Eric Henry - Crafting an Eco-Friendly Clothing Empire with TS DESIGNS and the Fight Against Fashion's Waste Crisis
Anne McGinty
Today we have Eric Henry speaking with us about how his business is helping to redefine the future of clothing manufacturing. Eric is the owner of TS Designs and Solid State Clothing and a trailblazer in environmentally friendly supply chain practices. His commitment to sustainability has extended to a TEDx talk he gave at Elon University, where he educated the crowd about the state of the apparel industry. He was awarded the 2023 Entrepreneur of the Year by his local chamber, is the president of the North Carolina Business Council and has sat on the board of over 10 different organizations. He is an inspiration for the entire textile industry. You can find a link through to his business in the episode's description.
Thank you to our listeners for being here today.
Eric, thanks for taking the time to speak with us today.
Eric Henry
Well, thank you so much for the opportunity, or patience, to finally make this meeting happen.
Anne McGinty
Well, so I know you've been in business for a while. Can you take us back to the beginning? How did you come up with the idea to start TS Designs in the first place?
Eric Henry
Well, I didn't start TS Designs. I started my own business while I was at NC State in 1978. And boy, 1978 was a different world no computers, no cell phones, no internet, no fax machines. But anyway, just started up a t-shirt business while I was going to state just to make some money for the weekends A lot of t-shirts on college campuses. I didn't see the companies had a way to access who the buyers were. I was a student, I knew where to push the right button, so I started my business, Creative Screen Design, in 1978. And then in 1980, I met the founder of TS Designs and we merged companies or bought at mine, everyone say it and I became the president of TS Designs and then, six or seven years ago, I bought Tom out Tom's Sinead. That's where TS Designs comes from. So it has definitely been a journey.
Anne McGinty
And what were those early days like?
Eric Henry
Well, everything's in North Carolina. I'm from North Carolina, the business is located in Burlington, north Carolina, but again, as I said, things are just a lot, lot simpler and slower than they are today. You didn't have technology like this. You had to handwrite checks or you had cash or stuff was going to be in the mail, so the process of setting up a business and registering with the state and all that is still about the same, but you didn't have all of the noise of social media to deal with, websites to deal with. You know, you could just really focus on the business and it was more of a word of mouth. Everything was simpler. The market access was a lot smaller in 1978 or 1980, but you didn't have the variables that you're dealing with today. All the social media platforms, all the websites. Everything changes so quickly. All the social media platforms, all the websites, everything changes so quickly. It is just a completely different world than when we started our business in the 70s and 80s.
Anne McGinty
And for anyone who doesn't know, can you tell us a little bit about what it is that TS Designs does in the first place?
Eric Henry
Oh sure, our mission is to make the highest quality, most sustainable T-shirts. We're very fortunate to be in North Carolina at the intersection of agriculture and apparel, and really, what put us on the path that we're on today and will continue to be on even after I'm gone, is running a business based on a triple bottom line People, planet, profit. I think that is so critical and more important today than ever that we look beyond the bottom line Again. Profits are important. That keeps the lights on and pays the people a living wage. What got us on this journey was an event that happened on January 1, 1994, probably before your time.
04:43
That's when North American Free Trade Agreement was ratified, prior to NAFTA, and in this building we did T-shirts for all the major brands you think of Tommy, nike, gap, polo, adidas. 120 people worked in this building, just moved into this 20,000 square foot building. Business was great. When NAFTA was ratified in January 1994, within two years all those brands were gone and we had to lay off over 100 of our employees.
Anne McGinty
Oh my gosh.
Eric Henry
Our business collapsed, and so did the textile industry in this area, and that's when we realized there's more to a business than a bottom line. So we did not jump on the global bandwagon. We live in that world and I can put that genie back in the bottle. We live in that world and I'll put that genie back in the bottle, but we are focused on the resource and the community in which we live, ie from the picture behind me, the cotton field about 60 miles away to doing our manufacturing. We only focus on domestic apparel manufacturing. Most of our products are made in North Carolina but we don't go outside because, again, we're living in a time where a lot of times, we only look at the bottom line but not looking at the impact it's having to people and planet.
