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Entrepreneur Dr. Monika Hauck is tapping into the emotional charge we feel after getting something repaired, and using that to revolutionize how we choose and care for our clothing and accessories.
Dr. Monika Hauck is the founder of Repair Rebels, a digital B2C & B2B fashion repair platform that’s a pioneer solution in the German market, with a goal is to make textile and shoe repairs digital, convenient and fashionable! Repair Rebels started in 2021, and has already won numerous prestigious awards, including the German Ecodesign Award.
Dr. Monika Hauck is a creative economist, entrepreneur, social activist, and researcher specializing in Open and Collaborative Innovation. Her Ph.D. focused on Corporate Venturing and Open Innovation in the fashion industry. Monika has also founded the WHU Entrepreneurship Center to support startups and corporate innovation initiatives in Germany’s North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) region.
Monika was passionate about fashion from a young age, and later worked as a model for renowned international agencies and brands. You may have heard of “Fashion Revolution,” a British social enterprise – in 2018, Monika became the Fashion Revolution City Ambassador in Düsseldorf. Then, in 2019, she launched change-room.org, a think tank dedicated to sustainable and inclusive innovation in fashion.
Now, Monika combines her expertise in fashion, innovation management and sustainable development with her commitment to revitalising local craftsmanship. Monika explains how Repair Rebels works for customers and repairers, and how Repair Rebels is meeting the needs of different groups of customers.
We hear how Repair Rebels was inspired by Monika’s childhood in Lithuania, where she learned to sew and repair clothing while still at school. Monika outlines some of the trends she is seeing around fashion consumption and the circular economy, and we discuss the reasons that big businesses are finding it so hard to change course. We also talked about the Lean StartUp concept, and how that can be helpful to circular entrepreneurs.
Podcast host Catherine Weetman helps businesses use circular, regenerative and fair solutions to do better, with less.
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Read on for more on our guest and links to the people, organisations and other resources we mention.
Links we mention in the episode:
Links for our guest:
Links for Repair Rebels:
- https://www.repair-rebels.com
- https://www.linkedin.com/company/66901226/admin/dashboard/
- https://www.instagram.com/repair_rebels
Links for Monika Hauck:
- https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-monika-hauck/
- https://www.instagram.com/monikahauck/
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OV6UmMTjzA
Books, people and organisations we mentioned
- The concept of buyer awareness stages is from Eugene Schwartz, a famous copywriter, and described in his 1966 book, Breakthrough Advertising. Here’s a blog, explaining the stages and the psychology behind them: https://www.melissabolton.com/stages-of-awareness/
- Circular Economy Podcast episode 132 – Re-Action – repairing: from radical to renaissance. Three businesses helping people discover that repairing means caring – Sheffield Clothing Repair, Snowdonia Gear Repair, Vicky Bikes https://www.rethinkglobal.info/132-re-action-repairing-from-radical-to-renaissance/
- The Innovators Solution, by Clayton M. Christensen, Michael E. Raynor https://www.christenseninstitute.org/book/the-innovators-solution/
Guest bio
Dr. Monika Hauck is a creative economist, entrepreneur, social activist, and researcher specializing in Open and Collaborative Innovation. In September 2019, she earned her Ph.D. (summa cum laude) from WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management, focusing on Corporate Venturing and Open Innovation in the fashion industry.
In April 2018, Monika founded the WHU Entrepreneurship Center, where she served as Managing Director. Her work centered on supporting startups and corporate innovation initiatives, contributing actively to building a robust startup ecosystem in the North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) region. In 2018, Monika became the City Ambassador in Düsseldorf for “Fashion Revolution,” a British social enterprise. Then, in October 2019, she launched change-room.org, a think tank dedicated to sustainable and inclusive innovation in fashion.
In 2021, Monika founded Repair Rebels, a digital B2C & B2B fashion repair platform – a pioneer solutions in the German market. By digitalizing the local craftsmanship, the goals of the startup is to make textile and shoe repairs digital, convenient and fashionable! Repair Rebels has since won numerous prestigious awards, including the German Ecodesign Award presented by Steffi Lemke, Federal Minister for the Environment and Consumer Protection.
Repair Rebels was inspired by Monika’s childhood in Lithuania, where she learned to sew and repair clothing while still at school. Early on, she developed a passion for fashion, working as a model for renowned international agencies and brands. Today, Monika’s unique expertise in fashion, innovation management and sustainable development, paired with her commitment to revitalising local craftsmanship, positions her as a sought-after advisor, lecturer, and speaker.
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Podcast music
Thanks to Belinda O’Hooley and Heidi Tidow, otherwise known as the brilliant, inventive and generous folk duo, O’Hooley & Tidow for allowing me to use the instrumentals from the live version of Summat’s Brewin’ as music for the podcast. You can find the whole track (inspired by the Copper Family song “Oh Good Ale”) on their album, also called Summat’s Brewin’. Or, follow them on Twitter.
