We interviewed women entrepreneurs in our small business community for this
year’s Women’s History Month. For our first interview, we chatted with Tracy and
Skyler Strandness, owners of Barefoot Eco Outfitters, based in Redmond, WA.
Tell us a little about yourselves, your
business, who you serve, and how?
Barefoot Eco Outfitters is a social enterprise offering super soft, high quality,
earth-friendly apparel celebrating the great outdoors. We work to protect the
wildlife and wild places of the PNW through donations, education, and our water
cleanup program, Seventy-One Percent.
We are a mother/daughter team and domestic violence survivors, who found
refuge and healing in the wild places of Washington state during our darkest
times. We created Barefoot Eco Outfitters as a way to honor and give back to
nature for all the ways it helped make us whole.
We serve a wide audience of people, both nature lovers who our designs and
sustainable focus resonate with, and people who just want supremely soft and
comfortable casual apparel.
We serve our customers by providing top-notch customer service, a quality
product, education about our eco-friendly mission and conservation issues, and
by supporting local non-profits.
What or who inspired you to go into
business?
When we were in the throes of extracting ourselves from our domestic violence
situation, I would take my three young children to the mountains, forests and
ocean beaches of Washington state. Having been abused, and then betrayed by
the systems that were supposedly in place to help us, we sought a safe space
where we were welcomed without judgment. We needed a place where we could
scream into the wind and not look over our shoulder. We needed a place for our
souls to rest. Nature gave us that safe space, and helped my kids grow in
confidence, empathy and curiosity.
My two sons and daughter and I share a very close bond and now that they are
grown, they still head to nature for refreshment and rejuvenation. Me and my
daughter felt compelled to give back to nature for all it offered us, and to help
protect our wildlife and wild places. Everything is connected.
How does your business impact your
community?
We are proud of our track record of working with local conservation non-profits to
provide design and fulfillment services, promotion of their missions, and
volunteering our time with them.
We created our own water cleanup program called Seventy-One Percent, where
we clean the rivers, lakes and ocean beaches of Washington state by kayak and
on foot. We have done cleanups ranging from the San Juan Islands to our own
backyard in Redmond.
To that end, for over two years we focused on a recovering salmon stream close
to home in Redmond that was being used as a trash dump. We cleaned that area
several times over those years and asked for the county’s help to remove some
very large items like mattresses that would not fit into our van. We brought
attention to that area, and now it has “no littering” signage posted with financial
penalties and is monitored. That is one of our most satisfying accomplishments.
We have focused in earnest on the plight of the Southern Resident orcas of the
Salish Sea, the importance of healthy rivers and abundant Chinook salmon to
ensure the survival of our iconic killer whales. We have an exciting project in the
works that will amplify our message to a much wider audience.
We also created a community event with handouts, displays, and educational
activities for children.
What makes business ownership different
for you as women?
We have found that it has been difficult to gain respect as a mother/daughter
business team. We have not had a lot of financial resources due to our past,
which has put us at a distinct disadvantage, but we are a force of determination,
hard work and perseverance. We are passionate about what we do, we are smart
and creative, but we feel we have to work really hard to be taken seriously.
What do you love or hate about your work?
We love our customers! We love the genuine lifelong friendships we now have
with people from across the globe. We love the feeling of making a difference and
seeing the impact that our efforts have had in cleaning the waterways so
important to our region. We love creating new designs that we hope will make
other people’s heart’s sing.
There isn’t a lot we don’t like, except the day-to-day tasks required to keep a
business running, like tracking inventory and tax time!
You can purchase your supremely soft apparel at https://barefooteco.com/
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