Ep. 97 - Rebecca Klodinsky, Founder of The Prestwick Place & IIXIIST

Speaker A: Hello and welcome back to the Retail wrap up for 2024, retail's favorite podcast. You're joined as always by retail strategist and enthusiast Maddie Colmar. That's me. And as well as my fellow colleague and strategist here at Retail Oasis, Emma Easton. Retail Oasis would like to begin by acknowledging the traditional owners of country throughout Australia and recognising the continued connection to

Speaker B: lands, waters and communities.

Speaker A: We pay our respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, uh, cultures and to elders past, present and emerging. This episode marks the finale of season four and we want to take a moment to thank all of our incredible guests and loyal listeners who've made this season such a success. It's been an amazing year of conversations, insights and inspiration and we're so grateful for your support. We're excited to share that season five is already well underway and we'll be returning after a short holiday break in March of 2025 with even more incredible stories from the world of retail. To close out season four, we're thrilled to be joined by Bec Kladinsky, the visionary entrepreneur behind two innovative and sustainability driven brands, Exist and the Pressbook Place. Starting with just $2,000 and a passion for filling gaps in the market, Beck transformed Exist from a backyard project, a globally recognized swimwear brand beloved by celebrities like Kylie Jenner and Hailey Bieber. In our conversation, Beck shares how her commitment to transparency and sustainability extends to her second venture, uh, the Prestige Place, a luxury jewelry brand specializing in lab grown diamonds and moissanite. She explains why Lab grown stones are

Speaker B: the future of the diamond industry, shedding light on the dirty secrets behind mined

Speaker A: diamonds and the ethical and environmental benefits of lab created alternatives. Beck also reflects on balancing motherhood, entrepreneurship, the power of social media in growing multi million dollar businesses and why she believes consumers are becoming savvier when it comes to celebrity endorsements. Plus, we explore her ethos of if you know better, you should do better, a principle that guides both her personal life and her brands. This episode is an inspiring deep dive into how Beck built not one, but two purpose driven innovative brands and why she's just getting started. We hope you enjoy this final episode of season four and we can't wait to see you back. Five in March of 2025.

Speaker B: A very big welcome to Beck, the force behind exist and uh, Prestwick Place. Welcome to the Retail Wrap up podcast.

Speaker C: Hi, thanks for having me

Speaker D: back. What's your story tell us about you?

Speaker C: Uh, my background. I have been self employed from my early 20s. I was in uni studying A double degree jump ship. Once Ecom started or just launched, Shopify had just launch launched I think and Instagram had just started. And then I started a small Instagram business, jumped ship from uni, deferred from there and then the rest is history. So self employed since then. Wow, that's it in like the tiniest nutshell. So easy.

Speaker D: Is there any been any kind of big experiences or influences that shaped your journey as being that entrepreneur since your early 20s?

Speaker C: Just seeing the evolution of social media, like the digital age and that platform really taking center stage has been the biggest, the biggest player, uh, playing card in the whole. My whole story anyway, because I was E commerce only then like we started a big office and we had the big office space. I've never had bricks and mortar for the bikinis. I've got another E commerce brand which started in Covid and now I've got a bricks and mortar store for that. But it's just the digital platform. So seeing that grow and ah, become the monster that it is is something that I've had to understand. Well, we've all had to understand because we never had this growing up.

Speaker D: And has it been hard to navigate to be kind of constantly on the top of your game? Uh, it's changing constantly, isn't it?

Speaker C: Yeah, it's hard to navigate. It's hard to understand. Especially if you like, if you care so much about it and then you're worried about taking your finger off the pulse and what happen if the algorithm changes or what happens if this or what's shadow banning or like what if I don't do enough reels or. Yeah, it's tricky but it is what it is. Right.

Speaker B: You've almost had like the flip, you know, experience to a lot of traditional retailers who began in physical spaces and then had to really push themselves to go online.

Speaker D: Yeah.

Speaker B: The absolute flip experience, huh?

Speaker C: Yeah. I started as the alien species and now I'm like novel.

Speaker B: A bit of both, yeah.

Speaker D: Um, and Becky went from founding a successful business brand to co founding a lab lab grown diamond and moissanite company with your husband Lockie. I mean what motivated you to venture into both industries?

