Conscious Chatter

In episode 85, Kestrel welcomes AmyAnn Cadwell, the Cofounder & Editor-in-Chief of The Good Trade, to the show. A digital media company featuring brands, products & ideas dedicated to social good, The Good Trade is known for its elevated aesthetics and accessible writing style.

"We're all on different places on the spectrum, and our goal is to really come meet people where ever they are with maybe that next step or that helpful story or that helpful point of action that kind of meets them right where they are." -AmyAnn, cofounder of The Good Trade

Throughout this chat, AmyAnn shares her interesting path into the conscious fashion and lifestyle world. She also shares her thoughts on what social good means to her, and how she's building it into the framework of The Good Trade.

Also, AmyAnn shares insight into creating a platform with aesthetics in mind, and the importance she and her team place on visuals within their storytelling.

Here are a few of the things brought up throughout this chat:

• What It's Truly Like To Be A Fashion Model, New York Times
• Social Good, according to the Bill + Melinda Gates Foundation
• Development Economics

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This week's episode is brought to you by GlobeIn, who deliver joy by empowering and connecting remarkable, remote artisans to mindful customers. They are known for their ARTISAN BOX, a monthly subscription featuring exclusive, handcrafted products from global artisans.

Interested in trying it out? Get $10 off any GlobeIn Premium Box Subscription with promo code: CONSCIOUSCHATTER.

In episode 84, Kestrel welcomes Danny Clayton, the founder of Salt Gypsy, to the show. A Byron Bay-based curated surf boutique and independent surf lifestyle supplier, Salt Gypsy celebrates female surf athleticism, diversity and style in the lineup.

"If I as a small business can source and produce gear using a lycra that's made with 78% recycled polyamide, then why are not mainstream brands or bigger businesses using that as well; why is it not industry standard?"

Throughout this conversation, Danny shares the backstory of how Salt Gypsy evolved into a brand that offers iconic surf leggings as well as surf gear for the discerning woman of the ocean.

For Danny, she spends a lot of time in the water, so she wanted to create something that could protect her skin from the sun, but also help her look cool in the lineup.

Additionally, Kestrel and Danny discuss the (un)sustainability of the traditional surf industry. From the foam and resin in the making of the boards to the surf wax, there's a lot of petroleum that goes into an industry that is associated with spending quality time in the natural world. But, innovations are on the horizon, and Danny shares her thoughts on how she believes more sustainable surf product options are coming to the market.

Tune in to hear more about the evolution of Salt Gypsy, Danny's open approach to discussing the struggles of being a small business, and the unknowns connected to the microfiber issue.

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This week's Conscious Chatter episode is brought to you by GlobeIn.

GlobeIn delivers joy by empowering and connecting remarkable, remote artisans to mindful customers. They are known for their ARTISAN BOX, a monthly subscription featuring exclusive, handcrafted products from global artisans.

Interested in trying it out? Get $10 off any GlobeIn Premium Box Subscription with promo code: CONSCIOUSCHATTER.

In episode 83, Kestrel welcomes Matt Scanlan, the CEO and cofounder of Naadam, to the show. Naadam is a fashion label that responsibly sources and produces luxury knitwear while preserving nomadic lifestyles in Mongolia.

"It's all about an equitable agreement where they're [nomadic herders] getting something and we're getting something; we get better material, they get a level of economic sustainability that didn't exist before."

In this chat, Matt shares the wild story of how he and his cofounder ended up finding themselves literally in the world of cashmere, through the friendships they made with nomadic herders in Mongolia. He also walks us through why the traditional cashmere industry had been rigged in the past.

A couple of notes from the chat:

• Naadam doesn't have any contracts with the nomadic herders they work with; instead out in the countryside, as Matt explains, "what matters is the respect, the honor, the trust, the loyalty - that's how you build the relationships"
• Hand combing is a humane and traditional process; it is done on the under belly and under the chin of the goat, and has been done for thousands of years
• Shearing uses electric clippers and can tear up the goats' skin and can be very painful
• It takes the fiber from about 4 goats over the course of 1 year to make 1 sweater.

How To Care For Your Cashmere

• Hand wash and lay flat to dry (Matt suggests the Laundress products because they are cleaner and work well)
• Pilling of cashmere in normal; for de-pilling, you can use a razor to cut them off

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This week's episode is sponsored by GlobeIn.

GlobeIn delivers joy by empowering and connecting remarkable, remote artisans to mindful customers. They are known for their ARTISAN BOX, a monthly subscription featuring exclusive, handcrafted products from global artisans.

Get $10 off any GlobeIn Premium Box Subscription with promo code: CONSCIOUSCHATTER.

In episode 82, Kestrel welcomes two guests to the show: the Chief Operating Officer at Project Just Jacinta Fitzgerald, and Riz Smith, the founder and creative director of the London-based swimwear label Riz.

Recently, Riz was awarded a Project Just Seal of Approval for their swimwear category. Kestrel had the opportunity to sit on the committee to help make this decision, which led her to bring both Jacinta and Riz on to talk about Project Just's Seal of Approval process.

