Why This Canadian Entrepreneur Launched a Sustainable Footwear Brand  – Canadian Business – How to Do Business Better

When your aim is to make the world a greater place, each interplay is a chance to create change. Just ask Christal Earle, founding father of the sustainable trend model Brave Soles.

Since 2005, Earle had been residing and dealing with migrant staff at a landfill on the northern coast of the Dominican Republic. More than a decade later, an opportunity encounter sparked a really impactful concept, for the atmosphere and the well being of the neighborhood.

“One day my neighbour came out of her apartment and she was wearing these cute sandals [with soles made from tires],” Earle recollects. “I was like ‘oh, I love your shoes,’ and then it hit me like a lightning bolt.” 

The dangers related to discarded tires 

During her time within the Dominican Republic, Earle grew to become keenly conscious of the issues posed by discarded tires. “Globally, we produce almost two billion tires a year.” she says. “You can get a little tiny hole in a tire and the whole thing needs to be discarded. Working in a landfill, it’s very jarring to see how things reach their end of life long before they ever reach their end of use.”

By the time she seen her neighbour’s sneakers, the tire downside had already been on Earle’s thoughts for a very long time. “Tires are made of rubber,” she says, “but they also have a lot of plastic in them that degrades down into microplastics.” When they’re burned—as they usually are in locations that lack recycling services—they launch toxins into the air and when they’re left in landfills, they pool water and act as breeding grounds for disease-carrying mosquitoes. “Some of the people I was working with were dying from those diseases or their kids were getting sick,” Earle says.

So when she noticed her neighbour’s sneakers, Earle’s first thought was, “Oh my god, how did I not think of this before?”

She rapidly set to work, launching Brave Soles in a matter of months with simply $250. “On the first day, I sold 39 pairs all over the world,” she says. 

But to actually have an effect, Earle knew it wasn’t sufficient simply to place out an revolutionary new product—she had to have the ability to quantify what she was doing. “What gets measured gets valued,” she says.

Seizing monetary alternatives

Back in Canada, she partnered with organizations, together with BMO, to learn the way she might finest scale her mission and develop her affect. “I started a fashion company because I wanted to provide the opportunity for people to experience the power of their choices,” Earle says. 

Earle found the BMO Celebrating Women Grant Program by way of IFundWomen, a web-based platform devoted to feminine entrepreneur funding. Using a $10,000 grant, she’s been in a position to take an excellent nearer have a look at her personal processes to raised align them to her aim of making really round trend. “You can’t say something is 100 per cent upcycled unless it is,” she says. “With our BMO grant, we’ve found new efficiencies in our supply chain to source things like reclaimed zippers and buckles. We plan to launch an accessories line that’s 100 per cent reclaimed this spring.”

Earle says BMO has been instrumental in serving to construct her relationships with Coralus and Export Development Canada–two very important partnerships wanted to run her business and help girls. “Due to these connections, we are a 2023 venture with Coralus.” BMO additionally gave her a membership to GroYourBiz–a month-to-month peer advisory board for girls in business. “Those relationships have been super valuable,” she says. 

For Earle, that capability to create significant change with out a ton of sources is among the nice joys of working as a small business. 

“There’s nothing new under the sun,” she says. “I don’t think we ever need to create another new piece of clothing again. But as an entrepreneur, I see endless opportunities to reclaim things and have a greater imagination around how things can be used.”

Visit bmo.com/companies to learn the way BMO may help your business obtain its mission and study this yr’s BMO Celebrating Women Grant recipients.