Speaker C: Because it's about a bold mood.

Speaker D: Um, and I suppose how has the journey been?

Speaker B: And there's a big difference between your products, Right. Like bikini to like luxury. Those are completely separate categories.

Speaker A: Right.

Speaker C: But the one thing that stands out between the both of them was, was not a market for either of them when I identified the gap. So it was just like I don't have it I mustn't be alone. So why not just give it a go? So that was, uh, that's the, the trend in the businesses that I have started and been successful in.

Speaker D: What motivated the move?

Speaker C: Well, just have not having it and feeling frustrated. So when exist started, you either had Target or Kmart. Really low, sort of low end brands and then you had high end brands. But there was nothing in the middle that satisfied, you know, uh, an achievable price point for uni students or, you know, teenagers, early 20s. And I thought, okay, why not? And then the same with the lab grown diamonds. I was looking for a product after I had done some research for myself about mind diamonds and I wanted to be as sustainable as possible and just understanding what was involved in the mind diamond practice. Blood diamonds, etc. I didn't want that. So I looked for myself and then I was like, hang on. I was having difficulty finding something in the country for us. So the same light bulb moment.

Speaker B: Do you feel now like there is so many competitors in both spaces? Do you feel like it's becoming more saturated?

Speaker C: Yeah, totally. I. When I started press week place, I remember feeling a lot of. Not criticism, but a lot of people were like, what the. Who is this girl? What is she doing? What's a Lepran diamond? No, no, no, no. Like so many blockades. Um, and just there was a lot of pushback on Lab grown when it first started and I was fine, yeah, okay, you do you and you'll see. Because I knew America and Europe had already embraced the concept, we were a little bit slow to the party. Um, and now you're seeing everyone sort of giving it the green light. And I'm like, well, where were you? There are some brands, Aussie brands that you would know that were actively posting at the time. He started saying like, lab diamonds is shit talking crap about love diamonds. And now they're like love diamonds.

Speaker D: And I wish I could post it

Speaker C: to Stories because I've still got the screenshots and I'm like, you guys just sell out. Where we believe in this. Um, and everyone's just jumping on it because it's so widely accepted now.

Speaker D: Yeah.

Speaker B: Can you tell us what is the inspirational why the names press and exist? How did you come up with those?

Speaker C: Um, Presswick Pressed week is a special place to my hubby and I. The name itself and then exist came from the term. How do you exist? Just a play on the spelling. Yeah, yeah, brilliant.

Speaker B: I would imagine that as a mother balancing being an entrepreneur and being a mom is not easy, Effy.

Speaker C: You know, we've had to reschedule this 15 times.

Speaker B: Can you tell us, like, how do you manage to juggle both of these lives? Because they are in themselves full time jobs, both of them. And the fact is you're not just running one business, multiple, underneath, you know, your umbrella of, of things that you've done. How do you juggle this? And what's your advice for other people in a similar position?

Speaker C: Oh, it's really, really, really hard. So I won't downplay that. Like, it's the hardest thing ever and something has to give. Like I don't have any social time. I don't do anything. Like I don't have dinner with girlfriends, I don't have lunch, I don't even get a coffee with them. Like there's zero time in the day. If I do school drop off, I'm back and I'm just hammering out a checklist of things to do before someone comes home or before it's feeding time or something. So it's really just those are my two focuses and nothing else. I just don't have room to give it anywhere else. So I won't even entertain the idea because I'll just be disappointed with the false expectation of like having a great life, which I do have a great life, but there's just no room for anything else. It's work and it's kids. And, um, that's it. Kids come number one. So if, if there's something going on, like there's a fire at work, I, uh, would leave that for the kids. And I think I just have to get real about the priorities. So for anybody else that's trying to do it, just get real about your priorities and having to say no to things that you might not want to.

Speaker B: Yeah, sure. But I'm sure it makes you incredibly efficient with your time and you value your time, right?

Speaker C: Yeah, definitely. But where do the hours go?

Speaker D: Do you ever get time for yourself?

