What motivated you to start your business and what is your vision for the future of the company?

When I was pregnant, I was shocked to find there were no outdoor stores carrying maternity hiking clothes. Then when I was nursing my daughter (born July 2020) I had the same realization! As I was cross-country skiing with my 6 month old and having to take my coat off / lift my shirt up to nurse (and getting freezing cold in the process), I thought that there must be a better way! Add these experiences onto the reality that the clothes I did purchase during pregnancy didn't double function for nursing and vice versa, and therefore, felt like a waste of money and resources. I was frustrated by the fact that women who loved to get outside weren't being provided for during motherhood , but completely left out! This inspired me to begin dreaming up a company that served this need and the sweater which would eventually become the All Phases Fleece. Once I began doing Market Research and realized I wasn't alone in my frustration, I felt very motivated to solve the problem myself. My vision for the future of Wildelore is to create more products that serve the needs of women who are expecting and/or nursing and enjoy being in the outdoors. Let's close the gap! By providing women with high quality options, it is my hope that it makes it easier for her and her family to get outside and stay outside, even as a mom! As a result of this it is my deepest desire that she is better able to be supported throughout pregnancy and nursing, and therefore to foster a connection with the outdoors and with herself throughout her motherhood journey as it is so important for mental, physical and spiritual health! As well, it is my goal to continue to reduce the amount of clothing waste produced by temporary and phase-specific clothing, through transformable, multi-use garments designed to be enjoyed during every phase of motherhood. I am also committed to continue to manufacture ethically as we work with factories who are ethically certified (ie. WRAP Certified) + fabrics that are certified recycled (ie fleece) or responsibly created (ie wool). To sum it up as it says on the footer of our website "We are committed to creating high-quality & ethically produced clothes that stand the test of time. For the love of mother nature." Now and in the future, I hope to be empowering women everywhere to spend more time outdoors in every phase of motherhood! Our hang tags read: "We value heirloom quality. That's why this fleece is durable, transformable and timeless. And, why it's designed to be enjoyed now and for many years to come. We hope it inspires you to get outside and remember your own nature during every season of motherhood." This is a nice summary of who we are, what we strive to achieve with our products and our purpose. It is our goal to grow as a values-based company, so we can help as many women as possible, venture outdoors in motherhood and beyond. Please watch our Kickstarter video for a more detailed backstory of how Wildelore came to be and the journey of designing the All Phases Fleece. The link is provided below and also in the attached documents section as a hyperlink. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2077721263/the-transformable-sweater-for-mothers-in-nature?ref=discovery

Why do you deserve to win the Best Youth Entrepreneur Award?

