Company: groenstil
Founder: Brigitta Schneider
Date founded: October 1, 2024
Industry and company: Clothing

What drives you? What is your motto?
I want to make the world a little bit better within the scope of my possibilities.

What is your start-up about and what makes it special? With
groenstil, it is important to me to strike a balance between fashion and sustainability, chic and comfort. I am convinced that women should not have to choose between one or the other. When fashion is well done, it can combine all of these things. What makes the groenstil collection special is its contemporary look, use of natural fabrics, and local production in Germany.

What are your first successes?
The successful launch of my online shop. The overwhelmingly positive feedback from potential and actual customers. Participation in my first pop-up events.

What is your professional background?
High school diploma – tailoring apprenticeship – degree in clothing technology. Then around 25 years working in design and creative direction for various well-known international companies in almost all product areas.

What prompted you to start your own business?
As a designer in the fashion industry, it often annoyed me when good design was stripped down so much due to targets that it was sometimes unrecognizable. And I found it unbearable how consumers were deliberately misled by greenwashing.

I know the fast fashion industry from the inside, I have the professional experience, and I had a concrete idea of how things should be done differently. So I realized that there was no excuse not to at least try.

Who advised you, who are your helpers and mentors?
My sisters and other women in my circle supported me mentally in my endeavor. I received professional advice from the start-up consultancy EXINA. But I also found digital formats, such as the start-up platform, very helpful.

How did you experience your first days as a founder? Putting together
a collection is a huge undertaking in terms of time and money. So, in addition to moments of elation, I also had moments when I wondered if I was still in my right mind.

What was your biggest challenge and how did you overcome it?
Marketing is and probably always will be my biggest challenge. And as someone from Generation X, I first had to get to grips with social media.

How do you draw attention to your company? What is your best marketing idea?
Of course, groenstil is also on Instagram. But contrary to what I had originally planned, physical events have turned out to be the best marketing strategy. That's why I regularly invite people to my (work) studio, where they can learn more about the brand, fabrics, and production of my fashion.

How did you finance your start-up? With
my own funds. The start-up grant from the Employment Agency was also helpful.

What dream would you still like to realize?
Plan, not dream: to reach break-even with groenstil so that the company is sustainable in the long term.

Please complete the following sentence: If I had more time, I would...
take a proper vacation.

What is your special tip: What would you recommend to founders? Seek
and accept support. Don't give up when doubts arise: even as an entrepreneur, there will be days when you don't feel like doing anything.