EP 84 Turning Plastic into Budgie Smugglers Jason Hoeung

Jason is the founder of Supawear and 2Eros. He is a designer, diversity champion and entrepreneur.

11 years after he founded the business Jason started to produce sustainable swimwear made from plastic bottles. Yes you heard it right, it takes about 10 plastic bottles to make 1 budgie smuggler and they have repurposed over two hundred and forty thousand bottles.

We learnt much more about men’s underwear in this conversation, things like stretchable, roomier pouches and curve technology. I have to say we did encourage Jason to start producing underwear for women as well.

As the son of refugee parents, who literally hustled for business when they arrived here not knowing any English, he grew up in western suburbs of Sydney facing not just discrimination but also struggling with his sexuality

He went to the extent of creating a whole different identity right down to different names for different set of friends. 

Jason wasn’t just hiding from his parents and friends, he also felt that he couldn’t be the face of his company for fear that because he was Asian it would impact the success of the business. 

We unpack so much in this podcast, from business to identity to coming out.