Meet Rachel Denniston of HFS Collective in The Valley

Today we’d like to introduce you to Rachel Denniston.

Rachel, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
HFS Collective was born out of our own personal need for a stylish fanny pack out there on the market. My business partner (and mom), Debra, first fell in love with the fanny pack when my sister and I were in diapers. She loved them so much she wore them everywhere. The freedom was so addictive she couldn’t stop wearing them — the only problem was that the fanny packs available then weren’t the cutest. In fact, they were so unattractive my sister and I asked our mom to leave them at home when she picked us up from school. She eventually she stopped wearing them and allowed herself to wear big, heavy bags again. Many years and trips to the chiropractor later, she realized she wasn’t going to let big bags wear her again and finally decided to re-design the fanny pack. I joined her and together, we decided to create stylish fanny packs that we would actually want to wear.

In a world where women continue to be plagued with back and shoulder issues from wearing big heavy bags full of things they don’t really need, we created something designed to liberate them from their baggage.

As a brand, we’ve always led with this mission of liberating women from not only physical baggage, but emotional baggage too — we give 2% of the purchase price of every bag to women’s organizations in the U.S. We’ve donated to shelters for victims of domestic violence and sex trafficking, help funded the first ever national girls’ chess tournament, as well as organizations that help change the perception of women in the media.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Anyone who tells you that starting your own business is smooth sailing is lying! Of course, we’ve had our fair share of hiccups but that is what makes this journey all the more exciting and it’s how we keep learning. We’ve had issues with production — bags with the wrong color fabric or material, as well as difficulty sourcing the right kind of sustainable materials for our bags. As an entrepreneur, you will always have challenges but need to be creative in finding solutions to these problems that come up along the way.

So, as you know, we’re impressed with HFS Collective – tell our readers more, for example, what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
HFS Collective is known for our belt bags (another word for fanny packs). We’re also known for being a locally made, responsible brand with a sustainable ethos. Within the past few years, we’ve become a lot more focused on sustainability and the impact of the materials we source. Sustainability is really important to us and we’re continually doing our best to continue to learn, explore and choose only the most sustainable and responsible materials currently being created, including Pinatex (made from the waste of the pineapple industry), eco-suedes made from entirely recycled plastic bottles and/or recycled polyester fibers, and natural fibers like cork, organic cotton, and hemp.

So, what’s next? Any big plans?
Slow and steady growth is really important for us. I’m looking forward to keeping progressing in terms of using innovative sustainable materials and unique methods of craftsmanship. We have some exciting collaborations in the works and are hoping to bring more of HFS Collective to the east coast in the future.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.hfscollective.com
• Email: hello@hfscollective.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thehfscollective/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thehfscollective/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/hfscollective

Image Credit:
Photo by Kristine Lo (www.kristinelo.com) for HFS Collective (www.hfscollective.com)

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