Скачать или смотреть Athena Studio CEO Heidi Van Dyck | Founding a Sustainability Tech Start Up | The Crowd Podcast S2E4

In this episode of The Crowd Podcast, host Adam Hosker meets a former McKinsey consultant who walked away from six comfortable years of exciting projects, good pay, and global travel to bootstrap her own tech-driven fashion startup. Discover how she used her personal savings and a government grant—without bringing in outside investors—to tackle a problem many don’t even realize exists: over 80% of a fashion product’s impact on the environment is locked in at the product-development stage.

You’ll hear about:
• Taking the Leap – Why she chose the risk of entrepreneurship over the safe route to a junior partnership.
• Bootstrapping Reality – The ups and downs of using personal funds to grow a team of data scientists and an environmental specialist.
• Tech & AI – How no-code tools, ChatGPT, and GitHub Copilot speed up innovation in ways that were unthinkable even a few years ago.
• Sustainability Struggles – Why customers don’t always pay more for eco-friendly products, and how brands might still make meaningful improvements.
• Staying Resilient – Overcoming “no” after “no,” celebrating small wins, and staying energized through conferences, pivots, and big ideas.

If you’ve ever wondered about jumping into your own venture or how real change can happen in the fashion industry, you won’t want to miss this candid look at bootstrapping, sustainability, and forging your own path.

Business Podcast, Fashion Podcast, Adam Hosker, Heidi Van Dyck, Athena Studio, Entrepreneurship, Marketing, Leadership, Brand Development, Innovation, Collaboration, Empowerment, Startup, Creative Thinking, BBC One The Apprentice UK.