40) thredUP's Brand Director on revolutionizing secondhand shopping and helping fashion go circular
Green Dreamer: Seeding change towards collective healing, sustainability, regeneration
Kaméa Chayne
4.8 • 694 Ratings
🗓️ 2 August 2018
⏱️ 29 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
With the fashion industry today being extremely wasteful, what are some positive trends we can feel hopeful about? What can we learn from how thredUP was able to revolutionize the experience of second-hand shopping, from it being viewed as unpleasant to fun and desirable?
Erin Wallace, Brand Director of the world's largest secondhand clothing and consignment store thredUP, shares her wisdom with you today.
HIGHLIGHTS:
[3:20] Something that shocked Erin about sustainable fashion.
[6:26] Kaméa: "What was your biggest takeaway in terms of what it takes to establish a brand on a national scale?"
[7:50] What Erin says has led to the de-stigmatization of thrifting and second-hand clothing for consumers.
[10:15] Kaméa: "How do you personally stay organized with all of these different departments you oversee?"
[11:27] Erin's thoughts on the key to creating a loyal customer following.
[11:57] Kaméa: "What's been essential to thredUP starting from ground zero to establishing itself as the leading secondhand online shop?"
[12:49] A few mistakes Erin sees eco and socially-driven brands making that hold them back.
[14:22] Erin: "A lot of us care a lot about the environment and sustainability, and we also love the fun of shopping and getting dressed every day. Those don't have to be mutually exclusive."
[14:35] Erin's advice for eco-driven entrepreneurs today
[17:12] Kaméa: "What are some of the latest insights into secondhand shopping that have surprised you?"
[17:55] Erin: "We really feel like [secondhand shopping] is on the verge of becoming mainstream..."
[21:57] Kaméa: "If you were the Brand Director of the entire sustainability movement, what would you focus on to grow it from being a niche to attracting everybody?"
Thanks for bringing your light! Find the full show notes with links and resources at www.greendreamer.com, and share your #1 takeaway from the episode tagging our featured guest and me @KameaChayne to spread the light and to let us know you're tuning in!
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | I have a quick but important ask. As you're probably aware, Green Dreamer is an independent |
| 0:07.9 | podcast and we don't take on corporate advertisers to fund our work because we don't want those |
| 0:13.7 | considerations to influence our curiosities or our abilities to question whatever it is that we want to question. |
| 0:22.3 | So if you value and believe in our work, this is our call out. |
| 0:26.8 | We need your direct support in order to continue this podcast. |
| 0:30.7 | And you can help us out so, so much through a paid substack subscription to my newsletter at |
| 0:37.3 | camaya.substack.com or through a one-time |
| 0:40.4 | donation at greendreamer.com slash support. It really means a lot to have you here. And we're so |
| 0:47.6 | grateful for whatever form or level of support that you're able to share with us. The idea that you're just donating your clothes and everybody's happy and everybody's wins is |
| 0:58.3 | just is not the reality. |
| 1:02.8 | With the fashion industry today being extremely wasteful and definitely not sustainable, what are |
| 1:08.8 | some positive trends we can feel hopeful about? What can we learn |
| 1:12.4 | from how ThreadUp was able to really revolutionize the experience of secondhand shopping, |
| 1:17.9 | from it being viewed as unpleasant and maybe even stigmatized, to it being fun and desirable? |
| 1:24.7 | That's just the tip of the iceberg of what you'll hear today. Real quick, |
| 1:28.4 | I wanted to let you know that I'm now sharing the two key takeaways from each interview in the show |
| 1:33.4 | notes instead of at the end of the episodes. And I'll continually be sharing highlights from the |
| 1:37.9 | podcast in my weekly Sunday newsletters. To find the show notes or to get your weekly dose of |
| 1:43.0 | inspiration sent directly to you through email, |
| 1:45.6 | you can head to greendreamer.com. And now on to our episode. Let's dive in. |
| 1:55.0 | Hey, it's Kamea Shane and this is Green Dreamer, a podcast for creatives, visionaries, and entrepreneurs |
| 2:00.8 | dreaming of a sustainable |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Kaméa Chayne, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Kaméa Chayne and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.

