Nicole McLaughlin: Designer and Upcycling Pioneer

Thanks to her groundbreaking work in the world of upcycling, multidisciplinary designer Nicole McLaughlin is a pioneer in the world of fashion, design, and art. Known for transforming trash or discarded items into fashionable, ready-to-wear pieces, her social media posts have become must-see content for apparel, footwear, and fashion professionals. She's also worked on design collaborations with the biggest brands in the outdoor and fashion industries. On this episode, the New Jersey native shares her journey from a creative child to a successful designer, as well as the most pivotal moments in her career, her creative process, and the importance of sustainability in fashion. Nicole also explains how she overcomes creative blocks with outdoor activity and how small work hiatuses can keep the creative ideas flowing. Finally, she tells host Tim Sweeney about her aspirations for future projects and the impact she hopes to make in the industry.

00:00
Introduction and Creative Background

02:45
Creative Process and Social Media Influence

05:42
Education and Early Career

08:39
Transition to Reebok and Early Projects

11:21
Discovering Upcycling and Personal Projects

14:34
The Shift to Freelancing and Collaborations

17:25
Sustainability in Fashion and Brand Collaborations

30:28
The Art of Upcycling and Repair

35:22
Creative Process and Vulnerability in Design

39:43
Tools of the Trade: Crafting Unique Designs

43:44
Balancing Creativity and Functionality

48:37
Overcoming Creative Blocks and Finding Inspiration

51:10
Navigating the Business Side of Creativity

53:52
Future Aspirations and Dream Collaborations

Ad read for Twin Thieves Media :35 seconds

Subscribe to the podcast and share with friends.

Long Distance Lounge podcast is produced by Twin Thieves Media  

For more information, visit TwinThievesMedia.com 

Follow Tim Sweeney on Instagram at @tesweens

Logo by Kyle Johnston Designs

Transcript

Tim Sweeney (00:05)
All right, welcome back everyone to another episode of the Long Distance Lounge. My name's Tim Sweeney and I am excited to welcome this week someone whose work I have admired for quite a while. Her name is Nicole McLaughlin. She's a designer, also a digital creator, I guess you'd say. She started her career at Reebok before she struck out on her own as an upcycling.

pioneer. There's no other way to say it really. She's a pioneer in this space, really breaking the mold with the work that she is doing. Today, Nicole puts on workshops. She's done Ted talk type things on YouTube. She's collaborating with big brands on product design. She's collaborated with brands across the spectrum. She's an ambassador for Arc'teryx, but she's also worked with Adidas, with Hoka, Merrill, Puma, and many more.

Then you have her social media where she thrills 800,000 plus followers on Instagram. And I think another 200,000 or so on TikTok who, who can't wait to see whatever wild creation she comes up with next. We're going to talk about how her childhood shaped her career track, the wild moment she had at work that led to her deciding to make a go of it on her own, which is really quite a story. And we'll touch on the tools she has in her Colorado studio from sewing machines to

something that revolves around sails and sailboats. And then we'll also talk a little bit about what it means to make or let creativity happen. This is gonna be a fun one. Nicole is a super creative person and she's also a very nice person to chat with. So without further ado, let's get straight to it with Nicole McLaughlin.

Tim Sweeney (01:46)
Well, hello, Nicole. Thank you for joining me ⁓ here in the long distance lounge. First of all,

Do you have a cocktail for the long distance lounge today? there something special or, it's daytime, so don't give it away.

Nicole McLaughlin (01:58)
I have

a iced coffee with a little milk in it.

Tim Sweeney (02:01)
Alright, okay. It's pretty, it's fairly

⁓ morning time where you are, I only have water, nothing extravagant.

Nicole McLaughlin (02:06)
Yeah, it's still... Okay, well, maybe after

this call it'll probably be like noon at least, so maybe then I can start. ⁓

Tim Sweeney (02:13)
Yeah. All right. It's acceptable. I thought you were going to say, will drive you to drink. So I don't want that to be the case, but thanks a lot. Thanks a lot for

joining me. I've been really interested to chat with you. So I appreciate the time I've been following you like a lot of the world on social media. Um, because I worked in the outdoor industry and you've kind of, I guess, crossed over into that world. So first of all, um, I want to spend the bulk of our time on kind of how you create and

what you create in that process. Cause it's, I think it'll be fascinating, but quick backstory. You grew up in New Jersey, correct? College in Pennsylvania. Now you spend the bulk of your time in Colorado. Is that near Boulder or you bounce around? What's where are you today?

Nicole McLaughlin (02:49)
Mm-hmm. Yep.

Yeah, so you got it. New Jersey, Pennsylvania. I lived in Boston for a little bit. I was in New York for a little bit, but now I pretty much am full time in Boulder. I still have a studio in New York, so I do kind of bounce between the two, but if I'm calling something home right now, it's Boulder. Yeah, it's.

Tim Sweeney (03:16)
Okay. Well, pretty good place to call home. I lived

out there for a bit and I grew up near Boston. So, ⁓ yeah. ⁓ okay. Obvious first question is, you always a creator? I'm sure you got this a lot, but I was thinking back as I was prepping for this. And as a kid, I was like the lunatic in the neighborhood who was like building BMX tracks, jumping over pits of fire, all this crazy stuff. I even built a miniature golf course in the woods and started charging kids in that neighborhood. My mother was just shaking her head, but.

Nicole McLaughlin (03:22)
⁓ amazing!

⁓

Tim Sweeney (03:46)
Then I, I guess grew out of it, so to speak. ⁓ were you one of these kids who was just always creating things? I know you, you, ⁓ are kind of like a combo of your parents, ⁓ professions, right? Which is wild. Can you tell us about that?

Nicole McLaughlin (03:57)
Yeah.

Yeah, I'm definitely a product of my parents. Like they, my mom's an interior designer for commercial spaces. And then my dad, he was a carpenter and then he's now a mall manager. So, but it's kind of cool because like they were always really supported and like encouraging me to make stuff. And I definitely was always a creative kid. I also, similar to you, I guess I was very entrepreneurial.

like I was always trying to make a business out of things. ⁓ And so I liked the idea of like running a business, making money. Like I was very tapped into that at an early age. I had made a lemonade stand, but it was not just like a little kid's lemonade stand. I had my dad build me out like the whole setup with the wood. And I like, my mom helped me with like the tablecloth. Like I was really going, going after it. But I was always making stuff.

Tim Sweeney (04:47)
Okay.

That's a competitive

advantage over the other kids in the neighborhood, having dad build you a stand.

Nicole McLaughlin (04:58)
Listen,

exactly I was the monopoly. I definitely like I always kind of had that spark in me, I think. And then at one of my business ventures that I had in elementary school was making Barbie clothes and Bratz doll clothes. ⁓ And I would do that just like with like cloth and I would cut it. And I don't know, it's just there's a lot of like signs early on that led me kind of now to what I do today.

