We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Cerelle Centeno. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Cerelle below.

Alright, Cerelle thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

I have always loved vintage, fashion, trends and style, though as a career I spent decades in the digital and tech arena. When I got diagnosed with breast cancer, everything in my life shifted. I realized it was time to slow down and focus on areas where I think I can make a difference. It’s no news to anyone who’s paying attention that climate change is affecting our planet, but what might be news to some is that as a culture, humans have already produced enough apparel to clothe every human on this planet for roughly the next six years. Miles of clothing and textile waste is cluttering once pristine land, for example in the Atacama Desert in Chile. Why not try to carve out a business and a community that focuses on reusing what we already have in abundance?

From this backdrop, Membery was born. It’s a play on the words memory, remember, and member. I originally conceptualized Membery as service to connect people who have vintage textiles, fabric, metals, machinery, memorabilia, etc.–anything they are not using that they want to wear as apparel. Perhaps something sentimental from a family member that they have tucked away in a closet or in the attic, collecting dust?

I spent the last year and a half traveling the US, and I envisioned meeting upcycle designers and artists and connecting them with people like me who want to convert their grandmother’s crochet blanket, for example, into the sleeves of a jacket. After about six months I learned the kind of decision to part with a treasured heirloom takes time. So while I continued to meet designers and artists, I built a collective of them. I began hosting online video calls to share ideas and milestones. Then, in July of this year I launched an online shop that sells only upcycled and revamped, one-of-one, jewelry and apparel–some of my own designs, some collaborations, and some originals from other members of the group. Membery is an online shop, and it is a collective of upcycle designers. I believe anyone is an upcycle designer and anyone can get to the point where they are ready for an old item to be granted a new use. Start small, and change can happen.

Cerelle, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Membery empowers humans to express their creativity by wearing or designing one-of-one upcycled apparel. I facilitate connections among upcycle designers who might not have immediate community where they live and encourage them to brainstorm and ideate together. I see the upcycle designer in everyone, and with my own designs that I sell on www.doyoumembery.com–alongside the styles of Membery collective members–I aim to show people what’s possible to do, wear, make, with their old items.

Have you ever had to pivot?

I was convinced that Membery would be a service to connect humans, like me, who have treasured heirlooms, to upcycle designers who can convert or use parts of that heirloom in their one-of-one clothing designs. After multiple conversations with people who I thought could use this service, I realized the truth is that even if someone has their grandfather’s pocket watch wrapped in tissue paper and stuffed in the back of a dresser drawer, that’s generally where they want it to stay. They don’t want it altered–the idea is too painful. So, with that aha moment, I pivoted the business into an online shop and a collective of upcycle artists and designers. If the sales cycle is longer for a service model, then the shop and the collective can build towards that kind of a conversion. In other words, I started off aiming to solve a problem I believe I have, but others may not see it as a problem.

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

My business is self-funded. I did a lot of research about starting a vintage shop or business because I figured that was the most relevant model. I have also diligently followed the developments of other shops in the same space that I admire–shops like The Goody Vault, Suay, Shop Slow, Customland, to name a few. With all of this knowledge, I came up with an amount I had to invest in the business to kickstart it, then modeled out how much I aim to make per month to grow it. This is all still very much a work in progress, but I am taking some of the skills I learned in the digital world and applying them to Membery.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://doyoumembery.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/doyoumembery/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/doyoumembery
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/doyoumembery/
• Other: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@doyoumembery