The journey from jewellery designer to AI-powered manufacturing revolutionist isn’t one you hear about every day.
Kathleen Chan, founder and CEO of Calico, takes us through her fascinating career pivot that began with a successful direct-to-consumer jewellery brand and culminated in building a tech platform that’s transforming how products are made and scaled.
“I was never the best D2C founder,” Kathleen candidly admits, “because I wasn’t deeply interested in what the products looked like. I cared deeply about how we made our products, who made them, and ensuring they got from point A to point B.” This realization – that she was more passionate about the supply chain than the end product – sparked her entrepreneurial revelation and the birth of Calico.
Supply chains might not be the sexiest topic, but as Kathleen points out, they power our entire economy. It wasn’t until COVID-19 that many people realized just how crucial these invisible systems are to our daily lives. “It’s the underbelly of everything we wear and own and touch,” she explains, revealing why solving this massive problem space offers the potential for tremendous impact.
As a solo female founder, Kathleen shares the unique challenges of fundraising in an industry where biases still exist, including troubling stories of women being advised to find male co-founders simply to secure investment. Her advice to other female founders facing similar obstacles is powerful: question whether money from investors who can’t see your value is really “smart money” worth having. Instead, she advocates building a trusted circle of advisors who see you as a person, not just a founder – her “pseudo co-founders” who provide support during the inevitable ups and downs of the entrepreneurial journey.
Whether you’re considering founding a company, making a career pivot, or simply curious about the invisible systems that bring products to life, Kathleen’s story offers valuable insights about following your authentic interests rather than conventional paths. Sometimes the “unsexy” problems are exactly where transformative innovation happens.