Tim Sweeney (05:02)
Hahaha

Nicole McLaughlin (05:25)
⁓ But once I got to high school, that's really when I got into more video photography. I was doing a lot of sign language at the time and I would make videos of myself signing and put them on YouTube. ⁓ I then realized, okay, I like this path of photography and making things and it just all culminated into what I do now.

Tim Sweeney (05:50)
Yeah, I mean, truly, I mean, made your sort of childhood passion, your career. It's interesting to talk about making YouTube videos and stuff, because you're a young lady, fair bit younger than me, let's say anyway. And so you kind of grew up with that world of like YouTube and creating things and being parents probably filming you on their phones and stuff like that. It's a different world, isn't it? Than I guess not long before that, when I grew up, which was not the case at all. And kids are comfortable kind of creating again.

Nicole McLaughlin (06:17)
Yeah, I kind

of feel like I sit in a sweet spot because like the like phones and cameras and things became a lot more accessible. But like my mom did have like a film camera when I was like young. So a lot of like my like little kid pictures are still like, like analog and then it kind of And then it will end the sad part is there was like a part of my life where it's like people like hadn't figured out the technology and like you

Tim Sweeney (06:35)
VHS stuff,

Nicole McLaughlin (06:46)
USB and like micro SD chips, like all those things, kind of people didn't take care of them or like transfer photos off of them. So I feel like there was a chunk of like maybe late elementary school to like early high school where it was kind of just wiped. I don't have pictures at all. But yeah, it was just like they like didn't know how to like put it on the computer. So they just like threw it out.

Tim Sweeney (07:01)
Right. They took it and never put it anywhere. Yeah. ⁓

Right. So you go off to school and that your major was at photography, visual arts, I think that's a different space than me as a writing major. ⁓ is that the degree you would get today to do what you do? Cause I guess at some point you go from photography, visual stuff to like creating, would you say 3d tangible things? Is that, is that what you would study today to do what you do for the younger people who I know will listen, looking for advice from you?

Nicole McLaughlin (07:19)
Yeah. ⁓

I probably, if I knew this would be the career I'd go into, I probably would have done it differently in terms of like schooling. I obviously, wouldn't change anything because I'm happy with what happened. But I think, because I didn't do any type of fashion design, I didn't learn how to sew in college. was, well, I originally went for speech language pathology because I thought I was going to pursue sign language. And that's when I kind of realized I was like, I'm into this more for like the visual art.

kind of aspect of it. And then so I switched to like a photography and more of like digital media background. The nice thing about my education was that my college, it was a super small school. It didn't really have much of a program, but they had, I think they had gotten some type of grant where they had like amazing equipment and nobody was using it. And there was only like 10 or 12 people in my major. So I had like a ton of access to the programs like

Tim Sweeney (08:27)
How nice.

Nicole McLaughlin (08:33)
Photoshop, Illustrator, and photography. I think like just being well-rounded kind of helped me explore all different types of things and it helped me a lot. I'd say if I was to go back and do it, like maybe I would have gone to an art school, but I almost feel like leaving it a little bit more broad and open and not so specific led me to kind of exploring different types of mediums.

Tim Sweeney (08:50)
Right. Yep.

where do you, I guess, out of school, is that when you start working for Reebok or how long after when kind of everything shifts for you?

Nicole McLaughlin (09:05)
⁓ Immediately after college, so I had been my senior year like last semester, I had been applying to like everything I was like, I need a job. need to like, you know, I knew I wanted to go somewhere else. Like I wanted to continue like learning and exploring and not that I didn't don't love my parents, but I was like, I don't want to move home. Like, I just want to go and figure it out. And it was like,

two or three days before my graduation, I got a call from Reebok and I didn't I had applied for this. It was an apprenticeship. So it was like a little more than an internship, like it was paid. They had like, they would offer like a stipend to move you to Boston. So it was like, Oh, this is a big deal. They I did, I totally forgot I even like applied to it because it had been so long. And they reached out to me and they're like, Are you still interested in this? Would you want to like, put together a portfolio and apply for this, you know, position and

I was so excited and also so nervous because I didn't go to like a traditional art school. So I didn't have any type of like real portfolio to show. ⁓ I included a t-shirt that I made for my majors bar crawl in the portfolio. And they were like, we like this. I was like, okay, perfect. Yeah, right. I was like, I was like, just so happened to have this like bar crawl t-shirt that I made. But I had

Tim Sweeney (10:19)
Okay. That's the...

Those are the most creative moments.

Nicole McLaughlin (10:33)
no idea what I was about to be going into. I thought I was doing like graphics for their social media or their website. Like I didn't realize that I was going there and doing graphics for clothing. And so I got there and I was like, wow, this is a whole world I don't know anything about. I was immediately like our first day there. They had us like, they were teaching us how to do tech packs, like how to basically communicate with a factory of like the measurements of

Tim Sweeney (11:01)
hour.

Nicole McLaughlin (11:01)
a graphic

on a t-shirt and like this again, like I was like, I what am I doing here? And this is like a year long thing. I was just happy to be there. And it was like, it kind of was the perfect situation because it was like, I was still kind of this college, fresh out of college young person, but wanted to like get into the real world. And it was almost this like buffer phase where it was like, I can make mistakes. It's okay if I make mistakes, but also like there's a lot of responsibility. I'm getting paid to be there. Like there was a, it was like the

perfect position for me. And I took every moment and soaked it in and I worked, that was probably the hardest year I worked in my entire life. I busted my butt.

Tim Sweeney (11:32)
Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah.

Well, a door, a door opens, you walk through it, right? And learn, learn it as you go. Yeah. I had a similar experience straight out of college where I was a journalist in Colorado and I had done sports writing and that's it, you know, covering high school and college sports for in college. And then they had me covering town politics and I was lost. I still, still the hardest job I've had, I think, cause I was 22. And in that day, in that day you put it in print and then it lives there. There's no like fixing it on the internet after it. So.

Nicole McLaughlin (11:48)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Tim Sweeney (12:10)
man, was sleep as nights a lot of times worried, like what did I do? But I guess you're as you say, and that seems like a theme with you is like, just learn it, worry about it and be eager to make mistakes and move past it. ⁓ So the big moment, cause I watched the presentation, a YouTube talk you did, ⁓ Figma, is that what it's called? Yeah, really interesting. Kind of something, I don't want to say it falls in your lap, cause there's a bunch of discarded items basically. This is kind of like a

Nicole McLaughlin (12:23)
for sure.

Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Tim Sweeney (12:39)
pivotal moment for you that you kind of notice in the corner or so to speak and just start playing with or pilfering and taking home. Tell us about that a little bit. Cause I mean, people follow you on, on social media, you're doing stuff today, but this is like a huge moment for you kind of how it, I guess it clicks, right? In a way.

