Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Jodi Goodfellow. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Jodi, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What’s something crazy on unexpected that’s happened to you or your business

When I launched my first fashion-tech startup (Fashion Forward) I bought the .ca domains belonging to my competitors in the US to prevent them from expanding into the Canadian market. A few years after I abandoned my startup (due to lack of funding) I was contacted by a domain broker and someone wanted to buy one of the domains. I immediately gave them a price that I was willing to sell it for and they accepted. My competitor was Poshmark, they bought the www.poshmark.ca domain from me. I made a crazy profit but after realizing their company grew to a $7 billionvaluation I should have added an extra zero!

Jodi, 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?

My name is Jodi Goodfellow and I am the founder / Executive Producer of Startup Fashion Week based in Toronto, Canada. It is a non-profit organization that helps small businesses gain exposure through networking, conferences, media exposure and showcase opportunities. I launched SFW after having a failed Fashion-Tech startup where I devoted 3 years of non-stop time and energy into my entrepreneurship hustle. I saw a lot of other incredible startup entrepreneurs struggle and wanted to create a platform that specifically understands the common pain points for startups and offer solutions. Startup Fashion Week really reinvented the concept of a fashion week in Canada. We launched a unique program of events that soon after became the envy of other fashion event organizers. We are now celebrating year 10!

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

Knowing my self worth and Authenticity. When I was launching Startup Fashion Week I was met with a lot of doubt and extreme dislike from other fashion industry leaders simply because they were intimidated. Instead of getting to know me or giving me a chance to prove myself they immediately tried to discourage me from continuing my journey. I learned who to avoid and built my own team. I realized that there was an extreme lack of authenticity and genuine leadership in the industry. I think my authentic approach attracted a new generation of fashion industry enthusiasts who wanted to see positive change. I have always maintained an authentic approach. I get to know the names of our models and volunteers. I coach designers to focus on building relationships and the importance of showing appreciation for those who support them. I never feared or abandoned my vision after being intimidated and in all honesty, threatened by other organizations or city leaders, I maintained my pursuit because I know my self worth and believed in my approach.

Have you ever had to pivot?

During the pandemic I had to cancel Startup Fashion Week events in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver. I lost all the time spent into the production planning and also lost a lot of money as well. It was extremely hard to find ways to pivot for event organizers because of all the unknowns and restrictions. However, we decided to focus on solutions. We came up with a way to work around restrictions and still showcase designers. Since we could only be in groups of 5 outdoors, we decided to offer designers an opportunity to participate in a series of photoshoots where they could have 2 models. The models and designer were assigned to work with 5 different photographers in a circuit style photoshoot. We stationed the photographers in different spots at a skate park / outdoor park. The designers and models would rotate stations so that they could have sessions in different settings with each photographer. We also did a live runway show at the skate park to showcase all the loos to our online audience. This really taught me to be more open to change. Ever since then we have organized a photo shoot circuit day during SFW since it worked so well!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.startupfashionweek.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/startupfashionweek/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jodigoodfellow
• Linkedin: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/jodi-goodfellow-70759318
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHhiK3dJWc6Zk37M-QhGHdA

Image Credits
Jim Orgill, Oleg Hmelnits, Majid Mehraban