Jen Lezan here and I am the host of the Make and Create Podcast. You may remember me from the Halfstack Highlights podcast and from my past work at Halfstack Magazine. As you may have heard the team and I retired the brand early this month after 6 amazing years. It can be a daunting thing stopping something that you’ve put so much of your creative life force into, but I am a firm believer in listening to your intuition. I won’t lie, it was really hard, and I’m still a bit in mourning and working my way through the shift. Yet, I came to a point where I needed to pivot into a new direction and pursue growth with my personal and professional endeavors. While scary and sad, I am working on listening to my gut and as uncomfortable as it may seem, it feels right. Although the Halfstack brand is no more, I have rebranded and will continue to run our podcast and the new website as a one woman show. You’ll find much of the same here when it comes to empowerment in the creative and business space as well as the raw reality behind pursuing the path less traveled when it comes to careers. From entrepreneurs, artists, creatives and individuals pursuing a non linear journey – this space will house inspiration to keep you motivated while traveling your own path.
I hope you enjoy the show and if you feel so inclined, take some time to subscribe on iTunes, via your RSS feed or any podcast listener you utilize. You can find a new episode live every other Friday and I am excited to embark on this journey with you.
This week, I connected with Navjeet, he’s the founder of a new fashion platform and startup: Fashion 88 . Finding opportunities to gain exposure as an indie fashion label can be an obstacle in of itself. The idea of “if you build it, it will come” is honestly a load of bull. The reality of the industry is that if you make something, you need to tell people about it in order to gain traction to see those sales increase. There are many options available today from Etsy to Amazon and Dawanda and each have their own pros and cons. Yet, one of the major issues labels have is gaining traction among the masses on these sites. It can take months and sometimes years to gain visibility and there isn’t much support on these outlets. It can at times be a gamble. One company who saw a need in the market and decided to capitalize on it, is Fashion 88.
Fashion88 is an e-commerce platform that redefines the fashion retailing experience with a website, 3 APPS, and a VR / AR fitting room to be released in 2018. The company connects clothing producers from all over the world with customers from all over the world. The producers earn more profit for their goods and the customer pays less for theirs. The brand has created a direct to consumer platform that is dedicated to fashion. Indie brands don’t have to fight mounds of other types of products to gain traction. As a brand Fashion 88 believes everyone can be a winner and they have based their business model on that belief. They build trust by understanding their vendors and customers are equally important in the e-commerce process and both are treated as members of the F88 family. They are working to redefine the fashion retailing experience.
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I really hope you enjoyed this first episode of Make and Create. I truly enjoy sharing the creative journey of startups. It is eye opening to hear about not only the successes, but also the obstacles that they face. We get so caught up on the perfect image that so many portray on social media and the success stories we see on TV that it can be refreshing to get a real grounded perspective of the entrepreneurial journey. If you want to learn more about or connect with Fashion 88 you can check them out at: www.fashion88.com. While you are online make sure you stop by makeandcreate.com for my bi-weekly updates and features associated with each episode. If you want to keep up with me and the show on social media just follow @makeandcreatepodcast on facebook and instagram. You can follow me on twitter @JenVeguilla. If you like what I am doing and feel inclined to support, please take a moment to check out the show’s Patreon page at patreon.com/makeandcreatepodcast
Any pledge can help me with the admin side to keep creating the content on this show. Finally, please take some time to leave a review for the podcast on iTunes. I relaunched the show with the new branding and updated content, so ratings and reviews will help the episodes to get noticed and is another great way to show your support so I can continue to create content that is empowering, inspiring and motivating. Thank you for coming on this journey with me! Check back later this month as I will be sharing my interview with the founder of BeautyLynk – it’s the latest in on demand mobile beauty services that cater to a diverse population including people of all backgrounds, cultures and abilities. They’re taking the beauty industry by the horns and shaking things up.
As you find yourself chasing new dreams and pursuing your desires, sometimes the best way to find your way is to reinvent yourself so that you model your future success. Life isn’t just about finding yourself. Often we will find it is really about creating yourself.”
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Jen Lezan-Veguilla
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