50% of Profits Donated to Children's Cancer Charities

It's a nice statement. But how, and why?

The HOW part is relatively straight forward. To be clear, we are not a charity. We're an independent small business that gives half of all of the profits generated by our apparel sales to charity. Specifically charities that conduct childhood cancer medical research, or provide vital support services to children and their families affected by a cancer diagnosis. With the remainder of profits used to help grow the business, and in turn, the level of support we can provide to those charities.

Our mission is to build a feel good, island lifestyle apparel brand, with products that are vibrant and exciting, but laid back. Products that conjure up images of days spent lounging on tropical island beaches, under shady palms, with your toes in the sand. Watching out over crystal clear tropical waters, without ever feeling the need to check your watch.

With every purchase, more and more funds can be generated for amazing charity and non-profit organisations to fuel their work. Your purchase of a shirt, or a hat, or any of our apparel, can contribute to that fuel. We want to pair that feel good aspect with amazing products, that people would choose to buy, even if they weren't aware of the positive impact it was having.

We want to build a community around this brand. A community of people who are excited about our products, but even more passionate about the social good we can all accomplish. With this support, we believe the brand will grow. And as it grows, so does the financial support that we'll be able to sustainably provide to Children's cancer charities. Enabling those organisations to provide even more much needed support to those amazing kids and their families, at a time when it's needed most.

And now, the why?

In early 2024, our family had to leave the tropical island we'd come to call home, to undergo just under a year's worth of medical treatment in the big city.

My wife, and the mother of our three girls, Sonja, had been diagnosed with Stage 3 Triple Negative Breast Cancer. Which, to crudely try and summarise, is a relatively aggressive form of breast cancer, that had spread from her breasts to her lymph nodes. She was 38 at the time.

The next 9 months was challenging. Cancer treatment is brutal, and it took a significant physical and emotional toll. My wife's medical team were fantastic, and after months of chemo, and a double mastectomy, we got the call that she no longer had any evidence of live cancer cells. Doctors don't use the word "cured" when it comes to cancer, so this was as good as it got, and it was great news.

Along the way, we had a lot of support from family, friends, my employer, and even strangers. It's had to express how much that meant to our family.

Through the treatment process we met a lot of people going through their own cancer journeys, doing it just as tough, or even tougher. In particular, our hearts went out to the kids and their families, battling through various stages of cancer treatments.

My wife's Radiation Oncologist commented that the treatment the kids receive is, by design, more intense than adults, due to the nature of the disease in children. So to see some of these kids with smiles still on their faces was truly inspiring.

On the flip side, seeing these kids made me want to go and find some sort of metaphorical embodiment of cancer, and punch it in the face.

We wanted to help. In a way that was sustainable for the long term. So the idea for Flying Fish Trading Co. was born. An island lifestyle apparel brand, named for an idyllic cove on the island we had fallen in love with. Leaving the island for 9 months was hard, but having our return as the light at the end of the tunnel, definitely helped keep the spirits up.

That love for the tropical island lifestyle, and its community and culture, is what we wanted to reflect in the products and designs we use. That ethereal feeling of "island time" depicted in a way that everyone can enjoy. With a commitment to directing 50% of the profits towards Children's cancer charities.

So if you're looking for apparel, with amazing designs, a laid back feel, that has the power to make a difference in supporting little cancer battling legends and their families, then you've come to the right place. And we thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your support.