The Real Goal: Building Something That Works | Emma McIlroy | WILDFANG
On this episode of Honest Ecommerce, we have Emma McIlroy. Emma is the founder and CEO of Wildfang; a fast growing apparel brand on a mission to smash gender norms in fashion. We talk about gender-free clothing, building your own products, staying true to your brand's strengths, and so much more!
Honest Ecommerce · Chase Clymer with Emma McIlroy
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Show Notes
Emma McIlroy is the founder and CEO of Wildfang, a multi million dollar fashion brand on a mission to rewrite the future of gender.
Wildfang embraces your masc, your femme and everything-in-between. Wildfang has raised over $1k for charities that focus on racial justice, as well as queer, immigrant, and women’s rights.
Pre-Wildfang, Emma spent over a decade honing her marketing skills at brands like Barclays and Nike.
More recently, Emma has been named one of Inc.’s Female Founders 100, Oregon Entrepreneur of the Year, a Henry Crown Fellow and her "Yeah Maybe" TED talk has racked up over 100k views.
In This Conversation We Discuss:
- [00:43] Intro
- [01:23] Challenging norms & gendered clothing options
- [03:02] Expanding from brick-and-mortar to Ecommerce
- [04:12] Launching physical & online store side by side
- [05:05] Strategizing & focusing efforts before going live
- [06:51] Gaining momentum & navigating press attention
- [07:39] Doing personalized outreach strategies
- [08:55] Reaching varied audience segments
- [10:06] Putting in the effort to sell the vision
- [11:09] Building a website with no experience
- [12:37] Dealing with early days mishaps
- [13:43] Electric Eye: Your true Shopify expert
- [14:40] Challenges of selling others' products
- [15:53] Deciding to build own products
- [16:47] Endorsements and retail limitations
- [17:29] Moving from third-party to vertical business
- [18:04] Ensuring ethical production practices
- [18:39] Rediscovering the power of public relations
- [19:31] Intimidating expectations in the industry
- [21:05] Rejecting 'Advice Tornado'
- [21:58] Reflecting on industry shifts over a decade
- [23:09] Focusing on longevity & resonance in business
- [23:47] Staying true to your brand's strengths
- [25:06] Block out the noise & focus on what matters
- [26:41] Connecting on social: join WILDFANG's community
- [27:17] WILDFANG ventures into wholesale
Resources:
- Subscribe to Honest Ecommerce on Youtube
- Masculine, feminine, and everything-in-between workwear wildfang.com/
- Follow Emma McIlroy linkedin.com/in/emma-mcilroy-she-her-97811422/
- Schedule an intro call with one of our experts electriceye.io/connect
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