August 23, 2021

Fighting Injustice Through Entrepreneurship - Reese Fernandez #06

48 minutes

Reese is the president and co-founder of Rags2Riches, a fashion and design house empowering community artisans from the Philippines. She grew up seeing wide spread injustices first hand which compelled her to do anything that might help. Co-founding Rags2Riches after college, they work with marginalized communities across Metro Manila to develop artisans who create eco-ethical fashion and home products. They have collaborated with renowned designers such as Rajo Laurel and Amina Aranaz-Alunan, and recently announced a partnership with Ikea's first store in the Philippines. In 2010, Reese was the recipient of the Young Laureate for the Rolex Awards for Enterprise and in 2015, she made it to Forbes’ 30 Social Entrepreneurs Under 30 list.

We discuss:

Why it takes so much for poor communities to trust enterprises

How fashion can truly empower and bring dignity; how being called artisans and partners can uplift people

Using your values to determine what career to pursue

Learning how to be efficient with the use of capital to train your people and sustainably grow your business

Making your social enterprise resilient throughout the pandemic

How Reese is able to manage being a mother and watching 60 K-dramas in between, and her favorite series

Social:

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/groups/508835180375553

Twitter - https://twitter.com/flipside_ph

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/flipside_ph/

Substack - https://flipsideph.substack.com/