LONDON — British-Albanian fitness guru-turned-entrepreneur Krissy Cela has spent the past four years building the fast-growing activewear brand Oner Active.
The brand offers leggings, workout bras, and more for women who enjoy strength training and are not afraid to have a bit of muscle, like Cela herself, who started hitting the gym in high school to help her get out of a bad break.
“I was very insecure at the time. I was 16 years old, turning 17, and my then boyfriend and love of my life cheated on me, and I was like, I must be the problem. I’m not good enough. I didn’t like the way I looked, so I stepped foot into the gym,” said Cela, who is now expecting her first child later this year.
After a few months in the gym, Cela noticed there wasn’t much online content about women’s strength training. It was a time when cardio, Pilates and yoga were considered more suitable for women, who are not supposed to have big shoulders and big glutes. The common sense was that women worked out so that they could fit into sample sizes.
But Cela defied those expectations and began posting her workout routines on Instagram. As her following grew, she later obtained a personal training certification and in 2019 launched EvolveYou, an app dedicated to strength training for women. A year later, she launched Oner Active.
“Building that community before Oner Active was important because I knew that there was a hunger for strength training items. At the time, I had roughly 1.5 million followers. I knew that those followers were following me because they believed in strength training. So even if you converted 5 percent of that audience, it’s a sufficient amount of people,” said Cela, who now has 3.34 million followers on Instagram.
The brand has been growing steadily with a self-funded direct-to-consumer model. It now employs a team of 80 and has sold up to nearly 3 million units of products. Its website has had more than 10 million individual views since its launch.
Cela said the brand has grown 100 percent year-over-year to $60 million in revenue last year. At the same time, Cela is giving back to society, donating nearly $300,000 worth of activewear items to young schoolgirls in the U.K. to help them move their bodies.
On Monday, the brand is releasing a new range, called the Legendary Capsule, inspired by “Miami Vice” and the old-school bodybuilder.
Looking ahead, Cela said her biggest goal is to have brick-and-mortar around the world, but not in the conventional way.
“I don’t just want a retail store. I think that’s not an experience. My dream would be to have a gym that has retail as a secondary element. We’re always open to things. I never shut off the idea of wholesale or collaborations with another brand. For example, we don’t have trainers and it would be a great idea to do a lifting shoe with a footwear brand,” she said, adding that the brand on Monday will release a new capsule called the Legendary. It is inspired by “Miami Vice” and the old-school bodybuilder aesthetic.
The Legendary capsule from Oner Active.
Courtesy of Oner Active
Cela confirmed Oner Active plans to kick off discussions around investment early next year to fund its plans for brick-and-mortar, product expansion, technological innovations, and better immersive community experiences.
“I think for us to get to that next level of reaching more people, we’re going to need great investors that truly believe in the brand, but also believe that this brand, one day, could genuinely be a unicorn,” added Cela.
To achieve that goal, Cela earlier this year relocated to Los Angeles to spearhead the business in the U.S., which already is the company’s biggest market, accounting for more than 60 percent of its sales.
She also beefed up the senior leadership with former Victoria Beckham executive and fashion investment expert Zach Duane as chief executive officer, and Alice Cleary from footwear retailer Schuh as chief marketing officer to better prepare for the next stage of growth.
“There is something in Cela that I don’t often see, but I have seen in it before. I saw it in Victoria Beckham back in the day, this hungry, tenacious, self-made individual who had a really specific point of view, and was able to take that and find a product market fit and do it her way,” said Duane, who has been a board adviser to Oner Active since 2022.
“I have worked in lots of creative businesses over the years; in most cases bringing commercial energy was an effort. Typically you have a creative founder, and ultimately the brand is more driven by creative excellence than business excellence. And here, I found the perfect package. You don’t come across many businesses like this, authentic, independent, and growing like a weed, despite market conditions. It was a pretty easy decision for me to join,” added Duane, who in 2019 cofounded the strategic boutique investment firm A Brand Lives Tomorrow, where he remains a director and board member.
Amid a burgeoning activewear sector with major players like Lululemon, Alo Yoga, and Gymshare fighting for market shares, Cela contended Oner Active has three unique selling propositions that set it apart from the rest, in addition to a firm association with strength training.
“The fundamental goal for you to be part of the Oner Active community is you must lift weights, whether you lift one pound or 100 pounds,” added Cela.
First of all, the brand is majority-owned in shares by a woman, and Cela’s tone of voice goes throughout the whole company, which according to her, is not the case for 90 percent of activewear brands. Secondly, the brand doesn’t create products for age, but for preference in the space of strength training. It offers a diverse range of styles that cater to real female bodies and different scenarios beyond the gym. Lastly, the brand is big on accessibility.
“We are at that happy medium where we don’t compromise in quality by making something exceptionally cheap. Likewise, we’re not going to charge $100 for a legging. The brand is accessible to any woman who wants to step foot in the gym and start training,” said Cela, adding that the most popular range, Effortless, which includes sports bars priced at $37 and leggings for $55, has sold nearly a million units.
This weekend, Cela hosted a two-day anniversary event at Venice Beach in Los Angeles for her dedicated community with immersive experiences, workshops and guest appearances. Cela said more than 2,000 women registered to come, with a waiting list of 6,000 people.
In-person events have been crucial for Cela to bond with the community in the absence of a physical retail arm. The brand has organized an event in Shoreditch, London, which was invitation-only but ended up with a massive queue outside the venue.
It then hosted a small gathering in Los Angeles on International Women’s Day, where 50 top-tier members worked out with professional athletes and had panel discussions about new product launches and community feedback.
“Community is the beating heart of this company. If I didn’t have these women, no one here would have a job. The young girls wouldn’t be able to change their lives through our initiative. You have to give that back, and that’s why all the events we do are free. It’s the company profits that pay for it,” said Cela, adding that there will be two additional events this year, one in Miami for Hispanic Heritage Month, and the other for Black History Month in October in London.
