We were lucky to catch up with Daniella Gershon recently and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Daniella thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Are you happier as a business owner? Do you sometimes think about what it would be like to just have a regular job?
Being a business owner is incredibly fulfilling. If I had to explain the feeling, it’s like uncovering an extension of yourself. It almost feels like a child. You want to nourish it and give it everything it needs to grow. You even start to prefer compliments on your business over your own self.
At first, it was such a strange feeling to me to derive energy from work when I had only ever known it to be a task that consumed energy.
Historically, I would switch gears the moment I stepped foot outside of my previous office job. You would never catch me slipping talking about spreadsheets on a night out.
When you have your own company, everything changes. You never really shut off. Your brain is constantly generating new ideas at all hours of the day since you’re so intertwined with your purpose. You work late on your own accord since you get out everything you put in. You find yourself rambling about work to anyone who will listen!
Overall, I am beyond grateful to have the opportunity to work on something I love every day and would never take that for granted.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
As a fashion consumer, I saw a gap in the market for a streetstyle underwear brand. I found it difficult to resonate with the existing options out there. In my eyes, a girl only had two choices. You could either buy minimal and comfortable underwear for everyday wear. Or, you could buy a beautiful lingerie set that inevitably came with the unspoken connotation of sex. It was either 0 or 100. That’s when the idea came to mind to create a happy medium. The goal was to get the best of both worlds — the level of detail and matching set component of lingerie combined with the comfort and mobility of underwear. The result is a little way to boost your mood at the start of each day to feel your best and confident self – to go out and accomplish things in the real world.
We are most proud of our commitment to sustainability through our exclusive use of mesh made from 100% recycled bottles. We are also proud to announce that we are now available at Wolf and Badger – the leading destination for independent ethical brands worldwide.
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
Coming from a finance background, I had to unlearn to see things in black and white. The thing about math is there is always a right or wrong answer. It has a very clear start and a finish. In many ways, I enjoy it because every move is calculated and efficient. Sure, it requires focus and concentration. And yet, you’re thinking hard and barely thinking at the same time since you don’t necessarily need to think outside the box.
You’re not offered that same luxury as an entrepreneur. There are so many different methods one can explore and conclusions one can draw at any given moment. There is always more that can be done. There’s tremendous beauty in that. You are constantly learning and relearning the inner workings of your business — much like we do in our personal lives as ever-changing individuals.
Can you talk to us about manufacturing? How’d you figure it all out? We’d love to hear the story.
You could read all about manufacturing on paper, but it would still not fully prepare you for what’s to come. It’s a process learned through trial and error – mostly error.
I had no background in manufacturing prior. I had overheard Portugal was paving its way as the new powerhouse of sustainable fashion. I reached out to several manufacturers in Porto only to find out that the minimum order quantities cost an arm and a leg. Not to mention, I didn’t want to produce in bulk before proof of concept to avoid unnecessary waste. It seemed like a clear dead end from the start. The next day, I moved to Lisbon.
I walked door to door throughout Lisbon looking for a lingerie atelier that was an expert in her craft. To paint a picture, I only spoke Spanish so you can only imagine how those conversations went. After weeks of google translate and endless flights of stairs, I narrowed down my selection of candidates through careful due diligence. I designed a sample with each one and compared them to one another before partnering with my manufacturer and supplier for 100% recycled mesh.
Here are some of the lessons I learned along the way. Start sooner rather than later. Leave a cushion of time in between your production end date and your launch date to expect unexpected delays. Inspect the samples with an unparalleled level of attention to detail and over-clarify to make sure you leave no room for misinterpretations. Perform quality control several times with multiple pairs of eyes.
Overall, the manufacturing process was a long journey but I’d do it all over again the same way if given the choice for the crash course of a lifetime.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.wildcardthelabel.com
- Instagram: wildcardthelabel
Image Credits
Morgan Sizlak Kasey Gerst