Episode 106: Kimberly Lau
Join Lori in this inspiring episode as she chats with Kimberly Lau, Founder and CEO of Project Rewear—a thrifting shop with a powerful mission. Many of us don’t realize that something as simple as thrifting or rewearing can spark real change. Tune in to get inspired and see how you can make a difference—starting right in your own closet!
Here are the things to expect in this episode:
How Kimberly turned an idea into a movement
What Project Rewear truly is—and why it’s more than just a thrift shop
How Kimberly’s approach breaks the mold of traditional thrifting
The unique in-store experience that goes beyond just shopping
And much more!
Project ReWear Website: https://www.projectrewear.com/
Project ReWear Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/project.rewear/
Episode Transcript
you're listening to the Positive Impact philanthropy podcast, where we share the journeys of everyday philanthropists as they incorporate philanthropy into their lives. Philanthropy is a personal journey, and through the stories we will share here, we hope that it sparks something in you and how you can make your own philanthropic impact in the world. I'm your host. Lori Kranczer, attorney, philanthropic advisor and legacy given strategist. Today, we're going to focus on exploring what it looks like to be a number of philanthropists and make a positive impact in the world. Before we get started, make sure to subscribe to the podcast so you never miss a new episode. And I'm excited to introduce our guest today, Kimberly Lau. She is the founder and CEO of project we wear. Welcome Kimberly.
01:44
Thank you so much for having me. I'm excited. Lori,
01:47
my pleasure is, do you go by Kimberly or Kim's
Speaker 1 01:51
fine. Okay. Well, Kim, tell us more about you.
Speaker 2 01:56
Well, I'm originally from Michigan, but pretty much native Californian, Southern California, I was in wealth management for 24 years. I always said that we were a human capital business that just so happened to do wealth management. So where I focused was I did more of the horizontal side of things, not the sales side, the vertical side. And it was all about my team, and I look at my team as our clients. So really, I just spent a lot of time in wealth management, which is so far removed from where I'm at now. I have two teenage boys, 13 and 15, who are outgrowing their clothes like every month right now, divorced a few years ago.
Speaker 1 02:42
So why don't you share a little bit about what you're doing for your organization now it's not,
Speaker 2 02:50
no, actually, it's not. So this is what's different, and this is where I'm really storytelling so people have a clear understanding. Let me back up and tell you how I thought of this, how I founded it, and came up with the idea. So I have a grandma who I was very, very close to. She was like a second mom to me, and she lived in LA, and I lived about 30 minutes outside in the suburbs, but we were very close. She was always about making a difference. Always about teaching fashion and kindness. And she was really into fashion. So for about 20 years, 20 plus years, she volunteered her time, cancer, discovery, soil. And what she would do, she would have regulars come in. She would actually style them. She would put up all the displays. And honestly, though I didn't really think too much of it, I was like, Oh, that's great throughout the years, but I never really valued what she did. And then, unfortunately, she passed away a few years ago, and about a month after she passed away, I came up with this idea, and I feel like she almost handed the baton to me. And I know there was one mirror in her house that I always loved, and she left it to me when she passed away. And so actually have it in my store, and I kind of feel like she's just always here, but so that's my sentimental moment. And then I guess really what happened is I was in wealth management, as I just said, for 24 years, and I loved it, and people were great, but it was never my passion. It really wasn't enough to work 24 years, save enough money to now be able to follow my passion. And so what is, is there? I have a favorite quote. One of them is two most important days in your life. I think it's a Mark Twain quote, the day you're born, and then the day you find out why. And this is by why, besides my boys and so in my why is, I've always wanted to make a difference. I just didn't take the time between was mom and raising kids and needing to feel like full once I got divorced, once my grandma passed away, and I turned 50,
05:01
so I'm just gonna take the leap, and
Speaker 2 05:05
it just connected. And I'm so passionate about this that you'll hear through this podcast, sometimes I talk too fast, because it's like, I don't even take a breath because I just want to get it all out.
