Wool Academy with Elisabeth van Delden

In this episode Andy Caughey, Managing Director of Armadillo Merino, talks about how he founded the business, what key challenges he had to overcome and how he managed to get his Armadillo Merino t-shirts into space. Andy Caughey explains his view on how wool products are multi-attribute products and once consumer understand a wool products they are customers for life.

About Andy Caughey from Armadillo Merino

Andy is a New Zealander and was born into wool. He was raised on a sheep station in West Otago before studying international commerce and marketing at Lincoln University.

Andy left New Zealand in 1988 to champion wool internationally. By executing growth strategies with the New Zealand Merino Company, Ibex Outdoor Clothing and John Smedley he has actively promoted the unique performance attributes of wool and commercially linked fashion brands through the value chain back to wool producers.

Armadillo Merino® was launched in 2011 in response to the injuries being inflicted on soldiers and first responders from wearing synthetics next-to-skin. Armadillo Merino® designs and manufactures skin-side clothing that is now being worn by professionals operating in high risk and extreme environments including astronauts, special forces, firefighters and other remarkable first responders.

Connect with Andy Caughey here

Website: https://armadillomerino.com/ (https://armadillomerino.com/)

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/armadillomerino (https://www.facebook.com/armadillomerino)

Twitter: https://twitter.com/armadillomerino (https://twitter.com/armadillomerino)

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/armadillomerino/ (https://www.instagram.com/armadillomerino/)

Email: [email protected]

Key Timestamps

[spp-timestamp time="01:24"] About Andy Caughey

[spp-timestamp time="03:32"] How Armadillo Merino started

[spp-timestamp time="06:04"] Establishing Armadillo Merino in the UK

[spp-timestamp time="06:54"] How did synthetics end up on our soldier’s back?

[spp-timestamp time="08:50"] The target group of Armadillo Merino

[spp-timestamp time="09:45"] How to explain the benefits of wool

[spp-timestamp time="12:22"] About the importance of defining a clear target group

[spp-timestamp time="14:22"] How wool went to space

[spp-timestamp time="16:32"] Generating social media content

[spp-timestamp time="18:28"] Having to constantly adapt to the ever changing social media environment

[spp-timestamp time="21:00"] The business challenges Armadillo Merino went through

[spp-timestamp time="24:08"] Biggest learnings for Armadillo Merino

[spp-timestamp time="26:21"] What should change in the wool industry?

[spp-timestamp time="27:25"] How to get in touch with Armadillo?

 

In this episode we talk to Mac Bishop, founder and CEO of Wool & Prince delivering durable long lasting apparel out of wool. Mac shares his experience on launching his business with the support of a Kickstarter campaign and how his famous video was created when he wore one of his wool button down shirts for 100 days. Mac also talks about key learnings and challenges when growing his business.

About Mac Bishop from Wool & Prince

Mac Bishop is the founder of Wool&Prince, an online menswear brand that makes naturally odor- and wrinkle-resistant wool button-downs. When Mac started the company, he wore a wool shirt for 100 days in row to demonstrate the functional properties of wool. After four years in upstate New York at Cornell University and another four years in NYC, Mac moved back to Portland this past summer. Read more about his experience on his blog (blog.woolandprince.com) .

Connect with Mac Bishop here

Website:  https://woolandprince.com/ (https://woolandprince.com/)

Blog:  blog.woolandprince.com (http://macbishop.com/)

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/WOOLandPRINCE/ (https://www.facebook.com/WOOLandPRINCE/)

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/WOOLandPRINCE (https://twitter.com/WOOLandPRINCE)

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/woolandprince/ (https://www.instagram.com/woolandprince/)

Email:  [email protected] (mailto:[email protected])

Key Timestamps

[spp-timestamp time="01:40"] What led Mac to starting Wool & Prince?