Anne McGinty
Yeah, well, how do you stay competitive with these fast fashion, low quality companies that are putting product out there?
Eric Henry
Like how do you convince your buyers that they need to put their money in more important places? Well, I wish I could tell you in being in business as long as we can. It's easy because we know what we're doing the marketplace of fast fashion, subsidized, underwritten, cheap quality. So our customers that we do business with and again, there's hundreds and hundreds, they can be from schools to coffee shops to farmer's markets, but at the end of the day they have to have a value beyond price. So our biggest thing is educating our customers in the value proposition.
06:41
Of course I understand there's some people or some places they can't afford that. They got to go with the least expensive thing, the cheapest price. I don't have the answer for that, but it's those people that do have the disposable dollars that want to do the right thing. Give them the tools to understand it's not that our product costs more, it's that overseas fast fashion is not priced properly. Because, again, that cheap thing that you got through Shein or Timu, you have to question the work environment, environmental degradation of buying something that's going to last a very short period of time, but those costs aren't being recognized or passed along. However, you want to do it to the individual. So it is just represented as cheap and our stuff is represented as expensive. So we have to go to those consumers or those markets that we can have that conversation.
Anne McGinty
Having to adjust and evolve for the modern times. What strategies have you used to continue to grow your business?
Eric Henry
I think the most important thing I tell young folks and we've got a very diverse staff of young folks and old folks like myself, but not one person has all the answers Constantly reach out and connect and learn, even outside of your business. Put yourself out there. But then it's the relationships and connections that you make are so critical. Relationships and connections that you make are so critical and those relationships have to be a two-way street. You can't always be asking and not, you know, helping, so you know that's just having a job here. After I did a Zoom presentation and I kind of blew her off at first, but she kept determined this woman will come on to work and gave her a part-time job. Part-time became full-time. Now she's a department manager and wears lots of hats. But what I've talked to Emily about is, yes, I've been here a long time so I've got experience, but what she's got is a different perspective. I mean, this is a person that grew up around technology. I learned technology middle of life, so she's a lot more in depth with technology, from just running a software package to understanding social media. So it's so important to have relationships and connections with a lot of different people with a lot of different perspectives because things change so quickly. And being a small business, I tell people, is that in the early days, you know, your only marketing tool was the Yellow Pages. That was the only way somebody in the town beside us would know about us. And I never forget we'd have a meeting with the Yellow Page representative once a year because we're determining how big the ad's going to be in these different towns, and we could only be in so many towns because we're spending thousands of dollars. You could buy the newspapers, everybody, the Yellow Pages. Fast forward to today. I mean you've got to be everything from LinkedIn to all the different social media platforms. It's just a very diverse place. You need a lot of different people and that's another thing that's transitioned with our businesses. One time we were 120. We're a staff of 12 now, but also have about six core contractors that work for us on specialized areas that I need. We can't justify to have them here full-time when I have enough work, but we also need their expertise.
10:20
Another thing I've learned too about business. I used to, again being an old person, I wore a coat and tie to work every day because that's what my dad, that's what I thought I did so. I'm in a t-shirt business, still wear a and Tide and we used to work nine to five and now we work four days a week. I grew up in a time, I like to say, where it was kind of thought of whatever the job is, you just work a bazillion hours a week, Don't care where you got to go, it's just work, work, work. And now I understand the value of that work.
10:53
Life balance and I see it with newer people is making sure you give an opportunity for them to have that in whatever way works for them. You know we have a lot more options to work remotely, we have a lot more communication and people need to take time off. It's just you can't take that hard set environment of how you dress or when you work or whatever. That used to be very rigid. You're going to have a hard time keeping people if you've got that environment.
Anne McGinty
And right now, who do you supply apparel for?
