Ep. 31 - Kristi Soomer, founder of Encircled, on Conscious Creating & Consuming

Explicit content warning

11/13/20 • 49 min

If you've ever wondered why ethically-made clothing is 'so expensive', this week's episode of the Mind Your Own Life podcast is for you! Today's guest, an expert on sustainable fashion, will help you to understand how slow fashion works, why it's worth the price tag, and what you're really buying into when you purchase that $8 shirt from H&M.
I am so excited to have Kristi Soomer, founder of Encircled, an eco-friendly, sweatshop-free, Made in Canada clothing brand, on the podcast today.
Kristi launched Encircled eight years ago in Toronto, with a single product and a big mission and has since grown the brand to be a big name in sustainable fashion offering 40+ products.
Kristi's caring, conscious and collaborative nature is so evident in every product she launches at Encircled, and those qualities also lend themselves well to her side-venture as Coach and Consultant to other entrepreneurs who are at the beginning of their journeys.

We chatted about:

Fast fashion; Kristi explains how the fashion industry has evolved in Canada and why fast fashion is so damaging to our planet and our people
Conscious consumerism; Kristi shares ways we can all be more mindful of our purchases
Entrepreneurship; Kristi shares transparently about her experiences as an entrepreneur and why it's all worth it, despite the many challenges.
Equity, Diversity and Inclusion in 2020; how Kristi strives to ensure these standards are met within Encircled and beyond.
Being B Corp Certified: what this certification means for our earth and ethics

About Kristi Soomer:

Kristi is the Founder/CEO of Encircled Inc., an ethical-fashion brand on a mission to change the way women travel and live. Encircled creates modern, versatile essentials for women from earth-friendly materials that are beautifully soft, high quality and good for the planet. Encircled embraces the notion of transparency in its entire business, in an industry notorious for secrecy. We're proudly 100% sweatshop-free and make all of our clothing locally in Toronto, Canada using fairly paid labour.
Kristi is also the Founder of Retail Bliss Consulting which helps start-up eCommerce Shopify retailers clarify their vision, and develop a focused brand strategy that's aligned with their values. She has 14+ years of retail, consulting, and consumer packaged goods industry experience and a diverse background in fashion, strategy, digital, e-commerce, brand management, store operations, merchandising, category management, supply chain, change management and customer experience.
Kristi’s holistic approach to project design and implementation, and focus on actionable results for small businesses. In addition, Kristi is a licensed Desire Map Facilitator and skilled at empowering entrepreneurs to create goals that are soul-aligned.
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Want to know more about Encircled? Start by taking the Capsule Wardrobe quiz: https://www.encircled.ca/pages/capsule-wardrobe-quiz
& be sure to use my code, MINDYOUROWNLIFE for FREE shipping & delivery if you make a purchase.

We chatted about:

Fast fashion; Kristi explains how the fashion industry has evolved in Canada and why fast fashion is so damaging to our planet and our people
Conscious consumerism; Kristi shares ways we can all be more mindful of our purchases
Entrepreneurship; Kristi shares transparently about her experiences as an entrepreneur and why it's all worth it, despite the many challenges.
Equity, Diversity and Inclusion in 2020; how Kristi strives to ensure these standards are met within Encircled and beyond.
Being B Corp Certified: what this certification means for our earth and ethics

Previous Episode

Ep. 30 - Maddie Ace & Martina Westmoreland, a Wisconsin-based Interracial Gay Couple, on the Importance of the Upcoming USA Election

About this Episode:
With the USA Election only one day away, I am honoured to be sharing this very raw conversation I had with two incredible women, Maddie Ace & Martina Westmoreland, a gay couple living in Wisconsin.
Maddie, an Immigrant from England, and Martina, a Black Women born and raised in the USA, met five years ago, but their relationship has really blossomed over the past year since they decided to quarantine together during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In this episode, Maddie & Martina share intimate details of their lives together and their perspectives on how critical this election is for securing basic human rights and equality for all Americans.
I urge you to tune in to today's episode for an important perspective on being a minority in a country divided.
We talk about:

What it's like to be Black in the USA
How unsafe people of colour, immigrants and gay people feel in the current state of polarization
Maddie & Martina's hopes about fears about the future of the country

About Maddie & Martina:
Maddie and Marty live in Milwaukee, WI having met at an event a few years ago and reconnecting back in 2019. They decided to speak openly about their experience because: “Between us, we have so many labels... gay, female, white, BIPOC, interracial couple, mental health warrior, immigrant and while we know they don’t fully define us, we’ve been trying to understand what it meant for us to exist within today’s political climate, and we wanted others to know that they’re not alone in trying to come to terms with what’s happening in the world. We figured, maybe we’d have something to say that would help. Regardless, it’s helped us to begin to process what we’re feeling living in today’s America... complete with our concerns, confusions and hope for the future.”

Next Episode

Ep. 32 – Maddie Ace on Healing, Feeling & Taking Leaps of Faith

About today's episode:
One of the greatest privileges of this journey on social media has been connecting with like-minded souls from all different corners of the world. Maddie Ace has been someone who I have learned so much from about healing, mental health, resilience and courage, so I was truly honoured to welcome her as a guest on the podcast.

You may recognize Maddie from a few episodes ago when I interviewed her and her partner, Martina, about their experiences as an interracial gay couple living in America in the lead up to the presidential election.

Maddie has been a source of calm for me on Instagram; whether she is sharing her vulnerabilities in an authentic way or taking the time to really ask how her followers are doing with her daily mental health check-ins, her page and her general presence are truly a breath of fresh air.

On today’s episode, we talk about:

· Maddie’s mental health journey and her first mental illness diagnosis in her teens

· How Maddie began to advocate against the stigma of mental illness and for the importance of mental health

· Maddie’s coming out story and how she describes it as an internal journey

· What to expect on Maddie’s brand new podcast, titled ‘She Be Red’

Tune in now & be sure to rate, review, subscribe and share with a friend if you like what you hear!

About Maddie Ace:
Maddie Ace is the founder/CEO of two businesses; Nella Marketing, a content marketing firm where she serves clients around the world as an artist/writer, and She Be Red, an advocacy brand and podcast with the purpose of helping others on their journey to holistic mental health.

At her core, Maddie is a mental health activist. For the last 12 years, she has walked alongside multiple mental health diagnoses and after a difficult marriage and the onset of severe somatic symptoms, she decided to start making huge changes to her life. This is where she discovered that mental wellbeing isn’t just in the mind, it’s in the body, soul and spirit as well.

Though She Be Red, Maddie shares her journey to show others who are struggling that there is always hope, and she believes it lies within 3 main concepts; healing, feeling and taking leaps of faith. In her new podcast, she encourages her listeners to get curious so they can find a path to a life that truly feels good because, as she says, we are all worthy of that.

Where to find Maddie: