VBT 104: Interview with Dylan Kendall, vegan home products designer

In this episode I interview Dylan Kendall, a designer of fun, affordable, functional and responsibly-manufactured products for the home, in Los Angeles. Dylan founded her first enterprise, Hollywood Arts, as a response to the challenge of ending youth homelessness. Hollywood Arts was the only educational facility in the nation to use arts and music to help homeless young people become self-sufficient. It quickly grew to serve hundreds of young people and earned Dylan the recognition of the Ashoka Foundation for her innovative approach to ending youth homelessness at the national level. Her second company Dylan Kendall Home launched with a bowl on feet. The company now sells internationally and is working on a program of eco-friendly products for children based on new-to-market, green materials. It hasn’t all been plain sailing though and Dylan uses her experience of getting through some particularly difficult times to help other entrepreneurs succeed via her social impact coaching services. In this interview Dylan talks about: • How she started her home products company while working for an agency for foster children • What she did that resulted in her first product – a bowl with feet – going viral • How she handled this fast success and the challenges that came with it (including missing deadlines for fulfilling orders) • The different funding models she used – including five crowdfunding campaigns, three SBA loans, purchase order financing and giving away a majority of her company ownership – and her thoughts on these • How her plans to launch a new plant-based plastic were cut off at the knees by a poor investment and a few bad containers – and how she came back from this • The model she’s now using to sell her products to China which has freed up a lot of her time to pursue other projects • And much more Visit Dylan Kendall’s website Brands mentioned in vegan business news roundup: Vevolution Bran Investments Crowdcube Vegan Ladyboss City of Asheville (North Carolina) RESOURCES: My Online PR Course for Vegan Business Owners & Entrepreneurs: Vegans in the Limelight My book Vegan Ventures: Start and Grow an Ethical Business Follow Vegan Business Media on: Facebook   Twitter  Instagram  Connect with me personally at: Facebook  Twitter  LinkedIn