In this chat, Kestrel gets the chance to ask Jacinta her thoughts on what the committee loved about Riz, as well as some of the areas they think Riz could work on to enhance his brand. Riz shares his thoughts on the Project Just Seal of Approval process, and reveals how open he is to constructive criticism.

Here are some of the ideas, topics or thoughts that came up throughout the conversation:

• Project Just Seal Of Approval Categories
• "Refined Flamboyancy": how Riz describes his sense of style
• Rizcycling Program

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This week's Conscious Chatter episode is brought to you by: GlobeIn. Known for their ARTISAN BOX, a monthly subscription featuring exclusive, handcrafted products from global artisans, GlobeIn delivers joy by empowering and connecting remarkable, remote artisans to mindful customers. Interested in trying it out? Get $10 off any GlobeIn Premium Box Subscription with promo code: CONSCIOUSCHATTER.

In episode 81, Kestrel welcomes Accompany founder & CEO Jason Keehn, and VP of Special Projects at Accompany, Kara Gerson, to the show. Accompany is a fashion online marketplace supporting developing communities around the world.

"There is such an overwhelming amount of choice for the consumer that having an editorial point of view on what's out there and bringing it all together in one place makes it feel more inspiring and emotional, as well as just more convenient."

Jason and Kara share their past experiences in fashion, and how they both saw an opening in the market for a platform that brings together styles that have more meaningful stories behind them. They also share more about their recent collaboration with Target.

Below are some of the ideas, initiatives and concepts that Jason + Kara brought up in this chat:

• Experiential Retail
• Accompany Us To Target Partnership
• Nest: a nonprofit committed to the social and economic advancement of global artisans and homeworkers through supply chain transparency, sustainable business development, and widespread industry advocacy
• Mercado Global, partner of Accompany based in Guatemala

In episode 80, Kestrel welcomes Evelyn Mora, the founder of Helsinki Fashion Week to the show. An event where international and nordic fashion meet in Finland, Helsinki Fashion Week also focuses on sustainable production and an ecological mindset.

Evelyn believes that fashion, style and individualism really are trending at the moment, and will continue to do so.

Below are some of the ideas, initiatives and concepts that Evelyn brought up in this chat:

• Infinited Fiber Company
• Tanya Solovey, Vogue Ukraine
• Finnish Environmental Institute
• Amos Anderson Museum, venue for 2017 Helsinki Fashion Week
• Uneins, brand by a German-born Finnish-based designer
• August, an Estonian brand
• Mem by Paola Malleus
• Makia, Helsinki-based sustainable fashion brand
• "Multi-local": person who is a local in more than one place

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SUPPORT CONSCIOUS CHATTER Want to help support this conversation? I big-time appreciate it! Here are some ways to help: + Download our episodes! + Subscribe to Conscious Chatter on iTunes or your favorite podcast app! + Leave us a review on iTunes! Thanks again for being part of this growing, connected community. :) -Kestrel

In episode 79, Kestrel welcomes Agnes Muljadi, a Los Angeles based vegan ballerina, actress, photographer and celebrity blogger, to the show. Agnes has been the face of an array of brands including Amazon, NFL, Starbucks, Reebok, Toms Shoes and Kind Snacks.

"MY NATUROPATH TOLD ME IMMEDIATELY YOU HAVE TO BECOME VEGAN TODAY, AND I JUST BECAME VEGAN. I LITERALLY BECAME VEGAN IN A DAY." -AGNES MULJADI

In this chat, Agnes shares insight into what her life as a ballerina looks like, and how she became vegan, basically overnight.

Kestrel also asks Agnes about her position as a social media influencer. As influencers continue to take more of a headlining role for brands and their marketing platforms, Kestrel is always curious about where and when authenticity will rise to the top.

If an influencer promotes a food product, and never actually eats it, can we tell that? If they push a pair of shoes that they would never actually want to wear, are we going to be able to realize that, as outside followers? AND, if an influencer has a socially conscious approach to their lifestyle, how do they pick and choose which brands to work with?

Agnes believes that there is a dangerous line to walk when it comes to building the right partnerships and maintaining your authenticity with your audience.

Here are a couple of the people and ideas Agnes brough up throughout this chat:

• Pea Protein, a vegan protein supplement
• Alessandra Ferri, one of Agnes's favorite dancers; she is defying the "age expectation" in ballet

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NYC EVENT ALERT Wear Your Values, hosted by Remake + Oslo Freedom Forum on September 14th, 2017 Thoughts from Remake's founder Ayesha Barenblat on her hopes for the event: "Too often the 60+ million mostly women who make our clothes, the human hands behind our fashion, are a forgotten in the glamour and glitz of fashion week. Our immersive art, film and VR tech hope to bring her back into fashion revelers consciousness in a way that doesn't paint her as a victim. But instead as the fierce, hard working girl boss that she is. So first and foremost we want NYC fashionistas, emerging designers and press to remember and celebrate the end maker. We want consumers to come away inspired and wanting to be die hard fans of the conscious fashion brands we are celebrating. We want the emerging designers coming from FIT, Pratt and Parsons to be inspired to design with intention. And we want press to not just write about the next pretty collection, what Kim Kardashian is wearing to the shows or fashion's fleeting attempts at activism be it supporting the ACLU or Planned Parenthood. We want press to instead connect the fashion world to the women who bring our fashion to life and to shine a spotlight on designers who are embracing transparency and addressing human rights in the industry. These "woke" designers are the ones we should be celebrating because the future of fashion has to be conscious".

