CO.STARTERS Spotlight: Erin Nerren and Creative Magic
Definition: Fast Fash-ion / noun / inexpensive clothing produced rapidly by mass-market retailers in response to the latest trends.
Why should we care about fighting fast fashion? This was a question I felt compelled to ask myself when Erin Nerren, founder of handmade ceramic jewelry store, Magic Is Happening, mentioned the importance of supporting local makers and slow fashion.
As a college student who survives on Christmas and birthday money year-round, it’s just easier to fall into the trap of fast and cheap fashion, but supporting slow fashion, Nerren explains, is so much more than just buying more expensive items.
“Slow fashion focuses on sustainability,” she says. “It’s the idea of buying better quality that will last longer and values fair treatment of people, animals, and the planet. If you value fair treatment and owning something that took time and care to make, buying slow fashion is a way you can express what you value.”
She explains on the opposite end, fast fashion is lower-quality, low-priced, mass-produced and machine-made garments or accessories that quickly end up in landfills. While combatting the dangers of fast fashion, her customers can also support shopping locally by buying from Magic Is Happening, promoting local wealth and jobs in our community.
Nerren began her journey with handmade ceramic jewelry while she was an art teacher in Charleston, South Carolina, using her students’ leftover clay scraps to experiment with jewelry pieces. After selling her products at various pop-up events in Nashville, she moved back to her hometown of Jackson, Tennessee in 2019, where Lisa Garner, executive director of theCO, bought a pair of her earrings and introduced her to theCO and the CO.STARTERS program.
“For me, the best part of CO.STARTERS has been getting to know people in the community,” she says. “Because of CO.STARTERS, I now know several people to turn to for support including lawyers, CPA’s, and social media marketing strategists.”
She says she has faced various challenges throughout her time being a business owner like learning how to package and ship her jewelry, how to create a logo, or how to promote her products, but she says these contacts the CO.STARTERS program gave her have proved to be vital in these situations because she knows she can always turn to them to answer her questions.
When asked to give advice to young entrepreneurs who want to start their own business, she says don’t be afraid of embarrassing yourself or not being successful right away.
“Find a good network of people you can bounce ideas off of and call for help when needed,” Nerren says. “Believe in yourself and know that you have talents uniquely your own that need to be shared with the world!
She says for her, the creative flow is magical (hence the name, Magic Is Happening), and she is grateful for her community for supporting that creativity in makers like herself who stand up for local, slow, and ethical fashion.
“There are a lot of people here who believe in Jackson and want to support local businesses, and I am so grateful for the support that I have found here,” she says.