Angie Colee (00:02):

Welcome to Permission to Kick Ass. A podcast about leaving self-doubt in the dust, punching fear in the face and taking bold action toward your biggest dreams. I'm Angie Colee, and let's get to it. All right. Welcome back to Permission to Kick Ass. We've got another awesome episode in the works. For you with me today is my new friend Dagmar Spichale. We met in a mastermind group dedicated to publicity. I love it. So welcome to the show Dagmar. Can you tell us a little bit about you?

Dagmar Spichale (00:36):

Hi everyone. Thank you, Angie, for having me I'm so excited. Um, yeah, I, uh, I started a business that I haven't quite launched yet. I'm in that exciting process and I make, uh, silk dresses for women. And the goal is that women can take these dresses and really take them everywhere. Um, running errands, sitting on the floor, playing with the kids, um, being on a zoom chat and, um, going on date night, going for lunch, really everything. Um, uh, the, the idea started because I always wanted these kind of dresses and I could never find them. And then when I did finally find them, uh, the next season would roll around and they were discontinued. So...

Angie Colee (01:27):

Ugh, of course. Whenever you find something you love, it's immediately gone, and I love that you're doing this, you know, to find something that you need and share it with people and then have it continually available so they can find it when they can go back, I think is smart. And to talk about effective. I am a lazy fashionista. If you can give me a pretty dress that I can just throw on and be like, I look like I'm put together, but I didn't actually do much besides put on a really good looking dress.

Dagmar Spichale (01:52):

That's exactly the idea. Roll out of bed, put on the dress, shower's optional and get out the door.

Angie Colee (01:59):

That is totally my style. I think I'm going to be your biggest customer. All right. So tell me, you said you're on the beginning end of your business. And you told me a little bit about what inspired you to do this. So let's talk a little bit about where you're at in this process. I saw that you had a website and it's super, super pretty, but let's talk about it.

Dagmar Spichale (02:21):

Thank you. Yes, I have created a website I've created a Facebook presence, uh, a Instagram feed, you know, all of the usual suspects and, uh, uh, an email list that I love. And, um, I'm, I'm literally weeks away from launching. Um, we have. Uh, it took me a long time to create the prototype, um, and, uh, I really wanted everything just right. The fit, the length, everything. And, um, so now what is the latest thing?

Angie Colee (03:03):

No, actually that's interesting. I've never heard anything about a prototype. So I think I want to dig in and ask you about the prototype process, if you want to dig into that. I think that would be really interesting.

Dagmar Spichale (03:14):

Yeah. I mean, you know, I had an idea I wanted to create a slip dress and the thing of slip dress is it, unless you really have a up and down and straight body, um, it will kind of not hang right and actually makes you look shorter, especially in the back. It goes from the, um, shoulder plates straight to the butt and doesn't follow that curve. So it took me several months to figure out how to make the dress, follow that curve and really flow nicely. And because it hangs so nicely, it, it stretches you and, and, and elongates, uh, your body. And I was the, my own best fit model for that, because I definitely don't have a stick figure.

Angie Colee (04:05):

Me either!

Dagmar Spichale (04:05):

My body is one size smaller on top than it is on the bottom. And, uh, so it was quite challenging, but I solved that problem. And, um, I just got the first sample back from the manufacturer and it looked beautiful. I thought they couldn't, uh, possibly there's always a chance. They can't re repeat the process, but they did a great job. The price is okay. Uh, I can, I can work with that and I can offer it at an honest price. The thing is, I was just talking to a friend this morning, when you go to a big box store and you get 60% discount, they're still making money. So whatever you pay, you're being ripped off in some way. And like the people in your community, like also don't benefit. So I, I figured I will turn that, um, I will turn that process around and they need to offer these prices that are so much higher than their actual costs, because at the end of the season day, we'll sit on inventory and they will need to sell at huge discounts. So we're going to turn that process around and begin to offer a presale model where I, uh, present the styles, callaways everything, and as much information about the fit as possible. And then people place their order. And at the end of a one or two week period, we gonna close that process off and start producing. So that way they, they have to wait a little bit, but they really only pay what it costs.

