IFD Soundbites

Britta Cabanos
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Behind the scenes of the fashion industry sharing inspirational stories, career advice, and best practices to guide your personal and professional journey

Episodes

  1. 05/19/2022

    Empowering Women Through Sustainable Fashion Design and Entrepreneurship

    FIRESIDE CHAT WITH CARAGH BENNET CO-FOUNDER OF THE  ZENA BRAND "Our bottom line is to see the women establish their own bottom lines.” These are the words of Caragh Bennet, our guest today, who has made it their life's purpose and brand to rewrite stories and empower women through sustainable fashion design and entrepreneurship. The Zena Brand puts its community first with the notion that it isn't always about generating profit, but rather, about living out your purpose and finding fulfillment through it.  Truly, when we are so passionate about what we're doing, no matter what challenges come our way, we can find ways to innovate, and we can continue to provide for our community no matter what.  This episode is filled with inspiration on numerous levels, from The Zena Brand's commitment to sustainability along with the use of raw materials, to how to start and run an enterprise that you are passionate about, to empowering women by providing them with lifelong skills that can ultimately help them achieve their dreams. Caragh Bennet & The Zena Brand - From Fun Accessories to Serious Impact Women living in rural poverty face two major barriers to business opportunity: a lack of education and a lack of capital. The Zena Brand set out to change that. Caragh Bennet is the co-founder of The Zena Brand, a non-profit jewelry line that has purely social impact based in Kampala, Uganda. Together with Loren Thomas, they founded Zena with the single promise of changing the global stories of gender inequality and extreme poverty by investing in female entrepreneurs. Key Highlights: Tune in to this podcast and learn:  How they met in university, then interviewed 50 women from rural Uganda with the hope of building relationships with people from a completely different culture (08:05)Introduced the concept of social entrepreneurship and employment in Uganda, where the idea of Zena came from (10:18)Their biggest achievement was partnering with Diane Von Furstenberg at Bloomingdale's last year to celebrate The Lion King on International Women's Day (13:58)What their brand looked like early on, before it went through a significant rebranding to a younger demographic that better reflects their values (15:19)Their favorite memories starting Zena, as well as some challenging times (17:51)Caragh describes their journey to the book she read entitled “ Shoe Dog by Phil Knight a memoir by the creator of Nike”  (17:58)Experiencing the pandemic was like going into a boxing ring - a fight of your life (18:29)How they turned their business's greatest fear into their strength  (19:35)Why agricultural agriculture is a crucial industry for rural and farming communities (24:42)Their social act program has not only helped women escape poverty but also given children an opportunity to education (29:27)Their biggest advice to fashion design students pursuing this career path: to be intentional and to keep your purpose in mind (48:20)Additional Resources: The Zena Brand’s Website  https://thezenabrand.com/ The Zena Brand on Facebook  https://www.facebook.com/thezenabrand/?ref=page_internal The Zena Brand on Instagram  https://www.instagram.com/thezenabrand/ Book Recommendation:  Shoe Dog by Phil Knight  https://www.amazon.com/Shoe-Dog-Phil-Knight/dp/1508211809

