Passion Project Pending

#58. Not to get ahead of myself, but we are SO back sis!

Alexandra Dean is the founder of Adhere To, a sustainable, gender-neutral outerwear brand launched in 2022. Previously a designer at Lululemon, Alex took her knowledge of clothing design with her into providing freelance support for various brands, which ultimately allows her to fund her very own brand. Adhere To combines 100% recycled materials, ethical manufacturing and a low-carbon supply chain, all while maintaining a focus on high performance, durability and contemporary design. In this conversation I ask her all about her background in the fashion industry, experience with freelancing, the details of technical clothing design and material sourcing, what it means to be a sustainable brand, guidance for those looking to get involved in the fashion industry, and so much more.

Takeaways

• Started career in fashion design.
• Interned at Lululemon, focusing on menswear product development.
• Transitioned to women's outerwear design at Lululemon.
• Freelancing provided flexibility and financial security.
• Sustainability is a core value in her brand.
• Adhere To aims to combine aesthetics with functionality.
• Understanding supply chain is crucial for fashion brands.
• Technical design skills are essential for product development.
• Experience in large companies aids in starting a brand.
• Understanding garment construction makes you a better designer.
• Sustainability is an open-ended concept with no one right answer.
• Certifications like Oeko-Tex and BlueSign help ensure quality in sustainability.
• Consumers often struggle to discern genuine sustainability claims.
• Quality and longevity in products are key to sustainability.
• Networking and mentorship are crucial for aspiring designers.
• Sustainability doesn't mean compromising on aesthetics or functionality.
• Running a brand requires balancing multiple roles and responsibilities.
• Financial management is a significant challenge for small business owners.
• The fashion industry is evolving, and consumers will need to care about sustainability.

Adhere To Studios: https://www.adheretostudios.com/en-us

Adhere To Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adheretostudios/

#57. Camila Reyes is the president of Girls Club San Diego as well as a business coach through her company Simple Strategy.

Tune in for a conversation on entrepreneurship, women in business, personal growth, business coaching, boundaries, mindset, and so much more.

https://www.simplestrategy.co/

https://www.instagram.com/simplestrategy.co/

https://www.girlsclubsd.org/

https://www.instagram.com/girlsclubsd/

#56. Hello, and welcome to the chaos!

I learned to freelance this year, providing social media management software engineering services.

If you have questions about freelancing, it is essentially having people pay you to provide them with specific services but now you're technically your own employer. You don't have a boss, yay! But you also have several "clients" that you need to please at any given time...

In this episode, I get into the following topics after 4 months of experience of figuring this out as I go: 

• how I got my first client
• what I would do differently if I started today
• what brought me to freelancing and why I see value in it
• power of networking in my experience
• how I noticed a massive ‘gap in the market’ if you can even call it that, in terms of social media
• how I took on a coding client even though I didn't have direct experience in their technologies
• how it’s literally insane that you make up your prices, but also you can't charge anything you want
• budgeting your life based on what clients might be able to pay you based on the size of their business or the need for your service
• aspects of instability
• how I use testimonials, portfolios, and a website landing page to pitch to new clients
• why I think the ‘local’ angle has worked well for me
• challenges of scheduling a diversified workflow
• legal stuff, financial stuff, creating contracts (the main source of confusion)
• a bit of financial insight based on previous non-tech jobs I've had and how this compares to my income so far
• freelancing goals for the future

PPP Website: https://www.rosemadelene.com/podcast

PPP Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/passionprojectpending/

PPP Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@passionprojectpendingg

PPP Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6F0aDS5efhzgaCtYzI7fsA

#55. Tayllor Williams founded Studio West Pilates this year after gaining experience teaching in studios around Chicago. She discovered her love for Pilates and low impact movement after being diagnosed with an autoimmune disease in 2020.

After noticing the benefits of Pilates in her own life, she decided to pursue her certification and opened her own studio space in order to share the benefits she experienced with her community. Tayllor has had a wide variety of career experiences in her twenties leading up to today, from teaching Spanish to working in real estate.

In this episode, we get to hear about her journey to get to where she is today, mentality with opening the studio, sacrifices and challenges that went into it, how her prior experiences shaped her current approach to business, the surprising role TikTok played in the studio’s origin story, why she does what she does and more!

Studio West Pilates website: https://www.studio-west-pilates.com/

PPP Website: https://www.rosemadelene.com/podcast

PPP Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/passionprojectpending/

PPP Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@passionprojectpendingg

PPP Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6F0aDS5efhzgaCtYzI7fsA

#54. Dr. Meg Jay is a clinical psychologist and bestselling author specializing in the twenty something years. She wrote the book The Defining Decade in 2012, followed by a 2013 TED talk “Why 30 is Not the New 20” which has been viewed over 14 million times.

Her work has appeared in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, USA Today, Forbes, Psychology Today, and NPR. She earned a PhD in clinical psychology and in gender studies from the University of California, Berkeley.

Her first book, the Defining Decade, did wonders to transform the way millions of people thought about their twenties - it has sold more than 500,000 copies in all formats and has been translated into more than a dozen languages.

In her new recently released book, The Twentysomething Treatment, she moves more towards talking about how to help with the mental health of young adults today.

Tune in to hear us discuss her background and personal experiences with entrepreneurship, her recommendations for twentysomethings today, and more.

Dr. Meg Jay's website: https://megjay.com/

PPP Website: https://www.rosemadelene.com/podcast

PPP Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/passionprojectpending/

PPP Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@passionprojectpendingg

PPP Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6F0aDS5efhzgaCtYzI7fsA

#53. I'm 4 months into my attempt at full-time solopreneurship. I've spent time developing the podcast social media, taking on freelance clients for social media management and coding, started my own LLC, and a lot of time just spinning my wheels.

