Eric Schleien interviews the CEO of wearwell, Erin Houston on topics from Social Entrepreneurship to spotting investment opportunity while making a difference in the world at the same time.

wearwell is a service (sort of like Stitch Fix or Le Tote). The difference is the company only carries ethically made clothing and accessory brands.

Erin has 7+ years of experience in global development, geeks out on sustainable supply chain strategy, and has loved design since she was very young. Most recently on the senior leadership team of Devex, a global development media company, she built partnerships and generated revenue from multinational corporations, donor agencies, foundations, NGOs, and social enterprises. She loves using her marketing, communications, and sales experience to motivate people to take collective action toward living their values.

M.A. Social Enterprise, American University SIS, 2015B.A. English, Government, The College of William & Mary, 2009Hometown: Wilmington, Delaware

wearwell website: https://www.shopwearwell.com/

Resources for further learning:

Film: The True Cost, available on Netflix

 

Blog: The Good Trade

Books:

 

1) Wear No Evil (for the consumer) 

 

2) Slow Fashion: Aesthetics Meets Ethics (for an intelligent intro to the potential of fair trade/eco fashion) 

 

3) The Promise and Limits of Private Power: Promoting Labor Standards in a Global Economy (if you want to go deep and nerd out)