Spirit of 608: Fashion, Entrepreneurship, Sustainability + Tech

Snobette Editor Lois Sakany on Fashion & Footwear Media, Trends and What's Next (Plus, Yes, How to Talk to People Like Her)

This year, we’re closing out our interview episodes with one that speaks to the good stuff that bubbled up from 2020: connections in new and unlikely places. Plus, we’re ending content for the year to take a pause, but leaving you with media intel to get you thinking and thirsty for more visibility next year — and how better to do that than to talk to one of the footwear industry’s longest-blogging and most knowledgeable influencers? Meet this week's guest, Lois Sakany, Founder of Snobett...

The Most Important Story on Ethical Fashion + A Conversation With Its Author

Almost every entrepreneur is, in one way or another, in the habit of constantly seeking more. That’s never been truer than with this week’s guest, a self-described renegade from her childhood days growing up in a small Texas town and onto a career steeped in impactful marketing campaigns and, from there, to her current status challenging the fashion industry’s status quo. Meet this week's guest, Elizabeth Cline, author of The Conscious Closet. Now decades into her quest to change the wa...

10 Tools I Love for Amping Up Creativity, Visibility + Motivation So You Can Make Amazing Content and Get Noticed

Need a fix for your next (current?!) creative rut or when resistance comes up — something that’s super common at this busy time of year? Here are 10 tools I use and love for amping up creativity, visibility and motivation so I can move forward with creating content and continue reaching new audiences. From an Instagram stories editing tool that will allow you to place video on top of animated, moving images for a cool picture-in-picture look to the audio-video editing platform we use to cr...

Inventor and Botasci Founder Cricket Lee on the Power of the Mind, the Science of Body Shape and Life as a Serial Entrepreneur

Almost every entrepreneur is, in one way or another, in the habit of constantly seeking more. That’s never been truer than with this week’s guest, a self-described renegade from her childhood days growing up in a small Texas town and onto a career steeped in impactful marketing campaigns and, from there, to her current status challenging the fashion industry’s status quo. Meet this week's guest, Cricket Lee, Founder of BOTASCI. Now decades into her quest to change the way the fashion ind...

10 Ways to Get Visible Without Posting a Single Image on Instagram

7 Strategies for Creating Visibility When It Feels Like The Last Thing You Want to Do

Hear more on this week's solo episode of the Spirit of 608 podcast. Ask Spirit of 608 a question <3 <3 <3 Oh hey there! Please help the podcast out and leave us a rating and review on iTunes. This stuff is key to the show's success, and I appreciate you helping me play the game. <3 <3 <3 HOW TO LISTEN: Listen online: Just press play above or subscribe via RSS to receive all new episodes. iOS, iPhone, iPad: Subscribe via iTunes or download the Apple Podcast app and subscribe by searching...

Ethical Fashion Activist Benita Robledo on Cross-Country Moves and Career Shifts, Motherhood and Connecting with Ethical Influencers

On the heels of one of her most high-profile acting roles, Benita Robledo made the move to channel her celebrity into a platform promoting a more positive approach to fashion. Currently reviving her original blog after a two-year hiatus and launching a number of brand collaborations, this week's guest has built a loyal following by showcasing her candid thoughts on conscious consumption, secondhand style, ethical fashion brands, sustainable apparel and just about everything in between. Li...

Marci Zaroff on Pioneering EcoFashion, Building a Greenhouse of Brands and Everything Mindset

We're thrilled to have the woman who coined the term EcoFashion on the show this week letting us in on how she built her empire of eco-minded brands, which range from a sustainable line Farm to Home to women's apparel label Yes And to businesses in manufacturing and consulting. Oh and she's also an author, as well as a frequent speaker at high-profile industry events and a thought leader in the sustainability movement.  Listen to this week's show for her journey from the early days of her...

Caution: This Episode Will Get You Published in Empowering Media & Grow Your Impact

Have you been hoping to get press, get published + grow your impact? Then this episode is for you. On this week's episode of the Spirit of 608 podcast, I'm keeping it super practical. I love creating episodes that focus on mindset and strategy because those things have made such a difference in my life and the business lives of my clients, but this one isn't that at all. Instead, this episode is all about connecting you with very specific places you can go -- today -- and start getting ...

