Tell us about your business.

Terra/ipsum is the parent company for the beloved Trashion Fashion Show which started in 2011 in the Greater Hartford area. Terra/ipsum is a creative agency that generates unique brand promotions and choreographed live commercials. We do this by integrating a brand’s excess materials with our creative team team and utilizing our trashion designers and performing artists to get a brand’s message across through our choreographed promotions. These attention grabbing promotions are perfect for events or promos in busy pedestrian areas. Plus our media team can capture the promo providing high quality media long after the moment has passed.

The Trashion Fashion Show was started as a way to unite environmentalism, fashion, performing arts and visual arts. Since then we have had over 100 different designers in our shows and have expanded to Washington D.C. and New York City.

Why did you decide to start your business in Hartford?

I don’t think I really sat down and thought about a best spot to start something. I just started it. All my resources were here. I was here. All my artist friends were here. Hartford didn’t have anything like this. I wanted to start something creative that combined fashion, performing arts, visual arts, my love for the environment and integrate the local community.

How does your business impact the community?

It is embedded in our DNA to integrate the arts while being conscience about environmental sustainability. As we grow as a business, from our promos with large brands to our community events, we feel it is important to support the local creative community. We work with all types of designers, musicians, makeup artists, hair stylists, dancers, photographers and visual artists. We also make an effort to partner with businesses who have the same values.

We inspire the community to rethink about everyday waste as materials. Designs from our promos and events are made from 90% materials that would otherwise be in the waste stream. We have programs in local schools and colleges that get our students to rethink how they interact with the world. We partnered with a zero waste and sustainability class at Central Connecticut State University this past semester which required the students to seek a waste stream and utilize it to create Trashion.

Our events are a celebration of local arts, local businesses, local food and local fashion with a global impact. We always strive to be zero waste and hope that we can be an example for other events that might want to start doing the same. We also provide our attendees with local plants, in an effort to leave each city more green than we found it. We have also been able to create scholarships for youth based off our of mission.

What words of wisdom would you give to an aspiring entrepreneur who may be hesitant to take the plunge into entrepreneurship?

As one of my favorite business coaches says “everything is figureoutable.” As an entrepreneur there is always a large list of things that have to get done that you’ve never done before. Sometimes its just getting something done (done is better than perfect) and sometimes it is outsourcing to the right people. That is part of the challenge and excitement being an entrepreneur.

What is it like being an entrepreneur in Hartford? What difficulties or challenges have you faced?

It is nice being in a small city filled with many entrepreneurs who have big hearts. There are plenty of unique people to ask business questions to and resources that are easily accessible. My difficulties have been mainly finding and knowing the right local tools to fit my business’s needs, managing a remote team while growing and expanding into new locations. It has also been challenging to educate not only the communities but our local potential partners on the importance of the arts integrated with environmental awareness and our impact.

What is your vision for your business venture over the next five years?

We plan on partnering worldwide with more brands to create stunning fashion designs made from waste materials worn by talented performing artists. We want to keep pushing the creative boundaries of what is possible while inspiring environmental sustainability and awareness.

We want to give back to our communities through greening programs, trashion workshops, scholarships, and partnerships with local artists.

We want the world to rethink waste. We hope that through our partnerships, promotions, programs and events we inspire the youth (the next generation of change makers) to be more conscience consumers.

We will be expanding to have more Trashion Fashion Shows in more U.S. cities and countries. We hope to inspire more events to be artistic and zero waste.