Nicole McLaughlin (12:46)
Yeah.

Yeah, for sure. So while I was at Reebok, I always did graphic design. Like I wasn't creating apparel or creating footwear, but I was around it so much. So was pretty curious about it. And then I also was able to go on some factory trips, which was super cool. And I think just having the experience of like seeing a factory line, kind of seeing how things were made, I was like, okay, what if I tried to make this, you know, I think there's something there that could be cool. Like if I

try to explore it, whatever. And so that's what I did. like you said, there was a bunch of just material boxes everywhere. And I think I was just like, okay, well, it's gonna get thrown out. So I might as well try to.

rummage through and maybe I could take some stuff and try to use it for something like I and this is where I do feel like my parents in this way because my mom always is like rummaging like if people leave like furniture out on the street she brings it home my dad like fixes it up and so I kind of feel like I got that from them ⁓ and so it was more just like well I don't really have a plan but I'll try to figure it out and I just started to make things in my bedroom at the time I was living in Boston I had

three roommates and I was just in my like little bedroom trying to make shoes with like hot glue and I would staple clothes and try to figure things out. And it was really rough for a long time, maybe like a couple, like five or six months of just like making stuff on the nights and weekends. And it looked bad. Like it looked really bad. But every once in a while something would happen where I'm like, wait, I kind of see something's happening here. Like.

I'm starting to see things that haven't seen before. And cause I was making these super weird like prototype shoes that were like overbuilt kind of like really experimental with different materials. And I started to use things that were in my house. Like I would take like my roommates if they had like recycling or something, I would take like whatever water bottles or this and that and use it as like a high heel. And I eventually I was kind of like, okay, these are kind of looking good, like good enough for me to share on the internet.

Tim Sweeney (15:06)
So, but this is

like art in a way that you're making, right? Like, it's not like you're not bringing it into work to the bosses at Reebok. Like, hey, we should make a shoe like this. This will change the...

Nicole McLaughlin (15:12)
No, no, no, no, they didn't

know anything about this. They were like totally like unaware that I was doing this also as a side note. during this time ⁓ Reebok moved offices. They were originally in this huge kind of office park building in Canton, Massachusetts. Yeah, it's I love that office. It was so cool, like especially because that was the office I started working in. It was like

Tim Sweeney (15:33)
know where it is. There's a brewery there now. Yeah. Yeah.

Nicole McLaughlin (15:42)
I kind of just felt like I made it. was like, was in like a campus type of thing. Like it was really cool. like, yeah, it was super cool. had a basketball court like in the middle of the office. So, ⁓ but they moved from that big office to like a more sleek kind of modern city office in the Seaport district. And so, but it was a kind of a slow move. Like over time people would like, would, okay, this team moves now this team moves, but our

Tim Sweeney (15:45)
yeah, it was, it was something. They had gym, all the gyms and fields and yeah, yeah, it's beautiful. Yep.

Nicole McLaughlin (16:09)
my key card still worked. And so I'd go back to the office on like during over the weekend, and there was no one in the office anymore. But there was just stuff from like years and years and years. And there was there was this one guy, his name is Paul Smith. And he had this desk that was kind of near me. And he had worked at the company for like, I to say 20 years or something. And he had like, relics and just things that he he took a lot of it. But there were certain things he just like was like, I don't need this and left it. And I was just

Tim Sweeney (16:12)
Okay.

Nicole McLaughlin (16:36)
collecting like I was just dumpster diving like every weekend and finding all this really cool stuff and Yeah, whatever yeah exactly ⁓ And so I think that was like I love treasure hunting like I love just like the high and like the search even like if you go to a thrift store and so I just really enjoyed like looking through old like catalogs and that kind of stuff and it at the same time to

Tim Sweeney (16:38)
Yeah, it's a...

That's a treasure trove to you, to someone like you where he's just like, I worked on that 15 years ago, I don't care. Yeah, yeah.

Nicole McLaughlin (17:04)
Reebok has such an amazing archive. They're a really old brand. started in 1895. They were the first running shoe. had nails as track spikes on the shoes. There were so many amazing history moments within the brand. that also while working there, I started to have way more of an appreciation for history. And I think both of those things really led me to making these projects, because in a way, I was trying to preserve all this.

stuff that was getting trashed. And then, you know, it was also just more of like, okay, it's a creative endeavor. I have this day job of creating, but you're creating under someone else's lens and design language. So these projects were more for me and no one could tell me no type of thing.

Tim Sweeney (17:44)
Right. So then,

so then there's this moment, which I think is hilarious that an agency comes into your company and tells your company that they should be working with this, this young woman online who's doing crazy cool stuff on her Instagram and it's you and are you in the room when this happens or it just filters back? You're in the room. Okay. So is this like, are you like, am I, am I in trouble or are you excited or both or am I, are you slinking down in your chair? Like, no.

Nicole McLaughlin (17:52)
Yeah.

I'm in the room, yeah.

I was kind

of like, ⁓ no, like they found out about my moonlighting career. I mean, some of my coworkers and like friends knew I had been making these projects, but a lot of people didn't know. And at that point, I think I was already sort of feeling like I had been at Reebok then for like three years and I was looking for kind of the next thing anyway. And I was like,

Tim Sweeney (18:15)
Yeah.

Nicole McLaughlin (18:37)
I I need to leave. Like, I think I need to go like pursue this. And because I, at that point, I had been sharing my work pretty consistently online. It started to take off quite a bit. And I had a couple like articles and things come out and I couldn't take any outside work because I was still working at the company and it would have been like a conflict of interest. eventually I was like, all right, I guess I should just commit to it. I was also like 24 turning 25, I think. And so I was kind of like,

Tim Sweeney (18:54)
Right, right, right.

Nicole McLaughlin (19:06)
you know, what if I just quit? I was like, now's the time I had a little bit of like, not much, but a little bit of a financial safety net of like savings. And I was like, I could at least last for like, five months, maybe. And then if this doesn't work out by the end of the year, I'll just apply for another job somewhere. And I'll figure it out. Like, that's always my mentality. I like, I'll just figure it out. I don't know. I'll make it work somehow.

Tim Sweeney (19:08)
Now's the time. Now's the time. Yeah.

Right.

Yes, I was going to, I want to ask about that because it's a, it's a, mean, I know I'm a hundred people who talk about this. I'm, I want to leave my job. I have this idea, but you know, lot of cases it's, have a family of kids. And so you totally understand. They're not going to just leap because their spouse might leap as well when I hear that news. Um, but do you like know where you're going to get your, your money from and that, like, you're going to be a freelancer, but forgive me. I don't understand like fully know that.

Nicole McLaughlin (19:45)
Yeah.

