‘I made my own door’: The pro footballer who turned stigma into a global sock brand

Professional footballer and entrepreneur Maro Bonsu-Maro once believed world-class products could come from South Auckland.

Now, his Best Grip socks are worn by more than 20,000 athletes around the world.

The business started in 2020 in the garage of his Māngere East home but Bonsu-Maro says he was initially reluctant to tell people where it came from because of the stigma attached to South Auckland.

With Pukapuka, Cook Islands and Ghanaian roots, Bonsu-Maro says growing up taught him early that opportunities did not always come easily.

“Coming from South Auckland, from a young age, opportunities weren't really thrown at us,” Bonsu-Maro tells Pacific Days. “We always had to work the extra bit harder just to get that little bite.

“I knocked on so many doors and no one answered. So I thought, ‘I'm going to make my own door’.”

Watch Maro Bonsu-Maro's full interview below.

His drive to make money started when he was nine years old, when he attended Māngere East Primary School and sold pencil packs for 50 cents each to help his family.

“I came from a lot of love,” he says. “We had a strong rich island culture. But the one thing we were lacking was strong financial support. I was always trying to find ways to make fast money.”

That included selling chocolate bars and T-shirts and trying drop shipping, ventures he now calls “failed businesses”.

“You got to start somewhere. It’s funny because it’s molded me into the entrepreneur that I am today. I kind of know what to do and what not to do,” he says.

His biggest idea came during the Covid pandemic after he became frustrated with his feet slipping inside his football boots.

Bonsu-Maro put $2600 of his own money into developing a grip sock and tested 36 different re-designs before building the product from his Tennessee Avenue garage in Māngere East.

But two years later, his football career and business were both under pressure.

While playing professionally in Switzerland. he suffered a career-threatening torn Achilles tendon.

Maro Bonsu-Maro playinf for Auckland FC. Photo/ACFC Media

He was isolated abroad during rehabilitation and watched his business stall. He says he came close to giving up.

“My mom always said, ‘Whenever you lose the ball, win it back. Whenever you start something, you’ve got to finish it,” he says.

“I looked in the accountability mirror and asked, am I quitting because of my circumstances, or because I’ve tried everything? And I didn’t try everything.”

He went back to work, using the discipline he had developed through football to reshape his business.

The result was 5000 pairs of Best Grip socks sold in six months.

Today, the brand says its socks are worn by over 20,000 athletes worldwide, including the All Blacks, All Whites, netballers and NRL players.

Its ambassadors include All Blacks winger Sevu Reece, Northern Stars netballer Crystal Maro, Gallagher Super Rugby Chiefs’ player Seuseu Naitoa Ah Kuoi, Auckland FC’s Francis De Vries, and former Portuguese footballer Luis Nani.

Ah Kuoi has also spoken publicly about the difference the socks have made to his game.

“Before I had grip socks I would always feel like I’m slipping out of my boots when I’m scrumming and running but these bad boys came into my life and changed the game," Ah Kuoi said.

"Besides the fact that they look skux, they’re also a thing in my prep that I can control.”

Now based in Melbourne, Bonsu-Maro says sharing videos of his journey from a South Auckland garage has helped him reconnect and sparked support from the community.

He says the experience has forced him to confront a belief he once held about where quality and success could come from.

A former student of Onehunga High School, Maro Bonsu-Maro returned recently to his old stomping grounds to give back. Photo/Onehunga High School

“I'm from South Auckland and I built this for my garage. I was really scared to say that in the past because I thought that quality can't come from South Auckland, but that's so wrong. That was one of my limiting beliefs.

“I'm Maro. I'm a business owner. I'm an entrepreneur. I'm a family man. No more hiding.”

His focus now is also on helping young athletes from low-income families, providing free gear when cost becomes a barrier.

For Bonsu-Maro, the business has become more than a sports brand. It is a reminder that a garage in Māngere can be the starting point for something that reaches far beyond South Auckland.