Episode 22: Rachel Clowes, The Sustainable Sequin Company

Rachel Clowes founded The Sustainable Sequin Company out of an MA thesis project asking one deceptively simple question: why do the materials in special occasion clothing last thousands of years when we only wear those clothes two or three times? Her answer — bio-based, biodegradable sequins — turned into a business she started with a government startup loan and a customer lined up before she had any inventory.In this episode, we dig into the decisions behind the business: why she launched with recycled plastic sequins instead of going all-in on bio-based from day one, how she thinks about bespoke custom work versus scale, and the moment she stopped thinking of herself as someone developing a product and started thinking of herself as someone running a company. It's a really honest, grounded conversation about what it actually looks like to build something unusual from scratch — without a business background, without a lot of capital, and with a lot of genuine passion for the craft.🌐 The Sustainable Sequin Company: thesustainablesequincompany.com📩 Dana's newsletter: nationofdoers.substack.com