MUD in the MOMENT is SUNMUD's community series spotlighting the athletes, adventurers, and everyday humans doing cool shit in the outdoors, while wearing the mud. These are their moments.
Ivette Fullerton moved to Honolulu to write a novel. She ended up building a brand instead.
Cualli Co. is sustainable coastal apparel rooted in Indigenous and urban Mexican culture — small-batch, mindfully produced, and built on the belief that the shoreline belongs to everyone. Founded on a philosophy that traces directly to Ivette's Indigenous roots, every piece carries a simple truth the surf industry has been slow to say out loud: Saladita Te Miras Más Bonita. Saltwater looks good on you.
We sat down with Ivette to talk about building with purpose, bringing culture to the coast, and what it really means to go after something instead of just dreaming about it.
This is her moment.
1. Launching a sustainable coastal apparel brand is not a small thing. Walk us through what the first real step looked like, when did Cualli Co. go from an idea to something you were actually building?
Funny enough, Cualli Co. wasn’t supposed to happen until maybe five years down the road. I had just moved to Hawai’i from San Diego and left my social work non-profit career to pursue my childhood dream being a fiction author. I was looking for a place to finish the novel I was working on while my kids were in school and stumbled across a women’s entrepreneurship community, Oak and Pine, where they offered co-working space.
They were having a pitch competition, and another woman there actually suggested I pitch my novel. But I knew this was a business grant, so I decided to go for it with my idea for a cultural beach lifestyle brand instead. They had workshops that helped us craft our pitch and helped us take our idea to something tangible.
I didn’t win but I was one of the top 6 finalists out of 80 applicants. At the end we had to do a live pitch to an audience and judges. This forced me to research manufacturers and interview them, look for a graphic designer online, and submit for a few trademarks. I pulled on friends that had skills like videography/photography and website development, and did a crash course on apparel terms like MOQ (minimum order quantity). I put everything down in a brainstorm map of all the resources I had and what I was missing, then took one bubble at a time.
2. Every founder has a moment where they almost talked themselves out of it. Did you have that moment, and what made you push through?
I feel like I have these almost every day or every other day! But specifically right around the time I did my first photoshoot for the first collection and before I posted it online. It felt like there was no turning back once I clicked post. There was a real fear that not enough people would want something like this. Or that they would, and I couldn't pull it off.
But once it was out there, it felt like a commitment I was making to myself and my community, to actually go after this instead of just dreaming about it.
3. Your collection is small-batch and mindfully produced. In an industry dominated by fast fashion, how do you hold the line on that when the pressure to scale is real?
During my research and development phase I learned that a recycled-polyester swimsuit or rashguard made through a fast fashion business model is still a fast fashion product. That's short production cycles, with 40+ drops a year instead of 4 or 5.
And at the foundation of all this is my culture and my personal experience of reconnecting to my Indigenous roots that has guided me. The question I kept asking myself was: how could I build and operate in a way that honors nature and my ancestors. That means never taking more than you need, living by the seasons, giving back to the community, and respecting Mother Earth.
4. In sustainability there are always compromises; for example, rashguards are traditionally made from synthetics. How did you decide to offset that?
You're right, rashguards are almost always synthetic (spandex, polyester, nylon blends) because that's what gives them the stretch, sun protection, and quick-dry performance you need in the water. I didn't try to pretend that away. Instead, I focused on where I could make more sustainable choices: our packaging is fully compostable/recyclable (we work with suppliers like EcoEnclose and Better Packaging Co.), being able to use recycled fabrics for our recent women’s collection, and most importantly our one drop per season, small-batch, and no restocks model.
For me, transparency is important which is why we say "mindfully produced". It has meant being honest about the trade-offs, not slapping "eco" on something it isn't, while still finding real places in the supply chain and business model where I can offset the impact.
5. Cualli Co. is bringing Mexican culture to the shoreline, a space that hasn't always felt inclusive. Have you felt that personally, and what does it mean to you to change that narrative?
Yes, that’s where this idea for the brand came from. Surprisingly, the feeling of exclusion didn’t happen in the line up or on the shore lines. It happened when I would go into surf and beach brand stores or on their websites. These brands didn’t represent the line up. Not in age, bodies, ethnicities, or in their prints.
I want to disrupt the current industry and bring representation to a part of the population that has been often overlooked. To say we matter. We belong in and out of the water.
6. Connecting back to our roots, what does that mean to you as an indigenous and urban Mexican culture brand?
It means to still hold a connection to our Indigeneity whether that is through words, symbols, or prints. Knowing where we come from, honoring where we are, and acknowledging the current times we are living in.
Many of us who grew up in two worlds, or on both sides of the border, often have a fragmented and complex relationship to our roots. A feeling of longing and belonging but never quite fully embraced by either side.
I want others to feel like they belong in their own journey to their connection to their culture and roots. Whether they identify with more of the urban Mexican part of the culture, or whatever stage they're in with their reclamation of their Indigeneity, or perhaps they relate more to modern Mexican culture. There is no right or wrong way to connect, as long as you feel good in it and are wearing it with pride. Ultimately, a sense of belonging not just in the water but also in the culture.
7. Do you have any advice for entrepreneurs trying to build a sustainable brand?
Slow is sustainable. Don’t rush to make it perfect. Research, research, and do more research. Read “Let My People Go Surfing” by Yvon Chouinard. And ¡Si se puede!