Tim Sweeney (19:58)
design or fashion world? you like, okay, I know I can do a collab with this company and they'll pay me X number of dollars and that'll get me through this. is it like my social media is getting really popular and people will do like, can do paid promotional posts. Like, what are you thinking back? This is not that long ago, right? So what's the, it's gotta be nerve wracking too, right?

Nicole McLaughlin (20:18)
Yeah, I mean, it

was super nerve wracking. I had at that point, I had gotten like, some loose inquiries of like, ⁓ we would like to, you know, hire you to do like a project. And it wasn't anything crazy. I actually did. While I was still at Reebok, which was like kind of probably not like super chill, but it wasn't a competitor. But it was like, I knew I was sort of on the way out. But I ended up doing a campaign.

for Depop, which is like a reselling website similar to eBay. And I was just like, they came and they filmed me like thrifting and kind of looking through clothes and like making stuff. And like, that was the first paid opportunity that I had. And I think I made like $500 from it. So I was like, I don't think I could like fully live off of this, but if I get enough of these things, like maybe something could happen. Exactly. And so.

Tim Sweeney (21:06)
Yeah. Yeah. It's hard to live off of. It's hard to get enough of those though. $500

jobs don't keep you in business. Yeah.

Nicole McLaughlin (21:16)
Exactly.

Until, but I was like, I don't know, maybe if I like, get like, just put my head down and like, do like, get my name out there more and do these types of things, like maybe word will spread. And then something kind of crazy happened. So I already had planned on leaving Reebok. I knew it was like May of 2019. And I was like, okay, I'm gonna leave. And I got reached out to, to teach a workshop ⁓ for

Adidas, which was funny because at the time Adidas owned Reebok. And they were like, we want to like bring you to Shanghai and you can teach like a workshop. And meanwhile, I just learned how to sew. Like I, I'm not like a proficient sewer at this point. Like I just kind of figured this all out. It was all still kind of new, but I was like,

Tim Sweeney (22:00)
really?

So you learn,

you learn that skill. was gonna ask you about that sewing, et cetera. I want to touch on that later on, like what, what you, the actual tools you use, but you didn't know how to sew. Like you learned in your twenties, basically. wow. Okay.

Nicole McLaughlin (22:09)
Yeah.

Yeah, yeah, I learned. And

the nice thing that I also really like leaned into was that Reebok had a maker space. So they had like a lab there that had some sewing machines. again, another situation where it was like this amazing thing that no one was using. Like none of like my coworkers are going down there making stuff. mean, granted, everyone's really busy. However, I was like, it was the same thing at school where it was like they have all these this photo equipment and no one's using it. So was like, well, I'm gonna go use it.

And so I kind of I taught myself most of my skills. I just was like learning on YouTube I had a couple of friends and people helped me my sister actually went to FIT in New York and so she gave me some pointers, but I yeah, I basically just learned how to sell like six months prior to me quitting and so I went to I decided to then leave Reebok and then my first real project was going to

Adidas in Shanghai and teaching a sewing workshop, which was really complicated when I think about it, because there was like a language barrier. also was like, you know, I'm trying to teach an upcycling workshop. There was it was really, really intense, but it was so fun. And I just remember being like, I think I could do something here. Like this really feels like good. And the money was way better than the five hundred dollars from the from the last project. So I was like, OK, if I if I do enough of these, then all of you just fine, you know.

Tim Sweeney (23:45)
Yeah.

Yeah. So I guess if we fast forward a bit and you've done, you've collaborated with kind of everybody now, cause you start with Adidas, but I know Hoka, Merrell, Puma. ⁓ I don't want to Hermes. Hermes, is that correct? I was just in Milan actually walking around and seeing these brand stores is just crazy. ⁓ You know this world, but just the presentation is just off the charts. But so Gucci, Superbowl jacket, like

Nicole McLaughlin (23:56)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Yeah.

Tim Sweeney (24:12)
I mean, how did we get here? This is wild, right? And even in the outdoor space kind of became something, which is how I saw you. Obviously I worked for Solomon in the outdoor world and a lot of colleagues followed you, people who worked in sports style. and, I worked a lot on sustainability part of my job, huge part of my job became, ⁓ communicating around sustainable projects. I'm watching your stuff is really interesting to me because I saw it evolve from the brand side. ⁓ so.

you become kind of this upcycling expert or voice. how have you seen like brands work on that topic? from your perspective Are they doing what they say or how does that influence your work as well?

Nicole McLaughlin (24:54)
Yeah, so well, the nice thing about how I ended up being positioned, I, because I came from corporate and I came from this, you know, background of being inside of the sportswear company, when I decided to go off on my own, I sort of felt like this liaison between the big brand and, you know, everyday person and kind of the communication that happens with sustainability. And I definitely have found

brands using it more of like a marketing tool and ways of just like, you know, it's green washing. But then at the same time, I find that like, the brands that I've been working with are actually there's a lot of amazing initiatives that they have. And a lot of the time, it's done internally, and they don't really talk about it to the outside. So that's sort of like, I'm always kind of like, you guys are doing like such cool stuff, whether it's like

Tim Sweeney (25:46)
100%. 100 % true.

Nicole McLaughlin (25:51)
packaging or you know the way that their factories are run and like a lot of the times they're like, well, this isn't really that cool to like talk about and I'm like, yeah, but I think it's worth highlighting in some way and so

Tim Sweeney (26:02)
It

is to the people who care about it. That's the thing. ⁓

Nicole McLaughlin (26:04)
For sure, exactly. And so

I think it's been more of a journey of like getting them to feel more confident to talk about it, but make it done, like done in a cool way, in an interesting way. And then also like my position is to like come in with the brands and a lot of like, not every brand I work with has some type of amazing sustainability initiative, but that gives me an opportunity for me to come in and be like, okay, well, what can we do? Like, let's start small, you know, maybe we ⁓ introduce some type of take back.

program where people can bring back their jackets or their shoes or whatever it is and they can get a discount and then we try to find a way to use this, whether it's for like a workshop or if you are down to try to scale this into something bigger and make an upcycling line or something like that. so, I mean, talking about outdoor, so Arc'teryx and I have been working together for years now. So I signed on as an ambassador with them in 2021.

Still an ambassador, the best friend. I love working with them. And they have such cool ⁓ initiatives that they've been doing and kind of leading the way in a lot of spaces in terms of like repairs and giving the consumer kind of more of an opportunity to create. It's more of like a relationship and more of a dialogue versus like you buy something from us. Now you have to go figure out what to do with it when it doesn't work anymore.

Tim Sweeney (27:04)
So

Nicole McLaughlin (27:30)
So they have service stations where you can come in and get a zipper replaced or like a small hole patched. And then if it's so beyond repair, which to be honest, I never realized people wore their jackets. Like I was kind of just, you know, living in the city and stuff. Like I had a good rain jacket and that's all I needed. And then I moved out to Colorado and I was like, no people like, this is survival gear for them. my God, they won't part with it. They like, they won't, they.

Tim Sweeney (27:52)
Yeah, and they won't part with it either if they have a favorite one. That's it. Yeah.

Nicole McLaughlin (27:57)
And the funniest part is like, so now with Artarix, they send me like a bunch of warranty jackets. So if your jacket is kind of beyond repair, like the consumer, they would send it back. They would get an exchange for a new ⁓ discount for a new jacket. And then sometimes I get sent boxes of all the old jackets to figure out projects and, you know, fun creative endeavors to use it for. But people find the funniest ways to like...

patch their own clothes and I love it. It's like duct tape or like safety pins or this and that. And it's like, you could just see the person was like, I just need to get it through like one more trip or whatever.

Tim Sweeney (28:28)
yeah.

Yeah. Yeah.

Well, duck duct tape goes back decades in the ski world. That's like a, it's like a badge to have duct tape on your, on your gloves, on your whatever, especially at certain ski resorts. Yeah. That Arc Turks is, I know a few people in the building through Solomon and some of the athletes. So I'm sure you met like Greg Hill and people like really live this world. yeah. He's a character and a legend, but who like live that. mean, they live what they preach to guys like Greg. So, ⁓ yeah, that that's, that's a good.

Nicole McLaughlin (28:38)
Yeah.

Yeah. ⁓

yeah, legend.

Yeah.

Tim Sweeney (29:02)
good people to be partners with. And it's true what you said because working on the brand side, I remember when we first at Salomon started like sort of looking for stories, we were, we were kind of shocked cause people were working on all this stuff who were product developers and, the people who you wouldn't think who'd been there like 30 years or something, you know, Salomon has some people who've been there forever. ⁓ like true experts, you know, creating stuff like

in a lab down, I mean, they do have sewing machines and people who are making prototypes by hand, athletes tested, et cetera. That's like in the DNA of the company. But when we started asking, you know, do you have stories that are, that would fit around this? Cause people want to hear about our athletes wanted to hear about it, especially people like Greg, who was working with Solomon and Arc'teryx at time. And we were like, there's a ton of stuff, but it's not their job to think about how it gets communicated. And there was a gap between what they were doing.

Nicole McLaughlin (29:44)
Yeah.

Tim Sweeney (29:57)
And what was like bubbling up to people like myself whose job is to like figure out how to tell the stories. And it was scary too, because at the time we had no sustainability expert. There is now and she's, she's fantastic, but you're, you're right. When you say like, you don't know how to treat it and how to talk about it. And you're afraid you're going to get called out for things if you're on the brand side. But if you're honest and you say like, this is what we're, this is what we haven't figured out, but this is what we're working on. it,

Nicole McLaughlin (30:19)
Yeah.

Tim Sweeney (30:27)
I, you expect a lot of negative feedback and there wasn't a lot of that in my experience, which is maybe you've seen that at various brands.

Nicole McLaughlin (30:35)
Yeah, I mean, I think you nailed it because it's the companies that are like, we've got it all figured out. And then like, they don't obviously, because it's like, how could you expect people to have this all figured out? This is a huge problem. And this has been going on for years and years and years. It's not, and like, all of a sudden now, like these goals and initiatives like have been set and it's not an overnight switch. And it's unrealistic for anyone to think it's gonna happen that way.

However, it's like, we need to hold people accountable. So if you're gonna say, by 2030, we're gonna be this, we're gonna be that. I wanna see like, okay, in 2030, if you're not that, what are the steps at least, how close have you gotten? And what can you share to everybody else? And I think that's the biggest takeaway. And the one thing that I will say, I won't shy away from brands that maybe haven't figured out all their sustainability goals yet, but I will.

not work with them if they're not willing to collaborate or share. If they figure out something that can help the rest of the industry, but then they wanna just keep it to themselves and they don't wanna let anyone else know how helpful this is. That's where I draw the line. I'm like, this is not something that we can kind of own or take ownership over. I know that's a whole conversation right now with mono materials, so shoes that can be like.

Tim Sweeney (31:40)
Yeah. Yeah.

Nicole McLaughlin (32:00)
I know On Running's working on one, know Adidas is working on one, and it was like, there's some competition between like, who takes ownership over this ⁓ type of material that can help the entire industry. A mono material is way easier to completely deconstruct and turn into something new and make it circular versus like a sneaker that has laces and footbed, outsole, midsole, that have to be separated. So like the closer we can get to a mono material,

shoe, it's like that's a huge win for our industry. So if someone has to take ownership over that, like that puts us all back. So you know what I

Tim Sweeney (32:33)
Right. Yep. No, that,

want to talk a bit about kind of the creative process for you because I think there is like, there's, there is a sort of ⁓ courage it takes to throw stuff out there that is yours and original. And in your case, it's very original and different. So I read an article you said that what

people see in what you do is like your personality. ⁓ Can you explain that a bit and touch on that, like the courage of just like putting stuff out there? Because at the beginning, as you said, if you look back now, you'd probably go, God, that's frightening what I used to put out for people to see.

Nicole McLaughlin (32:57)
Yeah.

yeah,

I like terrifying and just even making that first jump and every project feels still like a little bit of a risk. Like, ⁓ you know, is this is a good idea in my own head. But also at the same time, like, I think I've just learned to whether it's not for other people, it's for myself. But I obviously I choose to share it because people get enjoyment out of it or they get inspiration out of it. Like, that's my

Favorite thing is when like a young designer or someone was like, I referenced this like piece of yours for my senior project. Like that makes me super happy. ⁓ But yeah, every time it's vulnerable and my, what I said about my brain kind of being like my projects are like a look inside of my brain basically. And it's true, cause like I see a lot of humor in things. I love to have fun. I love to laugh. ⁓ And I like to be able to create work.

that feels like all those things and being able to, I think that's the, you know you've made it as a creator if you're able to take what's in your brain and make it physical in some way. I think that that's like the ultimate dream of a creative. And when that started to happen to me, I kind of just felt like this like amazing moment of like, I've kind of feel like I've made it as a creator.

Like I can communicate how I feel and make other people laugh and make other people have a good time. And so I don't know how it sort of happened. It just, did. And once I figured out that little unlock, every project has just been like a way of me getting these ideas out. I don't know, I always just, I try not to put too much pressure on myself to come up with the ideas. They just sort of happen. And when I'm not trying, of course that's.

than the best ones happen.

Tim Sweeney (35:01)
Yeah, I think

it's true in all industries is people look at someone like you is it, you know, there's think 800,000 plus people following you hanging on your every, every post that's just on Instagram. And they probably think, she was always this naturally talented, right? People say that, but they don't, see the grind over the years of all the things you did that, or the stuff you throw away probably. ⁓ and cause I saw somewhere where you talked about kind of giving yourself.

