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Nick Pearce: We just didn't anticipate initially opening an online store and in hindsight that should be the first thing we did. You know, retail, the industry itself, it's the biggest employer of young people and youth. Homelessness is the most represented group of people who are experiencing it. So it's the perfect marriage to make. It's just funny, like you sort of put something into the universe without being too airy fairy. And that notion of authenticity, it seems to just attract and breed some incredible talent.
[Voiceover]: Welcome to ADD to Cart, Australia's leading e commerce podcast that Express delivers all you need to know in the fast moving world of online retail. Every week, Nathan Bush from E Suite and an e commerce industry expert will share the news, research and insights that you need to know to keep you at the top of your game and of course, keep your customers. Adding to Cart. Hello and welcome to Add to Cart. My name is Nathan Bush, host of add to cart and director at E Commerce Talent Agency eSweep. Did you know that there are 120,000 Australians who experience homelessness every night in Australia? And of those, 60% are under 35 and 40% under 25? I didn't realize the magnitude of the problem or the ways that homelessness is in our society but often goes ignored or undetected through the different ways people can be homeless or at risk of being homeless. Today's guest helped shine a light on that for me. He is the CEO and the co founder of Homey, a social enterprise that aims to break down the stigma associated with homelessness and those Experiencing it rough on the streets. They do this through their ultra cool fashion label called Homie, their upcycled reborn range and their very cool Pathway alliance program that helps disadvantaged youth to kickstart their career in retail. In this episode, we go on a journey with Nick on how he went from studying journalism and being a manny. Yes, a real life many. To creating a business with purpose that is today known as Homey. We also dive into the unique size guides that Homey uses online, the tools that they use for online accessibility and why saying no to opportunities has opened up more doors to than saying yes. So, thanks to our partners Shopify plus and Signet, let's get into it. Here is our conversation with Nick Pearce, CEO and co founder of Homey. Nick, welcome to ADD to cart.
Nick Pearce: Thank you for having me, Nathan. It's a real pleasure to be here.
[Voiceover]: Thank you for joining us. I know you are joining us from the middle of a Melbourne summer and I can see that you're in your kid's bedroom with some Tigers paraphernalia. I think you're indoctrinating your young child there.
Nick Pearce: I am. I hope you can't hear him. He's actually just started crying in the background, but no, sorry, Nathan, you gotta start him early. And I am very much a shameless Tiger supporter. And yes, I do have the three most recent Premiership posters immortalised in lamination above his cot. So unfortunately, whether he likes it or not, from day one, he's a Tiger.
[Voiceover]: Well, what the listeners can't see is that you've actually got photos of of your child around and you've got the dusty haircut, which is a bit odd.
Nick Pearce: Well, I'd say a poor man's dusty haircut and that he's got a lot more coverage than myself, but I'd love to think that I could regain that. But unless there's a miraculous hair growth formula, which could be a great e comm initiative, obviously if someone can crack the code hair regrowth, then I think you're on to a winner. But no. So, yeah, I live in. Breathe out. I live in Richmond. My partner, Danny, he's not a supporter of the Tigers, she's a client supporter, which is almost blasphemy, but we make it work.
[Voiceover]: Beautiful. Now, we're not here to talk about football, even though we could, but I think Melbourne is very important to your story and obviously, Melbourne, being AFL heartland, you are very ingrained in the Melbourne community. For those who don't know, Homi, tell us about Homey and what you guys do.
Nick Pearce: Yeah, thanks. And you're right, Nathan. We are very, very Melbourne. I guess the best way to put it is that we're an organization, but we're also a streetwear clothing company, and we use the profits from our sales to support young people affected by homeless or hardship. So we kind of. We're interesting hybrid and a unicorn in that we're a registered charity, and we have a lot of sort of charitable activities and endeavors. But we also have this commercial entity which is our streetwear clothing and the label Homie, which is really about trying to make caring cool and impact really tangible for consumers. So, you know, we like to think of ourselves as sort of, in a lot of ways, a full complement of both quality products, but also real meaning behind purchase. So it's an interesting hybrid, but I think there's a lot of organizations that are appearing like ours now and have been there long before us. But there's a. I guess a term that's coined, you know, called social enterprise. But I like to think of us as a business with purpose.
[Voiceover]: Yeah, it makes sense. And if anyone's Googling Homey, it's H O M I E. Because sometimes it's easier to Google along as you're listening, of course.
Nick Pearce: Capital M for Melbourne.
[Voiceover]: Capital M for Melbourne. So capital H O capital M I E for Homey. Check them out. Because what I love is that when you view Homey, you don't see it as necessarily a charity. And you've obviously designed it this way. It feels like it comes from a fashion background, first and foremost.