[spp-timestamp time="04:25"] About the Wool Button Down shirt

[spp-timestamp time="05:30"] The importance of durability of clothing

[spp-timestamp time="06:50"] The Wool & Prince target customer

[spp-timestamp time="09:10"] Bringing new customers to experience and understand wool products

[spp-timestamp time="10:30"] Majority of consumers don’t understand wool

[spp-timestamp time="11:35"] About the launch of Wool & Prince including the Kickstarter campaign

[spp-timestamp time="16:30"] Ask for honest feedback before launching your product

[spp-timestamp time="18:35"] On wearing a shirt for 100 days

[spp-timestamp time="20:10"] About the Wool & Prince social media strategy

[spp-timestamp time="22:35"] The Wool Tester campaign

[spp-timestamp time="23:30"] Made in the USA collection

[spp-timestamp time="25:35"] Reshoring and traceability

[spp-timestamp time="26:30"] Biggest challenge for Wool & Prince – how do you want to grow and how do you grow?

[spp-timestamp time="31:00"] How to keep the collection fresh?

 

In this episode we talk to Peter Ackroyd who is the COO of the Campaign for Wool and the President of the International Wool Textile Organisation (IWTO). Peter shares insights about the start of the Campaign for Wool together with HRH The Prince of Wales and the latest campaign's event. He also talks about provenance and wool's environmental credentials providing value to retailers, brands and the consumer.

About Peter Ackroyd

Peter Ackroyd is the Global Strategic Advisor for The Woolmark Company in Sydney, Australia and the Chief Operating Officer of the Campaign for Wool. In May 2011 he was elected President of the International Wool Textile Organisation and re-elected in April 2016. Specialising in world markets for woollen and worsted yarns and fabrics, Peter has particular expertise in marketing in Europe, the Middle East, Japan, Korea and China, along with in-depth knowledge of the menswear supply chain ‘from farm to fashion’. He also serves as Vice President of the Strategy Board of Première Vision Paris.

Connect with Peter Ackroyd here

Campaign for Wool (http://www.campaignforwool.org)

International Wool Textile Organisation (http://www.iwto.org)  (IWTO)

The Woolmark Company (http://woolmark.com/)

Explore and get inspired by the Wool Lab (http://woolmark.com/inspiration/the-wool-lab)

Key Timestamps

[spp-timestamp time="02:00"] Growing up in Bradford and start of his wool career

[spp-timestamp time="04:00"] Career stage in Irak

[spp-timestamp time="06:27"] How the Campaign for Wool started

[spp-timestamp time="09:10"] What price are consumers willing to pay for wool

[spp-timestamp time="12:00"] Talking about the Davos of Wool

[spp-timestamp time="14:20"] How to join the Campaign for Wool

[spp-timestamp time="15:15"] Explaining the concept of provenance

[spp-timestamp time="18:30"] The value of the Woolmark Prize

[spp-timestamp time="20:00"] What do designers like about the story of wool

[spp-timestamp time="23:05"] Increasing importance of active sportswear

[spp-timestamp time="24:22"] Cool Wool

[spp-timestamp time="24:22"] Wool for all seasons

 

Let us know what you think or ask us a question in the below comment area.

Design Destined for Trash vs. Wonderful to Wear - Journalist Tone Skardal Tobiasson is demystifying fast fashion and highlights the opportunities designers have when talking about the fibres they use such as wool.

About Tone Skardal Tobiasson

Tone Skårdal Tobiasson is a seasoned journalist, editor and author of several books, including one on wool which she co-wrote with Professor Ingun Grimstad Klepp. She has a BA in journalism and sociology from Stanford University and worked as editor of several fashion publications for close to two decades. In 2007 she co-founded the Nordic Fashion Association and the NICE (Nordic Initiative Clean & Ethical) Fashion project, and has since been engaged in sustainable fashion. It was through this work that she discovered wool, and has headed dissemination for a number of wool projects – both academic and more commercial. She writes for EcoTextile News, is editor of nicefashion.org – where the results from some of the work with wool is published. Currently she is trying to organize the Norwegian wool industry into a functioning organization, but has so far not been able to ‘herd them’ into a cohesive entity.

