We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Kelly Slattery. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Kelly below.
Kelly, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s talk legacy – what sort of legacy do you hope to build?
Interestingly, the Barely Canadian legacy isn’t really about us. It’s really about the Foster Youth we have the honor of serving through our brand and the Foster Youth who we train and hire. It’s also about our customers who allow us to give-back and to our team members and partners who work alongside us with purpose.
Knowing that clothing is such a personal and intimate item to choose and to bring into your home, we go to great lengths to find the softest fabrics and to ensure sustainability all at a local level. It’s all about comfort and love when wearing Barely Canadian. So our legacy hopefully lies in love and our ethos of – we’re here to help and we do our best to do so, through super soft clothing.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
Prior to launching Barely Canadian, 2 years ago, my career was always entertainment based. I had a song on the AMERICAN PSYCHO 2 soundtrack, way back when, which prompted me to move to America as an illegal alien. It was quite an adventure! Eventually I started producing films, then wrote some television, one show of which sold to ABC in the room.
When we decided to foster and adopt teenagers from Foster Care, I intentionally shifted into the nonprofit space.
As a Foster-Adopt family, it was important for us to include a way to help Foster Youth, through our brand. Especially kids who have aged out. This population of young adults are fierce and incredible individuals who need a whole lot more support than they are currently receiving. Our goal is to put a spotlight on their needs, work with other organizations to offer financial support, and to train and hire Foster Youth through our brand.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
Barely Canadian actually started after my time in the nonprofit world. I’m one of many with the terrible combination of living in the midst of covid and working for a feeling under appreciated. I decided that, if I’m going to work 60 hours + per week, I’d rather put that energy towards my own business. So, for a few months on weekends and holidays, I started to explore what’s involved in creating an apparel line. As you can imagine when you study an industry, everything makes sense on paper, but the entire process and understanding shifts when you begin to put it all into practice.
The concept of the company fell into place because I’m freezing all the time, so my husband started calling me “Barely Canadian”. It spawned the idea to create a line of summer sweaters and summer mittens for fellow whinging Canadians during a California summer. Even after all the research, I wasn’t 100% certain of the overall direction, but I knew it had to be super soft fabric, I knew that we wanted to help Foster Youth through the brand, and I knew I wanted to utilize local fabric mills, local cutters, sewers, decorators, etc. So, we launched the brand out of the garage near the end of 2021 and our product sold out, so I kept going.
There’s truly nothing more exhilarating than learning a new industry, and diving into a business sector where everyone knows so much more than you do. That said, there will always be something I don’t know, which is exciting within itself because that means there’s always opportunity for growth.
One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned to date is to always have back-up vendors. Build a first, second and third string of sewers, cutters, pattern makers, etc. Be ready for any order, big or small and treat each job as the most important product you’ve ever created. Another must is, always be prospecting. Talk about your brand to anyone who will listen and you’ll be amazed by the partnerships and growth that will come from a short conversation at the grocery store.
Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?
Having come from a creative background you would have thought I had a full education of creativity, but I can honestly say, Barely Canadian is where my creativity is in full swing. It’s not as obvious, per se, as a song, a script or a beautiful painting (of which I cannot create), but a collection of skills that have to move and speak to the same message at the same time. It’s kind of like you’re an entire film crew and you have to lead each department with a high level of expertise. You have to very quickly become the expert in virtually every role so when the company presents itself, each department aligns creatively, with sensibility, with an end goal of profitability.
For some reason I answered this question, that I cannot find now, but here’s an answer to what drives you:
Every morning I listen to a motivation speech or read an inspiring quote from an athlete. Kobe Bryant is my typical go-to. I like to think of a small business owner as a professional athlete. Your business is your sport and you’re the Olympian. The discipline that it takes to make it to the NBA Finals, to win the Stanley Cup or to cross the finish line first at the Olympics is no different than the discipline that’s required to run a small business. It’s all you. You have to do right by you and your business, an exercise which sometimes doubles for me as a lesson in self-love.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://barelycanadian.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/barelycanadian/barel
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BarelyCanadian/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/kelly-slattery-5126758_meet-kelly-slattery-founder-and-ceo-of-activity-7097600924516323329-UMYw/?trk=public_profile_like_view
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4XoxjXRhQMnXGwlfmsrsbA
- Other: The LA Galaxy did a documentary on us with one a LA Galaxy player, Raheem Edwards. https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=barely+canadian+youtube&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:557f1c5d,vid:XAOST1s6WSI,st:0
Image Credits
My daughter, Julie Slattery-Miller is the photographer, with the exception of the photos she’s not in. My son, Ryan Uribe took those pictures. Thanks so much! Also, I wasn’t sure which photo works best, but uploaded a decent amount. Thanks again for including us!!