From Finance to Fashion: Following Her Dreams

What happens when you combine the left and right side functions of your brain? For Nora Gardner, she merged finance and fashion to create functional, beautiful professional wear for the intrepid career woman. Listen in to hear how she did it, why she did it, and the challenges she faced while building an exclusive collection of women’s workwear. 

We would be remiss not to share that Nora always had a love of the arts. She coupled her love of design and training in business and finance to fill a need that has gone ignored for too long. After 6 years in the finance industry, Nora realized that while men had custom-designed workwear that stood the test of a busy business person, women did not have the same. 

She shares the impetus for starting her first collection and why inventory is one of the biggest challenges. One of her most pressing concerns, aside from creating beautiful designs, is sustainability in the fashion industry. Too many big businesses create excess inventory that eventually ends up in our landfills or burned. Hear how Nora aims to curb these excesses in her own business and why more designers need to do the same.

If you’ve ever wished for a custom suit or a tailored dress made from luscious fabrics and functional design, then you need to take a look at Nora’s collections. The pieces are limited, but the wait is worth it. Listen in to hear how you can bring opposite worlds together to create harmonious design.

Show Notes:

• [01:14] What are you looking forward to in 2020? How can we help you? 
• [02:52] Welcome Nora Gardner, a former investment banker turned fashion designer.
• [04:26] Why did Nora decide to transition from banking to fashion? 
• [07:15] Did Nora develop any skills in her early career that helped her build the business? 
• [09:20] Listen in as Nora shares the process she went through during the research phase.
• [11:43] How does she plan out her year and collections? 
• [15:53] Nora shares some of the challenges she’s faced and how she’s overcome them. 
• [22:44] How is Nora bringing emotional intelligence into her business? 
• [29:47] Learn Nora’s strategy for building her team.
• [33:01] Does she still step out of her comfort zone? How? 
• [36:06] Hear Nora’s advice to that person who wants to take that next step!

Links and Resources:

Nora Gardner NYC
Nora on Facebook
Nora on Instagram
Nora on Twitter

Episode Sponsor: Feel First Test