Eric Henry
TS Designs is business to business and we have hundreds and hundreds of customers. Again, they see some value beyond price. Us made our unique process of print and garment dye. During COVID we launched a brand called Solid State Clothing which is our direct-to-consumer brand. And we did that for two reasons. We continue to do a lot of innovative work in connecting natural fibers and natural dyes. When we're doing that R&D, that doesn't quickly translate into doing thousands of pieces. You just don't want to do that for TS Designs. So we can do very small batches to kind of figure it out, understand it. But with Solid State we have an opportunity to bring people into that story, sell that product and then, as we learn, eventually we can take some of these ideas and technologies over into TS Designs.
12:19
Interesting story we acquired some equipment last year that used to be in Ralph Loren's product development lab which is over in Greensboro, but when they saw we're going everything overseas they donated to NC State, which is our land grant university, and we realized that's the equipment we need. They had it just sitting in a warehouse so we made a small donation to school. We brought it here. So we bought the equipment so we can quickly identify plant material and what color it will make. We're really looking at things that have waste materials, like black walnuts that just literally fall on the ground and rot. We're looking at avocado pits ie chipotle. We're looking at coffee grinds ie Starbucks. So there's a lot of this material pretty much going to the landfill. So we want to base not only the landfill y'all be compost, but let's just go ahead and make some dyes out of it.
Anne McGinty
Such a good idea. It's fascinating. Your dedication to sustainability is really touching on all facets of the supply chain. Are there any big players that are focusing on re-shoring and supply chain transparency like you?
Eric Henry
They are committed and so invested on overseas manufacturing. But a lot's happened since NAFTA in 94. We didn't talk about climate change, we didn't talk about microplastics, we didn't talk about fast fashion. So all of these things have come out of this global move of the apparel brands. And the only reason they're global it benefits their bottom line. But now we're understanding the negative impact to people and planet, the challenge the brands have. They've invested so much in this global sourcing model. It's very hard for them to pivot. So what I see a lot is a reshoring marketing story and they're just in it for a season or two and they're moving on. They're not making the commitment we need to rebuild the industry, addressing those issues of microplastics, quality, of speed to market. The other thing I want to mention is the fact that around 30% of the clothes manufactured never get sold.
Anne McGinty
What happens to it?
Eric Henry
Landfills incinerated and the image I use on my pitch deck is a pile of clothes picked up by a satellite image. That's in a desert in Chile that the pile of clothes is bigger than the town it sits beside, literally dumping brand new clothes in a desert.
Anne McGinty
Why?
Eric Henry
Because they feel like they're so in tune. First of all, what's happened over the years? The consumer wants more and more choices. Well, in a global marketplace, you've got to make this stuff way ahead of time. They're trying to say you're going to be wearing orange? Well, they got to start making orange six months ago if they want to have the marketplace at least. So they're having to guess. So it's a broken system.
15:19
And what the brands generally want to do, that say they care, starts leaning into the greenwashing story, because it's got organic cotton, it's got recycled polyester Andester. Again, those are some necessary tools, but they're not addressing the center problem is we make too much stuff. We gotta stop making so much stuff. And again, I don't want to limit choice. Again, if you want to buy from shen or timu, fine, but there should be other costs associated with it. Just like we have speed limit signs on the highway, yes, if you want to speed, knock yourself out, but there's speed limit signs, they know about it. They give you tickets. The same thing. Are you familiar with the rule of de minimis?
Anne McGinty
No.
Eric Henry
What it is. It was something that was put in the trade laws years ago. You speak $200. The original purpose was you, as a US consumer, should be able to buy anything from anywhere in the world. And again, when this was originally done, the Internet wasn't where it was, so the chance of you buying something from a foreign country was hard and tough, and people didn't do it. Fast forward to today. Companies like Timmy were taking advantage of it because they spent $21 million on Super Bowl ads. Turnaround became one of the most downloaded apps on the App Store. Millions of people are US customers.
16:39
But what it basically allows you can buy up to $800. I don't know who's measuring $800, but you can order $800 worth of merchandise on an annual basis, without duties, tariffs, transparency, regulation. You just order it, and so all I ask in a global market, I just want a level playing field. I'll compete with China, but if you're getting subsidized and you're able to do things that I can't do and that's why I said I don't know if anybody regulates $800, but it's just fast. Fashion is out of control for a lot of different reasons Consumer education and things like the rule of de minimis, which basically makes it an unlevel playing field.