Nicole McLaughlin (35:19)
Yeah.

Tim Sweeney (35:28)
grace or letting yourself fail. So do you have any advice? I you do some workshops and stuff for, for young people or designers, maybe not just in design, but in creative space who, who, ⁓ are like, man, I'm never going to be this or that, but I'm sure there were some years where you were like, I'm never going to be this or that also.

Nicole McLaughlin (35:46)
Yeah, I mean, please, every day, like, there's always some type of like failure idea or like things that just like don't happen the way I thought they were going to. And also, the material that I use is really unexpected to where it's like, I think it's going to do a certain thing, and then it does the opposite. And that's what happens when you try to put bread in a sewing machine, like, it's not usually going to work. So you have to find different ways to make it work or a different method. So I think

trying not to put too much pressure on yourself. also like, I just have a graveyard of projects that never truly made it. And I just, instead of giving up on it, I have like put it to the side and I've come back on it like months later, years later. And it was because at the time maybe I didn't have that certain skillset or I didn't know, I didn't have that tool that I now have. And I always find that like, okay, it happened at the time it was supposed to. Like I was able to...

you know, come up with this idea at that time, but perfect it at this time. Like you just have to let those things happen. And then I think like for younger people, I always say, you know, just let yourself have that time. Like don't force it. Don't like push yourself to make something that if it's not working, find a way to pivot. And so that happens to me a ton where I'm like, oh, if I'm making a shoe and it's just not quite looking right, like what if I turn it into a hat?

and I take it off my foot and I put it on my head. it's harder, I guess, to do that if you're designing digitally or doing photography, but I think when it comes to making clothes, if it's not working as one thing, just try it as a different thing and see what happens.

Tim Sweeney (37:27)
Yeah,

on that note, I'm curious if you can kind of take us through the creative process of one of the products you create for, for say Instagram or for social media. Cause I guess to back up, you've created bras from croissants and headphones from coffee mugs and pumas from the, I think it was discarded fabrics. ⁓ I saw one thing from like oven mitts, which is incredible. So.

Nicole McLaughlin (37:44)
Yeah.

Tim Sweeney (37:54)
What are like the actual tools, your sewing machine, clearly. ⁓ What else is in this studio that glues and different? what's in there? Cause you're, are you only working with your hands now? Are you doing design on a computer sometimes as well? look, that stuff seems to be different than say a collaboration with Hoka where like that you still have to have functionality and performance is a huge thing for these sports brands. So what's the difference? What's the process from

one to another and what's in that studio? A lot of questions at once. Sorry about it. Yeah.

Nicole McLaughlin (38:25)
No, you're good. I'm gonna try to remember all but this I

mean the studio has like I've kind of it's taken a long time to get to this point but it's sort of this place now where it has everything that I need like I really it's rare nowadays where I'm like, ⁓ I don't have that specific tool and if I don't have it, it's usually because it's some type of like

heavy machinery that I probably wouldn't need that often. And so in that case, I usually take it home to my dad and he'll try to figure it out for me. My dad is definitely on staff at this point. My mom also helps me come up with ideas sometimes. She's always calling me, she's like, I thought of the best idea. I'm like, oh, here we go. But at the studio, have, so my sewing machines definitely are like,

Tim Sweeney (38:55)
You're built in staff. This is your staff.

okay, yeah.

Nicole McLaughlin (39:13)
the most used, I have, so I have different types. I have like my single needle, I have a post bed machine, which is more for footwear. I also have these machines called Sailrite and they are ⁓ like meant to be on sailboats, which is really cool, but they're, they go through really thick materials. You can do zigzag. They have like a leather working version. So it's, it's pretty sweet. I also, I do use some glues for like shoes and

souls and that kind of stuff. ⁓ I also use an industrial hot glue gun a lot. Like, if I'm just trying to come up with an idea and if I'm not ready to like commit to it fully, I'll just use the hot glue gun just to like see it and kind of decide like, okay, is this good enough? Like, before I glue that heel on there, like, let me just stick it on there. And I use like, gorilla glue for it. There's like, they make like gorilla glue hot glue gun sticks, which is pretty great.

⁓ I use a Dremel like really often. I find myself needing that a lot. And then I use a Sawzall pretty often as well, because I take a lot of high heels apart and I used to do it like by hand. I, the first heel I ever took apart, I remember I was in the driveway of my shared ⁓ house in Boston.

at like two o'clock in the morning and I was smashing it on the driveway trying to get it off, not realizing how heels are made and they have like a full like iron bar that goes through them. like, it's way, I was like, this makes sense. That's why like, you know, like they do last a long time and it's very surprising when a heel breaks out from under you. But yeah, I've learned the hard way that it's like not that easy to take apart. ⁓ And then sorry, I missed.

Tim Sweeney (40:34)
Perfect. ⁓

⁓ see I didn't know that.

No, just

kind of the, yeah, no, sorry. I kind of repped it in one. was, it was a mistake, but the, the, the, kind of process from something you create for social media versus something you're creating like for brand. know you say there's like functionality in some form or fashion to everything you do. But yeah, do you approach that differently? Like you're making something that's like quirky and funny and like,

Nicole McLaughlin (41:00)
I'll not remember the rest of it.

Tim Sweeney (41:23)
You know, it's like I said, the bra croissant bra is like something you just come up with on a whim or like what's the process there versus if you're collaborating with say a product designer at a running company.

Nicole McLaughlin (41:37)
Yeah, I mean, in a way, there's similar approaches. Like sometimes I have to go through like the wild and wacky ideas to get to the more like commercial and wearable ideas. And I think now that I have done quite a bit of both, like it's a little bit easier to turn on that side of my brain. I think the thing that I always pitch with brands is like,

let's come up with like, let's do prototyping. Like let me do rapid prototyping, send me similar process to like any other project where I'm like, send me like, if you have samples or like leftover souls or whatever you have, send me a box of like weird stuff from your office. I'm gonna make like something really wild, like some type of prototype. And then from there we can kind of like whittle it down and like rain me in and like not to a point where it doesn't still feel like me, but obviously like.

Tim Sweeney (42:22)
Frame me in. ⁓

Nicole McLaughlin (42:28)
food on a shoe is not gonna be something we can sell at scale. So for example, I did a collaboration with Hoka and I made this detachable four-in-one gaiter. And Hoka hadn't done a gaiter before, which I was like, oh, this is our perfect opportunity to explore this together. And so I actually made the original prototype I have. It was made of a sleeve of a jacket and it was an artiric jacket that I cut and I used

Tim Sweeney (42:40)
Yeah. Yep.

