Conscious Chatter With Kestrel Jenkins

In episode 231, Kestrel welcomes Lauren Tanaka-Fortune and Rory Fortune, the cofounders of Goods & Services, to the show. A modern repair shop in Los Angeles, Goods & Services specializes in sneaker repair. “I think we just have to start changing our mentality around consumption and buy things that you really love and can potentially pass down one day. I think that when you buy things that are made better, you can wear them longer — I mean, eventually they’ll be a cool vintage piece, right? We just need to get away from this need for ‘more, more more’ and get back to sort of the olden days of really buying something that you love and wearing it forever.” -Lauren Tanaka-Fortune, Co-Owner of Goods & Services On this week’s show, Rory and Lauren each share their unique experience, working within the conventional fashion industry, and what “aha moment” led them to want to reassess the way they were working in fashion. Rory explains a bit more on what led him down the path of learning more about shoe

In episode 230, Kestrel welcomes Kiana Kazemi, a current undergraduate student at UC Berkeley, studying the intersections of technology and environmental justice, to the show. The Editor in Chief of the campus environmental publication The Leaflet and the Digital and Community Operations Coordinator at Intersectional Environmentalist, Kiana is also the Co-Founder and CEO of Circularity, a soon-to-launch multi-medium environmental justice platform. “Climate change is a huge problem that we’re facing, but it’s really the symptom of capitalism, of the patriarchy, of so many other systems that have bigger histories and have been in place for such a long time. And so, if as engineers, we’re only taught to tackle those surface-level symptoms, we’re not tackling the wider systems, which is what we need to be tackling. ” -Kiana Kazemi, Intersectional Engineer On this week’s show, Kiana shares more on her backstory, what led her to pursue engineering, and what being an “intersectional engineer” means to her. Also, sh

In episode 229, Kestrel welcomes Dani Des Roches, the founder of Picnicwear, to the show. A slow fashion brand, Picnicwear is made by hand in NYC (almost) entirely from vintage and deadstock materials. “A statement piece doesn’t have to be a trendy piece per se — those descriptors can exist separately from one another. So just like a sustainable item doesn’t have to mean that it’s banal or it’s expensive, a statement piece can be special today, and still can be special 2 years from now, 3 years from now, 10 years from now.” -Dani Des Roches, Founder of Picnicwear On this week’s show, Dani shares more on how her love and appreciation for secondhand fashion started at a very young age. Not only was she influenced by her family's lifestyle, she also had this desire to always look "different" through the way she dressed, which drew her to the one-of-a-kind nature of vintage. Dani went to fashion school and ended up working in fast fashion for years. While she was grateful to have these opportunities in the indus

In episode 228, Kestrel welcomes curator and writer Catherine McKinley to the show. The author of Indigo, a journey along the ancient indigo trade routes in West Africa, and The Book of Sarahs, a memoir about growing up Black and Jewish in the 1960s-80s, Catherine has taught creative nonfiction writing at Sarah Lawrence College and Columbia University. Her newest book, The African Lookbook, A Visual History of 100 Years of African Women, draws on her extensive collection of photos to tell a different visual narrative of African women. “In most of the societies, cloth is just, it’s essential, it’s considered something that contains the human spirit and it’s the layer next to the skin — you know, it has all those meanings. And cloth is essential from what you’re wound in the moment of birth to what you’re wound in at the grave.” -Catherine McKinley, Writer + Curator On this week’s show, Catherine shares more on what led her to have an interest in writing, cloth, photographs and fashion. Through our conversatio

In episode 227, Kestrel welcomes Yessenia Funes, the Climate Editor at Atmos, to the show. A new climate and culture magazine, Atmos is curated by an ecosystem of adventurers, creatives, and journalists, and dedicated to pioneering progress around the world. “So much of what we do is working with frontline organizers, so that they can tell their own stories — inviting them to come write for us, creating space so that they’re not just quoted in an article, but they’re writing the article. And I think that there’s sometimes hesitance to do that in the media industry, out of this sort of obsession with objectivity — I think is honestly what sometimes drives some of that. And we do that in a way that, we’re not here to necessarily push an agenda, but we’re here to give people space to to tell their truth, tell their stories and to educate the public about the battles that many of these people are fighting.” -Yessenia Funes, Climate Editor at Atmos On this week’s show, Yessenia shares more on what led her to writ

