Maya Penn is a 22 year old who started her business at just 8 years old with her passion for sustainability. Maya created her brand called Maya’s Ideas in 2008 as a slow fashion brand that creates sustainable accessories and clothing. The products are artisan made from organic, recycled, and vintage materials. Maya took her passion and turned it into a business where others can now share in her passion as well. Maya’s brand is also making people aware, who were not already, of sustainability through her mission and products. Today, Maya is an award-winning founder and CEO, keynote speaker, 3 time TED Speaker, artist, and author.
Maya is driven by being eco-friendly through sustainability. What is so outstanding to me about Maya is that she was ahead of her time with her passion and business model. It has not been until recently that people are becoming extremely cautious with the fast-fashion industry. Maya however, was ahead of the curve by starting a sustainable fashion and accessory business in 2008. Maya was not seeking out what the newest trend or social issue was going to be, she was just passionate about it herself. That is inspiring to me to think that just a passion of yours can become something so large. It is interesting to think that someone’s passion right now may become a hot topic in the future. Maya’s story is encouraging because she acted on her passion without considering what the future may hold. She just wanted to share with others. It is motivating to me to just do like Maya. She was passionate and created a business out of it. It encourages me that I do could act on my passion without hesitation and one day it may become the current social issue. I too want to be ahead of the curve simply because I am passionate, that to me is genuine.
It is cool how Maya was able to create a clothing brand centered around sustainability. In doing this, she is able to not only create stylish and fashionable clothing, but also appeal to a broad audience of environmentally conscious consumers. I respect Maya’s approach and think that she will ultimately experience tremendous sales volume as long as she continues to adhere to her mission of sustainability. Overall, she has a great idea, for a company with a vision for how to positively impact the environment and her customers.