Angie Colee (06:00):

Yeah, I think that's great. You know, and that's, so I have a background in marketing too, and that's, I think the side of marketing that I hate that pricing psychology and how it gets like super complicated, super fast. They do that shit on purpose. You know, they do like they jack up the price and then they go, "Ooh, look, discount!" Where, you know, they they've run tests. And there's a reason that they do that because putting in the retail stores, putting that straightforward price, isn't nearly as appealing as it's 20% off.

Dagmar Spichale (06:27):

Right.

Angie Colee (06:28):

And then you never really know how much something costs or what the value of it is. And I think that there's a big movement toward transparency. Like what you're advocating that "This is a real price. It covers my costs. You're going to get something that's really high quality, really amazing, really good stuff." So I love that you're on this mission.

Dagmar Spichale (06:45):

Um, thank you.

Angie Colee (06:47):

It's super exciting. So we were talking a little bit before we got on here about this whole business building process. And there was one thing that I really wanted you to say again, cause I loved it. Uh, and that was talking about your excitement and building this business, like what led you to do this? And I don't want to spoil it. Can you tell me what you said?

Dagmar Spichale (07:08):

Yes. Um, it was basically this one quote, um, that I want to repeat. It's "Entrepreneurship is a roller coaster journey in personal growth disguised as a business adventure." And when somebody mentioned that to me, something really clicked because I had been like, when I, when I started out, I was like, "Oh my God, this is so exciting. Like I get to do what I want. I get to do what I feel I am here on this planet to do, and I get to help all of these people solve this problem of never finding what they want, why isn't everybody doing this?"

Angie Colee (07:48):

Right?!

Dagmar Spichale (07:48):

And then, then I realized, um, it sounds really simple, but all of a sudden at every step of the way, all these, um, limiting beliefs kick in and make us either abandon mission or, uh, stalled the process and they are strong.

Angie Colee (08:16):

Yes. Or they make you play small. There was a concept that I heard a while back that I really love and it sticks in my mind and it's called "playing not to lose versus playing to win." So like playing, just to keep what you have and not actually trying to grow versus putting yourself out there and taking a bigger risk and playing to win. And I think a lot of people, when they start a business, they, they kind of play from that small place. Like "I've only got a little bit to work with, so I want to keep this a little safe and I'm not really going to try big, bold, scary things." And I loved it. That's why I was like, kind of chuckling when I asked you to repeat that. I loved that line about like, "Oh my God, I get to do what I what I want when want. I get to work with who I want to, why isn't everybody doing this?" I kind of had that approach to business too. "Why isn't everybody doing this?"

Dagmar Spichale (09:02):

Right?

Angie Colee (09:02):

And then you jump in with both feet and you're like, "oh, well, that's hard." And I'm not saying that to intimidate anybody that's listening or say that this isn't worthwhile. Cause it totally, totally is hence this podcast. But I don't know, entrepreneurship to me seems like getting really good at solving problems on the fly and trusting yourself to figure it out. Do you think that that's what entrepreneurship is about?

Dagmar Spichale (09:28):

If you can stick it out for that long.

Angie Colee (09:32):

That's true. And that's a very real challenge. Like sometimes you've got to get it going within a certain timeframe and you've got to get your investment back. Totally understand that.

Dagmar Spichale (09:41):

Yeah. It's it's I had to pivot a couple of times. It's like, um, it's good to make a plan, but you really have to be prepared to change that plan because there might be a point where it just doesn't make sense anymore. In a former life, I had a different business and I was working with, uh, designers in the US and producing in overseas. And I, I really didn't like that business. And, um, um, because I, I didn't feel I have a lot of control. And, um, I, I knew I wanted to be in design when I got done in product management or production management. So when I went into design, I knew I didn't want to go back to my old contacts and, and work with overseas. And I wanted to start at all totally small. Like I was like, "I got to do everything myself. And then I got to just grow from there." And it became apparent really, really quickly that was not possible. Simply because I couldn't have made enough money doing that. It takes me too long to make these dresses. It needs somebody who does nothing but sewing, sewing, sewing all day long to really, um, get good and efficient at the process.

