Profiting from purpose by changing the world isn’t an impossible dream as many tend to think of it, but a realistic one as many unusual entrepreneurs have extraordinarily proven. It is my life mission to understand the unusual qualities of such unusual entrepreneurs and inspire as many others to profit from purpose by changing the world.

This is the purpose of naijapreneur and the essence of this new category of information tagged “Unusual Entrepreneur Interviews”. In these interviews, I’ll be profiling several unusual entrepreneurs who are changing the world and profiting from purpose. The interviews are divided into 3 parts;

• Part 1: ENTREPRENEURSHIP – these are questions that focus on how these unusual entrepreneurs awakened the Spirit of business within.

• Part 2: STRATEGY – these are questions that focus on the unusual execution of business best practices adopted by these unusual entrepreneurs.

• Part 3: MISCELLANEOUS – these are resourceful recommendations, tools, books, and ideas necessary for unusual entrepreneurs.

If you’re just joining us here and is not yet familiar with our philosophy of unusual entrepreneurs, kindly download our free ebook: The Entrepreneur’s Journey. This is the official manifesto for anyone who wants to change the world and profit from purpose.

This is the very first edition of the Unusual Entrepreneur Interviews. In this edition, I present to you 2 women [Kristin and Shannon] who are profiting from purpose by changing the world through clothing.

Since this is an interview and not an article, I leave these two unusual women entrepreneurs to speak for themselves.

Let’s begin!

Interview Questions Part 1:

ENTREPRENEURSHIP – Awakening the Spirit of business within

1.    Can you please tell us a little about yourself and your business? What do you do?, how do you do it?, why do you do it and who do you do it for?

We are the creators of {r}evolution apparel, a sustainable women’s clothing line specifically designed for travelers and minimalists. Right now, we are offering our signature piece, the “Versalette” — a versatile garment that can be worn as a skirt, purse, hood, scarf, shirt, poncho, and much more. We use 100% recycle fabric and source domestically, in an effort to improve environmental and labor conditions in the United States. We work from Austin, TX, and Denver, CO.

 

2.    How would you describe your entrepreneurial journey into the world of business?

We are both travelers by nature, so the journey started there. For a few years after college graduation, we separately traveled to various parts of the world. When we returned, we both felt that the “9 to 5” wasn’t for us. We reconnected, chatted, and decided to start a business.

 

3.    Were there any key incidents or life changing events that inspired your decision to become an entrepreneur?

Kristin: It was certainly the sum of many parts: my desires to keep my own schedule, lack of interest in any specific career category, and a wish to use all of my skills instead of a small set. The lifestyle I have always wanted is that of an entrepreneur, even when pursuing other career paths.

Shannon: After taking two years to travel and see the world, there was no going back. The idea of doing anything “conventional” after living so unconventionally was unfathomable in my mind. Entrepreneurship evolved out of the desires to do passionate work each day, be free from time constraints and be more or less location independent.

 

4.    When you started out in business, what specific idea, purpose or vision was your key driving force?

We simply wanted to do good business — we wanted to create a social enterprise that would benefit fellow citizens and the environment, and that was the sole requirement of our business. We tossed around ideas for a few months, and thought about different avenues we could take to create a livable wage for ourselves and also help others. Working with artisans and focusing on fair trade was one of our big ideas in the beginning. We eventually whittled down the ideas to one thing that stuck with us — and it was shaped in large part by our travels and wishes to preserve the places we’ve been lucky enough to visit.

 

5.    What is your take on the general notion that entrepreneurs should build a business around what they naturally love to do?

We keep up with a lot of creative entrepreneurs, and certainly believe that those who pursue their passions in the arts do well for themselves. There is, of course, a mix of business savvy, confidence, and natural ability required to be “successful,” but those who love their work seem more capable of creating a mix that works.

 

6.     What is your personal life mission as an entrepreneur? That is; what contributions do you want to make with your life or what would you like to be remembered for as an entrepreneur through the businesses you create when you die?

It’s important that we make a difference. Big or small is irrelevant; we want to feel as though we have impacted someone to think twice about where their clothes come from, how they are made, and how our fashion choices affect the world.

 

7.    What would you describe as the purpose of entrepreneurship? That is; what role do entrepreneurs play in the world?

The role of the entrepreneur is to facilitate trades that improve the living conditions of all participants. An entrepreneur sources materials, and provides a living for her suppliers. She then creates a product that adds value; one that improves happiness or advances society, without harming people or planet in the process. Ultimately, entrepreneurs are the people who move society — in which direction depends on the entrepreneur.