"Queen of Comfort" Taylor Jay on Entrepreneurship and Creating a Sustainable Fashion Line Merging Style and Wearability.

When it comes to business, being super comfortable can be a bad sign. But with fashion? Bring it on. For that, we have self-described Queen of Comfort Taylor Jay, an Oakland entrepreneur and designer who has built a brand intertwining ultra comfy womenswear with social justice, body positivity, responsible fair labor manufacturing and no small amount of grace and style.  During this week's show, she'll walk us through how a 20-something with zero design training ended up with an eponymous...

Hannah Franco on Life After Athleta, Launching Epoque Evolution & Responsible Fashion Brand Building in the Here and Now

Welcome to the new normal (okay, everything these days could arguably fall under that umbrella, but moving on): it's a place where a multi-faceted creative leaves a well-known brand that anyone seeking a role in sustainable fashion would covet to partner up with a favorite colleague and take the leap into the realms of new brand-building in order to create what they wanted to see in the world. Why the new normal? Because it's all starting to happen: entrepreneurs aiming to reach mainstrea...

so608 Recycle: HOW JELT’S JEN PERRY CHEATED DEATH & BUILT AN ETHICAL BELT BRAND THAT GIVES BACK TO WOUNDED VETS (PLUS, PATENT PROCESS DRAMAS & LIFE ADVICE YOU NEED)

On today's show, we're bringing back a conversation that's so good for right now with a guest who's not only inspiring, but entertaining to the extreme. Her infectious spirit could easily be something that bubbled up in the aftermath of a frightening medical emergency that landed her in the hospital close to death. But there's just something about her approach to life and business that makes me suspect she had it all along. Either way, you only have to listen to this female entrepreneur f...

The 6 Habits That Helped Me Have My Best Month of 2020 in July

The Screen-Friendly Public Speaking Strategies Every FEST Founder Needs to Thrive in a Virtual World of Digital Events

Have you considered creating a signature talk? What about pitching yourself for an upcoming virtual conference? How about joining a webinar series featuring industry experts just like you? Have you wanted to do these things, but hesitated? Our virtual worlds are literally teeming with digital events right now. But speaking with style from a screen is a little different than pulling off a fabulous in-person presentation. Okay, it's a lot different, and that can be uber daunting. Luckily, t...

How A Positive Mindset + Patents Are Building This Sustainable Beauty Brand with Kate Westad of Palette by Pak

Sometimes real life experiences are the best sources of inspiration. That's more than the case for this week's guest, a FEST founder you're going to love equally for her innovative, sustainable beauty product and her positive, glass-half-full attitude toward entrepreneurship. On this week's episode, she'll walk us through her journey, from the late night she spent exhausted and packing before an international trip that sparked the idea for her signature product line to the unexpected trag...

8 Things You Absolutely Must Have to Get Great Press Right Now

Want to turn heads in the media? With in-person events changed forever and competition for attention on social media at an all-time high, it's an excellent time to try reaching new audiences through positive PR and press. If you're like many FEST founders right now, you are looking for ways to experiment, do things differently and keep your business growing in the face of changes and new challenges. Scoring mentions in the media not only adds to your credibility as a brand, but it's  got a t...

How Productivity Queen Nache' Snow Creates an Overwhelming Amount of Content on Nights & Weekends without Overwhelm

Do you dream about getting more done -- how about on nights and weekends? One of my all-time favorite business creatives is back for her third episode of the Spirit of 608 podcast on this week's show. A designer and maker by trade, this Black female founder has built a business, podcast and -- most recently -- a brand new shop all on the side of her main gig, where she holds a senior level role in the design industry. So what I'm saying here is that she knows a thing or two about how to get...