    Empowering Women Through Sustainable Fashion Design and Entrepreneurship

  2. 05/17/2022

    A Pathway to Freedom for Women: From Victims to Empowered Entrepreneurs

    FIRESIDE CHAT WITH RACHEL KINLEY  FOUNDER OF MERIDIAN LEE  Rachel Kinley said “I had a friend who just ask me to... if I would do a volunteer project development job for nonprofit,” got her into the concept of bringing joy in the day-to-day and deep satisfaction in the livelihoods of people who aren't granted enough privilege, freedom, and pride of providing for their families themselves. Rachel has worked tirelessly since then to help those in need.   In this episode, we'll hear from Rachel Kinley about what motivated her to get involved in economic and charitable actions that helped people, especially women, see hope, human dignity, and power to fight poverty and slavery through Fashion Design Industry.  Victims to Women Entrepreneurs  Human trafficking, or slavery, is undoubtedly one of the world's most serious issues, especially for women. Aside from that, women are stereotyped; they are regarded as house-people, whose sole purpose is to serve their families. But what the world didn’t know about, is that most of these women are actually the reason behind fashion products that we own or buy at the malls but were paid subsistence wages and suffer poverty. Rachel, who grew up appreciating the importance of not just the products but also the people who make them, traveled the globe with the purpose of helping them. Rachel gave those people better access to the Fashion Industry Market. She showed them a path to equality and integrity using their own Skills and Voices that will prove to the world that women are capable of creating an economic shift where women will no longer need western organizations to give them clean water, food, and medicine as they earn unjustly, they will be able to choose what they want to and will be able to lift themselves up with confidence and pride.   Rachel Kinley & Meridian Lee  Rachel, a Product Designer/Developer, has worked in the fashion industry for over 20 years. Working in the fashion industry piqued her interest in who created the fashion designs that we have today; she discovered that the majority of those who made those, were women who suffered from slavery and human trafficking. She then pursued her "calling "of changing the world for women and began running Meridian Lee for 6 years.  Meridian Lee exists to work alongside people on the path to freedom from modern-day slavery. Right now, there are more slaves than at any other time in the history of the world. But there is hope as the world becomes smaller and more connected.

    A Pathway to Freedom for Women: From Victims to Empowered Entrepreneurs

  3. 01/06/2022

    Why It's Okay to Do Things in a Non-traditional Way

    FIRESIDE CHAT WITH SHIVAM PUNJYA FOUNDER OF BEHNO  What if there was a more innovative way to improve your people's quality of life? It's not uncommon for young brands to be taught to operate in their own traditional way. However, in our current environment when everything changes, we have to figure out how to do things differently. Shivam Punjya, founder of Behno, came from a non- conventional background, yet continues to impact the Fashion Design Industry by transforming workers' lives. In this episode, Shivam shares the unique path he took to become an entrepreneur, finding his place in the fashion industry, and using his undergrad experience to help him move forward. He explains why he encourages his team to dream big,  learn, make mistakes  and not be afraid to work for companies that don't do things like traditional ones, and how  his "Behno Standard" principles have helped them grow into the fashion label company they are now.  Shivam Punjya & Behno Shivam Punjya is the founder and creative director of Behno, a New York-based clothing and  handbag company that was founded by a desire to improve the way the fashion industry approaches manufacturing. Shivam established the company not only to showcase impressive craftsmanship, but also to support India's garment workers -- most of whom are women, and can earn less than a dollar per day.  In pursuit to this goal, the brand created "The Behno Standard," a set of six operating tenets aimed at advancing the livelihood of its artisans. Across its factories, each female colleague is addressed by the name behn ("sister" in Hindi), symbolizing the sisterhood of empowered employees the brand strives to create. Key Highlights: Tune in to this podcast and learn:  Shivam's professional background and personal story, including how he became an entrepreneur despite having no background in the fashion industry (01:26) What Shivam's experience brought to the founding of Behno, and how the company developed in the fashion industry and international development space( 04:14)What it means to work with a community that's been marginalized and neglected by so many people in the industry (06:16)Shivam's purpose in creating a factory and led him to create luxury products that saw manufacturing from a completely different perspective (06:49)How being an undergrad was an impactful experience for Shivam, which contributed to his success later on (09:33)Their brand name Behno, what it means, and why it affects so many factories in India (13:06) Behno: A personal name for people getting to know their grassroot partners on a very personal level (14:24)The Six Guiding Standard principles of Behno as a brand that includes access to healthcare services, education and transportation  (14:36)Why choosing good partners is critical to putting together a diverse and fit team ( 17:48)What kind of world change would you like to see Behno make? (20:29)Shivam recalled stories of individuals who inspired him and gave him a renewed appreciation for what his branding company can accomplish  (37:56) Additional Resources: Behno’s website https://behno.com/Shivam Punjya on Linkedin  https://www.linkedin.com/in/shivam-punjya-80489a13/Shivam Punjya on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/shivampunjya/?hl=en

    Why It's Okay to Do Things in a Non-traditional Way
  • 3 Episodes

About

Behind the scenes of the fashion industry sharing inspirational stories, career advice, and best practices to guide your personal and professional journey

Information

  • Creator
    Britta Cabanos
  • Years Active
    2022
  • Episodes
    5
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 IFD Soundbites
  • Show Website
    IFD Soundbites