There are 75 million workers in the apparel industry, but according to the International Labor Organization, between 60-88% of those workers are at risk of losing their jobs because of automation in the next 10 years. In today’s episode, Linda Rigano interviews Sarah Krasley. Sarah is a fearless entrepreneur and the Founder and CEO of Shimmy, a women-owned and operated early-stage fashion tech company, intent on preparing the apparel industry for the future of work by developing design, data management, and workforce development applications. In this episode, Sarah shares what Shimmy is doing about apparel workers being displaced by automation through The Apparel Automation Pulse project, and she talks about Shimmy’s business model to gamify the re-skilling and up-skilling process, creating video game-based training to shorten the time needed for training and create higher engagement. Shimmy is focused on providing workers with the digital literacy they need to operate automated equipment in the future, and aims to build transferrable skills to create more job security for women in manufacturing. Tune in today!
#117 Preparing the Apparel Industry for Automation with Sarah Krasley
Linda Rigano
Linda Rigano is the Principal Consultant of The Rigano Group. Her expertise and enthusiasm for strategic and effective communication permeate all that she does as a consultant to B2B and B2C technology, manufacturing, supply chain, and publishing organizations to improve business performance and stakeholder relationships by building highly successful and measurable communications programs.
With over 20 years of industry experience, Linda has excelled in helping organizations advance the discussion of important industry issues. She was central to the development and promotion of ThomasNet’s annual Industry Market Barometer® (IMB) survey on the state of manufacturing, the ThomasNet/ISM “30 Under 30 Rising Supply Chain Stars” Recognition Program, and ThomasNet’s North American Scholarship Program. Linda also served as Director of Strategic Alliances for ThomasNet, and for many years was the Publisher of the Thomas Food Industry Register.
Throughout her career, Linda has been an active participant and presenter for manufacturing, supply management, and business associations. She is widely quoted in business and trade media, including Bloomberg Businessweek, Nightly Business Report, and Industry Today. Linda holds an MBA in marketing from Fordham University.
Connect with Linda Rigano on LinkedIn.
Sarah Krasley
Sarah Krasley is a mission-driven entrepreneur and CEO of Shimmy Technologies, an early-stage company focused on an equitable, efficient, and fun future of work for the apparel industry.
Sarah’s worked at the intersection of Industry 4.0, design, sustainability, and technology for over a decade – most recently by creating X Swimwear, a custom swimwear line, founding Consider the Image — a Hippocratic oath to encourage ethics in photo retouching, and while leading Sustainable Manufacturing at Autodesk where she and her team built eco-design tools for hundreds of thousands of engineers so they could consider the environmental impact of their design decisions.
Through her work at Shimmy, Sarah has completed the Acumen Civic X Future of Work Accelerator, MIT SOLVE Workforce of the Future Accelerator, and the New York Fashion Tech Lab.
Sarah has a BFA from Pratt Institute, an MBA from the University of San Francisco and joined the adjunct faculty of New York University ITP in 2015. She serves on the World Economic Forum Taskforce for Reskilling Workers, the Urban Manufacturing Alliance’s Industry & Inclusion Advisory Board, and the New York City Economic Development Corporation’s Technical Advisory Committee. She loves Brooklyn, swimming in interesting places, intoxicating scents, and laughing with gusto.
Follow Sarah’s journey on her Website, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram!