Connect with Tone Skardal Tobiasson here

Website:  http://nordicfashionassociation.com/nice (http://nordicfashionassociation.com/nice)

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/tone.tobiasson (https://www.facebook.com/tone.tobiasson)

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/ToneTobiasson (https://twitter.com/ToneTobiasson)

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/tone.tobiasson (https://www.instagram.com/tone.tobiasson)

Key Timestamps

1:27: Introduction to Tone

03:40: Why Norwegians wear so much wool

07:30: About the KRUS project

11:40: The advantages of on-shore manufacturing

16:30: Knowledge gap of the consumer

19:10: Barriers to Wool

25:30: Social Media Usage

28:30: Recommendation how the wool industry should use social media

33:30: Movement against fast fashion

37:36: How can Young Designers tap into the Slow Fashion movement

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UK based wool grower Lesley Prior of the sheep property Bowmont near Devon gives insights on how she created a successful wool operation with different sources of income streams through engagement along the supply chain.

About Lesley Prior from Bowmont UK

Lesley Prior is a sheep farmer producing Superfine Merino wool and Mongolian grade Cashmere in the UK under the brand name BOWMONT. She has strong international links with other wool growers and regularly imports new genetics from Australia. Lesley is, together with a business partner in Australia, currently developing a new strain of Dual Purpose Merino with wide appeal to European growers.

A council member of the Campaign For Wool, she has broad experience of the industry from greasy fibre to finished garment.  She was recently invited to speak to the Australian Superfine Wool Growers Association Congress about marketing wool direct to retailers in Northern Europe.

Over the past few years Lesley has developed a Consultancy service and has worked in Afghanistan for the US Government and for a Growers Group in Switzerland. She has a unique knowledge of the supply and processing chain for both wool and cashmere and the particular challenges of marketing to Northern European consumers. She enjoys sharing her passion for the wool industry by creating new connections and business opportunities for people.

Connect with Lesley here

Website: www.bowmontuk.com (http://www.bowmontuk.com)

Key Timestamps

1:30: Introduction to Lesley Prior and her sheep operation Bowmont UK

8:50: The potential of Merino sheep farming in europe

10:35: Income streams of Bowmont UK

12:50: Biggest issues at Bowmont UK

13:28: Collaboration with Finisterre

18:10: The importance of communications

19:55: About Bowmont's involvement in the Campaign for Wool

24:23: What does a typical day look like

27:50: The passion for wool

30:00: Collaboration within the wool industry is key for success

34:20: The need of more communications in the industry

Founder Rikki Beier launched her start up Ikki Small But Brave in 2014 bringing soft merino wool baby wear to the Chinese market.

In this episode I discuss why I'm putting Excellence Expected on a hiatus.

For more information, read "Why I Stopped Podcasting & 5 Lessons I Learned Along The Way".

Don't forget, the more you expect from yourself, the more you WILL excel!

Small business owners know the importance of communication. We’re never out of reach for our clients and we’re answering calls, e-mails and social media messages almost 24/7. But when it comes to speaking to our staff, colleagues and clients in a formal setting, how many of us are projecting the right image of leadership?

Public speaking is one of those things that can have the same effects on the most successful CEOs as it does on school children. People can be intelligent, experienced and knowledgeable about their work, but put them in front of a large audience and nerves can still get the better of them. As common as this problem is, it’s one of the most difficult to overcome. How can we go about improving our communications skills and, as a result, project a stronger, more confident style of leadership?

On this episode of the number one small business podcast, we’re joined by Robin Kermode who has not only had successful career as a stage and screen actor, but he’s also built an excellent reputation as one of the leading communication coaches in the world. Robin’s going to be discussing the reasons why public speaking can be difficult, what we can do to conquer this tricky problem and the benefits to our businesses that effective communication can bring.