Nicole McLaughlin (42:58)
how there was like a little Velcro thing, that's what cinched it. And then I wanted it to be able to be worn in multiple ways. And that was like the biggest thing was like, so you can just wear like the toe kind of like the vamp cover or just the heel ⁓ kind of ankle cover or them together or none of it. And so that was, it was a little bit of a challenge, but I feel like I had made similar types of things within my work that's like modular convertible, like.

being able to wear something multiple ways. then this time I was like, okay, but this has to be like consumer ready, someone that could actually do this like on the spot, you know?

Tim Sweeney (43:30)
Right.

Right.

So that freedom to play like for social is then being like applied to like a real life project that's someone's going to use and where I was talking with someone about this the other day. can't remember who, how that kind of brief, like I hate it. Say I'm writing or concepting or something for a video for a brand. it's like, I hate the idea of like no boundaries. And this is something I learned over my career is like, you think at the beginning that I'll do whatever is like such freedom, but

Nicole McLaughlin (43:40)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Tim Sweeney (44:02)
An actuality, like the most creative stuff you come up with, I assume this is true for design as well, is like when you kind of are in a box or maybe if you're the boxes, the material that you're, you've chosen to use because then, yeah, even if it's say for me, like writing or speaking something, someone's going to speak it on camera. It's like, we can say this, but we can't say this. We want to say this, but we can't say it this way. And that's when you come up with like clever ways to say things. And I assume it's similar for you as a designer. Yeah.

Nicole McLaughlin (44:11)
Mm-hmm.

Definitely

super similar. It's super scary. Well, in general with upcycling, the reason I love it so much is because like I'm taking something that already exists and like transforming it or like retrofitting it into something else. Like, whereas a giant roll of blank fabric scares.

Tim Sweeney (44:31)
Blank canvas is a bit scary in a way, isn't it?

Nicole McLaughlin (44:48)
the shit out of me. Sorry. don't want to say that on this one. It's it really does like I get really overwhelmed. It's the same thing as like opening a new notebook and be like, have to like write down the first thing or this it's the same. Everyone has that feeling. But like, I love the fact that when I start making a project, I'm starting at, you know, 50 % through where I now I have to try to move things around and make it work. And so I find so a lot of the time when I work with brands,

Tim Sweeney (44:59)
Feel this? ⁓

Exactly. Right.

Nicole McLaughlin (45:16)
⁓ If we're making a product that's being sold, like Puma is a great example. They're giving me material like this is the colors we already have, like, sorry, you can't change the colors. Perfect. That's fine. I don't care. what exactly I'm like, let's make it work with whatever you have available. And like, if that's to me, that's a good product where it's like, if you can make something cool or interesting or sellable, like based off of what's already existing, then like that's, I think that's, that's a good skill to be able to have.

Tim Sweeney (45:27)
One less thing to make a decision over.

And do you believe in creative blocks? Because someone taught me a long time ago, this was for a writing class and it was like a free writing exercise. And I've used it for 20 years. Like when I'm trying to write even a press release or something and I just start writing anything. And it's funny how you'll look back and it's nothing like what you started with, but I might be like, I have nothing to say in this press release. Like I have no information to go on. I'm just going to write anything. And then.

the pieces sort of fall into place as you go. So I read somewhere that you use like outdoor time, like running, trail running, things like that. You do a bit of climbing too in the gym, is that right? And maybe that is the same for me because I'm super active and I just don't know That removes a creative block. So do you believe in blocks or you have your ways to circumvent them?

Nicole McLaughlin (46:20)
Mm-hmm.

Yep, a climber, yeah.

Yeah.

I definitely have blocks a lot of the time, but it's like, I think I just do it to myself. Like I start to then overthink. Anytime I start to feel that feeling of like a creative block, I just, it spirals and I need to be like, stop it. Like, and that's where I think exercise is huge for me, like getting, just moving my body. And even if, even if it doesn't help it, like come up with a new idea, at least it just makes me feel like productive. At least that's like, oh, I, at least I went for a run even though I-

Tim Sweeney (47:00)
Yeah, right.

Nicole McLaughlin (47:03)
didn't have any good ideas today, at least I like moved my body. So I think that's like number one, that there's been like certain things over the years that I have found. Like, there's definitely points of the year that I kind of go into these creative lulls. And I don't know why. But there's also points of the year that I completely like, rejuvenate. And that's when I go home to New Jersey, and I'm with my family.

I think it's just like being in a space where I feel like safe and relaxed. And I think that's just the biggest thing is like being relaxed and like letting myself just be a little lazy, be a little tired, like sleep in a little bit. I have...

always come up with some of my best ideas when I'm back home in New Jersey and when I come back from like the new year. Like I usually start the new year with some like pretty good ideas because I'm coming off this like nice quaint kind of hiatus.

Tim Sweeney (48:01)
Yep.

so what, what about, schedule? Do you keep like a schedule and is there time for like creative? Is there time for, cause you're running a business too, right? You're, you're a successful business woman. It's you, you're, you're, you are your business, your talent. So do you leave time for like the administrative stuff? Do you.

Nicole McLaughlin (48:12)
Mm-hmm.

Tim Sweeney (48:22)
I mean, how do you juggle all this? Because of the creative job, you don't want to waste or you don't want busy things to obstruct like what's producing for you, right? Yeah.

Nicole McLaughlin (48:32)
Definitely.

mean, the creative stuff comes way more naturally to me than like, I like the idea of the business stuff, but like the administrative stuff does not come the most natural to me. really have to like, force myself to do it, kind of push myself to do it. Thankfully I have, so I do have a business manager ⁓ who helps kind of go through like contracts and negotiations and all that stuff, which that helps me a ton because like,

just even taking a step back from like having to review a contract. that's such a time suck in a way that I like my brain. I have to like get into the mentality to do something like that. I had, yeah. So, and I'll also say I'm very fortunate because so my husband, he works for Crocs and he does their collaborations there. And so he understands from like the inside, like,

Tim Sweeney (49:10)
At the beginning, you probably had to do a lot of juggling of that, right? Yeah.

Okay.

Nicole McLaughlin (49:28)
kind of more of the contracts, like what, you know, how to do a deal memo and a deal structure. So in the beginning stages, like he was really helpful to me to be like, okay, this is how you would want to like set up. If you're going to work with a brand, you want like a design fee versus like a royalty based fee versus then like, okay, now you need a marketing budget to be able to create a campaign for this. Like I had no idea about any of that stuff. like,

He was really helpful. I have a lot of friends in the industry, which thankfully they've all been very generous with their time and have helped me kind of figure out how to like structure the business. But a lot of the things you just, had to kind of figure out on my own, like how to, now I make money from posting on social media. that was a world that I never really knew. And also it's like, I don't really have a ton of people that I'm like, Hey, like what are you recharging for this? it's.

Tim Sweeney (50:19)
Right.

