Podcast

Welcome to The Ecosystem Incubator Podcast space, Our first series is currently being created . . they will arrive as they are being made.

This podcast series from The Ecosystem Incubator is here to share with you the wealth of experience and integrity of our founding members and collaborators.

We hope that you enjoy the podcast series be sure to link up on  The ecosystem Incubator.com for more information about building your business in collaboration.

The Podcast panel

Ken Alston - Circularity & whole systems

The first member of The Ecosystem Incubator is Ken Alston from Circularity edge who has been living breathing and practicing sustainability & circularity for over 40 years.  He talks of working with the originators of the cradle to cradle movement William McDonough & Michael Braungart, looking at Circularity in 4 dimensions, systemically and as a complex whole system.  As well as looking at accessing locality, the back and front end design for the system as a whole.

We love how he relates circularity to a living natural system, looking at the blossom on the tree and how that never occurs as waste, nature is our finest teacher.

We dive into how he sees The Ecosystem Incubator and equated it to a project called The Circular Economy Forum of the Americas of which he was also a founding member.

Also mentioned our sustainable waste to wear friends in common From Belo and their work in utilising other waste streams and disrupting the linear economy.

Tena, Thinking Threads - Cultural Anthropology

Tena’s work uses a Cultural Anthropology approach to the fashion space and focuses on how communication can transform the industry.  Working with businesses to really look at their audience holistically , really understanding from the customer level.

Speaking to the story of modern day slavery from Nasreen Sheikh  that exposed the hidden side of the industry to her and influenced her movement towards the fashion space. Nasreen is also the founder of Empowerment Collective ,  a non-profit dedicated to eradicating exploited labour, forced marriage, and extreme poverty.

Moving career paths and shifting skills towards a better fashion industry . . how you could have a voice and utilise what you have to be the change .. being with who you can be in sustainability and circularity.  Working in NGO, activism and how the Pandemic changed her focus and direction.

How working with small to medium companies – and that small is beautiful, working with localised smaller systems and local production hives that are scattered globally rather than situated in the western fashion centres.

She speaks of her collaborative partnership with Nahir Meüne. She’s based in Paris and on a mission to create an ethical denim brand. Apart from sourcing transparently and as ethically as she can, she also uses her brand to promote and communicate about the indigenous embroidery techniques, coming from communities in Latin America. Writing a guide to fashion and mental health

Also the shared thought which  Ken also mentioned – that we have come out of the awareness / talking stage in sustainability and we are moving towards an action now . .and how The Ecosystem Incubator could be a space that this action can start to take shape.

Find Tena on her website – Thinking Threads

John Parkinson - Secrecy to Circularity

It was an absolute honour to interview John Parkinson of Iinouiio .  He takes us through a social history, a passed down secret legacy of the ‘shoddy’ trade as it was referred to before circularity or cradle to cradle was even the spark of an idea.

200 years of history in the recycling trade that were never spoken of. Up until recent years it was seen as dirty and not common practice to speak of using the old for new.  He mentions Benjamin law and the original history of the tradedating back to 1807 which was clandestine in nature.

Part of the solutions to our problems can be found In the past, in experimentation, in merging the new with the old.  He also talks of locality and how important that is to the circular process – which resonates with our other speakers.

We love the story and how closely related economics really is to trade and innovation.  How it can help but also create its demise depending on its intention.  Johns journey shows how we should see our lives and business as a constant flow with what’s so – and how we can fit in with that – making the things that we create commercially viable and have people resonate is one if the main points of his journey.

He speaks of the intergenerational learning and respect and how we can speak with different generations and learn from both young and old.

This is a longer podcast yet we at The Ecosystem Incubator want to be able to hear the fullest of stories – so do stay with us through to the end for some amazing insight and intergenerational wisdom which is one of our key pillars.

Kishore Shah- De-centralising Collaboration

Dive into looking at the way we do business by challenging not only how we create product but how we create social structures that work from the ground up,  join with Kishore Shah from  Khadi London discovering his journey into Regenerative fibres & hand weaving.

Exploring the new social structures that have been around his work and life .. I love how he has woven his life around building from the community base – very much resonates with what we are creating with The Ecosystem Incubator. Create what people need and want in the world by engaging with de centralised systemic thinking.

Kishore deeply shares a world where we are interconnected to each other and the environment, where circularisation is not a buzz word to be used for commercial effect but a way of life.  In a truly regenerative system there is no waste – The health of the society is the health of the land and all around it.  Slide Content goes here

Stephen Hill - Ethical AI

Welcome to the world of AI,  Our partner and collaborator for the second stage of The Ecosystem Incubator Stephen Hill of Ethical AI shares about his journey into tech and building on how to apply ethics to data science.