Angie Colee (11:18):

I think that's a great point because a lot of business owners or people that are aspiring business owners think of that too. Like I'm starting small, "I've got this limited amount that I can invest and I I'm going to bootstrap this and do it all myself." And they quickly run into that same wall of like, "Oh my God, I've got all these things that are going on." It's either overwhelming. Or you find out really quickly that, "okay, I'm not really good at this. And I'm over here trying to do it myself. Can somebody please help me?!"

Dagmar Spichale (11:50):

Right!

Angie Colee (11:50):

With me that's accounting. You don't want me anywhere near your numbers. Like just, just let me near the creative stuff. That's my happy place somebody else can play in the spreadsheets.

Dagmar Spichale (12:01):

I know what you mean.

Angie Colee (12:03):

That's really interesting too, like knowing that, okay, so you're moving out of product management products production, and you're moving into design. Tell me a little bit more about that. Like the mindset shift that, that you have to get into to move from kind of making something happen to bring a vision to life. If that makes sense.

Dagmar Spichale (12:26):

I think it was the other way around. I have kind of a crazy story. I grew up in east Germany and, um, I was not able to go to art school there. Uh, there, there was a contingency on that. Uh, and it, it sounds a little bit crazy. And like, what planet do you come from? But it was, you joined the Communist party or they actually told me, uh, we'll put every possible obstacle under the sun in your way. You will never reach your goal.

Angie Colee (13:01):

Wow.

Dagmar Spichale (13:02):

That was actually pretty difficult. I was 16 years old. And from all I could tell, I was never gonna do what I wanted to do. And so I went into production management because that was basically one avenue that was available to me. And I thought, "Okay, it's close enough. At some point I can switch." But it just, it doesn't happen like that. You know, everybody looks at your resume and says, "You want to be a designer? You're not a designer. You're a production person." But then I tried a few years to find my place there, which led me to having my own company. And even when I was in that spot, I still was like, "This doesn't feel right. I want to be in design." So then I, I was quite miserable. And, um, at some point I said, "This isn't working. If I keep going for a few more years, I will not be happier. I need to get out." So I, I got out of my business and I went to interview with some design schools and everything happened so fast. I was, I went and I just had a talk with them and like, just like that, I had an offer to join.

Angie Colee (14:27):

Oh yes!

Dagmar Spichale (14:27):

I was like, oh my God. And so I, at that point I was so fed up with, with the production and how it all went down and, uh, working with overseas. And, uh, all the obstacles there, I was like, "I don't want to be a clothing designer anymore. I want to be an illustrator." I saw myself sitting at the desk and scribbling away and doing children's books. And then I realized, I find it's all art. It's going to be great. And then, then I enrolled in illustration and I was, so I was horrible. I realized I couldn't draw if my life depended on it.

Angie Colee (15:19):

Oh no.

Dagmar Spichale (15:19):

And it wasn't just that, you know, because if your heart is really into it, I really believe you can get better with practice, but I didn't even want to.

Angie Colee (15:29):

Yeah. That's so important to know about yourself though. And what I love about your story there is, okay. First of all, recognizing that you're unhappy and caring enough about yourself and your own future to do something about that. So going to design school and acknowledging this dream, giving yourself permission to follow your dream in the first place. So many people don't even do that, but then like going after the dream thinking, "Hey, I want to try this thing. It sounds interesting." And then going, "Nope, Nope. That's no - I don't think I wanna do that!" That's a natural part of the process. Come on. If you are listening to this today and you hear us kind of laughing and smiling and talking about this, this is part of the journey. You're going to make a choice. That sounds good in the moment. And then try it out and go, "hell no, oh no. Undo back, back, back reverse." That's going to just taking action toward what you think you want to do is going to lead you to where you need to be and help you find that passion. Do you think that's true?

Dagmar Spichale (16:31):

It is absolutely true. And I just want to add it. It wasn't easy. It was more like standing on top of the highest, like slide at Waterworld and not wanting to go, but there's actually a line of other people behind you getting impatient.

