Noor Aziz


Reflections

Purpose Tri Suits at the 2019 SEA Games, Philippines

Here are the photos of athletes in action at the 2019 SEA Games Triathlon and Duathlon events. My heartfelt thank yous to all teams and athletes who chose to wear Purpose to glory at the Games.

Credits and sincere gratitude to photographers Marvin Manalang (AsiaTri), Fiz Said and other individuals who shared and graciously provided the approval for these images to be compiled into one album.

Would you have imagined that in two years, you’d see Purpose worn at such a high profile Games? I wouldn’t.

When Purpose launched in the middle of 2017, that was also the year when the 2017 SEA Games took place in Kuala Lumpur. The brand was still way too young for me to be thinking of any grand vision in being present at such a level.

To do great jerseys, Purpose must first make great tri suits.

As Purpose was being developed, we had no real products for the triathlon back then. It was only in the second half of 2017 when I learnt that, in order to do great cycling jerseys, Purpose must do great tri suits first. I wanted Purpose to be stylish kits but more than that, I needed Purpose to be known for performance products.

The focus in making great tri suits not only led to better cycling jerseys, that focus also led to the brand growing faster and quicker than I had imagined.

No one else will love us if we can’t love ourselves first.

Although it’s been my dream to take Purpose worldwide, I want it to be associated with being from Southeast Asia, of Southeast Asia. That’s the essense that I want Purpose to be made of.  So I had to make sure that we are strongly associated with local athletes and team. No one else will love us if we can’t love ourselves first.

Becoming good is a symbiosis between several parties – each with their own goals yet growing and evolving together.

To become an established brand, I realized it is a symbiotic relationship between several key parties – each with their own goals, yet growing and evolving together. So when the chance came to be a part of the national triathlon teams of Singapore and Malaysia, I stood firm in the belief that there can be no other brand that can be the official race wear than Purpose. Vietnam graciously turned the offer down choosing instead to buy the kits from us. Due to the very late inclusion of Team Indonesia into the Games, Purpose could not be the official team race wear. However, thanks to the work we have been doing with the Indonesian athletes prior to the Games, two of the four members chose to wear Purpose at their races.

Some dreams come true through pure luck, others come because of hard work

Although I can say that it is timing and luck, mine was mostly the latter. Although not by accident that Purpose grew to where we are in just two short years, I’m grateful that these teams and individual athletes chose Purpose for their chance to shine in the limelight.

This 2019 Sea Games is my cornerstone now. A lighthouse that I shall use to light the direction to chart in 2020. It is dawning upon me now that the tasks of 2019 have now amplified for 2020. Let’s do this!


Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *