Seal Beach clothing pop-up raises money for Maui wildfire victims

“Nalu” is a Hawaiian term that means “wave.”

Finn Schonfelder certainly hopes his Nalu clothing company has a ripple effect.

Schonfelder was in Seal Beach on Monday night, peddling his wares for a good cause. His good friends, the Glowacki family, held a clothing pop-up at their chiropractic office.

Nalu, based in Bali, is different from some other clothing companies. For every four items purchased, a school uniform is given to a child in India who needs it.

Jessica Glowaki and Michelle Gillespie, from left, shop Nalu clothing and accessories during Monday night’s pop-up event.

(Don Leach / Staff Photographer)

Finn, now 20, founded the company with his older sister Dali in 2014 with the idea of kids helping kids. Many giving trips have followed.

“Once they wear the uniform, they’re part of a community,” explained Schonfelder, who lives in Bali. “They belong somewhere, and they’re protected in a way. When they lose that, they become victim to a lot of bad situations. When they’re not wearing a uniform, they’re way more of a target. If a girl walks down the street in a uniform, people back off because she’s going somewhere.”

The for-profit company also donated all of the profit from Monday’s pop-up to victims of the Maui fires. Chiropractor Brad Glowacki said his four children came up with the idea.

Maui has been a favorite late-summer destination of the family for a couple of decades, Glowacki said. The Nalu clothing profit of $3,190 will be donated to Maui United Way, he said Tuesday.

Event coordinator Hero Glowaki holds popular backpacks during a pop-up event of Nalu clothing on Monday night in Seal Beach.

(Don Leach / Staff Photographer)

“It’s good to see that you can do something good for somebody else, and at the same time, there’s a benefit,” Glowacki said. “It’s not an ‘if I win, you lose.’ It’s good for them to see that there can be win-wins in business. When you really start to set things up that way, I think that’s the secret to success.”

Items for sale at Monday night’s event included T-shirts, sweatshirts, backpacks and water bottles. Glowacki had his youngest child Hero, 14, there to help with the event.

Hero said the families met through shared interests: Finn and Dali’s parents are also chiropractors. They first crossed paths at a seminar in Spain in 2018, then went on a giving trip together.

Since then, they’ve traveled the world.

Sarah Weismann and Savannah Lyons, from left, shop Nalu clothing and accessories during Monday’s pop-up event.

(Don Leach / Staff Photographer)

“We’re just pushing out positivity,” said Hero Glowacki, an eighth-grader at Saint Hedwig Catholic School. “Knowing you’re doing something great for people in need just makes you fill up with joy.”

Hero has an interest in fashion. He has a good role model in Finn, who was just 11 years old when Nalu clothing company launched.

Finn Schonfelder has seen the company grow since then. He said Nalu donated 650 school uniforms in January, and plans to donate 1,000 more at the start of next year. Pop-ups like the one Monday night help.

“It’s just a beautiful way to collaborate,” Schonfelder said. “Our families genuinely love each other, and we came together in order to do something good and really make a change. We combined all of our interests, came together and made it happen.”