Speaker 1 05:16
That's okay, from New York, and we talk really fast here, too. I understand that for our listeners, why don't you share a bit about what it is that you're
Speaker 2 05:27
doing now? And I'm really leading up to it. People are like, What is she talking about? Yeah, so project rewear. So really what it was is I would having how fast they outgrow their clothing, every size in season, and I would be cleaning their closets, and I would see half of their stuff they never wore. A quarter of it still had tags on it. And I was like, something about this. So I started looking into it, and I didn't even know what fast fashion was, which is trendy, affordable, disposable clothing like this. I won't even say the company, but we all know, it's the stuff that's disposable and really affordable. And so when I would I learned about that, I'm like, Oh my god. So I started going to thrift stores, because I'm definitely into research, so I have to know my facts to really feel good about what I'm doing. And so I went to thrift stores, and I started sitting there for hours and hours and hours, I brought a chair, I would start asking people questions. I would start looking through all the racks, and I was just, I had no clue that probably 25% of what's in thrift stores still had tags on it. And then I saw the quality that were in thrift stores as I mean, I always kind of shop consignment and thrift for me, but I never even looked in the kids section. I'm like, oh my, I could just buy the cheap clothing for my boys. I don't need to go and get them secondhand. And then I I saw the quality, and I was like, something has to be done about this. So I decided to leave wealth management. It was a time where I had the option, because we got acquired, to sell my shares, because I was partner, and I'm like, what I'm going to take this passionate about it. There's something. I got something here, but I didn't know exactly what it was. So being in wealth management, I was obviously always taught we always look at what's worst case scenario, not to be sort of risk averse. What I was doing was go backwards. No, you're leaving a career of 24 years. You're divorced, you've got two teenage boys you got to support, and now all of a sudden, you're going to go, have no income, and sit in thrift stores and start buying so I started buying clothes. I didn't know exactly what the end goal was, but I'm like, There's something here. So I just kept buying higher quality clothes and clothes with tags on it, and so fast forward, ended up buying about 50,000 pieces of clothing over the last two years, yes, personally, and picking them all, mainly Southern California, but along the coast and then some throughout the nation, and my boys were about to do an intervention, because they didn't what my plan was. But along the way, I just started reaching out to people. I started I reached out to an eco conscious fashion designer named Deborah linquist. She was one of the first eco conscious fashion designers before the word ever even existed. She actually Parsons. She lived in New York for many years, and I reached out to her via direct message. She was awesome. And a few days later, she lives in LA she invited me over to her showroom. We just chatted, and then I started just reaching out to other people and asking them questions, trying to learn about the industry more, I ended up going and taking a class. I flew to Philadelphia at Penn, an accelerated social impact course. I did focus groups, and then I'm like, what I'm going to just test this out. So I decided to rent about 700 square feet in a consignment store. I made displays. I'm like, I'm going to see if in the community where I'm in, which is typically, I mean, it's definitely becoming more popular, but there's definitely a segment out here that wouldn't typically step foot in the thrift store. So I wanted to kind of explore the idea of making it look like a real boutique, where people didn't even walked in and didn't even know thrifted clothes, I wanted to show them the quality, the style and the affordability. And so I got the 700 square foot a little store, tested it out for about three months, and it did really well. And so I'm like, what I think I'm going to take another step, and so I found a larger store, a larger brick and mortar store, about three or four months later, now that's where we're at Project re wear. It's in 1000s. And I also volunteered once a week at a thrift store to learn basically the ins and outs of what it's how a thrift store works, and that's where I met my business partner. She volunteered her time for the last seven years at one of the longest running thrift stores out where I live, for 20 years of experience in retail, opening up stores, and she's Australian, and she's amazing, and we just connected. We have shared values. We have the same mission. Unfortunately, she couldn't be on this podcast, but she really wanted to, and then we partnered, opened up this store. But it's not just a store that's the biggest thing, and that's where I'll go back to your question about for profit, nonprofit. It's 100% for me, mission based to me right now this store. I mean, I know there's more to it, but the nonprofit aspect was I couldn't wait to I talked to nonprofit attorneys and all of that. I couldn't wait with all the there's a lot involved in it. I needed to get going, and I had and I was just like, I'm just going to be the nonprofit right now myself. I'm not going to get the tax deductions, I'm not going to do any of that. I'm just going to follow my passion, which is to make a difference, to breed compassion, foster inclusivity. And that's exactly what I'm doing, which is where I open the store, and it's to empower family, just adults, but their kids, to make more conscious choices with their clothing consumption. That's really what it is, and it's so the store is to be impactful. It's to be affordable, it's to be stylish, and it's to be convenient for some people, right? So some people just want the convenience. They want the hunt taken out. And so, yeah, fast forward, I have 50,000 items, and I have about two weeks ago, we opened a where I got a warehouse, and it's going to be a warehouse that's a showroom, slash, I call it, almost like a museum. It's a museum about textile waste and the effects on fast fashion.
