Ever wondered what goes into the shoe design process today? The answer might just surprise you. Maeve Wang, co-founder of IAMBIC, joins Ayo & Megan to talk about her journey to founding an on demand manufacturing focused footwear company that integrates AI into the fit experience to provide ultimate comfort and longevity. In this episode you will learn about the reality of the footwear industry, how AI is changing the landscape, and how on demand manufacturing is the answer.

About Maeve Wang

After returning 300 pairs of shoes in 3 years due to poor shoe fit, Maeve Wang became the unlikely fashion founder of IAMBIC. With her background, Maeve brings a nuanced and individualized approach to an industry that has long been plagued by uniformity. Maeve began her career as a Bain consultant where she worked with Fortune 500 executive teams on their most critical innovation and retail initiatives. Maeve then served as VP of Delos Ventures, where she led product development and investments in wearables, digital health, and digital content. Maeve graduated from Harvard with a degree in Government and Economics. Learn more at linktr.ee/maevewang.

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/maevetwang / linkedin.com/company/weareiambic

Instagram: @maevewang / @weareiambic

Facebook: @maevewang / @iambic.co

Twitter: @maeve_wang / @weareiambic

TikTok: @weareiambic

About the episode:

"If I knew about entrepreneurship or business at an earlier age, where would I actually be now?" On this episode we sit down with Jasmine LeFlore, a visionary leader and advocate for diversity in STEM and business. She is also the amazing woman who asked this powerful question in this episode. 

From her early fascination with planes to her current role as the Co-founder and Executive Director of Greater Than Tech, Jasmine shares her inspiring journey of breaking her own barriers and empowering the next generation of STEM, business, and interdisciplinary leaders. We talk about how Jasmine first learned about engineering through planes, her innovation process, challenges of being a woman and woman of color in the STEM field (i.e. the game of Double Jeopardy), and the life-changing impact she is creating with her non-profit Greater Than Tech. We even talk about professional clapbacks!

If you are interested in how pure curiosity can lead you down awesome adventures, overcoming challenges with confidence and grace, and how representation can change the directory of someone's life, then dive into thought-provoking and inspiring conversation with Jasmine. 

Timestamps:

About Jasmine LeFlore:

Recognized as one of the top 50 Women of Influence in Technology by San Diego Business journal, Jasmine LeFlore is the Co-founder and Executive Director of Greater Than Tech, a nonprofit organization dedicated to creating the next generation of innovative technology leaders by introducing girls and underserved students to immersive educational programs at the intersection of STEM and business. She also works as the Advanced Technology Solutions Lead for Collins Aerospace improving the way the Applied Research and Technology organization approaches investing in emerging technologies. LeFlore grew up in Flint, MI and watched planes take off and land every day from a nearby airport, sparking her initial interest in aerospace studies. She later earned a BSE in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Michigan, an MSE in Interdisciplinary Engineering (with a Systems Engineering Concentration) from Purdue University, and an MBA from Indiana University.

Learn more about and support Greater Than Tech: ⁠⁠https://greaterthantech.org/⁠⁠

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Want to understand the legal aspects of Fashion? The outspoken Anuj Gupta joins Ayo & Megan on this episode to bring a legal voice to the Fashion Industry. In this episode, you will learn about what inspired Anuj to start First Gen Law, why law is important in the fashion world, and how bringing in legal counsel early on can make or break your business.

Link to Full Horizon: https://www.firstgenlaw.co/

Have any questions or feedback, email us at [email protected]

Want to feel empowered? A true ray of sunshine, Madison, joins Ayo & Megan on this episode to talk about her passion for inclusion, how to feel confident starting a business, and so much more. In this episode, you will learn about what inspired Madison to start her inclusion and empowerment focused earrings business, Full Horizon, and how to gain the confidence to discover and follow your passions.

Link to Full Horizon: https://fullherizon.com/

Episode Time Stamps:

1:00 - Intro to Madison

4:00 - Madison's Founder Story

8:00 - The ups & downs of building a business in college

15:00 - How to scale

16:00 - Advice on running your own business

28:00 - Importance of building diverse teams

29:00 - How to marketing and inclusion work together

35:00 - Advice for other businesses - "Just start"

Have any questions or feedback, email us at [email protected]

About the Episode:

On today’s episode we speak to Ryan Lewis, founder and CEO of EarthHero,  a curated online marketplace and corporate gifting platform, that uses a 5-pillar sourcing methodology to ensure only the most sustainable products are selected. We were so excited to bring on Ryan because marketplaces have become an increasingly important sales channel for brands to sell products and for customers to discover new brands and purchase from them. 

We dove into marketplaces in the early days, the eco-gender gap, setting rigorous product standards, conscious consumerism, and more. We loved Ryan’s candor in this episode. A big takeaway we received from this episode is that the work of making the industry sustainable is complicated and continues to be in progress. Tune in to hear the full rich discussion.

“Every time you buy, just think about, do I need this? Do I want this? Is this a sustainable purchase?”  - Ryan Lewis

“To put a bow around that plastic conversation is that it just needs to be thoughtful. you got to take into account the entire lifespan of the product and all the stops along the way and make sure there’s not unintended consequences happening.” - Ryan Lewis

Timestamps:

4:09 The pain point that inspired EarthHero 

7:33 Challenges of business growth 

19:30 Sustainability in materials, micro plastics, recycled fibers, all natural materials, etc. 