In episode 226, Kestrel welcomes Matty Hickey, the founder of Be Kind Vibes, to the show. A social impact brand, Be Kind Vibes creates ethically-made goods that inspire love & compassion for each other and our natural world. “Kindness is a way forward for us out of these times — it’s a chance for us to be able to reconnect with ourselves, and then, that way, we can kind of express that out into the world and to others. It’s one of the values, one of the pillars of the brand, and it’s how I guide the direction of the brand in everyday decisions — it’s a powerful thing, and I think if we can really tap into it and use it, it is a way forward and I think it’s a way that can unite all of us, really.” -Matt Hickey, Founder of Be Kind Vibes On this week’s show, we take a little journey down memory lane, as Matt was the person who suggested Kestrel start a podcast over 5 years ago now. The two discuss those early ideas, and how Matt really helped spark the early idea for Kestrel to build out this audio communit

In episode 225, Kestrel welcomes Chantel Keiko Ricks, the Distribution Manager & Sustainability Lead at Urban Native Era, to the show. Based in Los Angeles, Urban Native Era specializes in clothing design and content to increase the visibility of Indigenous Peoples. “We pride ourselves in providing tools, resources, highlighting thought leaders, sharing about changemakers and being a source for Indigenous perspective on society’s current events — and that is us providing our community with what’s needed to reclaim one’s culture, reclaim identity and reclaim Indigenous story through accurate representation.” -Chantel Keiko Ricks, Sustainability Lead at Urban Native Era On this week’s show, Chantel shares more on how until COVID-19 arrived, she had been studying film in grad school at San Diego State. But, the pandemic paired with the resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement led her to explore how she could help in some way in a social activism setting — this led her to reconnecting with Joey Montoya,

In episode 224, Kestrel welcomes Gina Stovall, the founder and designer behind Two Days Off, to the show. An independently, woman-owned and operated lifestyle brand, Two Days Off makes garments designed for longevity that are ethically cut and sewn in small batches in Los Angeles, California. “In sciences, and especially the environmental sciences, we think of everything as a system. Everything is interconnected and there are ramifications for every decision made, every act that’s taken, every resource used, and even social systems play into that — which is part of the reason why I loved the environmental sciences so much, because you see how this theory or this phenomena impacts people on a day-to-day, and then you can figure out — is this a balanced system or is this co-beneficial and things like that. And so, in my business, I look at it exactly the same way.” -Gina Stovall, Founder of Two Days Off On this week’s show, Gina shares more on what led her to switch up her career from working as a scientist /

In episode 223, Kestrel welcomes Maggie Hewitt, the founder and designer behind Maggie Marilyn, to the show. Made in New Zealand, Maggie Marilyn is working toward a more transparent, circular, regenerative and inclusive fashion industry. “Really the biggest achievement of all to-date was making this sort of bold decision to pivot our business model to operate entirely direct-to-consumer, and I think really now — our values and our business model actually align.” -Maggie Hewitt, Founder + Designer of Maggie Marilyn On this week’s show, Maggie shares more on what led her to build a fashion brand that places sustainability at its core. She also explains more of how over the last five years, they realized as a brand, that in order to move forward with their focus of transparency, circularity, regeneration and inclusivity, they had to transform their business model to align with those values — which, for Maggie Marilyn, meant shifting away from wholesale and functioning entirely as a direct-to-consumer brand. Mag

In episode 222, Kestrel welcomes Selina Sanders, a slow fashion artisan who makes clothing that is always one-of-a-kind and upcycled, to the show. After over a decade of working as a designer in fashion, Selina started her eponymous label to help reduce the industry’s carbon footprint and build an environmentally responsible brand. “Fashion is in the business of creating culture — we are culture creators — that is an immense power that we have is the influence of creating communities in culture. And, the fact that we have an opportunity to shape what the next culture becomes is a tremendous privilege, yet unfortunately I constantly see that we are taking that privilege for granted — we are not using it to the best of its ability. And that is why now that I’m slowly building this brand, I want to make an impact toward the change this industry deserves.” -Selina Sanders, Founder of Selina Sanders On this week’s show, Selina explains how losing her job (with the arrival of COVID-19), actually provided her with

