From Corporate Fashion To Starting A Social Enterprise.
4 years ago, I met Chrissie Lam in the jungles of Bali.
She had left behind a 12-year career in corporate fashion in New York to create a sustainable and ethical jewelry brand that creates jobs for artisan women in developing countries.
But the idea wasn’t clear right away. After navigating a change in founding partnerships and re-evaluating what wasn’t working for her, Chrissie thought she might simply have to start a completely new business.
She had invited me to her temporary home overlooking the Sayan river to spend three hours coaching with me on the direction she wanted to take her skills and experience, with a multitude of business ideas she presented to me.
We ended up spending most of the session looking at what if, she didn’t need to throw the baby out of the bathwater, and instead, reimagined a new vision for her business, the Love Is Project.
Today, her commitment to this big vision has grown and her wonderful bracelets have landed on the wrists of people like Anne Hathaway and Jeff Bridges.
I wanted to explore the decisions she’s made in building this business, and that’s why I invited her on an intimate interview to share this with you today.
We dug into how she started a business using her experience, connections, and skills, why she almost didn’t end up pursuing her business, and the true skills she needed to learn as an entrepreneur to be featured at the likes of Oprah Magazine and most recently, getting in front of the sharks on ABC’s Shark Tank.
In Our Conversation, You’ll Learn:
- How Chrissie merged fashion with philanthropy and the initiatives she took to make meaning with making money.
- Why it was important to her to maintain great relationships in an industry she left to leverage her social equity and network to grow her business.
What people don’t tell you about launching an e-commerce business (and what she wished she learned from the beginning). - How she balances being a super creative person with lots of new ideas and also stick to what’s working.
- What Chrissie did to prepare for Shark Tank and what helped immensely in preparing her to pitch in front of the sharks.
