![]() When the young photographer was looking to move on from wedding shoots, she thought ONA might be an interesting place to work. That’s actually how I found out about ONA,” says Wishart. ![]() That gave her the flexibility to hire an experienced team to help her scale the business, including Jillian Wishart, who was a fan of ONA before joining the company. “As a company that wasn’t funded I did need to take advantage of using lines of credit,” says Foster. But Foster has put much of the cash back into the business and also used credit cards when needed. Through a growing network of retailers and the company’s website,, sales have soared. In addition to the handbag style models, Foster also expanded the line to include camera backpacks in 2011. and leather from Italy, and was fortunate enough to find a great manufacturing partner just a few hours’ flight from New York in the Dominican Republic. She worked hard to source canvas from the U.S. “We’re really just trying to provide photographers-whether they are professionals, enthusiasts, travel writers or bloggers-a stylish, alternative way of carrying their camera gear,” says Foster. The risk, however calculated, and her evident passion proved to be a winning combination. “It was a risk to take, but it was not going to be life shattering if for some reason it did not work out,” she says. While all of this was happening, the aspiring bag maker had convinced her employer to slowly phase out her duties, which meant she could use the money she was making to fund the startup on her own. In an initial production run, she had 100 handbag-style camera pouches produced. “I developed one bag and after about a year and a half I launched ONA Designs in 2010,” recalls Foster, who named the company after the Swahili word “ona,” which literally means to see or experience with the eyes. With no experience in accessories design and what she calls good old-fashioned Googling, she was able to connect with designers who might be willing to help. But she spent her free time researching the perfect, stylish camera bag. I felt very strongly that there should be a more stylish option,” says Foster.Īfter leaving South Africa, she returned to Maryland (her home at the time) and continued her job as the chief of staff at a private high school, where she helped with fundraising and communications. “I was carrying a very boring, ballistic nylon camera bag. “I wasn’t going with the intention of finding inspiration for a new business.”ĭuring her travels, Foster’s mission was to document everything she saw in photos, but she soon realized that the bag she was toting her camera in wasn’t perfect. It was our first time to Africa,” she says. When Tracy Foster planned a trip to South Africa in 2008, she was only looking for an adventure with her husband.
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