In episode 221, Kestrel welcomes Roopa Pemmaraju, the founder of her namesake label, to the show. A slow luxury fashion brand, with an emphasis on sustainability and social responsibility, Roopa Pemmaraju’s collections celebrate Indian crafting techniques that have been handed down for hundreds of years. “We don’t buy fabrics in bulk or we don’t create the products in bulk. If we have an order today, that’s when my atelier back in India would create that product, so that’s why we ask our customers or our retailers to give us that much of a time, so that we can create this product with integrity and the right way and the right fabrication that we require to create that sustainable brand.” -Roopa Pemmaraju, Founder of Roopa Pemmaraju On this week’s show, Roopa shares more on her past story and what led her to build her own brand. She and Kestrel also dive into more of what slow fashion means to Roopa’s brand, and how she defines it in her work. Additionally, Kestrel asks Roopa if and how she sees the Farmers P

In episode 220, Kestrel welcomes Chanelle Harris, the founder of NELLO, to the show. A curated thrift brand, NELLO is non-binary to any form of fashion and promotes positive self-love with sustainable clothing through artistic expression. “These aren’t just clothes — it’s what you make it, and that’s part of your style. And although you’re not going to get the latest trends that are happening (these items aren’t a part of that category), you can still make it your own. It’s how you define yourself in any way — whether it’s the clothes you wear, what you say, what you want to do in life — it’s how you define it and how you share that with other people.” -Chanelle Harris, Founder of NELLO On this week’s show, Chanelle shares more on what led her to have such a love for vintage and how secondhand shopping with her grandma got her inspired by past generations’ style. She also shares more about how she went from completing a master’s in clinical psychology in London to building her own vintage shop. Kestrel and C

In episode 219, Kestrel welcomes Dr. Kimberly McGlonn, the CEO and creative director of Grant Blvd, to the show. By sourcing reclaimed fabrics, manufacturing exclusively in Philadelphia, and supporting incarcerated & returning citizens, Grant Blvd believes it’s time to recalibrate our systems and our style. “Love takes commitment — right? Those of us who have loved something fully, richly, wholly — it is an act of daily commitment. And so, actually the word love is not a light word at all. Hate is easy, anger is easy, frustration is easy, quit is easy, love is hard. And that’s what we need more of in design, and fashion design specifically — we need more commitment to decisions made from a place of the longterm, rooted in a vision of love.” -Dr. Kimberly McGlonn, Founder + CEO of Grant Blvd On this week’s show, Kimberly shares more on her journey, and how she went from being a teacher to then, building a fashion brand, based on the primary intention of finding a way to create jobs. Throughout this conver

In episode 218, Kestrel welcomes the multifaceted 20-year-old phenom, Maya Penn, to the show. The award-winning founder and CEO of eco-fashion brand Maya’s Ideas, Maya is a 3 time TED Speaker, artist, global activist, animator, filmmaker, social entrepreneur, coder and Simon & Schuster author. “Especially now, with things really coming to a tipping point of sorts, with so many different environmental and social issues — I think people still need to continue to have hope, because the main point of destructive or oppressive systems is for people to become weary and to become hopeless.” -Maya Penn, Founder + CEO of Maya’s Ideas On this week’s show, Maya shares more on how she got started in the sustainability and fashion world from a very young age — she was only 8 when she launched her eco-friendly fashion brand Maya’s Ideas. Maya and Kestrel also explore the importance of hope within activism, what the mainstream is missing when it comes to listening to youth activists, and how sustainability doesn’t have

In episode 217, Kestrel welcomes Katie Pruett, the founder and editor-in-chief of Ethical Style Journal, back to the show to reconnect. A multimedia platform exploring fashion with a modern and mindful perspective, Ethical Style Journal is expanding the conversation surrounding ethics and sustainability in fashion. “That’s the issue with sustainable fashion a lot of the times is that people want to do good, but they want to do good on the surface — they don’t really want to do good at the core, and that has become something that is too familiar in this space and it needs to be challenged at every corner.” -Katie Pruett, Founder + Editor-In-Chief of Ethical Style Journal On this week’s show, Katie shares an update on what she has been working on since we last chatted, and how her approach to sustainability and fashion has evolved since then. We also discuss a couple of the articles currently available on ESJ, and get into some of the nuances connected to cultural sustainability — the origin of natural dyes, t