#so608 Guide: How to Start a Responsible Fashion Brand Responsibly

I recently received a DM from a FEST founder name Allyna with a big question: how to start a sustainable fashion brand off right? Well, yes, of course there was more to it than that. Like many people who listen to the Spirit of 608 podcast, she wondered about finding suppliers, getting samples, setting herself up to seek future investment and sourcing deadstock fabric for the line. To be honest with you, when I first saw her question, I thought, I'm a media expert, not a fashion brand found...

How Streamlining A FEST Business Meant Success, Less Stress + Speaking Gigs with Adrienne Wiley of Covet and Frolick Jewelry

  Taking huge leaps in your business can be all about the baby steps. For proof of that, dive into this week's episode of the Spirit of 608 podcast featuring a FEST-ive female founder who started out small and now counts a decade+ as a San Francisco retailer, her line of hand-assembled jewelry in hundreds of locations around the country and a thriving private label business. Listen for a jewelry industry insider's journey from the early days of the maker movement to tackling 17 trade sh...

Sara Emilia Bernát on the Future of Sustainable Luxury Fashion (Plus The 3-Step Market Analysis Training Every FEST Founder Needs Right Now)

Look ahead, how will the state of the world change fashion -- and the business of fashion -- forever? If you're like me, thinking about what's next can be inspiring and motivating. For businesses, the changes up ahead in consumer behavior, spending preferences and what's considered valuable in the first place are inevitable. But what will they be?  This week's guest, who went from high fashion modeling to studying fashion's ties to culture in some of the best fashion-driven academic instit...

How to Market Through the Mayhem (Part II): These Ethical Brands Making It Work Right Now Will Inspire + Motivate You

Welcome to the second show in the Spirit of 608 sharing + support series. For this episode, we asked FEST brands and businesses to submit messages, news, promos and deals so we could help share and support what they're working on at a time when, more than ever, small businesses need support and those of us seeking to stay visible and market during the mayhem need inspiration. Listen to the podcast for proof it's possible to keep moving forward as a small business right now. Let the ideas a...

Surface Calm Confidence, Resilience + Joy: A New Meditation For Female Founders

Mindset and meditation: again and again, guests of the Spirit of 608 podcast say these two things have made huge differences in their lives and ability to persist as entrepreneurs even through the ultra challenging times we all face.  Inspired by guests who told me how meditation benefitted their minds and bodies, helped them recover from anxiety and stay focused on their goals, I began to experiment with my own meditation practice. More recently, during work towards 300-hour yoga teacher ...

From A Career in Fashion Media to Founding A Magazine for Women Facing 50 with Forbes Contributor + Style Expert Kristen Philipkoski

I love bringing smart, cool and accomplished media people on the Spirit of 608 podcast every once in a while to let us into their world and bring insight into what the people creating coverage and content think about the FEST space (if you've listened to the show for a while, you know this). For this week's episode, I was *so thrilled* to bring a conversation with a longtime journalist and expert in the West Coast's style scene to your ears.  But wait, there's more! The woman you'll hear f...

Ethical Entrepreneurship in Uncertain Times with Marcia Patmos of M.Patmos (Plus, New Retail Tech Strategies and Making Face Masks)

For inspiration and real talk on how to retail in uncertain times, plus inspiring and uplifting yet totally practical and accessible tips for not only hanging in there, but also upping your marketing and outreach game in the midst of a global pandemic, please look no further than this week's conversation with ethical fashion pioneer and longtime supporter of independent brands Marcia Patmos.  From her first brand Lutz + Patmos (whose cashmere pieces were a serious thing in their day) to he...

so608 Recycle: Ethical Fashion Pioneer Eileen Fisher on Working from Home + More (Plus, Making Masks)

This week, we're bringing back one of our most popular episodes of all time with one of the ethical fashion movement's best-loved pioneers. Her thoughts on working from and her frankness about building a business during life's challenges are especially relevant right now, as is her participation in face mask-making efforts in her home state of New York. Originally shared in the fall of 2018, this conversation reveals how she made comfortable women's apparel not only stylish and sought afte...