Nick Pearce: Thanks, Nathan. Yeah, there's an intentionality behind that. Absolutely. And I think it's. Charity is such an interesting thing. And, you know, there are big charities or small charities. There's, you know, often, I guess, a lot that happens behind the scenes. And, you know, there's also, you know, mistrust. And, you know, there's just so many elements to these, but there's also amazing outcomes. And it's just one of those things where we kind of thought, let's just try and create a way to just make our mates really care about what we care about and make caring cool in quite a passive way. So rather than have a T shirt that says, like, you know, anti homelessness kind of homelessness sucks, et cetera, obviously we're going about it in a really subtle, unassuming, but hopefully also quite a savvy way, you know, in the sense that, yeah, Homey is an acronym for what was initially a Facebook page called Homelessness of Melbourne. So it stands for homelessness of Melbourne incorporated enterprise. And we talk about this notion of being a label for the streets that kind of play on words and that it's streetwear, clothing. But also obviously there's an association between homelessness on the streets. So. So yes, there is a real intentionality there. And I guess it's ultimately around the fact that it's like for a consumer, we want people to think that this stuff looks and feels great before even understanding that, oh, wow, you tell me that also when I purchase something that, you know, it's going towards opportunities for young people to get into work and really make a good fist of their lives. Hopefully that just seals the deal. So it's almost, I guess it's a cherry on top. But yeah, I think it's important to sort of. We don't want to be that person rattling the, you know, that sort of annoying sort of person with the vest on and sort of in your face. It's sort of like, hey, you can get something that looks great for yourself and feels really good at the same time because you know that it's doing something. And then, you know, by wearing that, you become an advocate for us. And then a mate sees it and goes, oh, what's that about? And you can tell them about it. And I guess that's how we kind of see it. It's quite a guerrilla movement.
[Voiceover]: Yeah. And you are so far away from the street corner. I mean, you. From what I've read, you were recently featured at Melbourne Fashion Week. Is that right?
Nick Pearce: Yeah, it's been amazing. We're so lucky, I think, just getting so much positive sort of sentiment towards our endeavors. And it's great to see that all that hard work is paid off. And probably more recently, it's around a really unique model that we have with the reborn range, which is just this sort of high fashion, you know, for me. I mean, you can probably tell by looking at me, but for a listener, very generous agency, that I have a Dustin Martin haircut, I'm bald, and I wear pretty blank basic clothing. But certainly that the reborn range is real high fashion. But it's an amazing opportunity for us to kill two birds of one stone in the sense that, you know, it's all repurposed, upcycled garments. One of a kind, you know, high fashion. And we're talking about getting factory seconds and samples from brands like Champion and then creating these one off pieces that just. They're very eye catching, they're very high fashion. And it's been an amazing entry point for us to make A bit of a statement around, you know, okay, we've got this brand, Homey. We've got this sub brand Reborn. Homey does this for young people, homelessness and hardship and then Reborn's doing this for the environment. We've been it save X amount from landfill and I guess just kind of show people that there are some really sustainable ways to do things and just trying to challenge and provoke people to question, can we do more. So I guess all of those endeavors are really like an extension of yes. You can start with something, but you can build upon that and create some real purpose behind it.
[Voiceover]: Yeah. And I really want to dive into what you're doing with the homeless and the youth community in Melbourne. But before we move away from the design aspect, I'm really curious around how I'm not throwing aspersions. It's like how someone like you would be like me designing a fashion label. How do you develop and bring together a team that can have that cutting edge fashion and deliver the designs that are on trend and even pushing the trends a bit further?
Nick Pearce: You know, a lot of luck I think, Nathan, in a lot of ways. I mean, I certainly focus very much on the business component. But I'm very fortunate that one of the fellow co founders and creative director Marcus, who I met overseas and sort of was part of the nucleus of Homey, has really been driving that. And if you saw us, we're completely polarized. Marcus really fits the bill for a North Sider and just has amazing insight, but just has been out. We've been able to, I think attracts some incredible creators into our organization, graphic designers, collaborators. And I think it's just funny, like you sort of put something into the universe without being too airy fairy. And that notion of authenticity, it seems to just attract and breed some incredible talent. So I think we're just lucky that in some ways we've created that luck, that there's a real authenticity behind what we're trying to achieve, both from sort of impact as well as product. And fortunately we've come across some incredible creative people and really it's all about creativity, Creativity for us. We've created an innovative solution to this issue of homelessness, similar to just this medium of not only providing direct employment opportunities, but also then how to educate people and generate awareness. It's all about creativity. So it just underpins the entirety of our operation. So I can't take the full credit. I'd like to think that I in some ways sometimes have a good idea. But at those workshop meetings I often Tend to remain very quiet and then often be at the fragment system and the sense checker around the feasibility. That's my role, to make sure that. Can we actually translate this into action?
[Voiceover]: Yeah, don't worry about that. I'm the head of marketing, apparently at E Suite, but when it comes to anything design or colors or style, I get no say so. I feel your pain.
Nick Pearce: Yeah, yeah. You gotta know when to talk and when to shut up.
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Nick Pearce: Yeah, yeah, no, it is. And that's just incredible, really, to think that we've been able to reach out to Disney and to be on their radar. And, you know, the way that that was sort of connected, was I a reborn? You know, someone from Disney saw that, loved it, hit us up, and we thought, well, Disney's one of the biggest brands in the world. If we can just get some noise happening and seem to be working alongside them and have access to those assets, it's an incredible opportunity. It gives us credibility. But obviously also, hopefully it was a great experience for their team and they undertook the empathetic employment training with us, and that was awesome. So a really good sort of Deepman connection. I think all the. The partners that we have, you know, that they're not transactional in the sense that, you know, we look at sort of what are the other ways that we can work together, not just from obviously putting out some premium products. So incredible moment for us to think that collaborations that we've had to date have been with some of the biggest brands in the world and Disney and Champion, you know, and obviously more to come in the future. But, you know, I think those partnerships, yeah, they certainly aren't off a Win and they're really value exchanges and we ensure that obviously all parties are, you know, I guess generating what is fair and reasonable from support, exposure, awareness because we obviously have a lot to value and lots to offer and sometimes I think historically that's something that we had a bit of trepidation towards. But we've got something really valuable and I think we've got more and more confident as we've grown to be able to talk to that and understand what that value is. So yes, the Disney collection obviously launched prior to Christmas and I think for a lot of people it's sort of a trip down memory lane. It's really hard to get, you know, you can get obviously sort of Disney toy at the sort of generic stores, big supermarkets and whatnot but it's very hard to find sort of premium garments people to relive their childhood. So yeah, I've definitely got a bit of an assortment in my closet.