Anne McGinty
Well, and I think we have to also question if the materials are so cheap and they're being shipped over here, well, who is making them and what is it made out of? Because it's probably junk, right, and then it's going to end up in the landfill also.
Eric Henry
It was interesting. Last year I spoke on two congressional hearings around the whole fast fashion thing and one of the senator staff was asking you know, what can we do? And I think one of the biggest things that would help and again, I don't want to limit choice, but just like you have, you're required by the Federal Trade Commission to have caring content. What's the material? And then how do you treat the material? They need to go one step further. Not just put made in China on it or made in Vietnam, because that could be North Carolina cotton shipped over there.
18:09
You need to have, as a consumer making a purchase, access to have the full transparency of the supply chain where that product's made. Now we've been doing it for 15 years. Now we do it with a QR code. If you do want to know where your blouse came from, it shouldn't be an impossible task. It should be going to the Internet, typing a, a web address getting introduced to a plant manager says hey, I'm at such and such plant. They made your address. But why do you think brands don't want to give you that transparency and they don't want you to know where the clothes are made and they just dance around? Fair trade, organic recycle. No, just give you the consumer access to the information supply chain you mentioned the qr access to the information supply chain.
Anne McGinty
You mentioned the QR code, so what exactly happens with this QR code?
Eric Henry
We actually print it into the shirt and when you scan that QR code it takes you to a website where w-h-e-r-e. Yourclothingcom and when you go to that it breaks down who the farmer is, the jinner, the spinner, the knitter, the finisher, the cut and sew, and we give you a picture, phone number, physical address and email of everybody in our supply chain and you can go to that website, which maybe you're doing now or later. You don't have to have my permission. You can contact Andrew Burleson at Burleson Sun Cotton Farm in New London, North Carolina. You can go see him, talk to him.
19:32
I'm no gatekeeper. There's no gatekeeper here, and that's the problem. The brands want to be the gatekeeper. It's all good. Don't ask what's going on back here and here are the things we're doing, and buy my $100 jacket and trust me, no, and again, I'm not saying we're a perfect company. We always have room for improvement. We make mistakes, but in a day there's no secrets to what we're doing, Zero. And a lot of people say well, you're telling people how you literally can go to that site. You can meet all the players the farmer, the janitor, the spinner, the knitter, the finisher. You got all the information. You could be in the t-shirt business Take you probably six months, It'll take you a few million dollars and it ain't easy. But again people say, well, you're competitive. No, this stuff's complicated. I'd rather build trust than worry about somebody competing with me.
Anne McGinty
So you say a few million dollars, what is the cost going to to start a t-shirt company? I mean, what are the processes involved with that? I guess you have to source the cotton because you're going all the way from the plant to the finished product.
Eric Henry
Right, and then along that supply chain you have economies of scale, and the one that I always point to is that I make the agreement to purchase their cotton and then when I take it to the spinning facility, their minimal spin is 20,000 pounds. That correlates to about 30,000 t-shirts. That's why a lot of brands they just buy something off the shelf, cut the label out, put a print on and stuff. Yeah, you can do that for a lot less money. That's why I realized I need to go buy the cotton. I don't grow cotton, I never plan on growing that cotton, but I need to make sure I understand and know for sure the supply chain. So it's our cotton. So then we have some entertainment that takes that cotton and follows it along the way until it becomes a white T-shirt here at TS Designs which is printed it's garmentship. But most apparel brands they own no manufacturing, they just source and they use the global marketplace as source, usually, and most likely based upon price. Very few apparel brands have any brick and mortar involvement with their supply chain.
Anne McGinty
And TS Designs is making just blank shirts. Is that right?