How to Market Through the Mayhem: FEST Deals, Promos + Marketing Inspiration You Can Use Right Now

We asked FEST brands and businesses to send messages, news, promos and deals our way so we could help share and support what they're working on as, well, everything around us all shifts and changes. For listeners, the gems in this week's episode are twofold. First, you're likely to find a business you want to support or a deal you want to take advantage of (I know I found several). Second, the show is an excellent overview of how ethical and sustainable brands are responding to the need for ...

How Fashion Technologist Anina Net Turned A Top Modeling Career into a Fashion Tech Business (Plus, Life in China Right Now)

What happens when you interview a top model-turned-fashion technologist who's lived through the COVID-19 outbreak from her outpost in Beijing? Well, this conversation is what happens. If I have a hunch, and I do, you're going to be both entertained and inspired by what this week's guest has to say about the world right now -- as well as her journey into a career turning technology into fashionable wearables and her current love for virtual events. Hailing from a computer-savvy family that ...

How Bel Kazan Namesake + Early Ethical Fashion Adopter Belinda Kazanci Built A Factory in Bali to Grow A Brand in LA

Behind every collection is designer Belinda Kazanci, who started BEL KAZAN after a life-changing journey to Bali, Indonesia. From the delicate flower offerings that lined the streets to their vibrant textiles and joyful spirits, she felt an unparalleled sense of inspiration among the Balinese people. It was then that Belinda decided to uproot her life in Los Angeles, determined to make her vision of a socially- and environmentally-responsible apparel line real. Bel Kazan believes "lean pr...

Your Questions Answered: Listeners Ask What to Share + What to Keep Private, How to Tell Your Story, Launch A New Brand + More

It's an podAMA! This week's episode is an Ask Me Anything featuring questions for listeners, Instagram followers and members of the Spirit of 608 Facebook group. What's this all about? The episode is all about what's on your mind. I'm weighing in with thoughts on everything from social media etiquette for maintaining privacy at a time when it seems like we're supposed to share everything online to launching a new brand. Listen to the episode to hear what other FEST founders are up against ...

Building a Secondhand Style Swapping Startup in Los Angeles with Swap Society’s Nicole Robertson

When it comes to conscious consumerism, advocates for minimalism and intentional shopping, both seemingly gentler ways to enjoy fashion, often run up against the harsh reality of U.S. consumers' baked in urge to, well, consume. In the face of that, swapping style online stands out as an alternative that, these days, is starting to hold more than ample appeal -- even outside the thrifters and vintage fans behind so many low-tech equivalents. On this week's episode, we meet a former beauty ind...

Get Enlightened: How Marie McCarthy Built a 7-Figure Jewelry Business On Her Own Terms

Business can be heavy. But this week, the Spirit of 608 is all about bringing the light. Just look at our guest's brand name for starters. Next, consider how this female founder went from a bad situation with a former business partner to owning her own space, expanding into a second business and, fast forward to today, occupying a beautiful gallery of a shop in one of San Francisco's most popular neighborhoods all while maintaining a robust online business followed by a legion of loyal Insta...

Building A Better Workout Bra for Busty Women From the Ground Up with Bloom Bras Founder Elyse Kaye

In uplifting news, this week's guest is not only bringing to market bras for busty women who want to live active lifestyles (and feel comfortable while doing it, like that's so much to ask), but she's doing it her own way. One day she may be talking to a room full of almost 100 female CEOs, another figuring out how to manufacture ethically and with eco-conscious practices with partners in Sri Lanka, but she's done it without giving up time for health, wellness and the life she wants to lead....

Beyond Facebook Groups: Use These Networks to Get Press, Get Visible + Grow

There's no doubt about it: global business is changing rapidly. Along with it, the game of getting -- and staying -- visible is nothing like it used to be. You probably know you need to have a plan for reaching new people and spreading your message that goes beyond outdated PR tactics and blasting your press release to lists of journalists. But what next? This week's episode is all about one strategy that is working wonders for Spirit of 608 clients: networked communities. Sure, you might b...

Bootstrapping a FashTech Biz from Nicole Miller to Startup to Success with Andrea Marron of Ragtrades

This week, we hear from a founder who started out at one of the most recognizable mainstream fashion brands of its era and went on to become a rising star in the industry's burgeoning move towards ecommerce. But then, spurred by earlier experiments in entrepreneurship and a chance collaboration with her future co-founder a at a hackathon, this week's guest left her solid career in fashion with a capital "F" and broke off to start her own company. But instead of design, she chose machine lear...