Speaker 1 12:07
Yeah, all right, fast so there's so much here I want to go through. So first off, I'd love for you to share. I know that you had your grandmother was an inspiration to you, and then you had this feeling that you want to do something more after your your career in wealth advisory, how did you identify? This is the area you want it to go.
Speaker 2 12:30
I've always loved fashion, so I guess I could say I've always had a passion for fashion, and I always knew. I always knew. And then somehow a light bulb clicked, and I connected my passion for fashion and making a difference. And I knew with making a difference, it was always about our kids, and it was always about something with their future, and it just clicked. So, I mean, I guess I can go, I haven't really ever told her, but right when I was kind of towards nearing the end of wanting to maybe leave that wealth the wealth management industry, I worked with a business consultant to find out what my why was to really like, narrow it down. And it's so interesting. I was cleaning out my garage the other day, and I I'm big on note taking, and I found this notebook of when I was working with him, and he had me write out my personal why back then, which was a few years ago, and it's so crazy, minus the like, minus, I guess, specifically fashion, it was to make a difference, to foster inclusivity, to breed compassion, and to help change the world for our kids. And right now, it's, it's interesting, it's exactly what I'm doing, but just on a more niche level.
Speaker 1 13:43
Yeah, isn't it crazy? I mean, our values are our values. They don't really change. But it's important to identify great that you work with someone to help you do that. It's so interesting, because how you this niche? And I wonder if you can share with our listeners, because they can't. I can see your background and what it looks like, but they can't see that. Hell yeah, you share what is, what if someone said, what's different about what you're doing to me, like regarding the work that you're doing compared to someone else? Another Thrift is, how does it differ?
Speaker 2 14:16
Well, I probably left out. The biggest thing is, when I learned that 80% of clothing textile donate gets sent to landfills or overseas, I was kind of shocked. I always thought, if I donated my items, and I'm not saying that happens to every single print store, but a lot of the art, it's just because of over consumption and overproduction, right, especially due to fast fashion. So 80% of what we donate to, unfortunately, thrift stores still ends up in landfills overseas, not because they're doing anything wrong. It's just too much. There's just too much waste. And so when I saw that, I was like, how do we create sort of something that's real time to show customers the value they're bringing by purchasing or consuming secondhand clothes. So we created something called the landfill project. And really what it is, is that every purchase we weigh and we weigh every item so that we're showing them what they potentially save from the landfill or sent overseas. So in a little over six months, we've saved over 1500 pounds from landfill or sent overseas. And it really resonates with them, because now they feel a little more connected to it, and they can see it real time. And so that is a big differentiate, is just trying to add a story and sort of the a way for people to feel connected to it, not just let me hand you something, and then I'll never know what happens to it again, right? And then, yeah, so that's, that's one thing we did. Another thing is to to that differentiates is we created something called the community. And really, when you walk through neighborhoods and you see, like a take one leave one book. We have them a lot out here. So that's what this is. It's just a rack where you can bring in something that you would still maybe give a friend, and then you can take something on the rack for free, and if you don't find something, you get a little card. And you can come back and really with what it is. People are like, okay, it's one store in suburbia, right? Well, to me, this isn't a store. We're trying to create a movement, and it's already happening without me. I'm just trying to be one little piece of this huge puzzle, and so we're actually creating a blueprint of how to replicate this model in other cities, because this model Another thing that's really different, and I apologize I'm not explaining this the best, but it's volume based. It's not about going buying these items and reselling them at really high prices. Some of these are only the items are only $1 or two more than I bought them for a good chunk. Some are a little bit more, just to be financially sustainable, but because it's a volume based model and not a profit based model, first, it's very different. Most people would never do it. It's definitely a risk. But when I see the cost of items that I'm buying in thrift stores the last two years and how they keep increasing. It's, it boggles my mind, considering it's all donated and free. And so I'm like, Nope, we're going to try to do something a little different. And so it's, it's, it's not about profit first. It's about purpose, right?