Eric Henry
We just have white shirts here. We have another facility about five miles away that takes white shirts and dyes into colors. But along the way we developed a process that's unique to us, doesn't exist anywhere else in the world I know, of where we print and then garment dye. So you take a shirt that's imagine this is white, and then when you print it and dye it, we printed this and then dyed the shirt so that white there is not white ink, that's absence of dye. We're blocking dyes. So if you felt that there's nothing there, so it's very environmentally friendly. Nothing that's going to crack or peel. Since you garment dye, this shirt will never shrink. So that's part of our process. I just have white t-shirts, not knowing what color and print you want, and then when you order it, then we produce it.
Anne McGinty
What's the minimum lot size that someone would need to order if they wanted to do business with you?
Eric Henry
Right now it's 200 units, assorted sizes, of a print of a garment, dye, color. We are working on a process we're over a year into it. We've got to raise a bunch of money, but the way we're going to make the apparel industry viable in this country is we've got to do it differently. Our vision and we've already proven it now we've just got to raise the money and get the equipment. And we've already proven it Now we just got to raise the money and get the equipment. But our future model will have the ability to go from a white shirt to a printed and dyed shirt inside an hour.
Anne McGinty
So what a few hundred tees in an hour, and it's all eco-friendly.
Eric Henry
Yes. So imagine going to a website and pick out the silhouette. It's got to be natural fibers, but it can be knits, it can be wovens. But let's just say you pick out a lady's tee this size, then you want this image on it, then you want this color. We can produce that shirt and do it in an hour. That's how we're going to compete, because I don't care how cheap Sheehan and Timo can do it First of all.
23:59
If they had the technology we got over there, then they got to get it to you. You know we're going to be here. So it's all built around the idea of apparel manufacturing clusters instead of a global apparel supply chains. We are already building the first cluster here, and we are already building the first cluster here. And then we see this cluster idea going across the country, across the globe. Again, we're not going to put the genie back in the bottle when it comes to globalization, but we can do a heck of a lot better to use the resources in the community. So we're reorganizing the apparel supply chain to do this and it's already proven equipment we need mostly in Europe is trying to find the money to get everything over here.
Anne McGinty
How much money do you need to raise?
Eric Henry
About two million bucks.
Anne McGinty
Okay.
Eric Henry
Are you going to write me a check today?
Anne McGinty
No, but I mean, if you're crowdfunding or raising in a creative way, then please let me know.
Eric Henry
Yeah.
Anne McGinty
I'm curious to know have you seen any natural materials that you think can compete with the spandex-type material that you see? You know that isn't plastic-based.
Eric Henry
Right. I know a lot of people working on it. I don't have that answer, but it's a microplastic bomb. It's a nightmare to recycle. Understand things like spandex and polyester. They have their places usually in athletic wear, but in casual wear we don't need synthetics. We're paying the price now of climate change and in the ability to recycle. We've got to build the clothes better better to last longer and then, at the end of life, easier for you as a consumer to recycle it, or it'd be great to just basically go compost it. Try to find even a hundred percent cotton t-shirt. They sell it with poly cotton thread. It's now a recycling nightmare. Our shirts even sewn with cotton thread. There's no zero polyester here.
Anne McGinty
Yeah, we try to mostly buy cotton, but I know that we have articles of clothing that aren't. I mean yoga pants, for example.
Eric Henry
Oh yeah.
Anne McGinty
But if there were an option for something that was natural.
Eric Henry
Well, we're going to have to figure. You know, the whole microplastics. It's in our air, it's in our water, it's in our blood. And you know, I'm old enough to remember where they didn't have warning signs on cigarettes, and that was a time you could smoke on planes, smoke in restaurants, smoke everybody smoked. Fortunately I never did. But anyway, we just kind of said wait a minute, that can't be healthy. But they could make the connection. Now they made the connection. Now I can envision somewhere down the road there needs to be a warning label. You know, wearing this poly cotton shirt is bad for the environment and bad for you. Again, I don't want to limit your choice, but I just want to let you know what the cost of your choice is. And polyester and clothes is just a nightmare.
Anne McGinty
Right. It's a really important issue and I think, thankfully, the younger generation, I believe, is completely in line with your way of thinking that we need to do a better job. We have to take better care of our earth and stop shipping things from here to there to here to there. All of that transit time and the fuel consumption for those container ships is also such a huge consideration.