Ethical AI is one of the tools that we will use to aid the growth of the collaboration platform over time as more members join the community space we will need this tech to aid the future of collaboration.

We go into many arenas with our conversations about AI but shaping a new system for us to all thrive in , in a bottom up intention is most exciting here.

Find Stephens book Homo Technica on the future of AI here

Alicia Hardesty - Designer, Curiosity, Creation and collaboration

The first designer In The Ecosystem Incubator space, welcome to the awe inspiring  Alicia Hardesty.  From humble small town roots, to the sparkle of TV, Alicia takes us through her journey through fashion, sustainability & adding in genderless / LGBT aspects to her designs when no one knew what that was.

Working both intrepenerially and entrepreneurially, there’s room for both large and small brands to innovate systemically.  We just need apply the explorer within us all and go and work at new ideas.

Alicia talks of her love to  be hands on, create, up-cycle and work in circular ways.  We really resonate with her journey and are proud to have such an innovative mind join the hive.

Tine Bieber, EMMA textile, A new structure doesn’t change a mindset

A wonderful conversation with Tine Bieber co-founder of EMMA textiles a collaborative network of factories and artisans, after speaking with her in September we resonated on the systemic change that’s needed to create real sustainable and regenerative futures –  it is like I’ve known her for decades.

Talking here in the podcast about building business both big and small in a new systems approach from here experience in big oil building with  to movement to the fashion industry . We talk on bottom up self management and a new systemic way of working.  Discussing that, that in itself comes with the need to do a lot of inner work, not just in leadership but in every section of the systems that we have in place.   We go into emotional Intelligence within business, being who we are and not wearing the metaphorical mask.

Setting up a structure doesn’t change the mindsets of all within it .. working with people on a level will aid this transition.

Emmaline, Source Lingerie, Creating with Kindness,

Emmaline Vaughan Ronson, founder of Source Lingerie talks of building with small businesses in her niche of Intimate apparel, covering lingerie, swimwear and sportswear.

After years of building with large and small brands she talks of her great experience with the great Katherine Hamnett and how her sustainability and political aspects influenced her career and path.

We speak of the highs and indeed lows of being in the industry bubble, as a designer you sometimes wear many hats, and it can be very high pressured.  Let alone adding in sustainability and regenerative processes.

We were so interested to hear that sometimes the sustainable options are not the best in terms of performance in the intimate niche and whilst the industry pivots itself and innovates in these arenas we need to be.

We will be introducing a niche meeting In November for anyone interested to build in sustainable development in the Lingerie or intimate apparel niche . .to join link here 

Shan Elangovan, CEAE, working with sustainability and economy of scale

In this episode we introduce Shan Elangovan who is a member and collaborator in The Ecosystem Incubator – with his business CEAE utilising factory floor textile waste into packaging and building with R&D in sustainable packaging … and into the future of naturally dyed products in his new ventures.

We loved speaking with Shan, he has a real down to earth way of looking at sustainability In the design and development phase.. he rightly says that a lot of the answers are out there for a sustainable textile futures – what we need is the economic will to be able to make that work in our world.  That yes it does cost more to add sustainability to your fashion business, however it is those that don’t that will suffer in the future.

What he says about The Ecosystem Incubator, was inspired.

” The Incubator is limitless and a great initiative’

We will continue to build in the ecosystem with Shan and others as they join and understand and we love working with such passionate sustainability professionals like Shan

If you are looking for a sustainable  packaging solution – talk to Shan

Katheline Vandal, Vandal Kids, Being agile in creating your start up -

We take a deep dive with Katheline Vandal the creator of Vandal Kids.  A kids wear start up based around longevity and long wearing garments for children.

When creating a small business In fashion we run up against economies of scale, it is very difficult to create something that is reducing over production when the system itself is set to a large scale.  We discuss how in The Ecosystem Incubator we could as a collaborative network build with each other and work together on co-creation, hence reducing over production.

Katheline has a background in marketing and very much sees the value in co-marketing with the members in the Ecosystem and as it grows this can become a space that is nurturing for young brand talent as well as lifting B2B operations.

She talks of her journey in building Vandal Kids and learning these things sometimes the hard way.  We also discuss the inner work needed to see the limiting beliefs that are holding us back from progressing in business and how we work with our respective coaches and business partners to move into a new space with it.

Our Founder Rachel Sheila Kan, worked with Katheline on the latter part of her brand development with her company Circular Earth.