Women With Impact #26 - Linda Wang
Welcome to Women With Impact, a newsletter all about the journeys of ambitious women and how they have a positive impact in our world.
I’m Clara Richter and this is the 26th edition of Women With Impact. If you enjoy this issue, please share it with a friend and like it above.
For this edition, I interviewed Linda Wang, Co-Founder at the tailored sandal brand URBNC3. Based in Zurich, Linda’s background is in the financial industry, however she jumped on her entrepreneurial journey during the Covid-19 pandemic. Her vision is to revolutionise traditional shoe manufacturing processes and provide customised and sustainable footwear. Just recently, the URBNC3 team has been awarded the Pax Sustainability Award from the Swiss Sustainability Challenge.
Wishing you a pleasant read!
Best,
Clara
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The Journey
Who are you and how do you spend your time?
I have co-founded URBNC3, a shoe-tech label that develops tailored sandals based on 3D printing and smartphone scanning. While I spent around 7 years of my professional career in the financial industry, I started to question myself during the Covid Lockdown in 2020 about purpose and impact. I’ve always had entrepreneurial aspirations, so it was time to leave the traditional M&A career path. I went into a Fintech company first, where I dived deeply into the world of startups and SMEs. I started side business activities in Traditional Chinese Medicine and Dog Accessory before going all-in into URBNC3.
What does impact mean to you?
Impact, to me, means creating positive effects on others through my actions and minimising my ecological footprint as much as possible. It is meaningful to see how you can solve problems and help people with your product. However, it is important to keep in mind that every little step towards the goal already counts and creates an impact. Trying to be perfect and having a flawless solution could be counter-effective— it doesn’t help to have a black-and-white mindset where we judge whether it's all or nothing. What counts is the sum of all the efforts that we create together.
How do you make a positive difference in the world?
Our mission at URBNC3 is to make tailored footwear accessible to a broader audience, thereby preventing the consequences of ill-fitting shoes. Our vision is to fundamentally change the traditional footwear production processes sustainably by leveraging AI, 3D technologies, and adopting a circular economy approach. While today's production processes are predominantly centred around cheap mass production with standardised sizes and shapes, our goal is to establish automated processes for custom, on-demand production. Through dedicated efforts in research and development to discover environmentally-friendly production processes and materials, we aim to drive innovation and promote sustainability within the footwear and fashion industry.
The Lessons
How has your journey of making an impact changed you?
Since I started my entrepreneurial journey, I’ve been constantly challenging and training my mindset. Life, especially as an entrepreneur with financial instability, can be challenging with ups and downs. A positive, humble mindset helps to endure. In a developed country such as Switzerland, it’s very easy to lose yourself in “first world problems” and get suck into a luxurious consumer lifestyle. As a Swiss-born Chinese, I now feel extremely grateful for having a very privileged life comparing to the many people in developing countries, and I have changed my focus from a materialistic to a healthier and balanced lifestyle.
What's a challenge you have encountered most often and how did you tackle it?
When you strive for an ambitious goal, the way there could seem intimidating. Comparing yourself with others is dangerous, especially in today’s time of social media. Truth is, everything looks easier from the outside. When I couldn’t agree with the system and culture within the corporate world anymore, I started to take my life into my own hands. That means distancing myself from what others might think of me and my career, focusing on what I want to do, prioritising the people that I want to have in my life, and cutting out superficial and toxic relationships without the fear of missing out.
What's the biggest lesson you have learned on your journey so far?
Your health and mental wellbeing are the most important in life. No job in the world is worth to put that on risk. No matter how scary or bad a situation might seem, try to take a step back and be more relaxed about it. There is always a solution, and people will forgive you. When you start to take things a bit more easily in life, things will automatically move forward more smoothly. Otherwise, you are building up barriers for yourself and you will be stuck. Also, entrepreneurship is a people’s business. Focus on maintaining positive relationships and helping other people, and you will gain supportive and helpful people in your circle.
The Inspiration
Who did you recently inspire to create impact? How?
I have spoken to so many people who are unhappy in their current job situation, but they often just accept it. I encourage them to stand up for themselves, take their life into their own hands, view things from a distanced perspective and not take any feedback too personal. I am happy to see that some people really did take action to make a change, because dealing with depression arising from such situations would be much harder afterwards.
What advice would you give to other women who want to have a positive impact?
Focus on yourself and don’t compare yourself with others. It all starts in your mind, so don’t waste energy on negative vibes. Don’t be jealous of others, rather admire how they got there and learn from them. Keep yourself out from gossiping because we never know the story behind. Look for idols and surround yourself with people that inspire you. Reflect on yourself and focus on developing yourself, don’t push back any feedback but try to learn from them. At the same time, don’t take criticism too personal and understand that many people struggle themselves and spread negativity onto other people.
Enjoyed this or have any feedback? Let me know in the comments!
If you know someone who fits my mission and should absolutely be featured on Women With Impact, please nominate them here.