Episode 4: Nicki Oloyede from Missy Mop Fabrics

Nicki Oloyede is the founder of Missy Mop Fabrics, a sustainable fabric company based in Hastings. The business is named after the nickname Nicki’s mum gave her when she was a girl after her 'wild & crazy hair'. Launched in 2019 the company sources and sells leftover fabric from the fashion industry, which would have otherwise been sent to landfill. Nicki has Nigerian and German roots and had a colourful childhood surrounded by adults wearing clothes from these cultures with interesting colours and different styles.In this episode I talk to Nicki about her varied career and finding her passion in the thrill of seeking unusual ‘dead-stock’ fabrics as well as the great satisfaction she gets when her customers select a fabric they might not usually wear.We talk about how living in an entrepreneurial town has helped nurture her business and how Hastings is a place where people can and do re-invent themselves. We find out that our paths actually crossed in 2009 when we both worked for a large telecoms company, although we never actually met.We also talk about how she used a pop-up format to establish her business and why it was such a great way of testing the business concept. How pop-ups could be used to rejuvenate towns across the country to nurture startups and give towns a stronger identity & sense of community.Finally we talk about how the fashion industry is changing and why doing work that we really, really love is so important, that when we do this it gives us the energy and drive to succeed.