39 min
We Can’t Wait Until We’re Perfect to be Honest with ABLE Founder & CEO, Barrett Ward Creating Meaningful Work
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- Self-Improvement
Do you ever look at people and brands you admire and assume they just have something special you don't have to build what they've built? That they're somehow superhumans, doing everything right as they build?
Barret was one of our attendee's favorite speakers from our 2019 conference and it was such a joy to have him back in the Yellow Co. realm and he debunks this myth immediately. In our conversation, Barret speaks openly about his decision to go on Lexapro after experiencing the most challenging year of his life after starting ABLE, and what he learned through that experience. Barret and I talk about how ABLE is disrupting the fashion industry, working to be transparent about their lowest wages, providing inclusive sizing and help other fashion brands do the same.
Listen to this episode to hear:
Why Barret was found by his 2-year-old crying on the bathroom floor
What is most helpful while moving through depression as a CEO of a company
How we can't wait until we're perfect to be honest
Why ABLE publishing their lowest wages is disrupting the fashion industry
ABOUT BARRET:
Leading a fashion lifestyle brand might be an unlikely role for someone self-described as “not a fashion guy,” but that’s exactly where ABLE CEO Barrett Ward finds himself. As the visionary behind the rapidly growing Nashville-based company disrupting the fashion industry with a social conscience, Ward was inspired to start ABLE with the mission of creating sustainable economic opportunities for women.
While living in Ethiopia, Ward and wife Rachel saw firsthand how extreme poverty forced many young women to make difficult choices for money. They wanted to give women the chance to earn a living with dignity. In 2010, they began ABLE by employing women who had overcome the sex industry to make handmade scarves. ABLE has since grown into a lifestyle brand carrying beautiful leather bags, jewelry, denim, apparel, and shoes with a primary focus on employing and empowering women in Ethiopia, Brazil, India, Mexico, and Nashville, TN.
Beyond adding new categories and communities of impact, Ward and ABLE have also grown in their ambition for social justice. In 2018, ABLE became the first brand to publish their lowest wages, creating the #PublishYourWages movement and providing complete transparency to empower and protect the fashion industry’s vulnerable workers – most of whom are women.
INSTAGRAM • WEBSITE
Join us at the Yellow Conference Oct. 6-8th at The Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo: yellow2023.com
Are you a woman or non-binary leader creating meaningful work? Join our membership community! yellowco.co/membership
Follow, subscribe and leave a review! Find out more about Yellow Co.'s community of women creaeting meaningful work: yellowco.co | @yellowco.co • Connect with Joanna at joannawaterfall.com and on IG @joannawaterfall :) Music Written by Jonny Pickett (check out his music on spotify) Thanks for listening!
Do you ever look at people and brands you admire and assume they just have something special you don't have to build what they've built? That they're somehow superhumans, doing everything right as they build?
Barret was one of our attendee's favorite speakers from our 2019 conference and it was such a joy to have him back in the Yellow Co. realm and he debunks this myth immediately. In our conversation, Barret speaks openly about his decision to go on Lexapro after experiencing the most challenging year of his life after starting ABLE, and what he learned through that experience. Barret and I talk about how ABLE is disrupting the fashion industry, working to be transparent about their lowest wages, providing inclusive sizing and help other fashion brands do the same.
Listen to this episode to hear:
Why Barret was found by his 2-year-old crying on the bathroom floor
What is most helpful while moving through depression as a CEO of a company
How we can't wait until we're perfect to be honest
Why ABLE publishing their lowest wages is disrupting the fashion industry
ABOUT BARRET:
Leading a fashion lifestyle brand might be an unlikely role for someone self-described as “not a fashion guy,” but that’s exactly where ABLE CEO Barrett Ward finds himself. As the visionary behind the rapidly growing Nashville-based company disrupting the fashion industry with a social conscience, Ward was inspired to start ABLE with the mission of creating sustainable economic opportunities for women.
While living in Ethiopia, Ward and wife Rachel saw firsthand how extreme poverty forced many young women to make difficult choices for money. They wanted to give women the chance to earn a living with dignity. In 2010, they began ABLE by employing women who had overcome the sex industry to make handmade scarves. ABLE has since grown into a lifestyle brand carrying beautiful leather bags, jewelry, denim, apparel, and shoes with a primary focus on employing and empowering women in Ethiopia, Brazil, India, Mexico, and Nashville, TN.
Beyond adding new categories and communities of impact, Ward and ABLE have also grown in their ambition for social justice. In 2018, ABLE became the first brand to publish their lowest wages, creating the #PublishYourWages movement and providing complete transparency to empower and protect the fashion industry’s vulnerable workers – most of whom are women.
INSTAGRAM • WEBSITE
Join us at the Yellow Conference Oct. 6-8th at The Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo: yellow2023.com
Are you a woman or non-binary leader creating meaningful work? Join our membership community! yellowco.co/membership
Follow, subscribe and leave a review! Find out more about Yellow Co.'s community of women creaeting meaningful work: yellowco.co | @yellowco.co • Connect with Joanna at joannawaterfall.com and on IG @joannawaterfall :) Music Written by Jonny Pickett (check out his music on spotify) Thanks for listening!
39 min