[Voiceover]: Very cool. And it's like you said exactly what you said is like it's probably a sum of all those opportunities, those quick and easy opportunities you said no to because people like Disney see that you're consistently putting out quality and well considered campaigns and creative that they can align themselves to confidently. So well done on having that long term view.
Nick Pearce: Thanks Nathan.
[Voiceover]: Yeah, last thing I'll say on the E commerce site is as I was browsing through and tell you what, I spent a lot more time browsing your site than a lot of others that I have in the past.
Nick Pearce: That's good, that's good to know. I think that's really great feedback.
[Voiceover]: Yeah, there's so much interesting content in there and creative was your Homey Fit videos. So a lot of people will put up a size guide and it will be the most boring page on the website. It will often be a table with different sizes for different types of clothing. Male, female, There you go. Will translate into a few different countries and you work it out from there. What you've actually done is you've got videos for different sizing and different types of clothes so people can actually see it on real models. Who came up with that idea?
Nick Pearce: Oh look, that's just obviously the brand team and being hyper considered and accessibility is such an important thing for us and diversity, inclusion as an organization and I hope that's represented again. You can sort of feel that with obviously see our models and our talent and also sort of our internal composition. So I guess some of those things where we wanted to make sure that no one has ever felt excluded and it Goes to the fact that you've got a website and you can also there's a tablet pop up and automatically sitting in the left hand corner that's around accessibility. You know, it's a great plugin from a group called Userway where I think it just if it can twofold makes one feel more welcome and belong, you know, that increases that brand loyalty and sort of buy into understanding that we care about you as well. But also I guess it's just easier, isn't it? I find it certainly because I'm always. I hate when you're shopping around at different brands. I love shopping different brands but I hate when you sort of. You just don't know there's a large compare like for like. And you know there is. You know, obviously those side guards are just so tedious to see it, you know, and the fit and feel and to be able to add that next layer of confidence as well with someone's purchase to know that okay, I know it's going to feel like I can feel good about it because that's the worst feeling is when something comes and it doesn't and it's just like, oh, I've been hanging out for this for so long, you know, especially during the COVID period and it rocks up and you got to send it back and take, you know, by the time you want to wear it. So whatever you bought it for, it's often, you know, you've missed that window so. Yeah, exactly. So no, I think it's just really. It's about belonging. I think as silly as that sounds, you may not be the answer that may have anticipated but it's about belonging. It's about making sure people feel that yeah, we thought about you. You can see yourself in our stuff
[Voiceover]: and in terms of accessibility, obviously very important to you guys. Are there any tools that you guys use to make sure that the website is as accessible as possible?
Nick Pearce: Yeah, I mean this plugin that we've been able to integrate called Userways is absolutely brilliant. And I think to be honest, every website should. It's by no means a deer outgoing and if anything I think as I say people who may see that the amount of people these days, everyone's got things happening and different challenges and if you can make life that little bit easier for people with it's not having to go out of your way whatsoever. That's been an awesome tool that I've recommended to a number of friends in the space and other businesses who just integrated that from the outset because I think it's just. It should just be a fundamental. But yeah, that's one that I can highly recommend.
[Voiceover]: Great stuff. We'll put a link to it as well as your size guide into the show notes so people can check it out. I'd love to get the origin story of Homey, of how you came together with your co founders and how you had the idea of turning into a fashion label for purpose.
Nick Pearce: Yeah, it's an interesting one in the sense that actually harks back to an overseas trip in 2013 where I met Marcus, one of the co founders of Homey. And there's been a number of people who've been sort of founding members, but women overseas during this fundraising bicycle ride from Vietnam to Cambodia for anti child trafficking. So not directly correlated to homelessness in Melbourne, but such an important cause and issue. And I guess we just became friends on that trip. So we rode on push bikes. I think it's about 1000k in a week. And it was incredible. We actually ended up going back the next year, but we raised funds and awareness for one school in a really remote region of Cambodia. And what we loved about that was this kind of tangibility to this endeavor. And then we came home and what really sort of invigorated by obviously the trip and, you know, became good friends and I guess I'm sort of spitballing and Marcus is a really talented photographer and was working in the city at General Pants and I was studying at uni, doing journalism. And he just sort of reached out and said, mate, why don't we have a chat to someone who's on the streets and just find out about them and, you know, kind of, you know, what can we do? And like, it's just so many people, you know, in the city now and I'm committing to work and I was seeing it going to uni as well. So we decided to make just in the CBD in Melbourne Central and we just thought, let's go chat to someone. So we literally went out, saw the first person and got down to their level and looked them in the eyes and shook their hand and just said, hey, I'm Nick Marcus. And we're just really keen to have a chat and just, you know, learn about what we can do to help. And it kind of stemmed from that. So it was amazing in that for me, one of the insights was I was very fortunate, you know, grew up in a very supporting, loving family, middle class, you know, and had a pretty easy ride of it. And the person that I spoke to, I went to a private Boys school as well. And the first person we spoke to went to the same school as me, albeit many, many years beforehand. But, you know, we knew some of the same teachers. And that was really confronting for me. Obviously, I was like, I just can't believe, you know, someone from my world has found themselves in this situation. And the more and more we kind of spoke to people, we came to find that that was actually really commonplace and there's so much stigma behind homelessness and it really sucked. I think we kind of were learning more and more, meeting these people and, you know, the reality of who they were and their situation just didn't marry up to the stigma. And we decided to initially sort of create a guerrilla tactics campaign. And we adapted the Humans in New York model, which was really sort of engaging and translated across to speaking to people who were experiencing homelessness. So the whole idea was that we had this sort of four word, sit, chat, listen, share sort of model. It was so easy in essence, that we would literally go and sit with someone, get down to level, shake their hand, look them in the eye, and then share their story with the community online. So I'd type it up in their own words with their consent, and Marcus would get a really beautiful portrait and we'd share that. And that just really blew up. You know, we sort of. Eventually the stories themselves are reaching, you know, over half a million people. And it was, it was awesome to see just attraction in terms of people saying, oh, you know, I walked past Jeff, I never knew his name, every single day. And you know, the fact that he loved the same music and I heard that he loved Led Zeppelin and I love Led Zeppelin. And we chatted about it and he was really lovely and I just wouldn't have done that if I hadn't known that. And that was really cool.