In episode 78, Kestrel welcomes Nellie Cohen, the Worn Wear Program Manager at Patagonia, to the show. Patagonia's Worn Wear program aims to reduce environmental impacts by encouraging people to change their relationship to stuff, through repair and reuse of what they already have, and by celebrating quality and durability.

Patagonia's largest repair center is in Reno, Nevada, and they did 50,000 repairs there in 2016.

Nellie shares some of the history on Worn Wear, and how it evolved from Patagonia's earlier roots with Common Threads. It's a pretty cool story how Worn Wear originated from a blog that Patagonia surf ambassador Chris Malloy and his wife Lauren had started separately.

Nellie also elaborates on the scale of Patagonia's Worn Wear, and the number of employees that are dedicated to mending and building out the company's program.

For Nellie, celebrating the stories behind the pieces we wear is huge - she's especially a fan of the family heirloom stories that can be attached to Patagonia's past styles.

Throughout this chat, Nellie brings up the below companies, ideas and projects:

• Worn Wear
• Teijin, Patagonia partnered with Teijin in the early stages of Common Threads to recycle their capilene line, in a closed loop chemical recycling process
• Don't Buy This Jacket campaign in the New York Times, Black Friday, 2011
• Jay Nelson, artist behind the Worn Wear wagon
• I Fix It, a company Patagonia partnered with to create their repair manuals
• Patagonia's Repair Manuals
• Yerdle, a company Patagonia invested in through their venture capital arm; they make it easy for brands to buy back and resell used items
• Nellie gave a shoutout to the work Renewal Workshop is doing when it comes to closing the loop You can listen to our episode with their cofounder Nicole here >
• The Ellen MacArthur Foundation, Reports on The Circular Economy

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Amazon just launched a 500 piece fast fashion collection. What does this mean? How do you think this will impact the future of fashion? Will sustainability play a role in their upcoming endeavors? Check out The Fashion Law's article to learn more.

Also, chime in on Instagram @consciouschatter and let me know how you think this move will make an impact on what comes next for fashion.

In episode 77, Kestrel welcomes Celia Bernardo, the founder and creative visionary behind CeliaB, to the show. A Spanish brand founded in 2012, CeliaB releases seasonless collections that showcase inspiration from Celia's travels around the world and celebrate unique global talents.

"I mean it's wealth to our aesthetic diversity in the world." -Celia, on the importance of celebrating independent designers

After working for fast fashion brands like Zara, Celia broke off to build her own unique brand in an effort to push for quality over quantity in the fashion world. Throughout this chat, Celia shares thoughts on how she thinks we've lost an appreciation for the true cost of beautiful, quality designs, and how she believes in bringing innovative and different garments to the world, giving people new ways to envision the idea of "dressing".

Celia calls herself a "Rainbow Warrior," and she's on a mission to combat the corporate world from conquering everything with its homogeneous approach.

"It's important for me to give credit to the people [designers] that are doing something different."

A couple of the designers Celia mentions in the show:

• Natacha Duarte, former colleague at Zara and print designer she has collaborated with
• Maria Luque, illustrator from Argentina, collaborated with Celia

_______________________________________________________________________________ KAMEA CHAYNE is the creative behind Konscious Whispers, an eco lifestyle blog. She also wrote the book Thrive, An environmentally conscious lifestyle guide to better health and true wealth and is a rockstar wellness coach. Check out her work below:

+ Konscious Whispers + Thrive, the book + Kamea Chayne, wellness coaching

In episode 76, Kestrel welcomes Anna-Mieke Anderson, the CEO of MiaDonna, to the show. An ethical and affordable bridal jewelry line, which crafts its pieces with the finest lab-grown diamonds, gemstones and recycled metals, MiaDonna is pushing to change what the diamond industry looks like by going beyond "conflict-free".

"It's estimated that 30 million American women have purchased a conflict diamond." -Anna-Mieke, CEO of MiaDonna

In this chat, Kestrel asks Anna-Mieke to share her insight on what conflict-free means to her, and how MiaDonna thinks about standards when it comes to diamonds and gemstones. Anna-Mieke breaks down some of the science when it comes to the differences between lab-grown diamonds, diamond hybrids and lab-grown gemstones.

Additionally, Anna-Mieke explains how she built MiaDonna and the company's sister foundation, The Greener Diamond, in conjunction so they could collaboratively work together.

Some of the certifications, definitions and statistics that Anna-Mieke shared throughout this chat:

• Kimberley Process: certification scheme put in place in 2003
• The 4 C's: clarity, cut, color and carat size
• Type I vs Type II Diamonds
• 98% of diamonds mined will be a Type I diamond
• FluxFusion Method: allows you to get the internal structure identical to the gem; used by MiaDonna