Eric Henry
I'll talk about relationships. You know relationships of our supply chain. These folks, I mean, they're family. So when you have a relationship just built upon a supplier and that's it, you know we communicate via purchase orders. Well, if that's all my relationship is a purchase order and this person over here can give me a purchase order cheaper, why wouldn't I switch? I don't know you other than a purchase order and commitment that is not subject to price. It is, at the end of the day, relationships that are so important in business and support the community in which you live, in our community being the US with a focus on the South, there's plenty of business here. Our job is, as I said earlier, educating those customers that have the ability and have the disposable income to make a more expensive choice. Get them to understand why they need to do that. And then this idea of apparel manufacturing clusters, which we're building, the first one here, we'll put those across the country. So you know we need to be in California using California materials, california cotton, california cut and sew Amazing.
28:42
And then bring in our technology, allow us to print and dye in an hour. We need to put that facility in higher populated areas, but also areas that could support. Ie. There's still agriculture and apparel manufacturing in California, Probably do something in Texas and then we'd see in Europe and stuff like that.
Anne McGinty
What a great vision. How many years out do you think that you are from making this happen?
Eric Henry
Find that $2 million, which I think we're on the track of doing that. So hopefully that will line up this year. Next year we will introduce the whole model of what we're going to do and I think, once people see it, because we address all the issues of the apparel industry, we address transparency, we address speed of market, we address environmental impact, we address inventory management, I mean there is nothing left on the table. Back to that 30 percent with having wide inventory, I make what you want.
Anne McGinty
That is going to be amazing. I hope you keep me in touch with how that rolls out.
Eric Henry
Stay in touch, yeah.
Anne McGinty
So if a recent graduate, say a college student 22 years old, came up to you and they wanted to start an apparel company, do you have any advice for somebody like that for how they can jumpstart their business? You're a big business now, but back before TS Designs and you were doing your t-shirt sales as a college student, how did you make those sales happen?
Eric Henry
I saw where people were needing t-shirts at college campuses and finding who those people were, and at that time it was just servicing the sale. I mean, we didn't have anything different than anybody else, I just connected the dots. This is the buyer, this is what they need. Making sure you deliver and stand behind the product. Word of mouth can be one of your best or one of your most damaging tools. One upset customer is going to tell 10 other people, but also happy customers are going to go tell 10 people. So just making sure you follow through. And I like to say, when there is a problem and we have problems, stay at the table until it's resolved, don't go. You know radio silence on people who don't like that. It's hard, it sucks. You've got to do it, but you've just got to stay at the table and you've got to work it out as best you can stay at the table and you got to work it out as best you can.
Anne McGinty
And, given your passion for sustainability, if you were to start a completely new business, unrelated to anything that you were doing, but blending people, profits and planet, as you mentioned, what other types of businesses would you consider?
Eric Henry
Well, I have started a lot of businesses. Some are still going, some have failed, and it's important to talk about failures. I helped start a cooperatively-owned grocery store. Again, I like the idea of the community owning it. Mistakes made, lessons learned. That didn't make it, but we took that idea and we started the first cooperatively-owned brewery in North Carolina Brownie Beer Works. It's been quite a success. We just celebrated our fifth anniversary last weekend. We have over 3,000 people that have ownership here. They've got to share a stock in that thing.
31:43
So we purposely started this, and I know nothing about beer or nothing about food. I enjoy both of those and we have great people to do it. I helped start the structure and it's basically the way. On a simple terms, like REI is where anybody can go into the brewery, anybody can eat is where anybody can go into the brewery, anybody can eat, but it's those 3,000 people that help fund to get it up out of the ground. And now another friend has started a farming collaborative where we've hired a farm manager that manages four farms.
32:09
And then what we're going to do in the back of my building? We're going to have essentially like an online farmer's market. Once a week the farm will be here, but during the week for local frozen meats and eggs and honey. You will go onto a website, you will pick out your product, you order your product, then you come by and pick it up Because again, we're in an area a lot of ag this section, small farms, big box grocery stores over here. But there are people in our community that would pay a premium to have a dozen eggs if they knew the farm it came from. We want to give them that resource. So that's Farming Collaborative.
