Q & A with Nikki - Claire from The Fashion Advocate

Nikki recently interviewed Claire Goldsworthy, founder and boss lady at The Fashion Advocate.

The Fashion Advocate is a brand that is all about creating positive change.

Learn more about her mission to help us think about how we consume and to consider our footprint before we buy things. We can create positive change.

Claire is expecting her first child this year and shares with us how she has been feeling while taking the NaturoBest prenatal range. And how she plans to juggle motherhood and career - something many of us are very familiar with!

You're the founder of The Fashion Advocate, can you tell us what the concept is behind this brand?

The Fashion Advocate as a brand is all about creating positive change. Through our online store, blog, and social media presence, I hope to inspire people to live more ethically and sustainably by making better shopping choices. Every single thing we buy has an impact. If we can think that through and consider our footprint before we buy things, we can create positive change. Choosing ethical clothing over fast fashion for example, or vegan beauty products over those tested on animals, even choosing natural cleaning products over chemical products in the home – every single choice creates an impact. And we exist to help people make positive choices, so they can have a positive impact.

What inspired you to start The Fashion Advocate?

I was working in fashion overseas at the time. I was inspired by an experience I had at Paris Fashion Week to start my own business. I'd worked in fashion my whole life, but I had 'my moment' at a fashion show and decided the feeling and the experience of fashion was something I wanted to turn into a career. I've also always been a bit of an earth child. I'm passionate about sustainability, so I paired my passion with my purpose, and The Fashion Advocate was born. I wanted to create change in the fashion industry – my industry. But it didn't sit well with me knowing how prevalent slave labour and waste issues were. I wanted to create the kind of industry I would be proud to work in. So I got to work on creating that.

How long have you operating for and what has the response from customers been like so far?

I launched The Fashion Advocate in 2014 so… seven years now! In business years that's a lifetime ha! It was slow to get up and running, like any business in the ethical and sustainable space. But the response has always been authentic and genuine, and we've grown from strength to strength every year. It's developed from a blog, to one of the largest ethical runways in the country, to a magazine... And it's now one of the largest online stores for ethical and sustainable Australian and New Zealand fashion, beauty and lifestyle brands. So, the response has been great!

It's been an interesting journey watching the market change over the last few years too; customers want transparency and ethical practices now more than ever. We've always sold ethical and sustainable Australian and New Zealand fashion, beauty and lifestyle brands. It's all we've ever done. Because we've been doing it for so long, our customers trust us and we're veterans in the ethical fashion space. We have such a supportive community of people who love getting involved in the conversations we have on Instagram too. I'm really grateful for our social media community.

Do you sell locally or ship worldwide?

We stock Australian and New Zealand brands, and 90% of our brands make their products locally, but we ship worldwide! Around one in ten orders heads overseas. It's a great feeling knowing we're sending such ethical and sustainable goodies out in the world.

We hear you're pregnant, congratulations! How did you come across NaturoBest supplements?

Thank you! It was a really big surprise but a very welcome one! I was seeing my acupuncturist for fertility acupuncture and to help with ruptured ovarian cysts. I knew we wanted to start trying to conceive soon, so she introduced me to NaturoBest.

I'm a bit of a health nut when it comes to what I put in my body. I didn't want to take just anything off the shelf, or a sub-par brand full of fillers. So when she suggested I check out NaturoBest I was super excited to find such a natural and high-quality alternative to the rest of the synthetic and chemical brands out there. I also love that delivery is carbon neutral!

Knowing that Nikki is a qualified Naturopath and Medical Herbalist resonated with me too; I felt confident knowing that what I was taking every day was safe and as natural as possible for my growing bub.

We love that you're supporting a local Aussie brand so thank you 😊 How are you feeling on them so far?

I feel great! The Prenatal Trimester One with Ginger really helped with my morning sickness. Even though there were a few days I couldn't stomach anything except dry crackers and tomatoes – I knew that I was still getting the essential minerals and vitamins my growing bub needed. The peace of mind was reassuring. Taking NaturoBest meant I could stress a little less about my nutrition when I couldn't stomach much.

I had tried other prenatal vitamins and they were horrible! I couldn't stomach them at all, but NaturoBest were gentle on my tummy during the most challenging morning sickness period. Now I recommend them to anyone who tells me they're pregnant ha!

How do you think you will go juggling motherhood as well as running a business?

It'll be an entirely new experience. I've managed such an immense workload for so long. I'm really good at juggling and managing high stress, very little sleep, and high expectations. But throwing a bubba in the mix will be interesting! I tend to put a lot of pressure on myself to succeed, and to get things perfect. It's something I'm working on. I think motherhood will do wonders for me in helping me relax a little and go with the flow.

I'm a very holistic woman, I meditate and I'm very Eastern-minded. I am all about mind over matter and natural health but I can still be a bit of a workaholic. I'm only human, so I do still drop the ball. When you're hustling to build your own business, and you're the one responsible for the outcome, it's hard not to push yourself to burnout. But I know I can't do the 15 hour days I used to with a baby on the way. Or neglect my health for 'just one more email' like I used to. So it's already been a learning curve and will continue to be!

Do you have a good support network?

Last year was a really good lesson for me. I think a little bit of a forced slow-down to prepare me for motherhood. I opened a retail store and COVID restrictions hit a week later, and I was forced to close. What was going to be our flagship store ended up being opened and closed within three months and all of a sudden I went from a big beautiful store front, a fun big team with champagne shopping sessions in store on Fridays, to working from home, letting go of some staff and a total change to the way I work. It was a huge shift.

But for the first time since starting The Fashion Advocate, I had time to breathe, to focus on my health, to make time for acupuncture, to read, to cook… And that's when we conceived. If last year hadn't happened, things would be a very different story going into motherhood, but I'm slowly slowing down bit by bit and nurturing what's really important.

My family is all spread out across the country, so being so far from my mother (who's a midwife) and my grandmother is going to be really hard, but I have my fiance's family and some beautiful friends here, most of whom have had babies so there'll be plenty of support!

We wish you all the best for the rest of your pregnancy and birth Claire. We can’t wait to see a pic of your NaturoBest baby!