“A master in the art of living draws no sharp distinction between his work and his play; his labor and his leisure; his mind and his body; his education and his recreation. He hardly knows which is which. He simply pursues his vision of excellence through whatever he is doing, and leaves others to determine whether he is working or playing. To himself, he always appears to be doing both.”
This quote from Yvon Chouinard's, Let My People Go Surfing sums up what I am trying to do with Vaughan's General Store. Merging my personal and professional worlds to finally align myself with the work I am doing.
When I started to talk to close friends and family about my plan to start Vaughan's my sister told me to read Yvon Chouinard's books. Patagonia was one of my favourite brands but I didn't know the back story or anything about Yvon himself. As I dove into both books it was like a breath of fresh air, a case study of doing business differently, with conscience and respect for people and the planet.
I often go back to these books when I need some inspiration or a reminder that business doesn't need to be all about maximizing profits, that we are always learning and it's ok to make mistakes as long as you own then and grow from them.
"Once you educate yourself, you're left with choices." - Yvon Chouniard
My journey into the world of responsible fashion started with getting educated on the impact of this industry and the more I learned the easier it became to make different choices. I chose to buy products that were made out of more responsible materials, made by people treated with respect and paid enough to live and support their families. I hope my work at Vaughan's will help educate others and make the choice to help change the fashion industry an easy one.