[Voiceover]: What kind of reactions were you getting from the people that you were talking with?
Nick Pearce: Yeah, I think like the biggest insight from them was that the best thing you can do for me and for us is I just. We just feel invisible. We live the same day over and over again. And it's just actually, it doesn't have to be having a chat or giving money, but just even smiling, acknowledging that we exist. Because I think that loneliness is so compounding. And that was, yeah, just the insight that was given was like, I live the same day over and over again and no one sees me, but if someone smiles, they see me, like acknowledge that I am a person and I do exist. And that was so important to us. So, you know, we started to Use language. And we framed this because it's true, you know, that no one was a homeless person, but rather a person experiencing homelessness and really encouraged the community to start using that language and that it was a situation in a circumstance that people could get out of with the right level of support, care and opportunity. And as I say, it really grew organically and we were reaching a really large audience. I guess we kind of thought, well that's great, we've got a lot of awareness out there, but there's still, you know, so much stigma and we need to do some direct action, you know, just so that there was something, you know, within us that we just wanted to do more. We didn't really know, but we just tried to do something. And we saw a campaign that existed worldwide called Street Store Initiative, which was a pop up thrift shop that started in South Africa and it was sort of like a global sort of phenomenon and we did Australia's first ever one. So what we did was essentially it's, yeah, it's like a cardboard pop up sort of dignified shopping experience. So we invited our online community and those that we had spoken to and the services that they were connected with, you know, who were experiencing homelessness in the city and to this kind of day event in. Let me get my bearings. I think it was, yeah, it was December 2014 and just before Christmas time and it was just this really beautiful kind of dignified shopping experience that we created and sort of bridging and creating a connection between these two communities. But obviously the insight again is that's a one day event and it felt really amazing and I think for all parties concerned, but at the same token, you know, unfortunately these people are going back to, you know, that same street corner and you know, it's life goes on and that for us, you know, it was like, well, it's really cool and great to see that we could engage people and have that moment, but what more, what else can we do? We decided to do a crowdfunding campaign and we raised about 20k and we got some good sort of publicity through the course of that and were offered a pop up shop in a physical one in Melbourne Central.
[Voiceover]: And when you were, when you were going through this, were you in a full time job at that stage? Were you thinking that this would be something that you move over towards full time or where are you at personally at this time?
Nick Pearce: Absolutely not. So finishing up a communications degree, thinking I might be a journalist or God knows what. And I was actually a manny, a male nanny at this time. So that was my sort of supplementary income. And yeah, we decided to have a crack at this sort of. We go, we've got a space that's been offered to us. Let's open a shop, let's open a clothing store. We didn't have any clothing, didn't have any fixtures and fittings, didn't have anything. But we're quite resourceful. And I guess the first product that came to mind was that we had this logo, this monogram on our Facebook page, this Homelessness Melbourne logo. And that's obviously become, you know, sort of our Nike tick equivalent. You know, that's how. That's our. What we're regarded for. And yeah, so we started to print some of those on some blank fees, had a number of awesome brands that contact us and said, hey, we'll give you some product to sell. Love what you're doing. Because we initially had this one for one sort of initiative. So it was, hey, you come shop with us and you buy a T shirt, we'll give a T shirt. And the way that we would do that is through a VIP shopping day experience, which was kind of a refinement of that experience in Fed Square. And what it actually was was, yeah, essentially a day where we would close the store to the public and we'd invite a local homelessness service to come in and shop for free. So the support staff would come in and yeah, we'd have this sort of really nice exchange. Again, sort of for us, it was like, okay, some good momentum here and we're getting good traction and we're getting some insights around our customer and sales and we sort of thought, okay. Again though, the VRPA's aren't solving the issue and we started to have some young people come in. So we had some youth homeless, specific services and it was really interesting. Sort of the feedback was from these young people, had an amazing time and I just love this brand and I'm kind of stuck right now in the sense that I've got some stability, but at the same token, I just a bit stuck. Like I just, I need some work experience or, you know, I just can't get a job. I've got nothing on my resume. People make assumptions about me, who I'm going to be as a worker, et cetera. At that point in time, we were probably, yeah, maybe six months into our journey and it's all voluntary and, you know, can I come and just do some, you know, shifts with you and, and, and we learn together. And then we were able to Sort of get business to a point where we could pay staff and, and, And I guess, yeah, it really flowed from that. And we realized that there was this immense opportunity to really complement some of the existing infrastructure and I guess helping a young person exit homelessness. But one of the biggest gaps was opportunity, and I mean, the lack of it. So some insights very quickly, just, I guess, to paint the picture. You know, youth homelessness is such a big issue that sort of often, you know, there's homelessness, but it's a real spectrum. And I think they said in any given night in Australia, there's over 120,000 people who experience homelessness. And that's the most recent census. So 7,000 of those live rough. Sorry. Thank you.
