We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Serena Teakell-Rigby. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Serena below.

Serena, appreciate you joining us today. Almost all entrepreneurs have had to decide whether to start now or later? There are always pros and cons for waiting and so we’d love to hear what you think about your decision in retrospect. If you could go back in time, would you have started your business sooner, later or at the exact time you started?

I do wish that I had had the financial stability to have started my business sooner. I would have loved to be young and childless with much less life responsibilities when starting out. Haha! I started my upcycled clothing business in 2019. I was a new mother and wanted to be a stay at home mom while still maintaining some financial independence and making a difference in the world. It was a difficult start for me, simply because I had a baby on my hip while trying to sew and alter clothing. I didn’t get much time to do many design projects in the beginning, but now that my daughter is older I have more time to design completely “new” outfits. While I say I would’ve liked to have started my business sooner, I am very happy with the place I’m at. My business has a wonderful local following, a growing social media, and I wouldn’t trade that for anything. I truly believe that there is no “right time” to start, just when it feels right for you.

Serena, 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?

I’m an environmentalist and a lover of fashion. I’ve been taking every possible step to living more sustainably. Shopping secondhand has been one of the most simple steps. I’ve always been into thrifting, vintage, and secondhand clothes. I’ve been making upcycled apparel since I was a teenager. Sure, it might have been out of necessity, but it was also a great creative outlet. I take ugly, boring, ragged clothes and give them a whole new life.

I really started Living Dead Threads to show my community what sustainable fashion could be. I wanted to raise awareness about the fast fashion industry and show people how simple it could be to take steps towards a sustainable future. I use every pop up market as an opportunity to talk to people about the slow fashion movement, how fast fashion is trash & exploits human beings for profit, and how our planet suffers from fashion textile pollution. I use social media to reach my target audience which is primarily central Texans. I also use my Instagram as an awareness platform. I host litter clean ups, clothing drives, & upcycled fashion shows in my community as well. I love staying connected to the people in my city.

I’ve come to realize that while I love owning a business and making a small profit off my clothing. I love raising awareness against fast fashion even more.

How did you build your audience on social media?

I started from ground zero. I definitely recommend cross sharing posts on multiple platforms. I happen to be really good at creating content, captions and using hashtags. If you’re not good at that, I’d recommend hiring someone. My best advice is to stay authentic to you and your brand and connect with your followers by replying to all comments and messages.

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

Being a part of my community. I don’t have much interest in selling online, I keep it local. It’s better for the environment that way. I do all of my sales in person. People know my face, they get to meet me and know exactly who is making their clothes. I’m lucky to have the type of personality that enjoys meeting new people and talking to strangers, it definitely helps!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: Instagram.com/livingdeadthreadswtx
• Facebook: Facebook.com/livingdeadthreads