Issue Challenged in this Small Business Podcast:

How can I develop communication skills needed to fulfil my leadership potential?

About Robin:

Robin Kermode is an actor, author, speaker and communication coach. Through his company, Zone 2, Robin has helped some of the world’s leading CEOs and senior professionals to improve their communication skills. Robin draws on his experiences as an actor to help leaders connect emotionally with their audience.

Robin’s here on this episode of Excellence Expected to share some of his wisdom when it comes to public speaking. His tips will help you develop a better speaking style that will improve your leadership abilities.

Actionable Tips:

* Get your voice in the right place. We need to speak from our emotional centre as opposed to our throats. Try this exercise. Stick your tongue out and say the whole of ‘Humpty Dumpty’ or count from one to ten. Try your best to articulate the words. After you stop, your voice will have changed and become more emotionally connected.

* If you’re feeling nervous and you start shaking when speaking in public, clench your buttocks or thigh muscles. This will stop you shaking and help you focus.

* Start well. We need to put our key message first. Cut to the chase and open with why the audience are there and why they should listen to you.

Top Quotes:

* “We’ve got about one sentence with which to grab an audience. Within that sentence, the audience will have decided whether they like you or not, whether they trust you or not and you’ll hopefully have articulated why you are there and what’s in it for them.”

* “You have to be present and in the moment.”

* “I like people to speak with energy, clarity and humanity. We need probably about 10% more energy than normal but not so much that we become like a gameshow host. We need clarity in the structure of the message and the clarity of delivery. Most important is humanity. We need a human connection with an audience.”

* “Good leaders don’t make it about themselves, they make it about the audience.”

* “Just knowing how to sound natural will pay dividends. If you don’t, you’re just not going to connect to the younger generation.”

* “It doesn’t take as much time as you think. If you have four or five hours, this will pay dividends on everything that you do. Every phone conversation that you have, every meeting and even how you shake someone’s hands. We can learn it all.”

* “If you go through life making other people feel...

We’ve all seen advertising campaigns from banks and telecommunications companies that advertise a whole range of benefits for new customers. Wow, it sounds like a fantastic way to bring in new customers, right? If you are already a customer, how does that make you feel? You’ve been loyally giving them your business for several years but you can’t have access to these ‘new customer’ perks.

Large companies can afford to do this due to their size, but, as small business owners, we don’t have the luxury of an endless, nationwide list of potential customers. It’s so important for those of us with small businesses to maintain a loyal customer base, but, in order to grow, we also need to concentrate our time and energy on finding new customers. In terms of who to give your attention to, it can be a delicate balancing act. We don’t want to spend too much time looking for new clients as this could alienate our existing customers and they could take their business elsewhere. At the same time, if we are too focused on a core group of existing customers, our growth could stagnate.

How can we get the maximum value out of our existing customers and still find new ones to add to their ranks? How can we stop wasting, or even destroying, the existing relationships that we have with our customers? In this episode of the number one small business advice podcast, we’re speaking to marketing strategist and the author of Evergreen: Cultivate the Enduring Customer Loyalty That Keeps Your Business Thriving, Noah Fleming.

Noah knows just what’s required to build loyalty with your customers and he will sharing his expertise and experience with us in this episode.

Issue Challenged in this Small Business Podcast

How can small business owners maximize the value of their existing customers while also finding new ones?

About Noah

Noah Fleming is a strategic marketing expert and independent consultant who has helped thousands of entrepreneurs improve their skills when it comes to retaining loyal customers. He is considered a thought leader in his field and is the author of the bestselling Evergreen: Cultivate the Enduring Customer Loyalty That Keeps Your Business Thriving.

Noah’s extensive experience and innovative thinking has seen his clients increase their profits, customer value and competitive advantage while at the same time reducing their customer acquisition costs.

