Hong Kong does not always have the image of being a city that makes conscious living and consumption easy.

Alexandra Foster, Founder of A.C.F. Clothing and Creator of The Conscious Collective is here to change that.

The Conscious Collective, A Conscious Lifestyle Event in Hong Kong

“We are part of a movement!”

Earlier this year Alexandra hosted a 10-day event with The Conscious Collective, an informal group of responsible business owners that lead the way for empowering conscious consumers that care about how the products they buy are produced and sourced.

Hard to believe that this buzzing and busy 10-day event with loads of inspirational panel discussions, empowering workshops and marketplace is actually Alexandra’s side hustle.

A first for #impact Podcast founder Regina Larko, recording “with baby girl attached” with A.C.F Clothing Founder Alexandra Foster

The Hustle

A couple of years back Alexandra founded A.C.F. Clothing, a contemporary gender-neutral streetwear brand with an eco and ethical ethos. They procure their fabrics from what’s known as “deadstock”, textiles that would otherwise be thrown away by factories.

“We’re not perfect but we want to be!“

She is well aware that it is challenging for a startup to be accountable for all the impact measurements in sustainability, conscious production and selling that they set out to achieve.

How to make it all happen

A.C.F Clothing is made up of a little team of 4. For The Conscious Collective event this April, they had a dazzling number of 70 partners involved.

“That was a real challenge.”

They had to be extremely organised and at the same time don’t lose sight of what was happening with A.C.F. In this recording, Alexandra shares her learnings from running this impactful 10-day event that created a buzz that you will feel in this recording.

Lots of buzz at The Conscious Collective. Photo Credit: The Conscious Collective, A.C.F. Clothing

The Founder

In our interview, Alexandra also shares what it was like to set out as a single founder and what was the hardest part about it.

“There was an extreme feeling of loneliness especially in the first year.”

But the days of loneliness are now past. The beautiful thing about The Conscious Collective is that it brings together lots of founders just like Alexandra, that have found a community where they can share experiences and support each other on the entrepreneurial journey.

“The most important part (about the event) for my brand and mental health was the relationships that we built with the other brands.”

She was able to bring this community of conscious business owners together and that’s what she’s most proud of. And so are we! Way to go, Alexandra! We can’t wait for the next event!

Shout-outs in this episode for these conscious hustlers:

[Note from the editor: What we did not bring up in the recording, but should have: Regina had the incredible privilege to bump into the Zero Yet 100 Co-Founders at the event and they were so kind to let her test their handcrafted, natural, non-toxic deodorant and we have to tell you WE LOVE IT!! Please check out their products if you want to put your health first and smell gorgeous at the same time].