Patience, Perseverance and the Surprising Reality of Shoemaking in China with Casey Kerrigan of OESH Shoes

On the debut episode of the newest season of the Spirit of 608 podcast, we're back with an episode that may very well change everything you think you know about manufacturing in China. In this week's conversation from the forefront of fashion, entrepreneurship, sustainability + tech (a space I call FEST), we hear from a founder whose mission to make a better shoe for women's bodies based on her decades of research has led her to establish both an eco-friendly manufacturing process in her U.S...

Six Must-Know DIY PR + Visibility Takeaways from the Second Half of the Year

Getting the word out about your ethical, sustainable brand is crucial to its future -- but growing visibility can be tricky and time-consuming. There's public relations, brand awareness, growth hacking, networked marketing, affiliate relationships, content creation, social media and on and on and on. It's part of my mission to elevate brands who are making positive change in the world. Let me help you get further than where you might be able to go on your own with these top takeaways from t...

Creating Next Level Transparency Through Travel with Designer Saloni Shrestha of California Sustainable Luxury Brand AGAATI

This week, we dive into a world where sustainable fashion gets experiential. We'll hear from a guest who not only designs using sustainable materials and ethical manufacturing practices, but is taking transparency to an entirely new level through travel. Launching a tour to India this fall, this California luxury fashion brand is not only preaching more positive practices in apparel, but opening up its supply chain to show fans and customers a behind-the-scenes view of how clothes are made....

Growing Ethical Brand Visibility + PR at the End of the Year and Beyond

Do you need PR and visibility tips you can use for the holidays and beyond? If so, this episode of the Spirit of 608 podcast is for you. Liza Moiseeva of Scaling Good recently asked me to join her for a Facebook Live inside her Facebook community to talk about growing brand visibility, PR and speaking opportunities for founders during the last weeks of the year and beyond -- and we kept talking for almost an hour. It only made sense to share the conversation with you. Listen in for practica...

#so608 Recycle: On Not Being a Girlboss, Raising Capital & NYC Startup Life with Recently Acquired FEST biz Bow & Drape

Hot on the sparkling, sequined heels of FEST biz Bow & Drape's recent acquisition news, we're bringing back a popular conversation with co-founder Aubrie Pagano, who helped lead the company from its early days as a custom women's apparel startup to its current life as the go-to for punny casual wear featuring phrases like Goal Digger, You Had Me at Merlot + more. In this #so608 Recycle episode, Aubrie and I talk NYC startup life, fundraising, microfunds for female founders and a lot more. Wh...

What happened next: how Evrnu’s Stacy Flynn made textile magic (okay fine, it’s actually science), secured $9M in funding and a partnership with Stella McCartney

  For the 200th episode of the Spirit of 608 podcast, we had to bring back a special guest, fan favorite, visionary FEST pioneer and all around badass for an update episode looking at what kind of amazing things can happen in a couple years' time. Since the beginning of the Spirit of 608 podcast way back in the fall of 2015 (I know!), we have aimed to inspire, inform and entertain women in FEST so they push on and continue bringing much-needed change to an industry that, while slow to adop...

Ethical Fashion, the Enneagram + Entrepreneurship with Thr3efold’s Jessica Kelly

Finding FEST-ive manufacturing partners ain't easy, and this week's guest on the Spirit of 608 podcast is here to help streamline the process. Along with that, this recent L.A. transplant shares her story progressing from high-stakes New York PR to a career filled with meaning and purpose after an impactful trip to another country changed everything. Listen in to learn more about the reality of transparency in ethical fashion today, as well as a fun dive into the mysteries of the Enneagram p...

