Disrupting Fast Fashion, Body Positivity, and Working With Your Best Friend

5 Key Takeaways:

1. Build Your Business’ Foundation First: Both Heather and Tereska agree that it’s important to understand the problem you’re solving, have a solid mission, invest a lot upfront, and know your core values before doing anything else. When you have this clarity, it simplifies and streamlines the decision-making process. 

2. You Can Work With Friends With the Right Conditions: Just as having a solid business foundation is important so too is having a solid foundation in friendship. If you’re going into business with a friend, as Heather and Tereska did, make sure you’re direct (say what you mean, but don’t say it mean), learn how to take feedback, have high humility and low ego, trust each other, and have a clear understanding of each others’ roles and responsibilities within the business. 

3. Make Decisions Based on Your Purpose: It’s tempting to say yes to every opportunity and make decisions based on your bottom line, but when you do this it can lead to a toxic work environment and burnt out employees. Heather and Tereska recommend making business decisions based on your purpose, ethics, and values. 

4. Conflict Resolutions Skills Are Crucial: Heather and Tereska have worked hard on creating a safe space for their employees. They believe that addressing conflicts, once you’ve cooled off and have had time to process, is essential for a healthy workplace. They’ve guided their employees to shift their perspective on problems, viewing them less as conflicts and more as opportunities for resolution. 

5. Pivoting Is Part of the Process: Careers aren’t always linear and that’s okay. Heather pivoted from interior design to blogging to sewing, embracing her passion for running a business, social impact, body positivity, and leaning into her creativity. Tereska pivoted from co-founding an urban horticulture company with her husband, to innovation roles at various Montreal-based accelerators to working with her best friend on the logistics and operations side of Core Fabrics. They pivoted by experimenting, getting outside of their comfort zone, and betting on themselves.    

Show Notes:

[00:01:15] Heather shares the origin story of Closet Core Patterns.

[00:04:06] Discussion on body positivity, specifically how empowering it is to make clothes that fit your body instead of making your body fit your clothes.

[00:07:54] Launch of Core Fabrics during the pandemic.

[00:11:08] How sustainability drives their businesses.

[00:15:18] Tereska’s journey from previous ventures to joining Heather at Core Fabrics.

[00:18:44] The investment in strategic planning and vision behind Core Fabrics.

[00:22:55] Challenges and successes in developing new fabric lines.

[00:27:47] The partnership dynamics and decision-making processes.

[00:33:46] Discussing conflict resolution, giving and receiving hard feedback, and maintaining professional relationships.

[00:39:39] How to handle personal well-being and work-life integration.

[00:44:17] Heather discusses the growth of Closet Core Patterns and the integration of a new monthly subscription pattern service.

[00:49:34] Heather and Tereska encourage employee autonomy and accountability to foster a productive work environment.