SFD027: Curled up in a Ball Crying: How Community Can Save You

Making it as an indie fashion designer is emotionally, mentally and financially brutal.

And trying to do it alone is even harder.

Which is why I love this episode with Nathalie Kraynina, an indie ready-to-wear fashion designer turned custom bridal designer who has built her brand by working with other designers. Sharing resources like factories and fabric suppliers, and pooling efforts for fashion shows and events helped everyone in her community get further.

Together, they celebrated the highs and helped each other through the lows. The times when you’re at your worst and you want to give up, curled up in a ball on your bathroom floor in a pool of tears.

Nathalie is brutally honest, humble and transparent about what goes into working in fashion and she doesn’t sugarcoat anything. It’s something I appreciate tremendously about her.

Listen now for a candid and truly behind the scenes look at what it means to really work as a startup or indie designer.

You Will Learn

Why building a community and working together with other designers will sky rocket all of you ahead
What it means to work collectively, and why it’s much better than working competitively
How making it through failures is the true measurement of your success
The financial challenges, constraints and realities of being an independent designer
Why fashion shows don’t actually do anything for you
The importance of taking time to get out there, network and meet people