Ideasicle Expert Profile: Suzanne McKenzie Proves She Is Able Made
Creative ideas are everything at Ideasicle X. That’s why a recent addition to the Ideasicle Expert ranks is Suzanne McKenzie. She began her career as a designer at Boston shops Arnold and Continuum (I worked with her at Arnold). She was not only a gifted designer, she was a conceptual, and big, thinker who could also design. However, soon after stints with the Boston agency world, a tragedy happened and her life changed forever.
Her response to that tragedy is nothing short of beautiful and inspiring. I’ll let her tell you about it, but as you read her story notice her marketing mind and how creatively she thinks.
Throughout my entire career, I have always connected design with making our communities healthier and stronger. As I grow my own Public Benefit Corporation business and 501 (c)(3) non-profit, we are showcasing our social impact through retail experiences.
I launched ABLE MADE in 2013 to fund city-youth empowerment via the award-winning soccer and health focused Ucal McKenzie Breakaway Foundation (UMBF). UMBF was created in honor of my late husband after he passed away of sudden cardiac arrest playing the game he loved. ABLE MADE produces athleisure apparel and accessory styles made responsibly with high-quality upcycled, certified organic and cruelty-free fabrics. Our styles are inspired by the runway and the game -- as we establish ourselves as the original off pitch soccer style brand.
Through and through, ABLE MADE strives to have the highest standards in quality of product, inspiring designs, and responsible sourcing and making. How we show up at retail to reinforce our values has been a focus in our growth strategy that is paying off -- partnerships, going national and hyper local have been key to our expansion.
To grow the business, we have used a blended distribution strategy and not just relied on D2C to control our values-driven message, and to design a customer experience around our story and product. Retail partnerships are key. A long-term retail residency with 1 hotels--a luxury, sustainable boutique brand started by Barry Sternlicht (Starwood Capital Group, W Hotels Founder)--allows us to reinforce our brand position and commitment to strong design and sustainability. 1 hotel's space allows us focused access to our shared target audience -- their guests' live the same 1 hotel/ABLE MADE ethos of great design that is also sustainably-minded. Our social impact-aligned retail partnership has been mutually beneficial and has grown since we first began in 2018.
National exposure is not easy to attain for an emerging brand. Aligning with national retailers who allow you to tell your values story is key. ABLE MADE launched a retail micro-site with Good Morning America, which was broadcasted and promoted on live TV along with communication about our responsible manufacturing commitment. And as we launch retail with Nordstrom this month, we are able to highlight not only our style-driven collection, but values of quality of yarns and domestic manufacturing in North Carolina. Like the in-store experience we deliver at 1 hotel, GMA and Nordstrom will also communicate our commitment to quality, design and giving back, but to a broader audience that we may not otherwise have access to at this stage of our growth.
And while national exposure helps us grow, we've also gone hyper-local by launching retail experiences close to where we are making our collective impact. We've opened pop-up shops in the New York City neighborhoods of Soho, East Village, Central Park, and also in Brooklyn, which are all close to our apparel and accessory cut-and-sew factories in the Garment District. And now we have just opened our first store location at premier shopping center, Westfarms in West Hartford, CT, only a few miles from where our foundation's summer camps take place at Dillon Stadium. Connecting with consumers who live in the location in which you are working to impact local communities has been a huge part of growing and connecting on an emotional level with our audience.
How ABLE MADE shows up at retail to reinforce our values has been a focus in our growth strategy that is paying off -- partnerships, going national and hyper local have been vital.
Congrats to Suzanne for looking tragedy in the eye and instead of cowering, making the world a better, more “able” place.
I personally love assigning Suzanne to our Proxy Service projects because she is bold, speaks her mind, and thinks both inside and outside the box. Her provocative nature and experience are sure to inspire the other three on your Ideasicle X team, I’ve seen it.
Suzanne helps us prove that nothing is unthinkable!
Will Burns is the Founder & CEO of Ideasicle X. Follow him on Twitter @WillOBurns.