Nicole McLaughlin (50:20)
It's

thankfully like I'm trying to be very transparent about it. And the few people I know like doing this similar like space, they're also pretty transparent about it. But a lot of the things with business is like, you just kind of have to figure it out. And this isn't really like, there's not really much of a blueprint. Like I don't really know many other people that are like doing this exact job. So I'm just trying to like, figure it out as I go. And thankfully, like the partners that I work with are super nice and like patient with me and have taught me things along the way.

Tim Sweeney (50:50)
And the people in the industry really, at least from my experience, footwear outdoor, like love what they do. So of course it's business and people need to make money, but they're in it for the reasons that you're in it probably, right? Like it's true. At the end of the day, it's like a passion. You don't go into those jobs generally because you're going to get rich. ⁓

Nicole McLaughlin (50:56)
Mm-hmm, for sure.

Yeah.

Yeah, no, for sure. I mean, that's

like the best thing about it is like everyone's really kind and like, especially within footwear and like this, just the sportswear outdoor industry, like some of the nicest, most genuine people like that I've met from working on projects and then have become like some of my closest friends. So I'm really glad that, you know, cause like I think the fashion industry versus like kind of where I sit in the fashion industry are a little bit different.

And I like that I'm adjacent and kind of like I touch into fashion. I've done stuff within high fashion, but the space that I really find myself in is more within like the footwear community and the outdoor community. So I love that.

Tim Sweeney (51:48)
Yeah. Well, they're,

are crossing over big time in the last few years. That, that is for sure. So last couple of questions. what's next and what's the dream collaboration, or can you tell me that is there something like.

Nicole McLaughlin (51:52)
my god, yeah.

Ooh.

Tim Sweeney (52:03)
⁓

Yeah, anything do you like? ⁓ that person would be cool to work with or that brand.

Nicole McLaughlin (52:10)
Well...

I probably, to be honest, I was gonna say it's probably less of like a brand. I mean, there's obviously like brands that of course I would love to work with that I haven't yet. But I almost find myself going more into like spaces and going into things that I haven't really explored a ton. So more recently, I've kind of been more into like the museum space, which is always really funny to me because like, it's always such a.

Tim Sweeney (52:11)
Or product, maybe a product.

Nicole McLaughlin (52:38)
and push with my work where it's like, it design? Is it art? And I'm always kind of like, it sort of sits in between both of those things. And I do want to explore a little bit more of the art space. Like I've definitely sat within design for like the products and stuff that I've created. less about, I don't really want to create a brand. I don't really want to like scale the one-of-one pieces that I'm making. I'm more so trying to find like creative ways of like doing what I do within other industries. And so...

Last year, I had an exhibition in the Anchorage Museum in Alaska, and I got to go to the museum and I basically went like treasure hunting, like how I used to do at Reebok, at the back, in the back halls of this museum, and take all stuff from like previous exhibitions and I used that as a part of my exhibition. And so I kind of feel like there's something there where I like to go work with like brands or

Tim Sweeney (53:23)
wow, yeah, cool.

Nicole McLaughlin (53:35)
or like ⁓ in galleries and that kind of stuff and take like whatever it is and make something whether that's like for a store display like from the back houses of like a like a store or like at a museum go into their back rooms and kind of create something. So I sort of think the dream would be something like that but like my ultimate dream would be to make a children's museum where it's like a very like experimental kind of like touch and feel like I loved going to like the science museum when I was little like in places where you could

get your hands dirty as a kid and like, like just give kids a pair of scissors and like, don't be too scared. Like that's, that's sort of the goal, you know?

Tim Sweeney (54:13)
Right.

it's funny cause I, I thought you were going to go down this road. Like I asked you a dream product or a dream brand and you tell me about like the coolest dump or recycling plant in the world that you really want to explore tells you where your head is.

Nicole McLaughlin (54:24)
I mean, that

I also, you know, I think about this often, but I kind of find that like, one of these days, I think I'm gonna inadvertently invent something. And I think I'm closer to it than I realize is what I all I have to say is like, I don't have any specific thing to share, but I'm more mostly like, there's something within like,

fashion or design or something that hasn't been invented yet that I feel like for some reason I'm gonna stumble upon inventing it because every once in a while I create something that I'm like this is a little too functional and like why isn't this a product yet so I could see myself like accidentally inventing something.

Tim Sweeney (55:05)
Well, I really appreciate your time. It took more of it than I expected. I thought we were gonna fly through this, but it's really fascinating to learn your backstory. And ⁓ the creative process too is really interesting to me, because I can't draw a straight line with a straight edge. ⁓ So it's really fascinating. Words have always been my thing, but ⁓ so to hear how you come at it is quite interesting to me. ⁓

Nicole McLaughlin (55:20)
That's okay.

Tim Sweeney (55:28)
I really do appreciate the time. It's fun getting to know you. Where can people follow you and see, see your stuff? Do you have any exhibitions coming up or cool stuff coming out from, from Co-Labs, anything you want to share before we, before we go.

Nicole McLaughlin (55:42)
Yeah, so well, Nicole McLaughlin, I guess on Instagram and then up upcycle on TikTok. I have the Instagram or the TikTok handle upcycle, which is pretty cool. ⁓ I did get in there a little early. And then I mean, I've always teaching workshops. So I would say look out for if I post on like stories on Instagram, if you're interested in learning how to upcycle, like I love teaching, that's a big part of what I do. And so

Tim Sweeney (55:52)
Wow, you got early early doors as they say. Yeah. Yeah. Nice work.

Nicole McLaughlin (56:10)
plan to do many more upcycling workshops, so please join in for that. And then I have some fun speaking engagements coming up over the next few months. So if you want to learn more about what I'm saying, then you could come see it in real life.

Tim Sweeney (56:24)
Yeah,

absolutely. And you're good at it. The ones I've seen online, they're good. You're really authentic and ⁓ it's quite a story to tell. So I thank you again for your time. I really appreciate it. All right, take care.

Nicole McLaughlin (56:26)
⁓ Thank you.

Thank you. Thanks so much. This is so fun.

Tim Sweeney (56:38)
Okay, a huge thank you to Nicole for spending an hour with me. ⁓ I'm always intrigued by people who kind of throw caution to the wind and have a go at what they really truly want to do. And Nicole is certainly one of those people and it's fair to say it's working out well for her. Having worked myself in the outdoor industry around footwear and apparel professionals for

better part of a decade. can tell you that there are a lot of people in that industry who are following her closely looking to see what she might create next. You can follow her as well on social media so you can keep up with what she's putting out. It's fun really to see what she creates and how she shares it across social media. She's also a very friendly person to have a chat with so I appreciate her time. That was fun. That's all for this week. If you want to know more about me and what I do you can visit my website at

Thank you for listening. Take care.