In episode 216, Kestrel welcomes Robbie Stuart, the founder of KIDS WORLDWIDE, to the show. A collaborative brand, KIDS WORLDWIDE is focused on supporting, empowering and nurturing youth through socially and environmentally-conscious fashion. Robbie is also joined by Swami Durga Das, the founder of nonprofit River Fund, who KIDS WORLDWIDE partners with for several layers of their work, as well as Zara, Nishaul, Chrissy and Washal — young artists whose work is featured on KIDS’ designs. “It really becomes about peoples’ responsibility inside themselves to give back to each other — if that’s in volunteering or in serving or however we do it — it’s really in giving back to each other. And I think then, in the long run, it makes the planet better and each of us better.” -Swami Durga Das, Founder of River Fund On this week’s show, Robbie shares more on what led her to want to build KIDS WORLDWIDE and how she partners with Swami and River Fund, to build something that’s far more than just a fashion brand. Four kid

In episode 215, Kestrel welcomes Kameese Davis, the founder and CEO of Nylah’s Naturals, to the show. A young plant-based hair care brand, Nylah’s Naturals has introduced a science-based approach to textured hair products, and is pushing boundaries for clean and sustainable products. “It’s about combining that plant-based knowledge with the knowledge that our foremothers had and our grandmothers had in terms of how they would use plants and herbs for natural healing and for their beauty treatments as well — so, our passion really is combining those two elements to ensure that we are developing the best possible products for our consumers.” -Kameese Davis, Founder + CEO of Nylah’s Naturals On this week’s show, Kameese shares more on her journey and how a journey with her daughter ended up leading her to build Nylah’s Naturals. Also, Kestrel and Kameese discuss some of the aspects of the Silent Spring Institute study “Hair products for Black women contain mix of hazardous ingredients” — and how the findings co

In episode 214, Kestrel welcomes Isaias Hernandez, the creator of Queer Brown Vegan, to the show. As a Queer, Brown, and Vegan environmentalist, Isaias makes accessible environmental education content, showcased on his platform Queer Brown Vegan, and seeks to provide a safe space for other like-minded environmentalists to engage in the discourse of the current climate crisis. “I really believed in creating a space as Queer Brown Vegan to discuss everything that I learned and just put it out there so people can have information to themselves and not have to feel ashamed for asking questions … I really push for the narrative of 'you are your own environmentalist' that includes Indigenous experiences, ancestral knowledge if you are Indigenous, cultural-based experiences for BIPOC individuals or just lived experiences that you've had that you don't resemble to environmentalism.” -Isaias Hernandez, Founder of Queer Brown Vegan On this week’s show, Isaias shares more of his story, and how when he was studying envi

In episode 213, Kestrel welcomes Reza Cristián, the founder and editor-in-chief of SUSTAIN The Mag, to the show. An online media platform, SUSTAIN The Mag is a space where eco-conscious warriors cultivate a healthy, planet-friendly lifestyle. “There was mostly you know, white people that were at the top, executives and editors-in-chiefs for example, and then, people on the covers — they weren’t really everyday people, so I was really turned off by that. And that’s really what led me to want to shift and change the perspective around media, and really tie it into sustainability because in a whole, it’s not just about caring for the planet — it’s caring about everyone and just interconnecting it all — so, that was my main priority to start Sustain The Mag.” -Reza Cristián, Founder + Editor-In-Chief of SUSTAIN Mag On this week’s show, Reza shares more on her background and how resourcefulness has always been integrated into her lifestyle, growing up in a Mexican family. She also shares more on what led her to a

In episode 212, Kestrel welcomes Comet Chukura, the founder of GLOW, to the show. A knitwear brand pioneering adaptable accessories that reflect light, GLOW is committed to using sustainable materials and ethical production, with an intention to create social as well as environmental impact. “The point is to always work with women on the peripheries — slow fashion, since it’s all hand-knitted and crocheted, it does take a while to make — but the point is to utilize skills, which they would otherwise fall by the wayside, and kind of give Indigenous handicraft the respect it deserves in our system of fashion.” -Comet Chukura, Founder of GLOW On this week’s show, Comet shares more what about led her to build GLOW, what her supply chain looks like, and how working with marginalized women is at the core of the brand. Additionally, she explains how the “tech” works for GLOW’s sustainable, high visibility yarn. Additionally, we touch on the layers of issues connected to the white gaze and white savior complex withi