Our Podcast: Talking Textiles
- Kyle VanDamme sits down with Keith Purves, Jeff Newkirk, and Johannes Lombard at the Marine Fabricators Conference. The guests share from different backgrounds—from what it was like growing up in the family business to being recruited by a sail maker and coming into the business after a career in the yachting industry. They cover the trades and hiring for character and teaching the skills, to learning a craft, and managing a multi-generational staff. They also touch on building an environment of belonging and end with succession planning and how to prepare for selling your business.
Listen From Anywhere
Join us each month for insider views, best practices and tips from successful companies in the industrial fabric market. Discover the road to the fabric industry and gain insight from shared experiences.
Previous Episodes
Textile Prototyping via the Fantastic Flex Factory
From fashion designer to trend forecaster to opportunity maker, Dr. Andre West does it all. Dr. West speaks to Talking Textiles about his latest venture, the Flex Factory, a rapid prototyping, flexible space for textile manufacturing, housed within the North Carolina State University. Learn how students and entrepreneurs alike are using the innovation and ideation hands-on space to experiment and advance the textile industry. All attendees to the Smart Fabric Summit can tour and experience the new Flex Factory. Join us April 11-12, 2023. Visit smartfabricsummit.com to learn more.
Talking over Textile Solutions and Timbits – Live from Montreal!
Our inaugural live episode of Talking Textiles is a panel discussion including an all-star cast of past Canadian guests talking about the fabric structures industry. Francophone and Anglophones alike will love the advice on how to get new projects and customers, as well as the quote process and how to respond to different markets. Hear their thoughts on networking versus advertising and developing with the end in mind. Grab a Timbit and double double and settle in for an informative épisode de “Parlants Textiles.”
Passing the baton and transitioning into an ESOP
On today’s Talking Textiles we get down to the business of ESOPs, the Employee Stock Ownership Program. Attorney Doug Neville sheds light and answers questions from the legal perspective while Dave Bess, who was strategically involved in an ESOP for his company, discusses the change in mind shift and culture that occurred as a result.
Textile Leaders Tackle Supply Chain Strategies
Supply chain delays and challenges are one of the top issues facing the textiles industry today. Listen in on this special panel discussion of Talking Textiles, where we’ll talk to industry leaders about the causes of these problems, the outlook for the coming year and how companies can best prepare themselves to deal with shortages and longer production times.