After sharing my frustration and vision with my husband in late winter 2021 he encouraged me to start doing research. After I polled my local "Moms" Facebook Group and finding out that there were many other women equally frustrated by being left out of the clothing industry, I enrolled in a "Start Your Own Clothing Line" online course. Having no experience in apparel design or e-commerce (I went to school for music, you can listen to my album Like Water by searching Carissa Kimbell in Spotify etc) this was a great jumping off point. From this course I was able to connect with a couple key individuals which would help me take the idea further. At this time I also enrolled in a self-employment program where I wrote a 70+ page business plan and began working with a mentor experienced in the e-commerce/apparel industry (ie Ambler Mountain Works). One of the connections made during the clothing line course was Cara Sumpton of Apparelmark Design, who we ultimately hired to design the All Phases Fleece. She has a history of designing for brands such as Arctery'x and Lululemon. The process of designing and prototyping took just about 1 year (amidst Covid which was challenging for the supply chain). From October 2021 - September 2022 we worked hard to develop a high-quality garment that met our vision and though we faced several set backs, we were on track to receive our sweaters sometime in winter 2023. In June 2022 while still developing the sweater, I read the book "Crowdfunded" and decided that we would launch the All Phases Fleece via crowdfunding. In July 2022 I joined an Accelerator program for launching successful Crowdfunding campaigns and began building out our launch plan. During this time we grew our email list from 0 to 7,000. Though originally we were scheduled to launch on Kickstarter in Oct 2022, due to a major manufacturing set back (but important decision for our commitment to quality) we did not launch until January 2023. Our goal was to raise $80k. During our 30 day campaign we raised over $120,000, and had over 820 backers! And though traditional crowdfunding campaigns use the campaign to then create Purchase Orders and fund the order, due to a very long lead-time with our product, we had already placed our PO back in July 2022 without having sold a single sweater! We truly believed in our product and ended up ordering 1,500 units before any revenue. It was a bold decision, but one we had to make in order to get the sweaters to our backers in a timely manner (in the sense that women who were pregnant and nursing wanted the sweaters now and not in year for now). What a relief to see our campaign succeed! Receiving our sweaters in April 2023, we shipped 900+ units to backers and then launched our online store shortly after. Since launching on Kickstarter (14 months of e-commerce) we have sold another 1,000 sweaters and generated over $174k in revenue via our online store + placed a second PO for more sweaters/received the order this spring. In addition, we are excited to release our new products this fall/spring - a 100% Merino Wool Nursing/Pregnancy Base Layer, t-shirt and tank top respectively. We are proud to have funded both the design/prototyping process + the PO's of our merino products through leveraging healthy debt and being able to pay these off recently through sales generated in May during our annual mother's day sale. Recently we received a grant to hire a youth employee for 9 months, and we are currently working to fill this role for a Marketing Coordinator Intern. It is our goal that by having the help of someone else, we can stay connected to our community of 10.3k on Instagram and 12k via Email more consistently, and have another successful product launch (Pre-Sale) this fall. During the past 14 months we have had over 50,000 visitors to our website and 70,000 sessions! Through fine-tuning and updating our website this fall and winter we hope to increase our conversion rate as well as to grow brand awareness and sales in 2024/2025. It is wonderful timing as I am pregnant, and expecting another bundle of joy to join us mid-October! I am so excited to wear our Merino Base Layers (yet to be named) underneath the All Phases Fleece this fall and winter as I journey outdoors with a newborn! It has been a journey full of ups and downs, but it has been worth it to hear the feedback and read the reviews from our happy mama customers! Here are a few examples: Kayla (5 stars): "I invested in the all phases fleece during my second (and last) pregnancy. I lived in it during our mild winter and early spring. Now that our baby has arrived, I’m eager to try out the nursing functions while out adventuring. So grateful to have found a technical piece that supports our active lifestyle. Thank you for thinking of the mamas!" Megan (5 stars): "I wanted to thank you for creating such a high-quality product. I found it challenging to find versatile clothing in my first pregnancy and even more difficult finding warm outdoor attire that was practical for feeding while being aesthetically pleasing. However, your product came to me shortly after my second pregnancy with twin boys. Since owning it, I’ve worn it so many times. I’ve used it while tandem breastfeeding - the ability to zip open the entire chest section has been SO useful. As you can imagine, tandem feeding involves a lot of adjustments to myself and the babies, and this specific feature of your product is so valuable to me. Even if this feeding journey evolved to one involving pumping and bottling, I see your All Phases Fleece remaining my staple outdoor clothing piece." Katie (5 stars): “I am over the moon with my Wildelore Fleece! It is so practical, comfortable and flattering. I love the team's commitment to mothering in the outdoors - I feel so empowered wearing this fleece. Thank you!” To read more of our 142, 5 star reviews directly on our All Phases Fleece "product page" paste the link below, or click the hyper link in the attached documents section: https://wildelore.com/products/all-phases-fleece It is hard to believe that I have spent 4 years in this business, from that first experience of being pregnant and not being able to find outdoor gear to now, preparing to birth 3 new products into the world and a baby! It has truly been a heroine's journey as during the process of designing/prototyping and preparing for our crowdfunding campaign, I also experienced a stillbirth at 26 weeks (Sept 2022) and a miscarriage last July 2023. Navigating my health, healing and family while launching and running a start up company has been very difficult, but has made the importance of spending time in nature so apparent. At first it was walking my daughter to sleep and dealing with postpartum depression/sleep deprivation and then it became about healing through pregnancy loss in nature. My husband (and business partner/co-founder) and I truly believe in the silver lining in all things - from financially scary manufacturing/supply chain setbacks to our experience of stillbirth and loss - and one of those silver linings for me is being able to connect with women on a deeper level who have dealt with loss or are currently dealing with it, and to encourage them to find connection and healing in the outdoors. Back when I recorded our Kickstarter video, I said "to enjoy the healing benefits of time spent in nature" and this was before pregnancy loss. How deeply this is true even during loss and healing! I say this not to create feelings of sadness for me or my family, but to rejoice in the healing that is found through nature and to drive home the importance of having role-models and companies that show women it is possible to get outside during all seasons of motherhood. After all, it is a time of such change, and staying grounded is crucial - for both the health of women and her families and the communities at large. Thank you for taking the time to read my application! Carissa

Why do you think you should win the Premier’s People’s Choice Award?

The empowerment and support that our products provide to women impacts not only the current generation of mothers and families, but future generations as well. As a culture, most of us know (and can directly feel) that we are losing touch with nature thanks to our modern lifestyles. We also know that this disconnect carries with it negative repercussions - some of which we can already see and some that have yet to be revealed. There are countless outdoor clothing companies serving the majority of the population, but very few serving the needs of mothers. When women enter into pregnancy and nursing phases (especially for the first time) the clothing that once functioned for her and her outdoor pursuits no longer accommodates her growing belly, or allows her to nurse outdoors with ease and warmth. She needs products designed specifically for these new phases in her life! Without the right gear, spending time outside and staying warm/comfortable is more challenging, and when you're pregnant or are a new mom, getting outside is essential for mom and baby's well being. As well, making things easier for yourself during these times of transition is important - especially when you're sleep deprived! Mothering is a very impactful role, and being able to stay connected to oneself in and through the experience of nature is so important for mental, physical and spiritual health. Our nervous systems regulate and we find it easier to breathe deeply - even among life's challenges. This kind of regulation affects the health of the mother, the baby in utero (when pregnant) and can even help babies and children relax. It also teaches us and our families that it's important to cultivate a connection with nature, and to directly experience the many reasons why it's so beneficial. By reconnecting women with nature, we help them connect deeply with themselves, their bodies and their babies - an important practice throughout the motherhood journey that positively impacts families and communities at large. It's more than just adding to one's wardrobe. It's about proving to the world that women in all phases deserve a place in the outdoors.