30:00 The eco-gender gap; The skew of marketing of sustainability to woman and how this is changing 

35:00 Growing profits vs not promoting over-consumption; conscious consumerism 

43:50 Ryan’s thoughts on what should be talked about more in the fashion industry  

About Ryan:

A dad, husband, entrepreneur, and avid adventurer with a deep passion for the natural world and over two decades of ecommerce experience, Ryan founded EarthHero with the mission to help make it easier for people to shop and consume more sustainably.

In his own quest to live a more environmentally-conscious lifestyle, he couldn't help but wonder how many people would live more sustainably if it were easier to do so and didn't require compromise. He wanted to find a way to give people the tools to make educated, thoughtful decisions about what they buy and use – while being convenient and simple. He's a firm believer that sustainability involves choices that make us feel good about selecting products that put our health and our planet’s health first. 

Challenge:

- Share this episode via a text with one friend! 

Connect with us:

- Email: ⁠[email protected]

- IG: @styledbyscienceceos

- Subscribe to our podcast on this platform that you are listening to this episode on!

- Cloeco: http://cloeco.com 

- Hangio: ⁠http://shophangio.com⁠

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Karishma is a 25 year old social media creator and educator in the climate space. She brings a sustainability angle to conversations in fashion, agriculture, pop culture, and politics. She also celebrates her heritage as an Indian woman and introduces Eastern wisdom to the climate conversation.

About the Episode

On today’s episode we speak to Saloni Doshi, the CEO and Chief Sustainability Officer at ⁠EcoEnclose⁠, the world's most innovative provider of sustainable shipping solutions for ecommerce brands. We were so excited to bring on Saloni because one of the overlooked parts of a company is packaging. From the bag or box used to mail your purchase, to the inside liners that often protect it, there is so much more to packaging than meets the eye. Especially, in regards to sustainability. We loved having Saloni on the podcast! Stay tuned till the end for some additional co-host commentary!

In our conversation with Saloni, we explored:

“Any material you choose, do it right. And so if you choose paper, do it right. If are like ‘I gotta go with plastics’, there is a way to do it better and right and there is a way to do that not right at all.….Once you sort of decide on this X material, let’s make sure you avoid all the potential pitfalls of using that material.” - Saloni Doshi

In this episode, you will learn and hear about:

11:40 Deciding to revive manufacturing and support job creation in the U.S.

13:20 Bringing humanity into business while keeping grasp of running a business

16:00 The myth of compostable packaging

23:55 How post-consumer waste put into the blue bin is processed and what happens to recycled paper after you recycle it 

29:00 Why its not enough for brands to simply switch from plastic to paper

30:40 Balancing profit without over-promotion and over-packaging

33:30 How there is a relationship to fashion

35:00 Packaging innovation, including Algae Ink

41:17 What Saloni sees as a problem in the packaging industry that should be talked about more

44:35 Plastic isn’t the best but frankly, it’s not going anywhere.

About Saloni

Saloni Doshi is the CEO and Chief Sustainability Officer at ⁠EcoEnclose⁠, the world's most innovative provider of sustainable shipping solutions for ecommerce brands. She is passionate about helping conscious companies thrive and pursuing advancements that help build towards a truly circular materials economy. Prior to EcoEnclose, Saloni was a Managing Director at New Venture Advisors, a consultancy that supports the development and growth of sustainable food and agriculture. Professionally, Saloni's career has balanced social justice, environmental progress, and strategy - including the launch of Fresh Takes Kitchen, a social enterprise committed to improving healthy food access and serving as a Director at Teach For America. Saloni lives in Colorado with her three children, whose deep and growing passion for the planet and all of its biodiversity inspires her for what the future may bring. 

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Hey everyone! Our highly anticipated episode on Labor Manufacturing and Rights is COMING SOON! We're working very hard to get it to you. We're excited about it and once it goes live, we will let you know. Stay tuned and we will "see" you this upcoming Friday for our next stop on the lifecycle - packaging!

In the meantime, do these two things:

1. Connect with us

2. Learn more about our companies

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About the Episode

We’re taking a quick pit stop on our lifecycle of fashion journey to take you along to our recent in person event in SXSW Austin. For a day, we had the opportunity to meet you and some new faces. We got to share about the podcast, the focus of the latest season, and the drive behind all of this in the first place. 

Along the way we met cool people and we asked them if we could interview them. Today you will hear from four individuals with different backgrounds from biomedical engineering, to NFT, to aviation, and social media. We each asked them three questions: 

In this episode, you will learn and hear about:

-  [1:02] Hear from Alexis

“I think sustainability is really understanding deeply that supply chain and for companies to be transparent about that…. I think it has to be a relationship between the consumer, the brand, and the Earth.”

-[7:40] Hear from Janelle

“Before I purchase something [thinking about] ’What materials were used? How was this made? You know and is there a way that I can buy this same exact thing maybe second hand instead?’”

- [10:20] Hear from Kim

“Social media is accentuating that [promotion of fast fashion] and causing an issue that I feel like is helping with fast fashion and making us even worse with sustainability stuff.”

- [14:00] Hear from Kevin

“I see as the future of fashion… as a changing the culture in fashion around longevity of fashion and keeping clothes for a lot longer with maybe more of an outlook of expressionism and how to combine certain styles and looking at more of like how can combine what you already have or if you do need to buy more making sure its ethically sourced or recycled.”

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Ever wondered what the ingredient label is for clothing & dyes? You may be surprised just how many carcinogenic chemicals are in the list, unless your clothes are made and dyed naturally. Melissa, the founder of Soul Studio, a natural dye house in Austin, TX, joins us to discuss the health and environmental impacts of materials and dyes so you can make better shopping choices.

Link to Soul Studio Dye House: https://wearesoulstudio.com