Speaker C: Like, obviously there's maybe 45 minutes, uh, to be completely transparent, including shower time. I will probably have 45 minutes to myself. But in that time, I don't know, I'll probably be doing like notes for the next day or just trying, like buying Christmas presents or just doing those life admin things that you can't do. Yeah.

Speaker D: Wow.

Speaker C: So no, at this stage in my life, there's no time for me.

Speaker B: Wow. Well, I hope in the future when things calm down on the kids side, which I know that they will, Like, I'm kind, maybe I'm Saying that for my own benefit as well. It will d down and we will

Speaker C: get our free time back this amount of time. So that's just the way that uh, it makes sense to me just to put them first and get it done. And it's going to be hard for however many years, but it's been this much time out of this much of your life.

Speaker B: That's exactly it. Um, I would imagine from my own observation that the customers of Exist and Pressbook Place could potentially have some similarities. Is this the case or how would you describe these customer bases?

Speaker C: Yeah, uh, they are to an extent like the customers are ah, interested in a sustainable aspect, they're interested in a transparent brand, um, and they're interested in something that is. Or they know where it's coming from or how it's made. With Exist, we're very transparent about why the pieces were made, how they're crafted, how they fit. And then the same goes with Prestwick Place. How do we make the pieces, why it's better option. Very transparent in processes. So yes, there is a similarity.

Speaker A: I was reading the uh, Business of

Speaker B: Fashions, like uh, they're talking about like influences for 2025 this morning and they said something like only 18 of fashion businesses have uh, are taking sustainability forward for 2025, which I thought was really disappointing and actually quite shocking. Like 25 only um, 18 of businesses are taking sustainability forward as a key trend within their. In 2025.

Speaker C: Yeah, see I think that's just stupid, isn't it? Isn't it disappointing? Yeah.

Speaker B: Still requires responsibility from retail to exist. Is that enough of a motivator, is it?

Speaker C: I just uh, it frustrates me when I hear things like that. It frustrates me when there's just so much, oh, it's just so disappointing because we need to do better.

Speaker B: We.

Speaker C: There's no better time or there's no. It's just never been such a crucial time to do better in what we do. If we can make an impact and we are having an impact and if we know better, we should do better.

Speaker B: Sure. I couldn't agree more with that statement.

Speaker C: God.

Speaker B: Speaking of doing better, could you perhaps educate us, us, uh, and our listeners on lab grown diamonds and moissanites and perhaps like how they compare and what makes them a more sustainable or a more um, just values based, uh, positive option. Could you tell a bit about them?

Speaker C: Lab diamonds are diamonds. There's no difference between a dirt diamond, a mind diamond or a lab diamond. There's just no difference. They're Certified by the same people. Optically, esthetically, chemically, they're exactly the same thing. So going back to if you know better, you should do better. They're traceable. There's no blood affiliated with ah, a lab diamond. Um, and it's just a kind of way to achieve the same thing that you would with a mined diamond. And I don't see why you would destroy the earth or play into mined diamond prices as well. Um, then moissanite is an entirely lab grown stone. It is different to diamond, but it's the only white stone that rivals the diamond for its optical similarity. So it's very white, like a ruby, like an amethyst, like an opal, but it's white. Um, it does have a really nice sparkle to it. The price point is 30 to 50% less than the lab diamond. So it's a nicer price point point and it's a really beautiful stone. Like some people will just come to us for moissanite.

Speaker D: Yeah. Wow.

Speaker C: Yeah.

Speaker B: And can, can the naked eye tell, like if you were to look at somebody's ring, would, you know? Oh yeah, that's, you know, that is the.

Speaker C: It depends on the stone and it depends on the cut and it depends on the quality. But uh, round cut moissanite are very hard to tell the difference between, uh, diamond or you're hard to differentiate the two. Then there's emerald cuts, the sparkle as well. Like if you've got a crappy stone you're going to know. But if you' a good quality stone, then it's going to be pretty tricky for the untrained eye to pick it depending on the cut.

Speaker D: And I know you mentioned a bit about dirt diamonds. Uh, could you maybe talk to us about like the actual reality of the mining operations behind these diamonds.

