially exciting was realizing that they didn’t need to be Colombian or even Latin American to connect with what we were creating,” Marín says. “The colors, prints, silhouettes, and feeling behind Ola Azul could speak to someone thousands of miles away.”
What comes next
Marín and his family are now looking toward the next stage of the company they started in 2019. “Our biggest dream is to position Ola Azul as the leading Colombian swimwear and beachwear brand in the global market,” he says. “We want to continue expanding internationally while staying true to the identity and quality that brought us here.”
For Marín, the years spent building Ola Azul have also changed his perspective on what it takes to become an entrepreneur, particularly for other Latinos who may be hesitating over whether they are ready to begin. “You don’t need to have everything figured out before you start. We certainly didn’t,” he says. “But you do need to understand your numbers, surround yourself with good people, and be willing to learn constantly.”
© Courtesy Ola AzulHis final advice comes back to something that has been part of Ola Azul from the beginning. “Don’t underestimate where you come from. As Latino entrepreneurs, our culture, perspective, creativity, and way of seeing the world can be a real advantage. Build something you genuinely believe in, start responsibly, and give yourself the opportunity to see how far it can go.”