8.    How are you changing the world through the business, products or services you create?

We try, through our designs, to create conversations about the fashion industry, both the good and the bad. We create versatile clothes, that use fewer resources yet allow for maximum use. We use 100% recycled fabric, made in the USA, and we source domestically and/or organically for all of the elements to our garments. Above all, we attempt to use our business as a platform to talk about something much bigger: the current state of the fashion industry and what it’s doing to our planet.

Interview Questions Part 2:

STRATEGY – The unusual execution of business best practices

9.    What would you describe as your secret formula for business success?

Ha! We are first-time entrepreneurs, so everything is trial by fire. We don’t have a formula; we simply go with what feels right, and jump in. So — perhaps — the secret formula is a good partnership, confidence/passion, and the ability to run with it, even when you have no clue what will happen next.

 

10.    How do you identify business opportunities and what metrics do you use to measure their viability?

Opportunities haven’t been about numbers to us. We saw a need for sustainable travel clothing for our demographic, researched it with Google searches, and determined that no one has done what we were attempting to do. It felt right, and that was the only metric we needed.

11.    Do you have mentors, business coach or external consultants that you work closely with to grow yourself and your business? If yes, to what extent would you describe their impact on your business? If no, are there any particular reasons?

No, but this is something we have identified as a “mistake” in our year-end review. We do ask for advice from time to time from others, but we don’t operate with a board, or with any hired consultation. Lots of people have helped us along the way, but a goal for 2012 is to incorporate experts more heavily into our day-to-day. More brains are better than two!

 

 

12.    How do you strategically use your time as an entrepreneur? What key activities would you recommend entrepreneurs use their time for?

We do almost everything in our business, from web and logo design to clothing design to videos and photography. We have outsourced a few projects, but for the most part, we do much of the work ourselves as we’ve been a bootstrapped company from the start.

Moving forward, we will be surrounding ourselves with great people who can take over design concepts, web responsibilities, and sales representation, so that we can focus on things like sourcing, connecting with our market, and innovating the business in other wacky ways.

 

13.    How do you generate profitable customers for your business? What unusual approaches do you adopt for marketing your products/services?

We have been blogging about the process of starting a business since September 2010, so we share a lot of our day-to-day happenings via the internet. People have followed our journey from idea to product creation, and it’s probably unusual for businesses to share their mistakes and successes in such an intimate way. For us though, it has resulted in a small community that cares about what we do, understands our passion for the environment and fashion, and ultimately purchases our products.

 

14.    Many entrepreneurs complain about not succeeding in business due to lack of adequate funding, what is your take on this matter and how do you cope with funding issues in your business?

Money is always lacking, isn’t it? In life or business, it seems that there could always be more. We started our business by each investing 5,000 dollars, and working multiple jobs to pay bills as we worked on our business concepts. There’s always a way; especially with the likes of Kickstarter and Indiegogo where businesses can be funded. If the idea and presentation is solid, the money will follow.

 

15.    When starting out a new business, who are the likely possible partners or professional service providers you would recommend every entrepreneur work with?

It’s hard to say because we really didn’t seek out professionals ourselves! All along, we’ve developed our business with the mindset that anything we don’t know we can “Google.” We made a commitment to being problem solvers because we simply didn’t have the financial means to outsource tasks we didn’t know how to do.

Having said that, it’s always good to have a sounding board, but it doesn’t necessarily mean seeking out professionals. Find people whose work, life goals and philosophy you admire and bounce ideas off of them. And then of course as your business progresses, it’s always smart to have an accountant and lawyer!

 

 

16.    The pricing of products/services is always an issue for entrepreneurs, what unusual approach do you take when it comes to pricing?

Our pricing is quite conventional according to standards in the industry. We truly don’t do much different than the average clothing company, except that we try to provide more value (for example, our Versalette can be worn 15 ways) per garment and allow our base cost to reflect as much “true cost” as we can account for. For our consumers, it ultimately comes down to the price of knowing that what you’re wearing didn’t damage anyone or anything.

Interview Questions Part 3:

MISCELLANEOUS – Resourceful Recommendations, tools, books, and ideas for unusual entrepreneurs

 

17.    Were there any particular questions you expected me to ask that is beneficial to entrepreneurs and I didn’t? Kindly share with us such questions and their relevant answers here.

Honestly, this was incredibly thorough! Thanks so much for including us.

Kristin Glenn and Shannon Whitehead are the co-founders and designers of {r}evolution apparel. They recently created of their first masterpiece, the Versalette. You can follow them on Twitter, and become a fan on Facebook.

Your Turn

What did you learn from these two unusual entrepreneurs?

Share your views below in the comment section and remember to use the social sharing icons floating on the left of the page to share this unusual interview with your friends online.

Thank you for your time!

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