Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Justine Gallo. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Justine, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Owning a business isn’t always glamorous and so most business owners we’ve connected with have shared that on tough days they sometimes wonder what it would have been like to have just had a regular job instead of all the responsibility of running a business. Have you ever felt that way?
There are many times in my life when I have stoped and considered a life where I found a regular job. When dissecting that thought I only found myself back where I started, working on my small business. I have seen many people in my life settle for a 9 to 5 while very few others commit all their time to a small business. The one’s who work regular jobs are still crafting, participating in art shows, but express unhappiness due to the limited amount of energy they can truly put into their brand. These people are physically comfortable due to the stability of their job yet emotionally empty because they will forever be searching for a job that they can only create themselves.
The ones committed to their small business may not have the physical stability, but they have the creative freedom to express their ideas each and every day. As someone who has been working since 16 I find we will never have enough money. I see in others that work stable jobs still complain about having no money and if they do they have no time to use it since they have devoted 40+ hours a week to a big business that can only give them limited vacation days per year.
From my perspective living the unstable job for a while when I am confident of my abilities to expand and be successful are much stronger than the fear I have to save for retirement. I’ve been waiting to make change my entire life, I don’t see it realistic to achieve what I plan to achieve under the thumb of a corporation and the planet needs help now.
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 am Justine Gallo owner of Sun in Leo! We are a circular brand where we up-cycled and responsibly source unisex clothing and accessories. We thrift vintage textiles to resell, repair, or up-cycle clothing, jewelry, and accessories to extend their life. What makes us different from sustainable brands is our responsibility to know where our pieces come from and where they go after their lifecycle. I have been collecting information my entire life on the fashion industry and more recently taking notice to our responsibility of the planet. With the amount of waste we contribute regularly there is nothing more that needs to be made. We have more than a surplus of things and why create new when the fabrics we need are already here collecting dust in the landfills. There is no proper disposal for things in the fashion industry and recycling is far from the first option on disposing. Instead of instantly recycling pieces, we offer alterations and repairs to our garments as well as pieces you bring in. If the clothing is out of style I can up-cycle the unwanted clothing to create a new silhouette or even take a part jewelry and piece it back together into a modern accessory. For things that I find valuable but not suitable for the store I will add to our clothing swap which is a free swap for the surrounding community which gives a price range for all types of budgets. I have not yet needed to recycle in bulk because of the swaps but have been looking into donation organizations that take things like shoes or professional clothing if there is excess of those categories. Currently I am still searching for an organization that will recycle my sewing scraps since most of these facilities are not located in the US or affordable for a small business. Until then I use sewing scraps as stuffing or insulation for jackets and pillows.
Knowing that not everyone necessarily cares about the planet I try to market in a way that fills the void of wanting new things all the time by having one of a kind pieces. This gives the consumer more options for styles and rewards them with a unique item that no one else owns. Since the clothing is secondhand we individually measure each garment by the chest, waist, hip, and length to ensure you are finding the right size as well as eliminating gendered clothes. There is a lot of pressure to conform to society standards but here at Sun in Leo we encourage you to experiment with your appearance and remember it’s about feeling good in clothing that fit your body as well as your style. Whether or not you care about up-cycling you know coming into my store that there is no other place like this and we are here to collaborate and source things that fit everyone’s individual expression.
How’d you think through whether to sell directly on your own site or through a platform like Amazon, Etsy, Cratejoy, etc.
Since beginning my business I notice it is much easier to gain brand loyalty and consistently with in person shopping. Living in Ohio I have also learned that you cannot always guarantee foot traffic especially in the colder months. With that, my team and I have been developing our website suninleo.shop where you can shop online and get access to pieces that are not displayed on our floor. During the winter I have also been increasing sales on Depop which opens my products up to world wide views and shipping. This platform, although expensive fees, give me sales on days I would not have sold anything in store. I often price up on this app because of the fees but offer it for the in store prices when you use our website. It is not always consistent but when I need a sale the most someone Depop sales seems to come through. All my packaging is secondhand boxes and bags from my employees and neighboring businesses and I still haven’t had to buy any new!
How did you build your audience on social media?
I have always had an entrepreneur mindset so I started my first instagram a while ago for my headband business. It was a trial run with a friend from school and we donated a portion of our sales to different charities. It was somewhat successful but I learned quickly what did and didn’t work when it came into inventory management. I was in charge of creating and my partner did the marketing. Once people started ordering I found that I got too excited and made way too many headbands that I wasn’t able to sell. The brand didn’t last too long so I posted a little afterwards trying to sell some other creations until I took a break to figure out what I really wanted to sell. Instead of creating a new instagram I just changed my user name and start posting for Sun in Leo. Luckily I already had 1,000 followers that were interested in my creations so the transition was a lot easier and gave me a foundation instead of having to start over. Since doing craft markets people started following me to keep up to date on where I would be next until I got my retail location. I was also able to sell the leftover headbands that have been made from my last business. Now people follow to stay up to date on our latest events and when I do take the brand somewhere to pop up I’ll offer a free logo sticker of your zodiac sign when you follow one of our social medias!
Contact Info:
- Website: suninleo.shop
- Instagram: @shopsuninleo
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100092397068385
- Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/justine-gallo
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/sun-in-leo-kent?osq=sun+in+leo
- Other: https://www.pinterest.com/shopsuninleo/
Image Credits
Photographer: Ryan Shimko instagram: @ryanshimko