Anna Smoothy is a co-founder of a circular business start-up in the Swiss Alps, Cirkel Supply Co. An ex-competitive skier and current day Freeride World Tour (FWT) commentator*, Anna lives and breathes alpine culture.
Hailing from Wānaka NZ, Anna was dragged up by a family of skiers & mountaineers. She found her way into freeride skiing, placing 2nd overall on the Freeride World Qualifying Tour twice before focusing on the business side of the ski industry.
Over the past decade, Anna has worked with leading outdoor brands: from leading global marketing at Faction Skis, to team management at Mons Royale, and contracting for many other brands, magazines, & organizations in between.
Her skiing gradually switched from jumping big cliffs to ski-touring big mileages. This expedition style of skiing through incredible landscapes has been captured in films such as EAST WEST, and Zermatt to Verbier.
In 2022, Anna juggled completing an MBA with commentary duties on the FWT and volunteer work with POW NZ. She focused her capstone MBA project on circular business – investigating if outdoor clothing rental can be more sustainable than linear sales. Through business model life cycle assessment, Anna’s project estimated rental’s potential to emit 76% less CO2 than sales. More importantly, the report highlighted hotspots to focus on to reduce rental’s impact further.
Upon completion of her MBA, Anna joined Cirkel Supply Co., a Swiss startup specializing in apparel rental to offer skiers & snowboarders a new, circular way to reduce the impact of their sports by renting premium outerwear.