[Voiceover]: And in terms of when you say people aren't homeless, they're without homes, what kind of length of period are we often seeing people being without homes for?
Nick Pearce: Yeah, it's such a good. Like homelessness is a really interesting term in that if someone's at risk of homelessness, they're considered to be experiencing homelessness on the census. So people can actually be in a temporary accommodation situation, couch surfing, sleeping in cars. And that's probably the biggest insight, is that most homelessness isn't on the streets. So there's about 7,000 people who live on the streets or are living rough. But there's over 113,000 then. Yeah, cab slipping, sleeping in cars, temporary accommodation, et cetera. So the biggest issue is actually invisible. And within that number, I think it's now over 60% of people experiencing homelessness at 35 and under. And over 40% are 25 and under. So the vast majority of homelessness, and the reality of it is it's not an elderly person with the gray hair and beard, you know, it's actually a young person who just can't get out of this sort of vicious cycle. And if it sort of continues for a set period, then just the likelihood of them actually experiencing it chronically just increases tenfold.
[Voiceover]: And I can imagine having that experience at such a young age can do a lot of psychological damage if they are treated as invisible at that point in their life.
Nick Pearce: Absolutely. I mean, there's just so many contributing factors. Obviously, the biggest one we hear is lack affordable housing. But family violence is so prevalent, obviously with young people. The biggest one, again, that really sucks, and we really try and challenge is that people often make assumptions that it's drugs and alcohol. It's less than 5% in terms of. As a direct contributing factor to that person experience in homelessness so most people would automatically assume why someone experiences homelessness. It's drugs and alcohol, as did I when I first sort of started to get into this world. But I guess that's something that again we're really trying to advocate against because it's just not true and the numbers tell us that. So it's just a fascinating insight into, into a world that, as I say, there's so much prejudice and stigma and yeah, this negative stereotypes perpetuated through, you know, the mainstream media. But I guess what I was getting to was that we just found there's a huge opportunity to work with young people to help break that cycle. And it comes back to that point around that experience. When we were in Cambodia it was, you know, we can't do everything for everyone, we can do something for someone and what's the best thing that we can possibly do. And we realized that if we can create some structured retail training, employment opportunities and we can sort of complement a genuine pathway out of this situation and people can stand on their own two feet, you know, and hold down a job and live independently and that's amazing. And it's better to try and do that than to try and I guess alternatively provide a band aid solution to the issue. We became very passionate about making sure that our something to someone was the right someone and it was the right something. We just didn't anticipate initially opening an online store and in hindsight that should be the first thing we did. We literally were so cavalier and we said, yeah, we'll take on a short term lease that was supposed to last four weeks. It ended up being a year and it's now being, I think we're entering into our sixth, seventh year. So no intention at all of going down this pathway but I guess it's just been twofold warranted because of the need but also because of the appetite for people to want to support. And that's really reassuring and that's why we're here talking today.
[Voiceover]: So one physical store.
Nick Pearce: Yes. So we had the pop up shop in Melbourne Central and moved around there for say probably half a year or so. And then we decided to take a bit of a leap and it was quite cavalier because it probably, I'm sure we now we're very fortunate to have a very sound and supportive board of directors. But early days it was, it was just, you know, sort of co founder activity and we took on a lease, you know, with, with probably just enough money to warrant it and, and moved out to the corner of Brunswick and Johnson street and that's been our staple for over 5 years now. And it's obviously such a great location for us and ultimately, you know, it serves a great purpose in it's such an iconic spot and we get, you know, great interaction with our consumer and direct feedback. But it's also, you know, the primary mechanism for that is that a safe environment for us to provide the training for our young people. It's a supportive environment and we also still host our VIP days there.
[Voiceover]: Yeah, cool.
Nick Pearce: Yeah. That's the purpose of why we have a physical store.
[Voiceover]: Social enterprise Free to Feed connects refugees, people seeking asylum and new migrants to their communities using their skills and their delicious, delicious food. But when Covid hit, these community gatherings weren't possible anymore. By partnering with our packaging suppliers, Signet, Free2Feed were able to quickly move to online meal kits which were boxed up and delivered safely to homes all over Australia. Free2Feed keeps on delivering for the community with the help of Signet. Visit signet.netaublog to find out more. And how does the training program work? Like how do you decide who comes through the homey internship and how do you train them up?