32:45
I haven't even named it yet but it will launch in May. So I guess you said I've been an entrepreneur but money does not drive me. I do it for the passion to make it better, because again, I'll leave this plan at some time and hopefully I can start turning that ship a different direction. But it's hard because in the day I'm either competing with price on the fast fashion stuff or the brands and the greenwashing, so nobody wants to really do the hard work to do it right and that's what hopefully we're doing here and then trying to figure out what that next chapter of TS Design is going to look like when I leave.
Anne McGinty
What a great life purpose mission. So I have one closing question for you. If you could go back and talk to yourself when you were in your early 20s, what advice would you give yourself?
Eric Henry
your early 20s. What advice would you give yourself? Probably the first thing is which my parents will agree is since I started my business when I was in college and I transferred to UNC and I built a business. At that time. I had people working for me full time. I was enjoying what I was doing. I was making a good income. I did not finish my college degree. I dropped out at my senior year. I've learned a lot. It's amazing. I probably making a good income. I did not finish my college degree. I dropped out at my senior year. I've learned a lot. It's amazing. I probably spend more time in university talking to students on a productive thing that I did when I was in college. So I'm engaged with a lot.
34:08
I don't know how much it would have helped me one way or the other having a college degree, but I mean that'd probably be always good. I mean I was so close and I didn't finish late and I've played around with going back a few times. That's been a regret. I don't think I said personally would benefit the business, but it would be nice asset to have in the back pocket. I guess my other two biggest regret is I definitely enjoy what I'm doing. But looking back too is I've got a great wife of 40 years, but there's probably were some times I should have made some sacrifices in my business life to be part of mine. You know I didn't quite understand the work-life balance that I think is so important these days to have connection and community and family and friends and stuff. That's important and I think I'm trying to make up for that now. But in the early days I love what I was doing but I worked way too hard and you just got to, you got to find the balance there and I didn't in my early days.
Anne McGinty
Well, I guess that's the good thing is that it's never too late.
Eric Henry
No, it's not.
Anne McGinty
Thank you so much for coming on the show today and sharing your story and knowledge with us.
Eric Henry
Well, thank you so much for the opportunity.
Anne McGinty
If you haven't yet, please take a moment to rate and review the show to help me reach more listeners ears. Thank you for being here.
Today's key takeaways In business consider a commitment to a triple bottom line people, planet and profit. Your business's impact on society and the environment is as important as financial success.
Embrace learning from others' experiences and diverse perspectives beyond your business circle. Building relationships is crucial. This may sound like a broken record, but remember it's a two-way street, so make sure there is an equal exchange and find value and purpose beyond price or money.
When you're starting a business, understand your market and connect the dots. Who is the buyer? What is it that they need? Where can you find those people? Deliver on your promises and stand behind your product? Word of mouth can make or break your business reputation.
There are waste materials that could have potential purpose in a commercial sense, from Chipotle's avocado seeds and Starbucks used coffee grounds and more. Is there a waste material out there that you can find that has a potential second life and profitable one?
Consider shifting your business to more sustainable practices. Consider using natural fibers and dyes and apparel to benefit the planet and explore creative solutions to overcome material limitations. Is there a plant weave or new concept that you think could help solve the problem.
If you are curious about, or could benefit from, the TS Design supply chain, you can find the information for the Farmer, ginner, spinner, knitter, finisher and the Cut and Sew Factories right at the bottom of the whereyourclothingcom page, and that's wear W-H-E-R-E yourclothingcom.
Microplastics are everywhere and we need to address this issue everywhere. And we need to address this issue. Look at your shopping habits and be mindful of plastic usage, including in clothing, to help reduce microplastic pollution in the environment and our bodies.
And finally, understand the value of work-life balance for yourself, but also for your employees. It's important that everyone has the opportunity to maintain connection to community, family and friends.
