Brianna: The most rewarding aspect of my role is to see our ideas (big or small) come to life and to see how they positively impact our community. One of our main focuses is to find new ways to spread the word about Retykle. I especially love seeing new customer’s faces light up when they discover the value of pre-loved items for the first time. As many as 70% of our Pop-Up customers have never bought second-hand before and it’s great to see people shop more consciously to help reduce their impact on the environment.

Sarah: Knowing that our customers love Retykle-ing. It is particularly rewarding when they share their positive experiences with us, it lets us know that we are doing great work. I also love the story that is being built by Retykle, the story of outgrown clothing being given a new lease on life by a new family. When the items then appear with us again for re-sale it really proves that our objective of being fully cyclical is being driven by our customers. The way we work with our charity partners is also incredibly rewarding - if we don’t accept a certain item we donate so it’s really inspiring to know that we are helping families in all walks of life.

Brianna: Since we’re a relatively small team, we’re still fine-tuning our best practices. The challenge right now is to lay a strong foundation to support Retykle’s ongoing growth as we gain more exposure and welcome new team members onboard. For operations specifically, it’s to ensure that whatever processes we have can scale and adapt to the growing and evolving demand on our platform.

Sarah: Providing great customer service has always been our priority. We often have days where we will receive a lot of pickups and this inevitably increases our turnaround time. So we constantly work on improving our customers’ shopping and selling experience with us by uploading more products every day and we are working on improving our website for better user experience. We want to inspire more families to join the cycle.

Brianna: Time is precious and when you operate in a fast paced and dynamic environment,  there’s only so much you can do in a day - it’s all about prioritizing what is important and to learn how to adapt your schedule. People might not know that there are multiple steps involved with listing a new product online which starts from the moment we receive the items from a seller. We aim to streamline all these processes to get the product from the seller to the customer in the most efficient way possible while ensuring the quality that Retyklers expect.

Sarah: Before I started working at Retykle, I wasn’t really aware of how much waste was created by the fashion industry and how much it affects our environment. Retykle has taught me to be more mindful and conscious of what I personally consume. It’s also changed my mindset when it comes to actively seeking out sustainable pieces that will last. 

Brianna: Since we come in contact with hundreds of pre-loved clothes everyday, we can tell when brands put extra love into their fabric selection. My favourite brands are the ones that don’t compromise on fabric quality for style. I get excited when these two brands come through our doors; Velveteen for their in-house prints hand embroidery details and Chloe for their timeless pieces with ruffled accents and a neutral color palette. 

Sarah: Before joining Retykle, I didn’t know a lot about kids brands but thanks to our sellers, I have fallen in love with quality French brands including Bonpoint and Jacadi. I am also a big fan of Ralph Lauren - they have great casual ‘mini-me’ style.