VRy Airy started with a pandemic, a VR headset, and a mom who was absolutely certain she was going to be amazing at rhythm games long before she ever touched a headset. (Spoiler: She was right.)
My son wouldn't share...
When my youngest son got a VR headset for his 16th birthday, I finally got to try Beat Saber. One song in and I was smitten. The lights! The music! The dramatic wrist flicks! The fact that nobody could see me flailing wildly and sweating profusely! Pure magic.
There was just one problem:
My son also wanted to use the headset.
Rude.
Fortunately, this was 2021 — the world had been shut down for nearly a year and suddenly money randomly fell out of the sky. So I did something single, homeschooling moms — statistically nonexistent — rarely do: I bought myself something fun. Another Quest 2. Technically “for the whole family,” but the other kids never used it. So… it was mine.
Exploring VR
Beat Saber wasn’t enough, so I went exploring. I quickly discovered Synth Riders, Supernatural, Audio Trip, and a whole world of rhythm and movement games that made me feel alive — especially during the lockdown months. And then, like a bonus gift from the universe, I found meditation and mindfulness apps like Tripp and Maloka in VR. Those became my calm space during the pandemic — a place to breathe, reset, feel grounded, and stay connected to myself when the world felt upside down.
Sharing My New Passion
All of that joy and movement and meaning naturally led me to start enthusiastically talking about VR on the internet; I shared videos and posts right away, with a pseudonym I made up in high school for my top-secret future author identity — Arian Dwyer (ArianDwyer) — as my gamer name. Then one night, in a Synth Riders multiplayer event, someone shortened it to Airy — and I loved it instantly. Light, playful, imaginative… and easier to pronounce. Perfect.
Somewhere in the middle of ducking, dodging, swinging and sharing, I made friends. Actual friends! The kind you share real life with. VR may look solo from the outside, but inside? It’s a whole community.
Fitness, Therapy, Fun
VR didn’t just become a hobby.
It became fitness. Therapy. Joy. Escape. Dance party. Connection. Brain break. Social life. Confidence boost. And occasionally, furniture hazard.
Life got hard
For years VR helped me cope with the challenges of life. In early 2023, life got harder.
For a year and a half, health issues and major life changes piled up like laundry — my energy crashed, my strength faded, and depression quietly pulled up a chair. Movement became difficult. VR went from daily delight to rare luxury. And yet… that spark never left.
And while movement had to wait, imagination didn’t.
The Dream
Somewhere between couch days, symptom flare-ups, and missing my favorite rhythm games, I remembered an early dream:
VR merch.
Something wearable, playful, livable — that said:
“I love VR, and I hope you do, too.”
So I started building VRy Airy right where I was — couch, YouTube, stubbornness and faith.
building the brand
And listen… for a brand built in pajamas, it is seriously intentional.
Everything has been thought out, researched, tested, refined, rethought, redesigned, learned, relearned, and occasionally yelled at.
There have been:
🌀 hurdles
🧩 brain teasers
🪄 tiny triumphs
💻 late-night tech battles
🎉 countless “wait… how do I do this again?” moments
Figuring out the workings of print on demand? Learning it.
Building the website? Creating it.
Designing merch? Doing it (that’s the fun part).
Figuring out marketing? Ugh… coming soon.
But through every challenge — I knew in my heart:
This is what I am meant to do.
Why VRy Airy?
Because I’ve always been a creator:
🎨 jewelry artist
📸 portrait photographer
🧼 clothing upcycler and designer
👗 fashion-loving child-turned-fashion-loving adult
VRy Airy blends all of that into one ridiculously fun container: wearable joy for VR people.
This brand is for people who:
— have punched a wall mid-swing
— have given up explaining VR and now just say, “Here, put this on.”
— danced alone while absolutely vibing
— sweated more in a headset than a gym
— felt VR heal something inside
— believed in play at any age
— know VR is far more than “a video game”
It's effervescent
VRy Airy is merch that winks.
It’s funny, bold, quirky, clever, and imaginative — made by someone who genuinely loves VR, for people who love VR just as much.
The goal isn’t just to sell things.
It’s to make people feel seen.
Like:
“Yes, this is exactly what I’ve been thinking.”
“I need the world to know how much I love this.”
“Other VR people will get it.”
And occasionally:
“If this shirt makes someone try VR, I’ve done my job.”
VRy Airy isn’t just clothing and accessories and mugs and decor.
It’s belonging.
It’s shared language.
It’s living VR *outside* of the headset.
And most of all — it’s fun.
Thank you for sharing this journey with us.