Angie Colee (16:52):

I love that analogy. Cause like either you've got to do the walk of shame all the way back down to through crowd.

Dagmar Spichale (16:58):

And you know what that's okay. I was like, um, I didn't always feel good about those choices. I did feel like a failure. I did feel like "why can't I just be quote unquote normal? Why can't I just be everybody else that I graduated with who got a job and has a career now?" It's I think that's also part of the process.

Angie Colee (17:25):

I think a lot of us entrepreneurial types feel like weirdos or outcasts or like we can't keep a job or, you know, I'm unemployable. I've heard people say that "I'm unemployable." Maybe that's a sign though that you're in like, find your people because I've felt the exact same way before in previous jobs. Like, I mean, they can't see this cause we're not releasing the video, but I'm wearing my little, uh, Jack Skellington hoodie that I love so much that I would wear to work all day every day if, if people let me do that in the office, but they wouldn't let me, you know, it never felt like I fit in like that. So I don't know, business became my way to be true to myself and also find where I fit. You know? Is that the same for you finding where you fit?

Dagmar Spichale (18:11):

Yes. And you know, I'm starting to think it was nowhere.

Angie Colee (18:20):

Oh no!

Dagmar Spichale (18:20):

It's like when I was in art school, there was the, but I switched from illustration to painting, which was a little better. I could just take the really big brush and a big pad and I just go at it like-

Angie Colee (18:35):

Yeah.

Dagmar Spichale (18:36):

And it didn't have to make sense. And every time I went to the bathroom, I passed by the, um, clothing design cubicle. They had these huge, it was, uh, the former Greyhound, uh, building in San Francisco and they had this huge partitions to, to close off certain sections. And I had to pass by the, the clothing design department. And I had these walls where they on the outside, where they would put up all their work. And I would always look at them and I would be that like, "I can do this better."

Dagmar Spichale (19:18):

And then after the first semester I was like, okay, I cannot get this out of my head. I am going to enroll in clothing, design one. I will give it half a year, one semester and I will either get it out of my system or I will be hooked for life. And at that point, I didn't know which one was going to be worse because I knew that I didn't fit into the fashion industry as it was working. And for a big part still is. And I was like, "okay, if I like this stuff, I can pretty much prepare myself that I need to find my place that I can fit in." And I didn't like I, uh, I went to school at CCA. They really set us off on this whole trajectory of sustainability and, um, uh, responsible production and, and all these things that weren't taught at other schools back then, that was like five years ago. And it really got me hooked. And I was like, "Yes, we, we can't continue. We can't, um, like allow any more of this waste and pollution and throwing things away." I don't know if you live near a harbor, we did one experiment where we visualized the amount of clothing, just cotton clothing that is thrown away every year, just in the United States. And it came out to 40 fully loaded of these ginormous container ships that come over here from China.

Angie Colee (21:19):

The ship? Not just the container?

Dagmar Spichale (21:22):

The entire ship. Forty.

Angie Colee (21:25):

Wow.

Dagmar Spichale (21:25):

Every year. Just cotton. Just the United States.

Angie Colee (21:29):

Wow. I had heard about the problems with the fast fashion industry and kind of how we just consume clothes. We don't keep them anymore or really like recycle them or anything. God, that is just mind blowing. Wow.

Dagmar Spichale (21:43):

Yes. Just that alone. And then don't even let me get into the, um, pesticides.

Angie Colee (21:54):

No, I've had reactions to stuff on that, on the clothes too. Like you have to wash that before you wear it. Otherwise if you have sensitive skin like me, you can be in trouble. Yeah, no, I love it. So, so you were basically going to make it a little joke here at your expense, but I think you're gonna like it. So you were a hipster in clothing design, you were into sustainability and all that before it was cool. I like that. It was like following your heart and your instincts lead you to where you need to be at the time you need to be there. I really, really do believe that. So, so keep going, tell me more about the sustainability stuff and what really spoke to you when you were there in school?

Dagmar Spichale (22:28):

You know, we did, we did a lot of projects and it, it really takes a village. There's a lot of really great ideas that came out of there. And one thing that I always believed in is consume less, buy higher quality and keep it. Know what you love. Like forget about fashion. Like the things that you love are the things that you're going to wear.