Speaker C: The whole process in mining diamonds is devastating. So down to the child labor, uh, you know, the poor quality of life, the, the violence involved in taking these stones out to a human life is one thing, but then the destruction it does to the earth is another thing. So it's not just um, pulling them out of the ground. You're causing destruction to the earth. And then that filters down to, you know, um, water, the air quality, just the surroundings of the planet that we're destroying. To get to a tiny little diamond, blowing things up to get into those mines, it's just not great. And then the people that are injured, harmed, used as slaves, children, child labor, it's just, I can't even understand how with so much coverage, so much information so readily accessible to us or available to us, we would opt into that because there's no way that you can purchase a mind diamond and have it guaranteed to be completely sustainable. You cannot trace it. So that's the problem.

Speaker D: Yeah. And I mean we've kind of touched on this already. Um, but it's sad but there is a bit of a stigma around lab grown diamonds. Um, I think many people have said that they don't really retain their value.

Speaker C: Um and we have the same goes for mind diamonds. So once you really get into it, if you've got a big enough stone, if you've spent enough money and you do want to do something about that diamond, even if it goes missing for insurance policies, whatever, if you've, if you being serious about it, you're not going to get back ever what you have spent. And I would never advise anyone to purchase a diamond mined or lab as an investment purpose. It should signify love and like something significant in your life. But if you want a commodity, look at gold, not a diamond.

Speaker D: Well we, yeah, we had this conversation internally because we were like who really buys an engagement ring with the idea to sell it on? Um, bad omen.

Speaker C: You shouldn't just. No, move it on. It's not about that. Yeah.

Speaker D: So do you think the stigma is.

Speaker C: Yeah.

Speaker D: Is changing the perception of lab grown diamonds?

Speaker C: I think a lot of older people um, that have, you know, even older people with parents that sort of shape the way that they think about these kinds of things will be the very last to take a leap forward. But to the greater uh, masses that are in tune with social media, uh, I think we're accepting of the idea. It's just a few struggling. Like I said earlier before we were recording, in the beginning it was hard to grasp the concept of. But now with the help of social media and marketing. Mhm. A little bit more wiser and I

Speaker D: mean how can we shift this narrative even further? Do you think it's all about the education?

Speaker C: Yeah.

Speaker D: Um, yeah, yeah.

Speaker C: What else is it? We can't do it any other way. It's just keep on keeping on.

Speaker D: Yeah.

Speaker B: That and we're so influenced by what we see. Like you say on social media, I'm sure the more people we see wearing these items and the more lucrative they feel or the more we want to be influenced and buy these things. I think that that'll definitely help with

Speaker C: that narrative as well as just talking about it in our own free space as well to our friends like not being closed minded or judgmental of the fact that people might buy love diamonds. And I'm proud because there's no difference. Which is so hard when people are like, no. Um, but just being more accepting of it in, in general, day to day. Mhm.

Speaker B: So would you say then that you believe that moissanite and lab grown diamonds are the future of the diamond industry or do you think that that dirt diamond will always have a place within that industry?

Speaker C: I think, um, lab and moissanite is here to stay. It's not going to go anywhere. Um, I don'. That mind diamond will be totally eradicated because you're always going to have people that will want that product just because they can't be unchanged, they can't be penetrated with a new concept. Um, and they want to uphold sort of a way that they look even when it doesn't make sense. Um, I don't think labs are going anywhere ever. Ah, how can they? There's a need, there's a demand. We know about it. It can't just disappear now.

Speaker B: Um, that and it is a viable alternative to something that we now are learning.

Speaker C: Yeah.

Speaker B: Wonderful for anybody.

Speaker C: Yeah. Yeah.

Speaker B: So I learned about Presswick Place myself from seeing the partnership that you had with Roxy Jenko and seeing the jewels that she was wearing, which, by the way, were insane. And I most definitely clicked on those links. How this relationship came about and the impact that it may have had on your brand.

Speaker C: Um, I've. Roxy has, I've known her for years from the swimwear stuff. Um, how did that come about? That just, it happened through somebody else and she just reached out and she's like, I love this. Let's do something. Like, I'm happy to share this with my audience. Great, let's do it. Um, how that impacted. She speaks to a really wide audience of women that, you know, they take her seriously and what she says is respected. So it helped in, in a way of speaking to an audience that is similar to mine, just a higher platform. And it was great. Like 30 something women coming to us. What's Roxy wearing? Love this. And she's embracing it. And that's so amazing to have someone with that, um, capacity or reach to really embrace our brand and our product and say, you know what, this is a better option. Yeah, for sure.

