Meg started her business in the East Village in the 90s, before “founder” was a personality. She did the math: ten dresses a month would cover rent if she lived in the store. So she did. For a decade.
Her 30s were hard work, not smart work — red eyes between New York and LA, a franchise in Ireland, a partnership she should have left sooner. Motherhood taught her efficiency. She’s still figuring out what she wants. She’s outlasted most of her peers because she’s too dedicated to want balance.
Ten questions. One answer about being too late that stuck with us. Here’s Meg.
1. You started your business before “founder” was even a personality. Did you think of it that way?
Clearly just trying to make a living. The word “founder” was never used. The word “brand” was never used. None of that. All I knew was that I liked to make clothes, I was definitely a crap student, and I was for sure going to be a crap employee. So my theory was I should start my own thing, which is what I did. I did the math and realized that if I sold 10 dresses, I could pay my rent in the East Village — if I lived in the store as well. And so that’s what I did for a decade. Got completely addicted to the feeling of people buying my designs, and then fell under the lucky star of what was the 90s in the East Village.
2. Was there ever a moment you almost walked away — and what was going on?
I really felt like I could never walk away. One, I was totally illegal in America, so I wasn’t going to get a job. Two, I literally had no skills to sell. There wasn’t any giving up — I had no backup plan. The only real close call was maybe my third year in business, when I had overextended myself and needed help with rent. There have been scary times for sure, but I don’t know if it’s my Canadian frugalness — I’ve always been able to run a business well.
3. What’s something about running a business that still surprises you?
It is always changing. Right when you think you’ve got something figured out, there’s a new technology, the tides have turned to e-comm, and neighborhoods shift. You never quite have it down. Things you thought would be a forever thing — like making sweatshirts for the Women’s March every January — all of a sudden go away. You always have to be open to change, because that’s what’s happening.
4. You’ve been in it for decades. What do you feel like you’ve outlasted?
Most likely because it’s total survival, and I have fewer and fewer skills that are useful in the world, I just feel like I outlast everybody in this game who actually wants to have a life or wants some balance. I’m so dedicated to what I do that I outlast anyone looking for balance.
And things come back. I remember when fast fashion was a major concern. Now there’s so much disdain around it. I remember being worried about people only caring about designer labels and my label not being designer enough — and somehow the concept of local craftsmanship kept being valid, or became valid again. It goes to show: if you just stay around, something you do will be trendy again at some point.