In this episode I reflect on the struggles I've faced and some things that have helped with clarity, mindset and attitude recently. I talk about a pivot I want to make with the podcast in attempts to connect you with the entrepreneurs themselves, how I'm motivated to get more experience, and what it's like to go through a major transition and identity shift while not exactly knowing what your new identity is yet.

I'm here to provide value and the value I can provide is directly proportional to my experience with entrepreneurship so we're out here getting that experience.

Also, happiness is determined by the gap between your expectations and your reality. If my expectations are to use this time to learn and grow as a person, then I'm meeting my goals. If they're to build a million dollar business within six months - I may be putting unnecessary pressure on myself. Just a thought I've had recently.

Hope you enjoy, xoxo Rose

PPP Website: https://www.rosemadelene.com/podcast

PPP Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/passionprojectpending/

PPP Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@passionprojectpendingg

PPP Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6F0aDS5efhzgaCtYzI7fsA

#52. Leslie Simionescu is a yoga teacher and member of the leadership team at Yen Yoga Studio located in Traverse City, MI. Yen Yoga was created in 2010 and Leslie joined shortly after, becoming a 200 hour Yoga Teacher through a teacher training program hosted there by Jennifer Lintvedt. She has since become a 500 hour advanced teacher through Janet Stone Yoga at Esalen Institute in Big Sur California. Leslie is trained in Bhakti yoga which is the yoga of devotion, mantra, chanting and sound. She brings meditation through crystal bowls and vibration. Leslie has taught to the community for many years, facilitated and created Yoga Teacher Training, Stand up Paddle Board Yoga Training, Continued Education and yoga Retreats. She teaches to connect and inspire others to have self acceptance, moving through their bodies feeling every emotion energetically, spiritually, and mentally. In this episode, we discuss the following:

• Leslie’s background prior to joining Yen yoga
• What inspired her to enter the yoga business
• The origin story of Yen Yoga
• How it evolved through Covid
• How the leadership team approaches creating a class schedule that has something for everyone
• More about the yoga teacher training program they offer
• Challenges and rewards of helping to run a yoga studio and more

Yen Yoga Website: https://www.yenyogafitness.com/

Yen Yoga Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yenyogafitness/

PPP Website: https://www.rosemadelene.com/podcast

PPP Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/passionprojectpending/

PPP Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@passionprojectpendingg

PPP Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6F0aDS5efhzgaCtYzI7fsA

#51. Today I am interviewing my older brother Daniel Wilson otherwise known as Dan. Dan has had all sorts of wild experiences other than being a software engineer for 6+ years. The major ones include training for and completing an ironman, living on a sailboat in the New York City Hudson River and sailing said sail boat down the east coast, and most recently white water rafting in Zambia. And yes, unsurprisingly, he also has a stint of van life under his belt. Dan is certainly the most adventurous out of our family and is currently located in Denver, where we moved originally after college. In this conversation, we chat all about his adventures, where he got the inspiration to live like this from, how his tastes for adventure have evolved in his twenties, and his origin story / relationship with software engineering. Dan was also recently affected by layoffs so we chat a bit about that as well, being two software engineers whose jobs have been cut in recent months. Thank you so much for tuning in and I hope you enjoy the show.

Dan's blog: https://daniellytle.github.io/

https://www.rosemadelene.com/podcast

https://www.instagram.com/passionprojectpending/

https://www.tiktok.com/@passionprojectpendingg

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6F0aDS5efhzgaCtYzI7fsA

#50. Alejandra Thomas is a software engineer and content creator. She currently lives in New York City and works as a Developer Advocate for a startup, as well as a part time Web Developer for Mixed Change, an agency working with nonprofits. On top of this, she also creates coding content across Twitter, Tiktok and Instagram. I first discovered Ale while creating coding content on Tiktok myself. She uses social media as a way to connect with the broader coding community although she’s been able to monetize it as well at this point. In this episode we discuss

• Her background and journey to working as a software developer
• Origin story and relationship with her content creation
• What she does in each of her roles and what she likes/dislikes about each of them
• Whether she would consider doing content creation full time
• What a typical day / week looks like for her
• Her experience with Twitch streaming
• What she sees for her future in tech / content creation

https://www.instagram.com/pikacodes/

https://www.tiktok.com/@pikacodes

https://www.passionprojectpending.com/

https://www.instagram.com/passionprojectpending/

https://www.tiktok.com/@passionprojectpendingg

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6F0aDS5efhzgaCtYzI7fsA

Soulfull is a community founded by Taylor Hamilton and Caroline Ball with the intent of fostering meaningful and authentic connection, incorporating more play into life, and elevating local businesses and creatives in San Francisco. In this episode, we discuss:

• Their background, friendship, and how they came to both return to CA as roommates in SF
• Their shared passion for building community
• The multiple events they've hosted so far around the city including a Vibe Alchemy event and a clothing swap 
• Some upcoming events will include a pickleball tournament and monthly coffee chats spotlighting different members of the community
• Working with a close friend, each with their own unique strengths
• Making friends in your twenties
• The importance of community
• Starting a business on top of your day job
• How your attitude shifts towards work when you begin working on something that aligns more closely with your unique skills and interests 
• Pursuing what lights you up. 

Soulfull instagram: https://www.instagram.com/soulfull.sf/

Soulfull newsletter: https://soulfullsf.substack.com/

Beni secondhand shopping chrome extension: https://joinbeni.referralrock.com/l/ROSEMARYWI32/

https://www.passionprojectpending.com/

https://www.instagram.com/passionprojectpending/

https://www.tiktok.com/@passionprojectpendingg

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6F0aDS5efhzgaCtYzI7fsA