How I went from working in Tire Recycling to building a FashionTech startup 🤫

So, what exactly is 'The Mavericks Club,' and who am I, the person behind it?

Ever since I was a child, I’ve felt two sides battling within me: Creative Bella, whose true calling is to step out into the world and create, and 'Serious Bella,' who dreamed of a career in politics.

When it came time to pick my A-level subjects, I chose Textile Design, Polish, Russian, English, and Government and Politics. My history professor, upon hearing my choices, quite literally thought I was out of my mind.

'Fashion and politics? Well, that’s a new one,' he said.

I didn’t quite get it—how are the two not related? Fashion is business, and business is always political. So what’s so strange about being involved in both?

My journey didn’t start in fashion or politics—it began with recycling. Tire recycling, to be exact. But as someone who believes everything happens for a reason, my work in tire recycling set in motion a series of events that led me to where I am today.

When I first started in the tire recycling industry, I knew little about tires, recycling, or the fact that tires could even be recycled. It was all unfamiliar, male-dominated, highly technical, and, quite frankly, bizarre. But I’ve always believed that you can’t know what you like—or dislike—until you try it, and you never know what you’ll learn in the most unfamiliar environments.

Tire recycling introduced me to the world of sustainability and circularity. I’ve witnessed the entire lifecycle of a tire—from its production and disposal to its transformation into new products like shreds and granules. It reminded me of a cherry pit that, after falling, has the potential to grow into a new tree. This analogy made me reflect on the continuous cycle of life and renewal and inspired me to think about how similar approaches could be applied in other industries—where solutions are designed to address problems before they arise.

Years after leaving my job in tire recycling, working in tech, helping to launch a fashion brand, and then building and exiting my first startup, Creative Bella emerged. She made a strong entrance, declaring that she wasn’t going anywhere because she had an idea.

Enter BLEND.

The idea was to create an 'On-Demand Fashion Marketplace,' a platform where designers could submit their design ideas and have customers pre-order items at a discounted price in exchange for a wait. The goal was to onboard designers in batches, allowing them to reach their minimum order quantity to start production. BLEND would, therefore, enable designers to maximize their creative vision and for the planet? you only produce what is in-demand, minimizing the waste.

As you can see, the idea was inspired by my experience in tire recycling, where you address problems before they occur by focusing on repurposing or preventing issues—in this case, overproduction.

It picked up well. We had 70 designs on the platform, with more than a hundred on the waitlist. Operationally, this product was challenging to manage. We automated as much as possible, but since it was built on WordPress with numerous plugins, we had to handle a lot of logistical aspects of the product cycles and fulfillment. Managing all of this alongside full-time jobs was not easy. It quickly became clear that to do this well, we needed to build a more technical product, which would require external capital to scale.

And this is where I believe it went all wrong.

The more you speak to people who aren’t your customers, the more feedback you’ll receive that you need to carefully filter. Otherwise, you risk taking everything at face value. As the saying goes, 'Accept feedback, but be wary of who provides it.’

Long story short, we began to pivot and ended up making two (wrong) pivots into areas we didn’t fully understand, chasing popular opinion of tech bros rather than listening to our existing community. We overlooked what we knew they wanted and were excited about, as well as the fact that we were generating revenue with the product we already had. It was all just very wrong.

Two years in I simply sat down and had a realization that I was in a totally wrong place, building a product I didn’t recognize or remotely aligned with. BOOM.

I was a bit sad that I didn’t follow the intuition that has always guided me through life. I felt like I had failed myself by not listening to what I had known all along. It was confronting and sobering, but eventually, I accepted it.

But I never truly abandoned BLEND; it was always meant to return in some form. My passion for building, supporting incredible creatives, and contributing to the industry didn’t disappear. In fact, the fire within me is stronger than ever. I just needed a break to gather my thoughts, regain focus, and determine whether to pursue old paths or forge new ones.

Until the next step reveals itself, I will be running The Mavericks Club in a form of newsletter to share my journey and bring fashion underdogs on top.

You can also expect my reflections on the industry, recommendations for interesting resources—from books and movies to articles—lots of great music, and a dash of wisdom 😉

Why I chose to name it “The Mavericks Club”?

A "maverick" is someone who exhibits independent thinking and is not afraid to go against the grain or challenge conventional norms. It’s individuals who take unconventional approaches or pursue their own path rather than conforming to established standards. In a broader sense, a maverick is seen as a trailblazer or innovator who brings fresh perspectives and new ideas. That’s how I see myself.

Allowing yourself to be curious is one of the greatest acts of kindness you can offer yourself. Only when you realize that life isn’t just a series of accomplishment pit stops but rather a journey of continuous self-discovery, you’ll truly experience happiness. True contentment comes from embracing life’s motion rather than trying to pause it.

Onwards and upwards,

Bella