Speaker B: And do you think that this idea of celebrity alignment is going to continue for your brands?

Speaker C: Um, no. You know, like Roxy, I really like as a person, just as a personal, like, I'll text, you know, I'll talk to her. Just as a person, I really like her. But as far as different celebrity or influencer, I'm not really there. And I do a lot of polls on our Instagram, a lot of market research for us, and I will talk direct to our consumer. And the response is, I don't believe influences. I don't click on the ads. If ever I ask, what do you think about this? Just trying to keep in touch with them. No one believes it, no one likes it. Um, so I don't think that's something that I would entertain or go there unless someone reached out to us like Roxy did.

Speaker B: And consumers are so savvy nowadays.

Speaker A: Right.

Speaker B: We're all really damn aware without even needing to see that paid partnership, you know, mentioned on any of the posts. We are so aware that in a lot of cases, people or influencers are accepting product, uh, to. To show people whether they actually believe in it or not. We can tell as consumers when the relationship is genuine between the brand and the celebrity. So it is interesting to hear your thoughts on that. And we are hearing from of people that they believe the idea of the celebrity alignment is kind of. It's not as, as important, it's not as popular going forward. People are less connecting with these influences and more want to connect with the brand and the values and shopping those values.

Speaker C: Yeah, that's so true. We just. Everything is an ad now. And I don't think there's any value in just posting like that or having paying someone to post like that. Um, Roxy, like, like, for years has been supporting me, us, and, uh, like I said, we're friends. So it's a different type of thing. And to have someone that will speak to the brand like that in such an organic way, it's just, that's what you need because it's a true, you know, partnership like that.

Speaker D: And Becky mentioned that you did polls with your, um, followers, which is amazing. I love to hear that. I love to hear that you're having a direct conversation. You know, what else have you learned from them? Have you changed anything off the back of it?

Speaker C: Um, yeah, I asked them what they want to see. Like, do you like grid posts? You like stories? You like reels? We interact about outfits and things that I will buy or coffee or whatever. So it's like, there's a real personal element to how I interact with my followers, which I think is so important. And I think something that a lot of brands cannot get now once they're so far down the track, because now they're like, oh, we need a human face. We need a human, like, voice to this, but it's just too far gone. So I will speak to them and I'll be very real with them. And that comes back to the transparency and providing information education around diamonds, lab diamonds and yeah, it all works well.

Speaker D: Yeah, it's good. I think it's always good to hear when brands are doing that because I agree with you. You need that kind of that human edge to a brand.

Speaker C: It me, you know, you don't want curated grids anymore. Yeah, we don't want that. Do you want that?

Speaker D: No.

Speaker C: So many times I bought like things online and it doesn't even look like the photo or the dress or like.

Speaker D: Yeah, it's not real disappointing, isn't it, when you receive it.

Speaker C: Yeah.

Speaker D: On your website it mentioned that exist products are made from 100 recycled ocean waste and so created in child free labor conditions. Um, what do you, what does sustainability and ethics mean to you and your brand?

Speaker C: Oh, it's everything. It's everything to me as a person and I was doing this before it was cool. So when the brand first started in 2012 or 2013, my products were sustainable then. We just didn't market it because it wasn't cool. And then people would be like, ew, you've got a bikini made from a plastic bottle. That's disgusting. Um, so it wasn't a marketing tool back then and now it's so cool to do that. Right.

Speaker D: So I was just going to say if you helped, um, others in the industry educate because it's obviously something that's very passionate to you.

Speaker C: Um, if I'm speaking to them face to face. But no, I'm just, I will speak to my audience and I will do newsletters and we will do posts and we will speak to the people who really want to hear from us. Um, but as far as educating others in the industry, there's no point screaming into a room if no one's really going to listen to you.

Speaker D: Do you think sustainability is becoming embedded in the future of luxury retail or do you think it's still just that kind of niche aspect?

