Welcome to Saltwater Sunshine

The History

I am Heulwen, and I worked for over 10 years in the corporate world where the fundamental drive was wealth creation. Whilst having obvious upsides, this began to feel quite hollow and I sought to make a change.

The financial crash of 2008 led to a sabbatical opportunity which coincided with my move to Scotland and desire to make a change. In 2009, I bought a gift shop in the village I had just moved to - Gullane.

I worked for the next few years doing both jobs until the arrival of my son in 2012 when time could not expand anymore and I left my finance job.

The Development

During the next few years I had the opportunity to explore new areas and developed an interest in complementary therapies. This culminated in my undertaking a Diploma in Clinical Reflexology in 2019, extending to extended training in reproflexology (reflexology for fertility) the following year.

In 2020 Sunshine Sole was launched. This is a huge passion of mine and the opportunity to work with clients, and help them during what are often trying circumstances, is very gratifying.

An understanding of the importance of wellness and a need for authenticity developed. Indeed these are key aspects of social sustainability.

The Concept

Societally there has been a gradual awakening that the way we consume goods has to change. The landfill created by fast fashion, appalling working conditions and excessive consumption has all gained much more awareness in recent years.

Running Old Smiddy as a gift shop I started to try and make more conscious buying choices but started to feel this wasn’t enough. As a consumer I started to look to only buy from companies with a strong sustainability message and realised I needed to reflect this in my business too.

The plans started to be made to radically change the business and I realised that I wanted it to reflect my own philosophies and interests much more.

The Launch

The re-brand was important to set a clear delineation between the old and new. The name Saltwater Sunshine is important. It sets the tone of a business as a coastal based enterprise with many of the products being made from natural products and designed for the beach environment.

Sunshine not only sets the positive tone but also has a personal connection as it is the English translation of my Welsh name, Heulwen. This also provides to reinforce the synergies between my 2 businesses of Sunshine Sole and Saltwater Sunshine.

The link to nature is not only geographical but also philosophical showing the importance placed on companies who aim to make a positive social and environmental impact.