Angie Colee (23:04):

I've had pieces that I've had for like five years that I love. And I really hope that they never develop holes or I find somebody that can fix them. Cause I want to keep wearing them.

Dagmar Spichale (23:14):

What are they?

Angie Colee (23:15):

I have this one shirt that I found that it's like, it's a really heavy fabric. And I think that's why it's lasted so long. It's lasted through washes and it hasn't faded. It's, it's gorgeous. And it's a peplum top that has kind of like some corset ties underneath the bust and it, you know, I'm a short, curvy woman. So that, that makes me look fantastic and trim. And I love that shirt and I wear it a lot and it shows off my, my arm tattoos. Cause it's a sleeveless top, but that's one of those that if it developed a hole, I would be certain "Somebody please fix this. I need my shirt. I love this shirt, please save this for me." So that's the inspiration behind your silk dress line then basically to have something solid like that, that I can keep for years and years and years.

Dagmar Spichale (24:00):

Yes.

Angie Colee (24:01):

Oh, fantastic.

Dagmar Spichale (24:03):

One of my first samples, I wore that during the summer and I live in California. We have a long summers every single day for three years, and then it starts fading a little bit. It's just, I literally, I throw it on. I can wear it with anything, whether I want to wear it was a denim jacket or a blazer or whatever, or a hoodie with any type of shoes, flip flops, heels.

Angie Colee (24:35):

So is it, it's one style of dress that fits, fits like multiple bodies?

Dagmar Spichale (24:40):

Yes, we are doing the work right now to make it fit, like grading the pattern. So it will, um, at least fit a broader range of bodies. And then, you know, I can take it from there.

Angie Colee (24:56):

I really like that. And I think that's important too, because a lot of, you know, short, curvy women like me, I've never felt like fashion was for me. Cause like I just look at the tall slender, real thin people and go, "eh, that's not me. Y'all you look good in that? You have fun with that. I'm going to be over here in my Jack Skellington hoodie." So I really like the idea of like clothing that fits on multiple bodies that I can wear for a long time, not bringing four cargo ships worth of waste.

Dagmar Spichale (25:27):

Yes! And even like, because it's made of hundred percent silk, even if it's lifecycle is over, um, you can basically dig it into your backyard and it will break down.

Angie Colee (25:43):

Oh I didn't know that!

Dagmar Spichale (25:43):

It will disappear.

Angie Colee (25:43):

You know, I guess I, in the back of my mind, must've known that silk is biodegradable, but it literally just didn't, I'm feeling kind of dumb right now. It didn't occur to me until you said that, that you could just basically bury it in your backyard. You wouldn't have the cargo ships full of waste. Oh, I love this. Oh, this sounds really exciting. I'm so glad that we had you on today. Dagmar tell us about your website so that they can find you and get these silk dresses.

Dagmar Spichale (26:10):

Thank you so much. Um, my website is www dot Dagmar Spichale dot com. That's D A G M A R S P I C H A L E.

Angie Colee (26:28):

Fantastic. And I'll make sure that they have a clickable link in the show notes so they can go get them some dresses. Uh, thank you so much for being on the show. This is a fascinating conversation and we're going to have to do this again.

Dagmar Spichale (26:40):

I would love that. Thank you so much, Angie, for having me. This was so much fun.

Angie Colee (26:48):

So that is it. Another awesome episode of Permission to Kick Ass on the books. If you want to know more about the show or if you want to know more about me, Angie Colee and the mission I'm on to help entrepreneurs punch fear in the face and do big bold things, then head on over to permissiontokickass.com. That is all one word together, permissiontokickass.com. Make sure to sign up for my email list so that you know whenever there's a hot, fresh and ready podcast episode out for you. And also on Mondays, I like to send out a little newsletter called Kick Monday's Ass. I'm sure you're totally, totally surprised by that. So thank you for being here with me today. I'm Angie Colee. Make sure that you share this with a friend that needs to hear this message today. Like it, share it. Comment wherever you're listening to this today and let's go kick some ass.