This morning inside the Slow Fashion Lab, I sat down with Jasmine Gescheit from Jasmine Alexa for a masterclass on all things business, and what I love about sessions like these, is that one founder’s story can unlock patterns for so many.
I realised some pretty big truths in one short hour, some of which we don't talk about enough in business.
1. Start scrappy, then sharpen with alignment.
The early years are rarely neat. Jasmine described year one as 'very messy', juggling a full-time job and building after hours in a studio above her mum’s shop, which is proof that a side hustle can still be a serious business. She only went full-time eight years in. That timeline is 'normal'. But we're too often told that until you're full time, you're not running a 'serious' business. False.
What matters is momentum.
And creating momentum on a budget (or no budget) is tough, but where there's a will there's a way. Jasmine's approach to saying 'yes' to almost everything in the first few years, her DIY shoots, getting involved authentically with her community... All of it built reach. She didn't magically reach from a viral post, she created reach with attitude and approach.
But it only works in the beginning. Because over time, the 'say yes' approach has to mature into an intuition-led filter for what truly aligns, and this was the big takeaway we don't talk about. Sometimes it's not about data. Sometimes it's about that gut feeling, your intuition. And when Jasmine started talking about it, she first hesitated, because we don't talk about it enough in business and sometimes it's 'taboo' or 'woo woo'.
For me, it's 90% of my decision-making process, but when I ignore it and work on something that isn't aligned, I end up burning out, or the energy if off, or I'm just not happy doing it, despite the income attached to it.
And I bet you've felt the same at some point, but ignored it to lead with data.
2. Let go of your ego and get in front of the camera.
When Jasmine made herself 'front of face' and spoke directly to her audience with unpolished updates, things changed, fast. People don’t buy slow fashion only for the product; they invest in the feeling, in the story, and they need to hear it from you.
It's not about growing fast and trying to gain thousands of followers with the content you create. It's about telling a story, a meaningful story, and being real, make-up or no make-up. Reach is vanity; resonance is revenue, especially for purpose-driven brands.
3. Protect the promise in production.
Two hard moments became Jasmine’s biggest operational teachers. First, a new manufacturer pushed her to commit to volumes that didn’t match her reality. The result nearly broke the business. This is where many slow brands stumble: we trade our intuition for someone else’s minimums.
Second, an early legging run that hadn’t been pre-washed was a big blunder. The dyes bled and she was forced to recall the orders and refund every customer. Painful yes, but it was textbook quality learning: never assume bulk equals sample. Test and test again, and design systems that make 'the right result' automatic.
It was a big hour of big lessons and some powerful strategy work, but the best bits, had nothing to do with data.
Jasmine’s story shows that when you validate with alignment, not just data, put the founder out front, and engineer quality into the process, you earn the right to grow without being forced to speed up and sacrifice what you're all about.
And isn't that the goal?
If the idea of building an ethical brand like Jasmine excites you, if you're open to a new way of doing business, and you're looking for the right community to do it in, this is exactly what we do inside Slow Fashion Lab.
Reach out.
Claire x
