From walking the beaches to hacking social media, we were able to overcome this issue. We stayed lean and resourceful to find ways of reaching people for free. From the beginning we faced the hurdle of not having any money to start. The friends drove Ubers to make money to live on, did tons and tons research, perfected towel designs all day, and lived on rice and beans in order to save money to build the brand we now know as Sand Cloud.įast Forward to today: The Brand has since, been featured on Shark Tank, made a deal with Robert Herjavec, grown an ambassador team of over 100k, recognized as one of the fastest growing companies on Shopify, and all of this has led to an increase of marine life efforts from Sea lion rescues and rehabilitation to wide spread beach cleanups. Steven then quit the call center, like Bruno and Brandon did earlier that year. Committed to building Sand Cloud together, they all moved in together into a two-bedroom loft. Totally inspired the three friends decided to risk it all. As the sun began to set, and the foamy waves crash against the shore, Bruno mentioned Cloud Nine and suggested they start it back up, but this time around rename it: Sand Cloud. One day the 3 friends met up at the beach to play football like they always did. Brandon started driving for Uber to pay the bills and Bruno started a one-man life insurance brokerage from his living room. Soon the two began selling the pillow-towel to friends and family, but it proved to be an unsuccessful venture, so they gave up.īy April 2014, Brandon and Bruno quit their jobs at the call center.
So, the friends ordered a few dozen beach towels and travel pillows from a discount website and had a local seamstress sew the pillows to the towels. Living in the sunny beach town of San Diego had given Steven and Brandon an idea for a business: a towel that would help people take better naps on the beach. This is the story of how Sand Cloud began… Little did they know, they would come up with an idea that would change their lives forever. With a passion for the beach life and ocean preservation, the three would constantly dream of quitting their day jobs selling life insurance to do something that served a bigger purpose. In the summer of 2013, fate led 2 San Diego State college grads/roommates, Steven Ford and Brandon Leibel, to take jobs at a local San Diego, call center where they would meet their future business partner and lifelong friend, Bruno Aschidamini. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there. Thanks for sharing your story with us Steven. Today we’d like to introduce you to Steven Ford.