Nick Pearce: Yeah, no, good question. So it involves a number of stakeholders. So the way that it works is that we go out to the support services that are already providing, I guess that primary care, so supported accommodation, access to mental health care, support work, et cetera, et cetera. Nothing that we actually don't have the capacity or capability to do. So the important thing to know is that we're really focused on staying in our lane and ensuring that it's very strength based. So we go out and we pitch the program to the young people. We then take on expressions of interest and submissions from our people and their support workers go through a process of shortlisting, interviewing because we have 12 placements per calendar year and we run an eight month paid retail internship. So it's called the Pathway alliance program. So it works in conjunction with those community partners. But we have 12 young people who undertake a cert three in retail operations that we sort of have co designed with a local RTO and we have placements. So we have young people who work in our store, so three young people who work in our store for that tenure. And then we're also partnered with some big brands which has been awesome. More recently connecting with brands like Champion and Bonds and Nike and Tom Shoes and training their staff and their workplaces to be able to provide the infrastructure for these opportunities. So that's been really cool for us. It's kind of. Yeah. Again, sort of that two bed, one stone approach because it's amazing when these businesses perceive these assets and then they advocate for that and then that sort of encourages more opportunities. So that's kind of the model. So it's an eight month program. There's a number of parties that support workers in those services. There's obviously ourselves as kind of that broker and sort of mediator between all parties and there's also the employment providers. So it's a nice sort of triple pronged attack where everyone's sort of playing to their strengths and providing a really comprehensive and quality experience for these young people to learn and be supported out of what is obviously been a challenging time. So it's a genuine pathway.
[Voiceover]: Yeah. And I love those partnerships that you mentioned and obviously we saw over Christmas and I think they've been doing it for a couple of years now. The Body Shop trial open hiring, meaning that anyone who physically was able to do the job and talking in a retail sense, they didn't have CVs, didn't have interviews if you're physically capable of doing it to and that was to actually give people opportunity. What do you think of that approach and are you seeing more of that or do you still think it's very limited opportunity for people who don't have that?
Nick Pearce: Look, I think there's a lot of trepidation and there's a lot of anxiety because there's just fear of the unknown. And that's the job of ourselves and the Body Shop and they obviously partner with Launch Housing, who's an incredible national organization and we work very closely with and it's incumbent on us to kind of, as I say, really destigmatize that because it's nowhere near as scary as people often or as you know, there are obviously some material challenges, but a lot of the kind of principles, you know, you operate in a strengths based kind of manner. Which, you know is exactly what that sort of open sort of hiring does. Right. Is it's focusing on sort of what are the strengths and then positively exploiting those. We work very much under the guise of unconditional positive regard at all times and meeting underperformance of curiosity. So easy obviously for, you know, people to, you know, make assumptions about that's why that person's late or that's, you know, what it is. But it's often, as I say, you know, that curiosity is such an important piece to support someone as opposed to making harsh brash assessments that are often ill informed. So, you know, I really hope that that does continue. And I think it's amazing when you have bigger brands as well. Like obviously, you know, we're growing our business but to work with some of those larger national and some cases international brands to show that they're actually engaging in this and to take that fear factor away, I hope that breeds sort of more buy in because ultimately retail, the industry itself is. It's the biggest employer of young people and youth homelessness is the most represented group of people who are experiencing it. So it's the perfect marriage to make. And most of us probably began our professional lives working in hospitality or retail. It's a launching pad. So I really hope to see more and we see ourselves as very much, fingers crossed, a positive influence in the space and a spark that can light the fire. It's so important that it's quality care given. But at the same token people just need opportunity. It's just lack of opportunity. And we've got such a moment right now in this sort of recovery from this Covid environment, et cetera, to make a statement and to really. Because these people who are already sort of facing disadvantage have been further sort of impacted by the fact that you've had people who weren't experiencing disadvantage who now are as well, who may have had a stable job and have resume and everything else. So it just pushed people even further behind. But they need to be at the forefront and we all need to be at the same start line of that 100 meter sprint.
[Voiceover]: Yeah. And if we've got retailers listening to this or even agencies, doesn't matter who are looking to give more people opportunity in their workforce but are going to. Where do I start? Do you have a practical tip or a part of the old system that you would suggest tearing down to open up that opportunity as like, you know, a great barrier just to get started.
Nick Pearce: Good question. And I think, you know, we've even sort of ourselves tried to create some solutions in the sense that we produced an empathetic employer training opportunity where we're a business or an agency or whatnot, can actually take that with us. And I guess a lot of the principles, they're just often I think we sometimes over complicate like this is, you know, treating other people how do I want to be treated? Equal opportunity. As I say, unafforded curiosity. A lot of the principles are common sense and logical. I think like the biggest thing that we need to take away is that fear factor and just demonstrate it's not as hard as you think it is. Like yes, certainly, you know, there are some considerations, but no one is beyond being able to do this. And if we can do this with the finite resourcing that we have, and you know, we don't have the infrastructure and all the rest of it, you know, some of these global conglomerates do, they can do it. It's just actually so say just often there's just trepidation and I guess I'd love to be able to just sort of actually show the reality to as many folk as possible and for them to understand that as I say, that the numbers actually really contradict the stereotypes. And that's just more people knew those. You go, oh, wow, okay, that's so different to what I thought it was. So that'd be my one. Which is like just people actually. Yeah. Seeing it for what it is versus what they think it is. Because what it actually is in the numbers. Again, you can look at the census. There's information out there that'll demonstrate that all the stereotypes and the stigma that exists around homelessness is so out of date and was never right in the first place.
[Voiceover]: Yeah, great points. How have you gone translating the homie message online? Because it is a fairly, not, not convoluted, but it's, it's a rich message, the homey story and that you're not just selling a T shirt, you're selling, you know, a community, you're selling a message, the whole lot. How has that translated for you moving online?