What's Working & What's Not Right Now in Real Client Campaigns: HARO, YAMM, Affiliate Marketing + More

Come with me, FEST friends, into a land where growing your business is a breeze and landing top-tier press is as easy as pie....oh wait, no, sorry. That was a dream I had the other night. Of course we all know none of that is easy. But it is possible. Big picture advice is great, but this week I'm all about the details, so I'm diving into real client campaigns and letting you know what's working -- and what's totally not -- this month. With tools and tech-enabled platforms changing all the t...

Meet the Renowned Streetstyle Photographer Behind Gem, the New Google of Secondhand Fashion

For fans of vintage and secondhand clothing with next to no time to hunt through all the things online to pin the good stuff down, this week’s guest has created nothing short of a true gem in the FEST space. In this episode, you will meet the New York-based, Finnish couple behind the new Google of secondhand style. Meet this week’s guest, Liisa Jokinen, founder and CEO of Gem App. Sign up for the PressDope weekly email to get DIY PR tips and The Dope List of media opps, calls for pitches...

Behind The Scenes with Talia Eve on the Creation + Badass Branding of Evewear: L.A.’s “It” Sustainable Sleepwear Biz

Taking a career risks is never easy. But super early on? It's easier in some ways, more challenging in others. But when you have a strong vision, knack for branding and drive to fill a hole in the marketplace, you might just cruise from risk to reward like this week's guest on the Spirit of 608 podcast. Founder of a Los Angeles-based sustainable sleepwear brand that goes from day to know while relying on deadstock fabrics and incorporating zero waste design principles, the voice on the show ...

What happened next: how ANDIE went from scrappy startup to the fastest growing digitally native swimwear brand in two years with founder Melanie Travis

Practi-mental: pairing ultra pracital tips with deeper inquiry to fuel up your DIY PR, media outreach and brand visibility

Have you heard about practi-mental? Well, guess what! Probably not, because we're creating that focus here on the Spirit of 608 podcast. In this week's episode, here are four practical and four kinda-sorta woo-woo tips that will help you increase visibility, reach new people and get more earned media in your business.   Yes, sometimes you have to be completely practical. And at other times, being spiritually driven and totally mindset-focused is a must. But most of the times, for most of...

Crowdfunding Maternity Leave with FEST Founder and Diehard Supporter of San Francisco’s Artisan Entrepreneurs Eden Stein of Secession Art + Design

This week's podcast guest is all about collaboration - and not in the ways you might think. Yes, her brand, Secession Art & Design, is a gallery, boutique and workspace in San Francisco's Mission neighborhood that's championed the local arts scene for well over a decade. And yes, she's managed to create an untraditional storefront that allows customers to experience curated shows and see the process of art being made in-house -- all on a bootstrapped budget. And it's also true that, for mor...

Protecting Your Creativity, Changing Fashion and Authoring a Better World with Katie Patrick of How to Save the World

Get ready, this week's guest has probably one of the most intriguing careers in sustainability thought leadership imaginable. Not only is it full of creativity, it's full of brains, combining behavioral psychology with gamification and analytic thinking to bring new techniques for creating change to entrepreneurs -- including those in fashion. She's not only  the author of the book How to Save the World, host of its sister-podcast, and a speaker on the critical role of creativity, optimisim,...

My Top Client PR Challenges: How to Stop Sabotaging Your PR + Get Visible

Are you unknowingly sabotaging your own PR and media efforts without even realizing it? Listen to this week's episode of the Spirit of 608 podcast to find out.   During the August hiatus that we take every year to reorganize and improve what we're doing behind the scenes with PressDope and the clients I work with one-on-one, I spoke with so many FEST founders hoping to amp up media outreach and gain visibility during this year's super important Fall retail and shopping season.   And ...

The Conscious Closet, Media Life and Making a Profession Out of a Purpose with Author and Ethical Fashion Pioneer Elizabeth L. Cline

If her name sounds familiar, it's because Elizabeth Cline is one of the world’s leading go-to experts on the consequences of fast fashion, the realities of fashion industry labor and sustainability. Her first book, the critically acclaimed Overdressed: The Shockingly High Cost of Cheap Fashion first revealed the impacts of fast fashion on the environment, economy, and society to an American audience and is a founding book of the global ethical and sustainable fashion movement. Today it's eve...