It was around this time that her sister developed cancer and died, leaving the then 26-year-old Eglinton questioning what she wanted to do with her life.
Shortly afterwards, in 2003, Eglinton's partner was transferred to Annapolis, Maryland.
More as a way to fill in the time than anything else, Eglinton signed up to a local community college to study business, and also spent time at a local sailing club.
That was where she first realised how far behind New Zealand other countries were about being sun smart. "The US is probably about 10 years behind New Zealand in terms of sun protection," she says. "There were kids at all the sailing camps coming off the water sunburnt and with no sun protection at all. When we started in 2003, we actively had to tell people what our sunwear was. As the company grew, so was the message about skin cancer and melanoma, so it was really good timing."
Snapper Rock, named after the spot in the Bay of Islands, started with a small range of wetsuit tops, made in New Zealand.
I was thinking this would be just a small business and we'll see what happens with it - definitely didn't have any 'let's turn into a global company' vision.
The company's products were all tested by ARPANSA - the Australian government body charged with radiation protection - and tagged to show they offered UV50 protection.
Although most good quality products had some level of UV resistance, cheaper swimwear often stretched or was thin to begin with and thus unlikely to offer enough sun protection, says Eglinton.
Eight months pregnant, she took the first of the range to a boat show. Though she looks back and says she has no idea what she was thinking, the show was a success and Eglinton signed up a few retail clients. From there, things snowballed.
"I was thinking this would be just a small business and we'll see what happens with it - definitely didn't have any 'let's turn into a global company' vision," Eglinton says. "We started going to more and more trade shows and signed up more retailers and some of them were from the UK and Asia, so we kind of organically grew into a global company."
Now selling in 46 countries, the brand last month received the Earnie Award in the US, for top swimwear brand, and won a Crisbie Award for Most Adorable Swimwear - as voted by US consumers.
Whenever I talked to people in the States they all said the trade shows were where people buy.
"The pleasing thing is that we won Best Swimwear overall [with the Earnie] and not just in the UV Protection category where the brand is focused," Eglinton says.
"We are the first sun protection swimwear company to win the top award and it shows that the world is finally waking up to the importance of protecting children from sun damage from an early age."
Part of the brand's success has been in its marketing - most of which is done by the gear itself, which features Snapper Rock branding across the front or on the sleeve.
Snapper Rock has been spotted being worn by the children of celebrities such as Gwen Stefani, Orlando Bloom, Matt Damon, Jessica Alba, Jennifer Garner and Elton John, to name a few, helping build brand awareness and sales.
As well as having a good quality product, Eglinton says she had to learn how to sell and market the product in the US, and did some market research.
"Whenever I talked to people in the States they all said the trade shows were where people buy," she says. "You don't cold call or anything, you just basically turn up and they come and sit down and write you orders, and it's frantic, but it's been a really fun project and we've just kept expanding the range."
Snapper Rock now sells to retail stores, resorts including Trump Towers and Marriott, as well as department stores such as Harrods and Barneys.
Every year it is also featured in a segment on Good Morning America, but with this rapid expansion come the growing pains familiar to any small business on the brink of making it big.
"Three or four years ago where we were just at that turning point, we were in a warehouse that really couldn't fit everything in and couldn't do the back end stuff - our systems just weren't big enough," Eglinton says.
"Combined with not having enough staff to get everything done, things were pretty stressful." The company now has 13 staff, uses seven factories in China, Taiwan and India and suppliers in the US.
Although Eglinton won't disclose financial details, she says the company has grown by 30 to 50 per cent year on year since 2010, and she still owns the business with husband Mark Eglinton.
The coming year will see the company put out its biggest range, with new products and designs already in the works.
Now living back in New Zealand, and with three children as well as a full-time business, Eglinton is happy at how things have gone - and her family still visit Snapper Rock in their holidays.
Profile:
• Age: 42
• Previous role: Marketing executive at Lion Nathan
• Studied: Food Science
• Children: Mitchy (11), Louis (10), Francesca (7).