Nick Pearce: Good question. It's such a, you know, it is a challenge because, you know, an in person experience, you know, you're going to get all the feels and there's more senses that are heightened through, through, you know, a direct exchange. Because if you come into our store and the program's running, not that we have, you know, advertise on our staff, it doesn't say young person experiencing homelessness undertaking program, but you know, that that's what we do. And that often when you're being served face to face, the person who is serving you is benefiting not only from your purchase and the contribution, but also just the actual kind of learning experience in which is, you know, that customer exchange. So, you know, how do you replicate that feel good component? I think it's, you know, the content side of things is, you know, so important in terms of what we create and what we kind of communicate and as much as possible, obviously sharing the stories of the successes and the people that have obviously taken it upon themselves to apply themselves to really, I guess, better the situation. It's so important to capture that and as much of that as possible, but also to do it in a really dignified manner. You know, it's so important that for these, these people working with that, we're talking about, you know, focusing on where they're going, not where they've been, but it's so important that people can see that, that you have actually materially contributed. So obviously, as I'm sure you'd see, like our Instagram is, you know, kind of laced with both obviously products, you know, but also at all times trying to communicate sort of important information around when our P days are content from those days, to see the faces, to kind of be out of field as much as possible. You know, it can't be 100% the exact same, but I guess it's just the stories and it's the faces and as I said, at all times, always ensuring that it's strength based, empowering the young people themselves to want to be able to support that next cohort who will come through. The other thing that we do, I think, which is quite unique, is that a lot of our models and shoots and ranges, they often include a lot of diversity, but also a lot of time out young people in our program. It's amazing for them to kind of be like, oh yeah, that's amazing. You know, not only am I going to work today in the shop, but I'm going to be part of the shoot and be online today. And to see myself as part of this brand, that's awesome. And obviously, you know, that's again, we don't actively promote that, that, hey, this person in this photo is from this background. But you know, that's what we do. So as much as possible, it's providing those outlets and those opportunities for our beneficiaries to really be front and center, but in a dignified manner. So I guess that's kind of, you know, the approach that we've taken. But it's interesting, like I think we often find, which is really telling when we do a post in our fashion post, which always gets pretty decent traction on Instagram, you know, it gets a good amount of sort of, you know, views and whatnot. When we post about our stories close say for our VIP day, you know, it gets 10 times the traction, which is so telling us that people really value the information. So we've got to make sure at all times there's a frequency to that we bring them up to date with how it's going. So again, it's actually accountability. So probably the biggest thing in terms of promoting our message and the impact is just to be accountable to our stakeholders, which is our customers. So that's probably the way in which we view it, is that you have enabled this to transpire so to make sure that that's felt as much as possible and they have access to that. So that's the principle and I think
[Voiceover]: it translates into a shopper's experience as well because the word that I'd use to describe it is interesting. So every image that I feel you're in there, whether it's on the website or Instagram, is like, I'm interested in so much of this journey. Like I'm interested in the product because especially the reborn range, it's out there and it's like it's stuff you've never seen before. I want to know more about how it's made and what it's made of and where the material came from. I want to know more about the model in there, what's their story? They look like, you know, they've got a great story and you can obviously see that they're presented in a positive light with a lot of opportunity ahead of them. And just visually and design wise, it's not done in a lazy way. It's really creative as well. So I think you've taken the shopper on a great journey there as well.
Nick Pearce: Thanks, Dave. Yeah, I think that's. Yeah, I really appreciate that feedback and I think again, it's sort of harks back though the way that we do things right in the sense that everything is quality. Like we work with a small group of people, you know, and it's actually deep impact and high touch work, but it's quality, it's comprehensive, it's collaborative and that translates across everything we do as an organization. So we'll just never do something half cooked, you know, Half, half, because we owe it to our consumers and our community to give them quality because that's what we expected ourselves. So it definitely underpins, and that's something we're really proud of, is that we really have tried to consciously not bite off more than we can chew with anything, just to ensure that whatever we're doing that there is just consideration behind it and care because that's what actually creates the change both from hopefully return customer, you know, purchasing, but also creates change in someone's life, is that it's genuine care. And it's not to say sort of a, you know, a temporary focus. It's, it's. You need to follow through with everything. So that goes for our programs and our product.
[Voiceover]: And I bet that's not always easy to stick by. There would be temptation to go the quick and easy route. Sometimes, especially when you're doing a business for good, there might be cash flow issues as you're trying to, you know, create as much cash flow as positive to make as big an impact as possible. I bet it's sometimes hard to kind of stick to that.
Nick Pearce: Oh, there's actually opportunities that do presents and you know, they're amazing in another world, but sometimes just contradict our sort of, you know, our core values, you know, and we have had to say no to, you know, some amazing opportunities that just, they don't align and you just have to really stick to your guns there. And I think again though, that sort of harks back to strengthening your brand and the authenticity that you build. And it's probably more telling opportunities that you pass out than the ones that you actually take upon. So yes, it's a really good point. Sometimes it's like, oh, that would have been amazing. But at the same token, again, I think that's what hopefully our consumers value is that at all times that are really considered in our approach. So yeah, it's a double edged sword sometimes, isn't it? But I think longer term it will pay its dividends, pardon the pun, talking about cash flow, etc.
[Voiceover]: That's very smart. Now you've spoken to a few things there, but what are you most excited about for what's coming up for yourself and homey?
