I was working for one of the top 10 Telecommunications companies in the world. I had just closed 3 of the largest projects of my life with 2 global insurance companies and one of the largest media experience companies. The 3 projects involved a highly technical IT telecommunications integration project with cloud data centers, MPLS networks, and multiple countries. Closing these projects required a lot of connections with people in 16 different countries and within the US. People from different backgrounds and different styles. As a vendor you have to understand and align the technology with what the customer wants and what the customer really needs.
At the end of the project, the customer team in Peru told me “You are one of the best senior sales account managers I’ve seen in my life. I have an uncle who has an alpaca factory and we would like to do business with you.” I was proud and I was happy. And I realized that I could apply my strengths to a project that was more personally meaningful. So Aligning the skills with what I wanted, I started thinking about sustainability, what about the packaging we put around our bodies? What about ecological alpaca material? What about banana fibers? What about pineapple? In asking these questions and exploring answers, I started my journey from corporate America to my own business.
At the same time, my best friend Juan Carlos introduced me to Gian Franco Reni who made the first 3 designs for EcoPersona and we had a sales plan, branding ideas. The trip to leave corporate and move to be self employed facing your fears, getting the production, operations, shipments, ecological packaging, the brand, social media, everything has been an amazing trip I’ll never regret. I also realized about friends, supporters, how the world behaved around us, and faced realities I didn't want to see, like defamation, social media reality, roadblocks and the most important, myself. My own self who can be my biggest competitor, my biggest fear, and my best friend at the same time. I focused on operational efficiencies and my dream. My 2 cents for planet Earth.
EcoPersona, Sustainable Clothing for the Soul!
Karla
Can you imagine a world in which every product we consume could go back to its origins at the end of its life cycle?
When we are done eating an apple, the core can be composted. It decomposes with other matter to create new soil to help generate future apples and other food. This process is a regenerative sustainable cycle. It is also part of the philosophy and practice that we at EcoPersona are applying to our fashion and products. We believe that a healthy future for the planet and ourselves requires these sustainable cycles and that the textile and fashion industry needs to transform. #jointransformation
EcoPersona is more than a business to me. It is an expression of my core values: taking care of ourselves, the environment, and our communities in a sustainable way. The idea began when I noticed how much we waste on packaging for objects. What about the packaging we put our bodies in?
EcoPersona supports small producers, uses sustainable fibers, and offers designs that let you express whoever you are.
I invite you to help tell the EcoPersona story.
With love, Karla Renteria
