About

I recently received a DM from a FEST founder name Allyna with a big question: how to start a sustainable fashion brand off right? Well, yes, of course there was more to it than that. Like many people who listen to the Spirit of 608 podcast, she wondered about finding suppliers, getting samples, setting herself up to seek future investment and sourcing deadstock fabric for the line. To be honest with you, when I first saw her question, I thought, I'm a media expert, not a fashion brand founder. Do I even have a right to give advice on this? Not sure if you've noticed, but I typically stick to advice on media and mindset and bring fashion business advice into the show by asking a lot of other people a lot of questions. But as I thought about it, it dawned on me: I may not be a fashion designer or a founder of a fashion brand, but I have talked to thousands of entrepreneurs about building businesses, fashion brand strategy, sustainability, entrepreneurial ups and downs and so much more. And I've been doing it for close to 15 years. My self-minimizing thoughts hit me in the face right then and there. I had to admit, yes, I have a ton of things I can tell an early stage founder about approaching her dream to build a sustainable fashion brand that empowers women.  But because I fiercely reserve my one-on-one time for Spirit of 608 partners and clients, I dove into creating a podcast episode answering Allyna's question so I could share it not only with her, but with all of you who have the same questions. In fact, people have been asking me these questions for years. So many thanks to Allyna for being the reason I finally decided to answer.  Listen for 6 steps every founder needs to know to start a responsible fashion brand responsibly.  Want the free guide mentioned in the show? Oh yes! It includes all the resources mentioned on the show and a few bonuses, and it's right here:   Hear more on this week's solo episode of the Spirit of 608 podcast. Ask Spirit of 608 a question