We recently connected with Chelci Schroeder and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Chelci thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. One of the things we most admire about small businesses is their ability to diverge from the corporate/industry standard. Is there something that you or your brand do that differs from the industry standard? We’d love to hear about it as well as any stories you might have that illustrate how or why this difference matters.

At Wylder Trading Company, people always come before profit. One of the things that matters the most to us is that each and every item is ethically made. Our values and standards for the items we source sets us apart from others (but we hope that other businesses will also be inspired to support fair manufacturing processes as well!).

Our values include:
1) Fair manufacturing — this is a number one requirement and means NO sweatshops, child labor, or unfair wages.
2) Small quantities and thoughtful inventory management – we mindfully and methodically source each piece, leading to less waste and more support for sustainable manufacturing processes.
3) Authentic and original designs – we strive to curate goods that match the wild, eclectic and uninhibited spirit of the global traveler. Each piece is one-of-a-kind, so we can guarantee that no one else will have another one like it!

To the very best of our abilities, we carefully and meticulously vet each of our partners prior to working with them. This includes a thorough review of any relevant certifications (such as any local or globally recognized certifications, examples include: Fair Trade Certification, Certified B Corporation, GOTS, and World Fair Trade Organization) in addition to a custom questionnaire that assess the appropriateness of wages, work environment, and labor transparency. We conduct virtual tours of workshops, interview employees, and continually collaborate with our partners to ensure that the items we provide are made with social integrity.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I started Wylder Trading Company shortly after leaving my corporate career in community healthcare. After becoming pregnant with our second son, I knew that I was ready for a change and had so much creative entrepreneurial energy – I always knew I would be my own boss one day! My professional and educational background is in Social Work, and I have spent over a decade working with vulnerable and at-risk communities around the globe. After traveling to 10 countries, living abroad in the Middle East, and spending time with artisan communities, my love for handmade textiles and the people that made them continued to inspire me more than anything else. Artisan clothing became that “spark” of inspiration everywhere that I went and I wanted to learn more about the hands that were making these intricate, one-of-a-kind pieces.

Wylder Trading Co. was created to connect ethically made, artisan goods with conscious consumers. We are proud to work with several small, family and women-owned businesses throughout the world that help us dream up and create the pieces you can find on our website today! We take great time and attention to ensure that the artisans we are working with are paid fairly, working in safe environments, and that we are positively contributing to the communities we are collaborating with.

We provide a variety of ethically made styles, primarily made of upcycled silk and cotton saris from our partners in India. The fabrics used in our designs are reimagined into a variety of silhouettes and each piece is absolutely one-of-a-kind! Silk kimonos, kantha harem pants, throw pillows, handcrafted quilts, and so much more. We are frequently updating our inventory and strive to create and source unique and original designs.

I am very proud of the following we have created so far – our customers are passionate about supporting small, sustainable, and ethical manufacturing processes. We have received such warm and encouraging support from our own community. It has been an absolute joy and privilege to share our story and it is an incredible feeling when you come across a customer wearing your designs!

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

In everything that I do, I try to do my absolute best and with as much intention and integrity that I can. Every detail matters to me – from the sustainability of the string on our hang tags, to greeting each customer and treating everyone with respect. I truly feel humbled and privileged to run this business. I feel that the Lord has entrusted me with this vision and calling – I try to do everything for His glory and to be a light in our local communities. Our colorful clothing is vibrant and so much fun to wear and sell – but it’s the people that matter the most to me.

We’d love to hear the story of how you turned a side-hustle into a something much bigger.

Wylder Trading Co. started out solely with pop-up events at local Farmer’s Markets, seasonal holiday fairs, boutique events, etc. We weren’t sure what the public response would be to our eclectic mix of clothing – and were soon overwhelmed by the outpouring of positive support!

We continue to do frequent in-person events and have started to shift to larger venues. We were thrilled to be a vendor at this year’s M3F Fest, one of the only 100% non-profit Music Festivals in the United States. We also launched our website in January 2023 and are having the absolute best time connecting with customers around the world!

Our most recent milestone that we are excited to announce is that you can now shop Wylder Trading Co. in-person, year round, at Nash Vintage Collective (NVC) in downtown Mesa, AZ. NVC is a collective of curators and makers that have come together to be creative and share community – and we are absolutely ecstatic to be a part of it!

We also are proud to now offer a variety of our one-of-a-kind clothing styles to our wholesale partners! If you are a boutique or other small business that would like to support our reworked collections in your store, please reach out and contact us here:
https://www.wyldertrading.co/pages/wholesale

Learn more about Nash Vintage Collective here: https://www.nvcollective.com/
Learn more about M3F Fest and its community impact here: https://m3ffund.com/

Contact Info:

• Website: www.wyldertrading.co
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/WylderTradingCo
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/WylderTradingCo
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/wylder-trading-co/
• Other: http://voyagephoenix.com/interview/meet-chelci-schroeder-of-wylder-trading-company/

Image Credits
Chelci Schroeder