Saying someone “swims with the sharks” usually means that a person can hold his or her own in any business situation. But saying it about Vivian Sayward is a statement on her skills as both an entrepreneur and an open-water swimmer who has spotted a shark or two in La Jolla Cove as part of a weekly workout regimen. Founder and president of Vivacity Sportswear, a producer of stylish women’s activewear, Sayward is an athletic, attractive woman in her 40s, who took home the Latino Impact Entrepreneur of the Year award for her tough mental resolve and fearlessness in starting a new company. The award was presented at San Diego magazine’s splashy event last week. After a very successful trunk show in July at Torrey Pines Golf Course, her lines are now being carried at The Golf Shop at Torrey Pines. Sayward, a Carmel Valley resident, credits her success — and that of her four-year-old company — to her family, particularly her maternal grandmother, Carmen Elisa. “My grandmother was ahead of her time and a very strong role model,” Sayward said. Born in New York to parents who emigrated from Colombia, Sayward said her family was driven to create a better life for her and her brother. “My mother Melina was an only child,” Sayward said; “her parents had died, and she knew that she wanted more. She didn’t like the way women were treated in Colombia. My grandmother, who placed great importance on education, made sure my mother was self-sufficient. …When I was 9, my parents moved us to California, and my father, with barely a high school education, successfully built a manufacturing company of his own.” Sayward has an enviable resume. A graduate of Smith College, she earned a master’s of business administration degree from University of California, Irvine. After college, she specialized in business analysis and development in the health care field, winding her way through big corporations such as Baxter Health Care, Western Digital, Amgen and Gensia Sicor (now part of Teva Pharmaceuticals.) Later, she moved to working on start-ups. “I gravitated toward start-ups,” Sayward said. “I never stayed in one company because I knew that was not for me. I love the aspect in a smaller situation of just being thrown in and learning. I realized that I learned a heck of a lot more wearing many hats and being free to move, which kept me motivated.” Like many start-up founders, she identified a void in the marketplace and worked to fill it. When she fell in love with the game of golf, she found her niche. She lamented with many of her fellow female golfers about the unimaginative, unattractive clothing lines available. “I started to play golf,” she explained, “and realized that there was nothing out there to wear! I was offended by the way it was marketed to women… because it wasn’t. People would tell me women don’t buy clothes at pro shops, which only had token sections way in the back for women, and what they did have were just polo shirts, cut a little short, and boxy skirts.” Women now play golf at the same clubs that have dress codes for men, and those clubs have had to adjust those guidelines to fit more women on the fairways and in the clubs’ facilities. Prior to that, Sayward said, “I talked to my husband, and he basically said to me that he was really tired of my complaining, so either do something about it or stop.” With that nudge, Sayward began her research. She had a sense of style but no formal fashion background, so she sought out the talent she needed. She works closely with her creative director, Christina Zeller, who was born and educated in Switzerland and has over 25 years of experience in the haute couture and women’s contemporary fashion market. Her idea was to design and produce all sportswear lines in the San Diego area with the vendors and talent that had survived off-shoring to places like China and Southeast Asia. “In San Diego,” said Sayward, “there was a lot more garment manufacturing in the 1970s and ’80s, and when you talk about cost in terms of dollars, there’s also that opportunity cost. I’ve heard horror stories of people sending things off to a location, a manufacturing area in China, for example, then being told the minimums are much higher, or you’re going back and forth in regards to designs and patterns – there are so many issues that can happen when done long distance. The timelines are much longer, and if you screw up, you’ve lost thousands of dollars. That’s a cost, and you have to factor it in. From that standpoint, I find producing locally much more efficient.” She and her family self-capitalized and founded Vivacity Sportswear in San Diego in 2011. Much like the company’s founder, Vivacity clothes are colorful and have from the beginning mixed the practical (performance fabrics) with upscale style (such as Swarovski crystal trims). There is no storefront or standalone store, as Sayward prefers to work with specialty boutique owners and stores within a store, such as the shop Lady Golf in Palm Desert. She has also developed a robust website, vivacitysportswear.com, where customers can buy directly from the company. Using trunk shows to develop her proof of concept, she’s morphed her lines into clothing that transitions from sport to lifestyle. The golf line has expanded into tennis and resort-wear and is carried in throughout Florida, the Carolinas and Arizona as well as in San Diego, La Jolla, Rancho Santa Fe and Palm Desert. Vivacity runs an e-commerce site, and Sayward is looking to enter the Japanese women’s apparel market. “I’ve been doubling and tripling my sales each year,” Sayward said, “and we are just about at break even. Our goal is to get cash flow positive by year five. When you have a business, you have to be nimble and shift gears. Golf courses everywhere are having issues, so we are reaching out more to our customer base directly.” When asked for her advice to women thinking about starting their own business, she offered these words: “Rule No. 1, cut your losses. I am direct and respectful, but you have to be able to cut strings; you have to be tough. … Rule No. 2, listen to your gut, and don’t be afraid to break from the status quo. If the model is broken, improvise. And Rule No. 3, ask for help, always and everywhere. This is so important and something a lot of women are afraid to do. But perhaps the most important rule of all is to be there to help the next generation of women. Listen to them and mentor them; you will learn a lot. “