Nick Pearce: Oh, that's a great question. Look, I think for us, yeah, we're starting to knock on the door of some awesome collaborators and both from a product perspective, but also as I say, from that employment pathway kind of opportunity. And I think it's just amazing to think that we're getting on the radar of some of the biggest brands in the world who are coming to us to say, hey, we want to increase our diversity, inclusion and provide some opportunities and how do you do it? And that's just a bit surreal. So I think it's probably twofold. It's the growth of the brand and the business, which we still have heavy aspirations. You say we're very Melbourne orientated, we want to be a household name in the country. And the awesome method expanded beyond that because this program and this approach, it's actually a real solution. It's not the whole solution obviously, but it's a really important piece of the puzzle to actually tackle homelessness. And it is possible, you know, it truly is with, you know, the Support services that exist, they are under resourced and the demand is so significant. But fundamentally to change someone's life for good, you know, at a critical time, you just can't compromise on quality and care. So I think the fact that we stick to our guns there, and I'm really proud of that and that's actually getting traction, is really encouraging for us. But, yeah, I'm just most excited about, as I say, sort of being known for not what we do, but the way we do it. Yeah, I think that's. That's what I'd love our legacy to be. And my legacy to be is that, you know, it was a way in which they went about. It was the right way. I'm not talking about past tense, like we've just kind of, you know, gone under or don't exist anymore. But I just love to be regarded for that and just be respected for that. I think that would be awesome, you know, beyond anything.
[Voiceover]: Yeah, no doubt. And you've got that respect. You've built this from the ground up. Authenticity at the core. Really excited to see where you can take it, especially on that national scale. If people listen to this and they're like, I'd love to partner with you, I'd love to learn more about the employer training. How can people get in touch?
Nick Pearce: Yeah, look, I mean, the website, as you said, hopefully is intuitive enough. There's certainly, I guess you can sort of follow the yellow brick road that's been carved out for you on the website. We'd love to hear from any potential businesses that might want to collaborate on the program side of things or interest to learn more about the employment training. And yeah, I just really encourage you to have a look around as you've done, Nathan, and just uncover some of the gems that we have on that side. I'd really lead people to the impact side of things and there's some great videos there which I think are really powerful. So head over to our mission tab in particular and you'll learn all about our why and what we've been able to do today. And love you to get in touch. Yeah. Follow the prompts or otherwise just email me@nickomie.com I'm always happy to have a chat.
[Voiceover]: Good stuff. And that website is homey. H O M I e.com au Nick, thank you so much for joining us on Add to Cart. You've definitely opened my eyes up and made me more aware of creating that opportunity for people in the need, especially around youth and homelessness. So thank you for sharing with us.
Nick Pearce: Thanks Abby. Nathan, it's been an absolute pleasure. I really appreciate all the care you've given to preparing this interview and all the amazing questions. So thank you for having me. It's been an absolute pleasure.
[Voiceover]: What an amazing story. I love when someone comes and shakes you out of your comfort zone and introduces you to a whole world that you may know is out there but not understand understand properly. And Nick certainly did that, or at least started to do that for me today. Bit of side goss Nick's partner Danny, who we mentioned is the famous Danny Holloway, founder of the Merry People who we had a chat with back in episode 22. I don't feel so bad that their bub is born into a Tigers and Pies family because he's going to have some seriously good founders for parents to make up for his AFL to All right, here are the three lessons I took out of our conversation with Nick. Number one Gorilla Coolness. Nick and Marcus never wanted to shove homelessness in people's faces. They didn't want to force people to care and as Nick said, they didn't want to be that person rattling and sitting on the corner. But they used fashion as their Trojan horse. They wanted to make something creative, something cool that people naturally gravitated to towards, and that gave them permission to then share their story. It's brilliant from a marketing perspective and worth thinking about what guerrilla tactics or Trojan horses, whatever term you use, you could be using to entice people into your story and make them care as much as you do. Number two Accessibility Baseline Nick spoke about the importance of website accessibility and how that is about barrier that all of us in E commerce can take some kind of control in. As a starting point, the tool he mentioned was Userway. It's used by companies from Coke to Walmart to ebay and looks like it starts from around $490 US per year. You can find them@useaway.org worth checking out. Number three saying no to opportunity. It's one of the hardest things to do in business, especially for social enterprises. But Nick and Marcus so focused on their North Star of quality, creativity and authenticity that they've had to say no to lots of opportunities that may bring short term cash or connections, but in doing so they've been able to maintain their ideals and ultimately their appeal to much larger opportunities such as Nike, Disney or Champion. Kind of heard of those names. Saying no isn't a bad thing. It's actually a superpower. To finish up, I have three resources for you. Firstly, if you're a first time listener of Add to Cart and you want to stay up to date with new episodes, head over to addtocart.com and you can sign up for our website weekly newsletter. We'll let you know every time a new episode drops as well as giving you my three takeaways from each episode and a link to the transcripts so you can know that this is an episode that you want to dive straight into. Secondly, if you want a weekly roundup of the best e commerce case studies tools and research, sign up to the High Five Friday newsletter which is delivered to inboxes at 8am every Friday morning. I read all the e commerce news and send you the bits that I think you can take action from. Sign up at 12 high 12h I g h.comau forward/5 and the last thing if you are looking to explore your next e commerce opportunity, head over to esweettalent.com we are a dedicated e commerce talent agency. Connect the best ecommerce talent with the fastest growing brands. Check it out. Sign up to the email and get in touch with me if you want to discuss your next move. Until next time. Thanks for listening and keep those customers adding to car.
