S4E4: Vanessa Ægirsdóttir | Vanessa Ægirsdóttir | October 28, 2023

S4E4: Interview with Yukon Entrepreneur Vanessa Ægirsdóttir, Co-Owner and Founder - Vanessa Ægirsdóttir | Recorded on October 28, 2023

 

It’s Yukon Innovation Week 20223 and the Yukon Entrepreneur Podcast is once again featuring a mini-series of insightful conversations with Yukon entrepreneurs on what innovation, inspiration, wellness, and community mean to them.

 

(0:22) Vanessa introduces themselves and shares a bit about their business, celebrating six years of operation this month!

 

(2:13) What does innovation mean to Vanessa? Vanessa defines innovation as something new, an idea, a method, or a technology. Specifically looking at the products their business provides, their innovation was to create a unique product that due to the materials being used (Indigenous-trapped, wild Yukon fur) each piece is inherently one of a kind.

 

(3:28) When it comes to featuring wellness in the work they do, Vanessa discusses that being a small business owner, especially one that manufactures consumer goods and has peak busy seasons in retail, can mean having downtime is non-existent. They celebrate that they have now settled into a more sustainable rhythm, with a fantastic in-store retail team, which has allowed them to focus more on refining their production system which in turn has ensured their overall business processes are now smoother than ever.

 

(5:33) Vanessa speaks about the privilege and responsibility of using Yukon fur in their products, and how important it is to be able to answer hard questions around the sourcing, utilization, and wearing of a material that can be very polarizing and emotional.

 

(8:19) What inspires Vanessa in the work they do? The people. When they started their business, they did not realize how much education would play an important role, and how much learning, humility, and vulnerability they would have to do.

 

(9:28) On a deep and personal level, the notion of competition versus community bothers Vanessa, especially when operating in a tight-knit community that has limited resources and product overlap. To them, no one can do something the exact way as someone else, and they feel more collaboration should occur that could support and lift up businesses so that everyone can be successful.

 

(13:09) “If you want to make something out of nothing, look at a Yukoner.” When it comes to lessons that the Yukon has to share with the world about innovation, the key to success is having that formula of Yukon entrepreneurs seeing a need or a group to be served and people having the appetite to support that.

 

(14:41) Thinking about opportunity, Vanessa reminds everyone that your greatest weakness is also your greatest strength. This means that whatever you perceive as being a shortcoming, will allow you to get crystal clear and focus on what you want to specialize in and ask questions about what you’re doing in order to see those amazing opportunities for what they are.

 

Thank you for listening!

 

For more information about Vanessa and their business please visit: https://www.aegirsdottir.com/

 

For more information about Yukon Innovation Week please visit: https://yukoninnovationweek.com/