Speaker 1 17:41
But, but it is a business, and it has to be sustainable. Some. How do you do your your marketing, or who's buying the clothes, like, who's coming and who your customers? Yeah, that's
17:52
great question. Well, we've been open for
Speaker 2 17:56
we pick this spot. There's, there's not two stores around here, but there's two within walking distance, and so we picked a spot so it could sort of be a thrift crawl. So in the beginning it was mainly a lot of people who typically thrift which is great, but obviously that the end goal is to sort of generate awareness for the community of people who typically wouldn't go to thrift stores. So in the last two or three months, we've gotten so many new customers who actually never even stepped foot in a thrift store before. And the when we done it is because I mentioned the landfill project. Well, that's resonated because we created something called Snap and share anytime someone makes a purchase and we weigh it. If we have this board that has a garbage truck on it, and it shows the weight they save if they share this on their social media accounts, doesn't matter what, and then they save 10% off their purchase that day. And so it's really I'm not putting into going out and doing a ton of advertising. It's more of giving it back to the community, and if they believe in this enough and comfortable with sharing it, that's great.
Speaker 1 19:12
And you're it's in person, or do you also have an online presence or for people to buy them?
Speaker 2 19:19
Yeah, so, because it's so new. We didn't, we don't have online, but we're meant in the next two to three weeks. And the difference online again, it kind of feeds back to our whole mission of the weight we can potentially save from the landfill. So you'll every item that we're putting on, and we're doing it in drops, will have the weight, even on the picture of the item. And then you can even filter, if you wanted this was important to you by the weight you want to save from the landfill with your purchase. So this
Speaker 1 19:50
is incredible, and fact that you've really been in business for six months, I do want to talk about what you see, the vision for the business being like, how the impact that you're creating, you're obviously creating an impact. But where you see this going,
Speaker 2 20:08
Yeah, I mean, like, I keep saying we're one piece to this big puzzle, but we talk to everybody about it, to me, it's so much more than the store. It's really trying to start this new movement around feeling part of this mission, and not just like I said, donating or purchasing something and walking away. And so we're building a blueprint where this going forward is nationally, obviously online, but it's not the store online too. It won't be just a store and showing weight and saving from the landfill. There's going to be bits and pieces, even signs on the clothes or whatever, of facts, stats about textile waste, just to resonate. And it's also when I say drops. We're not just going online and going to all of a sudden have 1000s of pieces. I'm too small right now to even have the time to do that. It's going to be dropped new trends that are coming out, but in different ways, like about y 2k is very big in the teens and young adults. So we're going to have a focus of a drop of y 2k items, and hopefully that will generate some awareness within that, that niche. And then I know with women, I do a lot of research and study and fashion what they're wearing now, with the soft, flowy pants and the light linen shirts with the tank tops underneath and they layer. So we're doing drops specific to the groups that we've done.
Speaker 1 21:37
This is amazing, and it's incredible. It's only been six months, and you're already starting to think of all these different collaborations that you're be doing. You're doing partnerships and growing. We'd love to know what you consider your legacy
Speaker 2 21:52
to do. Yeah, well, this is where we go back to my why, to that club great days in your life, the day you born and the day you find out my why and my legacy. And even before I ever did this was I told my kids, is what is the most important thing to me? Like, Yes, Mom, it's to teach us empathy, compassion and kindness and to also now help people, help the planet.
Speaker 1 22:23
That's great. All right, so for that, we need to wrap up here, but this has been so interesting. Thank you so much for sharing this. I feel like we're getting in on, like the ground floor of seeing what you're doing now, and we'll probably get a little bit later, maybe next year, to see how it's starting to grow. So such an important issue area. I know a lot of our listeners are very interested in the sustainable fashion. We've interviewed a few people that are part of this issue area, and it's certainly growing awareness, especially for the younger generations. I know my teen is very interested in this cheap thrift so I'm so happy that we got to share your story. So where can people find out more information about you and what you're doing?
Speaker 2 23:05
Yeah, on Instagram. It's our project.re wear, R, E, W, E, A, R, and then our website's project, rewear.com and also, just a side note is we are tons of people are wanting to donate now, which is crazy, considering we aren't a nonprofit, but we're all about transparency. So that's another new program to keep an eye out for. It's going to be called the don't ape with the number eight project, I don't slow down.
Speaker 1 23:38
So thanks so much for sharing your story and I know that a lot of people are interested in that topic. So thank you again. And for all our listeners, please go check out Kim's links. We'll have everything in the show notes. You can check everything out, donate check it out. Purchase when she's online. And if you're in our area, stop by her store.
Speaker 2 24:00
Thank you so much. I really appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you for joining.