We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Katie Stuart a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Katie, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to go back in time and hear the story of how you came up with the name of your brand?

I named my business, The Arena, from inspiration I drew from “Daring Greatly” by Brene Brown. I started reading this book during a time when I was living abroad in Spain and it truly rocked me to my core. One of the bigger questions asked in the book is “What’s worth doing even if I fail?”. For some context, I had recently spent some time traveling the world doing mission work and saw firsthand the effects of fashion and its relationship with slavery. So I went to Spain, under the umbrella of a leadership academy, to help flesh out some ideas I had spinning around in my head. The book includes an excerpt from the speech “The Man in the Arena” and I truly got chills reading this for the first time. If you aren’t familiar with the speech, please go read it—but in a short summary, it talks about being the person “in the arena” and trying and failing and winning and daring and just truly knowing both the depth and length of life because they are doing something they believe in. Years later, after being in my own arena of trying and failing and trying again, when I was finally able to create my business, there was no name that felt right other than…The Arena. I want people to be able to experience being in The Arena by shopping with us and choosing to use their purchasing power for good. I want them to hear the stories of the artisans and their dreams and be spurred on to pursue their own. I want them to leave The Arena with the courage to go and dare greatly in their own arena.

Katie, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

When you were younger did you ever try to think of an occupation where you could combine all the things you love into one job? I always loved the idea of being able to do multiple things that made me happy in one over-eccentric job. They weren’t real jobs, but in my head I devised the most audacious plans to make them happen. One job in particular was an astronaut-ballerina who played the piano during “take me out to the ballgame” in the seventh inning stretch at Braves baseball games. I would play the piano and dance at games, and then in my free time I would go to space. I love dreams—I’ve always loved them—the bigger and the wilder, the better.

That’s sort of how I ended up where I am today in a big audacious dream that I had to follow. The Arena is a dream to see an end to modern-day slavery. Most people aren’t even aware slavery still exists, and even more so that it exists because of the clothing choices we make and the brands we choose to support. Fashion is one of the top five contributers to modern-day slavery. I saw this firsthand when traveling abroad, and it was one of those life changing moments where I felt genuinely compelled to do something to help.

At The Arena, we sell ethically made goods that champion the person behind the product. Consider us your resident “hype girl” for brands that are choosing to do good. At the core, this means that the brands we carry focus first and foremost on a fair-living wage. I believe that as consumers, we can choose to use our purchasing power for good. The Arena is a place for you to dare greatly with your dollar and contribute to something bigger than yourself.

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

I know it seems cliche to say I wouldn’t be here without my family and friends, but I wouldn’t be. I will note I am taking a bit of creative liberty with the word “funding” in both the tangible and intangible meaning of currency. To give a bit of backstory, I moved to San Diego in 2017 because there were more brands and organizations centered around ethical fashion in Southern California. I knew I would learn more there, immersing myself in brands that I already followed and admired, rather than on the internet from Georgia. Fast forward to a friend recommending me to some local business coaches, which would end up being the first real financial capital I invested in myself to push this dream forward. I had just moved to a new, more expensive city, and was a full-time nanny…but I knew that for anyone to take a risk on me, I was going to need to take a risk on myself.

This investment ended up being one of the most lucrative decisions I’ve ever made; my coaches were the best. They helped me put legs to my dreams and gave me an opportunity to pitch my idea in a local competition. I ended up winning the people’s choice award that night, and I fully believe it was because I had the biggest group of friends there who drove over an hour to support me. Honestly, it was one of the wildest, most vulnerable moments in my life, and I believe it shaped so much of who I am as a business owner today.

A few months after the competition I found my dream bus on Craigslist. It was everything I had been praying for and envisioning for The Arena. For a girl who was nannying full-time while trying to follow her dreams, it was very much out of my budget. I started telling my business coaches about it and they told me I should start a GoFundMe page. I was a bit wary, as I wanted to do it on my own and looked into small business loans. Let’s just say that was a giant dead end. So, I swallowed some pride and pitched the idea of a fundraising page to my friends.

Before my page even went live to the the public, no less than 24 hours after telling them, my friends had given over $1000. I ended up raising all the money I needed to purchase the bus through my GoFundMe page.

All this to say, invite your people into your ideas. Let them be a part of the dream, be vulnerable, and give them the opportunity to show up for you both in the tangible and the intangible. To be really honest, this is a lesson I’m still learning. Yes, it’s my name on the LLC, and me showing up to events and me wearing all the small-business owner hats, and it’s me pouring out day in and day out to keep this dream going. But when I word vomit on my family and friends, it’s their encouragement, and them showing up to my events that remind me I’m not in this alone.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

When I initially read this question,  I have to admit I passed over it. I think if you looked up resilience in the dictionary, there should be a cartoon illustration of a solo small business wearing all the hats it takes to keep a business going. For me, I think back to a phrase I heard when The Arena was just an idea floating around in my head. The phrase was, “If you can be stopped, you will be stopped.” I think this phrase could be interpreted a multitude of ways, but for me it just meant that I wanted to stay steadfast on the goal to help end modern day slavery. I don’t want to get in my own way, but focus on my “why” and let that be my reason for pushing forward.

Did this mean creating and launching a website in the height of a global pandemic while also being sick in bed for over a month? Yes. Did this mean driving until the wheels almost fell off my bus because I couldn’t find a mechanic but needed to show up to events? Yes. Did this mean buying a giant bus sized tarp and convincing my roommates to help me tie it around my bus because my emergency hatch had been ripped off my bus leaving a giant hole in the roof, all before some tornado-like weather blew through Nashville? Yes.

Following your dreams isn’t always the most financial stable choice, and doesn’t always pay the bills…so sometimes you have to have a full-time job outside of your business to keep going. Hi, that’s me.

Honestly, owning a business and even more so, owning a bus, has led to a multitude of scenarios that I never thought I would find myself in. But I believe in the work of the brands that I partner with. I believe in the dreams of the person behind the product. And it’s in light of their resilience that I feel empowered to keep going.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.thearenapopup.com
• Instagram: @thearena_popup