Speaker C: Um, I think it's becoming embed. I think as consumers we're less afraid to, you know, stick it to them if they're doing the wrong thing. So now they're just trying to dot their T, dot their I's and cross their T's. I don't really even think they care about it. So unless you've got someone that is to their core caring and worrying about these things, they're just going to do it. Because if you Don't. You're just going to get bent over by your audience, really.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker C: Then, yeah, that's true.

Speaker D: I think, um, luxury brands just, um, aren't leading the way in terms, um, sustainability generally.

Speaker C: I don't think they even f. I

Speaker B: think it should be done because you have to do it, not because you want to do it.

Speaker C: Like they've got a responsibility to do it because they've got such a big platform and such a big, you know, market. But at the end of the day, it's all dollars. So why, if they don't need to, why would they?

Speaker B: And similarly to you, how you didn't tell anybody about it when it wasn't cool. If it's not cool to luxury brands, customers, cool, don't tell them.

Speaker C: Yeah, exactly.

Speaker B: Just.

Speaker C: Yeah, just do it.

Speaker B: So thinking of the future, what is next for Exist and for Press Place, what have you got coming up that you can talk to?

Speaker C: Place is taking the forefront of our lives. So it's just, it's such a big demand, I think, because we entered at the right time and we're one of the very first to embrace this. It's just so easily, it's so easy to recognize our product and the quality of our product versus all of these brands that have just started doing lab diamonds. Um, so I don't know, we're just, we offer everything now. Tennis bracelets, earrings, necklaces, engagement rings, wedding bands, like anklets, the whole thing. Um, so it's just keeping our finger on the pulse with that.

Speaker B: We kind of spoke about it in the beginning, um, the idea of you taking a very different journey to most traditional retailers and that you started online and then went into kind of physical with press. Being a product in person, I would imagine is a huge part of the process or the confidence in buying something, particularly when it is jewelry and it's a statement piece. Would you ever think about expanding into more physical stores for that brand?

Speaker C: See, I get asked this question all the time and in the beginning it was a nice idea.

Speaker B: Mhm.

Speaker C: To have that, you know, as a goal. But the more that I entertain the idea of that, the more I understand that my finger would come off the pulse and I feel like we would lose that sense of, you know, being a private jeweler or having that. Like, we're all very committed to the job that we do. And um, when our clients come to see us, they know the product they're getting. I feel like if we expanded to the point where I wasn't able to attend every, you know, parlor or just be there for every design meeting. We would lose that pressbook, place identity a little bit because it would be more common. I would just say we don't need to do that because people are flying from wa, from Adelaide, from Sydney every single week to see us. So we're good.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: Wow.

Speaker B: I mean, I'm willing to do that. Then you have no need to go that far. And if this, you know, if that experience where you are really hands on and part of it is so integral to the business and its foundations, then, you know, if it's not right, why fix it? So our, ah, last question is one that we are asking all of our guests this season on the podcast and it is. How would you Describe the past 12 months and what are you manifesting for the next 12 months?

Speaker C: The last 12 months have been very evolutionary. Like the brand diversified. Um, it took leaps and bounds. Like we've never been so busy. Uh, and for the next 12 months, what am I manifesting? Just the same sort of flow. Just to flow and grow and just, you know, not lose my mind.

Speaker D: Maybe a dinner with your friends every once in a while?

Speaker C: Yeah, maybe. Yeah. If not, that's okay. I'll see them in 2020.

Speaker A: Thank you for joining us for the final episode of the Retail Wrap up podcast for 2024. We cannot thank our listeners enough for your continued support over the last five years. It's been an incredible journey and we're so grateful to have you with us each week. If you'd like to be a guest

Speaker C: on the podcast next year, or if

Speaker A: there's a brand or retailer you'd love for us to chat with, please drop us an email at Retail wrap up@retailingoasis.com or head to our website and as always, you can find us on Instagram, etailoasis on LinkedIn. And please don't forget to subscribe to receive notification when we drop season five in March of 2025. Thank you again for joining us. Um, for another incredible season, the Retail Oasis team wish you and yours all the best for the holiday season and into 2025. Bye for now.