Matt EmmaMina™ Swimwear is the newest brand making waves across Southern California, and its rise was highlighted on The Rhonda Swan Show: Wake Up So Cal Edition. During the interview, Laura M. Mackay, founder and CEO of Mina™ swimwear, shared how the brand came to life, why real functionality matters just as much as beauty, and how her work ties back to the women who shaped her.
For Laura M. Mackay, Mina™ started the same way many great products do: with a problem she couldn’t ignore. “I’m a product designer in the tech industry, and I love solving problems for people with real needs,” she said. Each trip to a department store revealed the same gap. “If you go to Bloomingdale’s, you can’t find a suit you can actually do a backflip in. Or you have to wear a stale suit you only want to swim in.” She wanted a suit that delivered performance without losing elegance, instead of being forced to choose between the two.
From Silicon Valley to Swimwear
Laura swims every day, which means she tests her designs the way athletes do. “I’ve been swimming every day in these suits for the last four years,” she said. She approached swimwear like a tech product. It needed to work. It needed to last. It needed to make sense for the user.
Mina™ suits are built with high-end Italian Carvico fabric. Luxury brands already use it, but Laura took construction a step further. “I was really inspired by figure skaters and how they use mesh with high-end materials to create tight construction,” she said. That combination gives Mina™ suits a structured, elegant fit that holds up to real movement.
Unlike most active swimwear, Mina™ doesn’t hide behind black. Laura is also a painter, and her original artwork becomes the prints. “Active suits are usually boring black suits. So my paintings really come in and shine,” she said. Color, motion, and personality finally get space to breathe.
A Brand Rooted in Legacy
The name Mina™ carries a story of its own. It was her grandmother’s nickname, and choosing it was intentional. “I wanted to create a business that was tied to authentically who I am,” Laura said. “It’s easier to sell it, easier to talk about it, because you’re not putting on a front.”
Her grandmother was a designer too, but as a child bride, she never had the chance to build a career. Naming the brand Mina™ honors her spirit and brings her into the future of the family. It also connects directly to the brand’s social purpose.
During travels in Australia, Laura visited a coffee shop designed as a social enterprise. It supported people experiencing homelessness by giving them work and space to create. “It created a spark for me,” she said. After working at companies like Google, where profit rules, and nonprofits, where money is tight, she wanted a business that could do both: make money and make a difference.
The Mission Behind the Brand
Mina™ swimwear is working toward a partnership with UNICEF to support their initiative to end child bride practices in the 12 countries where the issue still exists. “I’ve been in contact with them since 2023,” Laura said. The practice often happens for financial reasons and prevents girls from ever realizing their potential.
For Laura M. Mackay, the cause is personal. It ties back to her grandmother’s life, and it aligns with her belief that women should have the freedom to build the futures they want. “I wanted to do something that wasn’t just making money, but was authentic to who I am,” she said.
Where Mina™ Is Heading Next
As Mina™ grows, Laura sees the brand expanding into more specialized performance wear. She has her eye on Olympic swimwear design as well as gear for open water swimming, a sport she knows firsthand. Better wetsuits, better movement, better fit. She wants to build them all.
Southern California surfers can relate. The swimwear options are either functional but plain or beautiful but flimsy. Laura wants to rewrite that. “Black is classy,” she said, “but in the water, this is your place to shine.”
Empowerment, One Suit at a Time
Everything Mina™ does ties back to a clear purpose. “The business is here to support women to really feel free,” Laura said. Mina™suits are made so women can swim, surf, flip, dive, and explore without worrying about their suits staying in place. “You can do flip turns. You can jump off a cliff. I find so many beautiful suits, I can’t do the things I want to do,” she said. “But I could in this suit.”
Mina™Swimwear blends performance, art, and mission into one clear promise. It gives women the freedom to move and the confidence to shine. And with Laura’s vision steering it forward, Mina™ is poised to become a brand that lasts.
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The Rhonda Swan Show Wake Up New York City Edition and now The Rhonda Swan Show Wake Up SoCal is a global stage for founders, creators, and visionaries who turn courage into companies and values into value. Hosted by Rhonda Swan, CEO of Unstoppable Branding Agency, the series blends street-level energy with boardroom insight to reveal the people and principles behind tomorrow’s category leaders. Each episode closes the gap between inspiration and action, reminding audiences that remarkable brands are built by ordinary people who choose to keep going.