Entrepreneurship stories: ALIE
We are truly happy to present second episode of “Entrepreneurship stories” for this fall with amazing Ellen Järnefelt and ALIE!
For our entrepreneurship series we will share inspiring stories from young business minded entrepreneurs with courage to pursue their dreams!
Tell us about yourself?
My name is Ellen Järnefelt. I study finance at Aalto University and world politics as a minor at the University of Helsinki. I’m 24 years old and currently on the last year of my master’s. Work-wise I have experience of internships at Valor Partners, KONE strategy team, Bain & Company and Evli Growth Partners.
I have always been a very active, curious and independent person who enjoys learning and doing new things. I’m very interested in history, politics, art, music and films – on my free time, I read a lot, I paint, and design and make clothes. This year, I turned my dear hobby of making clothes into something more concrete.
Introduce your company, what is ALIE all about?
In the end of August 2022, I started my own clothing brand, ALIE. It is a project that explores shapes, textures and cuts, and combines old and new. Each garment I make is unique and one-off, and I use mostly reused or deadstock materials to create beautiful and interesting pieces of what already exists.
The current focus is on shirts and tops, and I try to create items that function well on their own, but can also be layered and used year-round. The sizes are quite fluid – my idea was to create a similar setting as at a vintage store, where you have one size of a particular item, and it can suit different bodies in different ways. I use elastic materials and flattering cuts to make the garments as inclusive in their fit as possible.
I also take custom orders, and currently they make around a third of the items I make and sell. The obvious driver for the custom order possibility was the need for availability of all sizes, but also being able to make items directly for someone. As I take open-ended custom orders, I think it’s a fun meet-me-halfway to get some guidelines for a piece while still having a small surprise for the customer.
I make all the garments in my studio apartment in Kamppi, and that’s our only location. Most of the orders are picked up directly from there.
Can you remember the moment when you first came up with the idea of your own business?
Ever since I was a kid, I have always had many creative hobbies and interests – painting, drawing, knitting and crocheting, etc. I’ve had a sewing machine since I was 16, and at first, for quite a long time, I just used to fix and alter mostly thrifted pieces. Then, around 4 years ago, I started making clothes from scratch, and the focus slowly shifted towards shirts, tops and dresses.
I started to feel like I was making more items than I could use myself, and also started to receive some custom orders as I had been posting some of my creations on social media. The initial idea of launching my own brand arose in the end of 2021, and as I spent January in Colombia and worked full-time for the rest of the spring, the idea was marinating in the back of my mind until summer 2022 when I eventually put everything together in a little over a month.
How did you find the courage to build your own business? Did you have any previous experience with entrepreneurship?
I think the single most important factor was that I started talking about my idea. As more and more people knew I was planning on creating a brand and opening an online store, I got more and more committed to the idea and started to process it also on a concrete level.
I think it’s also important to include your friends in the process to make them invested and interested in your project so that you have people that encourage you to see everything through. It can be asking for their help or advice or just sharing – I initially had 5 or 6 friends as models and one of them, Siiri, designed my logo so I definitely had a good support group.
What challenges did you have to overcome at the beginning of your entrepreneurship journey?
The hardest part is honestly just putting yourself out there – getting into the mindset that if you’re excited about what you’re doing, there will be people who are excited about it too, and the ones that might not appreciate your stuff are simply not people of your interest in this context. It’s a lot about defining the “why” – is this something you’re doing for someone else or out of an external motivation, or simply out of your own interest, passion and expression?
As this is just a hobby and a part-time thing for me, I have minimal expenses (and a very small inventory) and I would likely be making a lot of clothes even without ALIE, I am obviously in a privileged and relaxed place to create – belonging to the latter of the previous question. But that is also the point: I wanted to make things as easy and non-pressured for myself as possible to keep this an enjoyable hobby and see where this could evolve in the future.
The bureaucracy and formalities around creating a registered company can also seem a bit overwhelming if you’re doing everything alone as I was, but eventually everything was quite easily done. I do my bookkeeping myself, created and maintain my online store myself and shoot the catalogue pictures at my place with my friends as models, so the day-to-day is very manageable and totally in my hands.
Can you describe your typical day? How many hours a day do you work on average?
As I’m still a full-time student and have other stuff on my plate, ALIE is a hobby. I do something small almost every day, but combined, I think I spend around one to two working days on it per week.
I usually make around 1-2 items per week, and shoot them in batches maybe every 3 weeks. I update ALIE’s social media and edit catalogue pictures, as well as add items to the online store and arrange pickups. I also constantly keep my eyes open for new, interesting materials.
How do you generate new ideas for your business?
The creation process often starts with the materials. I usually find a small piece of an interesting fabric, and create the design around it. I almost always deviate from my original thought while I’m making the garment and seeing how it’s turning out, and come up with new ideas mid-process. That’s what makes it fun – it’s very iterative, and the creation process is not just about executing the idea but actually also about creating and being very expressive and spontaneous.
I also get excited about turning a piece of material into something totally different and interesting – last year I made a top from stocking textile samples my mom had found somewhere, and a vest from three old wool scarves.
Share one or few tips you would give someone starting her own business? Maybe something you would have liked to know in advance?
As my business is quite small-scale and part-time at least for now, my best tips are from an attitude standpoint. It’s likely that there is never a perfect time when everything is completely aligned and you feel totally ready. My tip is to be brave and just go for things – you can always alter the concept along the way or even pause the project if it starts getting too overwhelming. If you find yourself constantly returning to an idea and actually finding something you think is fun and inspiring and interesting, I think it’s always good to see where it can go. Don’t think too much, just start doing something towards the right direction and create momentum for yourself.
Don’t take yourself or life too seriously or be too critical towards yourself. Have fun, create opportunities for yourself, and think big when pursuing your interests – it’s not that deep. Don’t be the first person to tell yourself no.
Thank you ALIE and Ellen for participating our interview!