Noah’s also a renowned public speaker who has delivered keynotes and workshops for high profile clients around the world. He has been featured in The New York Times, Forbes, Entrepreneur Magazine and The Globe and Mail. He’s here with us for this episode to share his insights into how we, as small business owners, can create a foundation of loyal customers that will help our small businesses grow.

Actionable Tips

* You should understand your character and create marketing that speaks from that character. Create a story that's interesting to your customers. Who are you and what do you want to be known for?

* Start to think about your community and what you can do to bring people together. There are so many different ways you can do this. Just let your customers engage with you and each other.

* Maximise the value of every customer. Reach out to customers that you haven't had contact with for a while. Ask customers for testimonials. Set yourself three tasks every day related to this and soon you will be reaping the rewards.

Top Quotes

* "The best companies and organizations that really maximize customer value and build that evergreen sense of customer loyalty are those focused on building a sense of community."

* "This is the bread and butter for small businesses. This is where the money is made."

* "We spend all this time creating a marketing cam...

Company culture has changed a lot. Employees are no longer motivated by money or titles. Now, employees want to feel a sense of contribution and growth. They want to feel good about their jobs and proud of their work and contributions. They don’t want to just shut up and do their job.

This new cultural shift focuses on accountability, responsibility, and leadership. Here are some key points about building a company culture:

* Create the next generation of leaders – create a culture of leadership!

* Collaboration is greater than the sum of our parts. Do not be compartmentalised.

Ask employees: What is your vision for your life? Not just in their job or career. Create a job and environment that serves their life vision. Approach them as friends and help get them to where they want to be. It is now a two-way street between managers and employees. How can they help each other?

Make each employee as great as they can be. If they leave, that is ok. Build leaders, period. Work culture impacts retention. No matter how great of a culture you create, people will leave. But, they will most likely come back because of the culture you created.

Building a company culture benefits your company in the long run. Focus on what is going good and how you are looking at things. Ask yourself, what’s great about it?

Get people excited about your company’s vision and what your company is doing. By creating a positive work culture, people will want to work at your company!

About Brett:

Brett's journey has been as adventurous as the show he hosts. He has launched two multi-million dollar businesses, studied with some of the worlds leading self development teachers, visited 40 countries, released an album, starred in a stage musical, got married, escaped from Alcatraz, became a father, and he currently trains and coaches professionals at Fortune 1000 companies globally.

With Where Theres Smoke, Brett feels like he might finally be living up to the honor bestowed on him by his high school graduating class  "Most likely to replace Johnny Carson on the Tonight Show" accolade. Brett is originally from Toronto, Canada, and currently lives in San Francisco.

Challenged Issue:

In this podcast, we challenge the issue of creating employees who perform as leaders. Give employees responsibility so they will want to come to work and they will want to deliver.

Brett’s Actionable Tips:

* Appreciation is much more powerful than money or title. People want to feel appreciated for what they do. Listen to Where There’s Smoke podcast episode, People Will Never Forget How You Made Them Feel (Appreciation).

* Empathy: It’s not about here I am, it’s about there you are. It is more important to be interested than interesting. Understand others better. Listen to Where There’s Smoke podcast episode, There You Are (Empathy).

* Listen more than you speak. It is one thing to hear people, but another thing to really listen to them. Listen to Where There’s Smoke podcast episode, The Like Button IS The Dislike Button (Listening).

Top Quotes:

* “I really love working with people…how to build themselves and how to build companies.”

* “It’s so much more about intrinsic motivation.”

* “We do things now because they matter to us, because they are interesting to us, because we feel like we are making a difference.”

* “Companies have to be willing to give every employee…some sort of sense of accountability, responsibility, and leadership.”

* “They actually want to do a better job. They want to be proud of what they are doing.”

* “Things have changed in our world as far as how people approach careers and how people approach work with companies.”

* “You build these brands…that every (employee) wants to p...