In this interview, CEO of Flock Wool, Evan Thomsen, shares the story of how he developed the idea for an Albanian Wool Trading company. You will learn how Evan and his wife Tyanna set out to find the right team, develop the business strategy, and start a new business in Albania trading wool.

Watch the full interview on video below or listen to the audio file with the link above or via your preferred podcast provider.

Background Season 2

After being on a break for around 1,5 years, the Wool Academy Podcast is back with its Season 2 episodes. The focus of the podcast remains the same – learning from wool industry experts and telling the beautiful stories wool has to tell. However, a few things have also changed as well. In January 2020, I joined an Albanian Wool Trading Company called Flock Wool. In many of the season 2 episodes, you will, therefore, be invited to join the Flock Wool journey as we learn how to start and develop a little wool trading company in Albania. You will be hearing discussions between Evan Thomsen and myself as we discuss different aspects of the Flock Wool business. On this journey, I will also speak to other people in the industry trying to set up similar ventures. One more new feature, all interviews are recorded by video, so you can now not only listen on the go as usual but also watch if you feel like it. I hope you enjoy season 2 of the Wool Academy Podcast.

About Flock Wool

Founded in 2019, Flock Wool Trading Company is an international wool export company headquartered in Dalton, Georgia, USA, with an operational HQ in southern Albania. The Flock Wool team is located in Albania, Germany, and the US in order to best serve its customers. All of the company’s wool is 100% sourced from Albania.

 

How to connect with Evan Thomsen

Website: https://flockwool.com/

 

Other episodes you may want to check out

 

 

Monica Ebert is the International Brand Development Manager at BKB in South Africa. Part of Monica’s work portfolio is the company’s outdoor apparel brand Core Merino. In this episode, Monica talks about the opportunities and challenges of marketing a South African merino wool product.

About Monica Ebert

Monica Ebert is the International Brand Development Manager at BKB in South Africa. Her responsibilities include managing the companies clothing line Core Merino. Monica joined BKB in March of 2018 after living and working in the wool industry in New Zealand and the United States.

Monica’s passion for the wool industry stems from her lifelong involvement in the sheep industry having been born into a small purebred sheep operation in Kansas, USA. She received her Bachelor’s degrees in Apparel Design and Apparel Marketing from Kansas State University and completed her Master’s degree at Angelo State University where she focused her research efforts on sheep and wool production and apparel product development concentrating on the processing and manufacturing of wool into activewear garments. Through her research and the development of a supply chain entirely within the United States textile industry, she gained unique insights of the wool supply chain from “sheep to shop”.

Connect with Monica Ebert here

Core Merino website

BKB website

Core Merino on Facebook and Instagram

Other episodes you may enjoy

#001: Rikki Beier talks about her wool baby wear start-up Ikki Small But Brave

#005: Mac Bishop shares his insights about starting Wool & Prince

#014: Monica Ebert on how to advance your career through the IWTO Young Professionals program

#021: Philip Attard About Creating the Gostwyck Merino Brand

#026: Debbie Luffman shares Finisterre’s unique wool story

#046: Janne Strommen about wool’s important role at Devold of Norway

#047: Nick Armentrout about the all American wool supply chain at Ramblers Way

#050: Claudia Weiss about Don Baez Eco Chic

#052: Gaspard Tiné-Berès about founding Lasso Shoes successfully

#053: Isak Staats about how to efficiently handle 32 million kg of wool per year

#073: Tove Grane about her label We Norwegians

#077: Wolf Edmayr about the current situation of the South African wool industry

#084: Lorents Tvedt about the knitwear brand Dale of Norway

Over the course of one year, Luke Hooke wore only wool, documenting his journey as his Year of Wool. In this podcast interview, Luke reflects on his experience during the last 12 months.

About Luke Hooke

Luke Hooke is the young Australian behind Year of Wool, a project promoting wool clothing and the wool industry. For 365 days Luke wore only wool and wool blend clothing to demonstrate the versatility and incredible natural qualities of wool and wool clothing. Having grown up on a wool growing farm in Victoria, Australia, Luke explored post-farm-gate part of the wool industry, promoting the wonderful fibre that is wool while also learning more about the industry.

Connect with Luke Hooke here

Year of Wool website

Year of Wool on Instagram

Year of Wool on Facebook

 

Similar episodes you may enjoy

#057: Andrew Cuccurullo is repositioning the Waverley Mills wool blanket

#058: Chantel McAlister tells the truth about wool

#062: Luke Hooke about wearing only wool for one year

#097: James Braszell about life as a shearer and photographer

 

 

Celebrating episode 100 of the Wool Academy Podcast it is time to hear more about the host of the show, Elisabeth van Delden. In this episode, Monica Ebert, a former guest of the show, interviews Elisabeth about the podcast.

Elisabeth will take you behind the scene of the podcast. You will learn how Elisabeth came up with the idea for Wool Academy, how each episode is created and what the future will bring for the podcast.

Connect with Elisabeth van Delden here:

Website

Wool-lifestyle.com Blog

 

Other episodes you may enjoy

#001: Rikki Beier talks about her wool baby wear start-up Ikki Small But Brave

#004: Peter Ackroyd on how buying wool products is an investment with a return on capital

#014: Monica Ebert on how to advance your career through the IWTO Young Professionals program

#038 Francesco Botto Poala takes us behind the scenes of Reda 1865

#048: Mac Bishop from Wool & Prince

#080 Giovanni and Marco Schneider about building a global wool processing business

Gudrun Rógvadóttir is the co-founder of the Faroe Island Knitwear label Gudrun & Gudrun. Together with the designer Gudrun Ludvig she started the label in 2000. Ever since the label grew to a well-known knitwear brand. In this podcast episode, Gudrun tells the story of how and why she started the label. She also introduces us to the Faroe Island wool and sheep industry and gives insights on how the label empowers women.

About Gudrun & Gudrun

Gudrun & Gudrun is a knitwear company specialised in hand-knit. The company was founded in 2002 by two Faroese women and the creative process of design is very closely linked to the isolation of the place.

The vision of the company is to make a difference, something very simple and yet very ambitious. The knitwear label wants to make clothes that meet the standards of conscious customers who care about each other, the environment, our common natural resources and who yet want to be stylish.

The hand-knitted collections are made in the homes of female knitters on the Faroe Islands, Jordan and Peru as part of a women’s empowerment project.

The Faroe Islands are 18 tiny islands situated in the North Atlantic, between Iceland and Norway. Only 45,000 people live on the islands. Still, it is a nation of its own culture and own language.

Connect with Gudrun Rógvadóttir

Website

The label on social media: Instagram , Facebook

 

Similar Episodes you may enjoy

#026 Debbie Luffman shares Finisterre’s unique wool story

#050 Claudia Weiss about Don Baez Eco Chic

#067 Marion Tviland about the Norwegian wool industry

#073 Tove Grane about her label We Norwegians

#090 Derelee Potroz-Smith is turning wool into gold with Woolchemy