Fashion: Making A Difference, by Renia Pruchnicki

One of my favorite Albert Einstein quotes is as follows: “The world as we have created it is a process of our thinking. It cannot be changed without changing our thinking.” To me, this quote is incredibly powerful and yet it’s so simple.

Human beings are adverse to change; we are creatures of habit. Too many of us are so afraid of what others think of us. We are so dependent on the approval of our parents, spouses and friends that we tend to shush that little voice inside of us that has a spark towards something new. Many of us would rather feel comfortable with “what we know” instead of creating something that leaves us feeling “I don’t know” from the perspective of the present moment.

I myself have been inspired by a few people and/or companies who made the decision to shake things up and go in a different direction. Here are a couple of them.

PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) is a non-profit organization based out of Norfolk, Virginia. Its slogan is “animals are not ours to eat, wear, experiment on, use for entertainment or abuse in any way.” PETA president, Ingrid Newkirk, made a decision that she was going to do something different. Her organization caught the public’s attention in 1981 when she exposed lab testing on monkeys at the institute of Behavioral Research in Silver Sprint, Maryland. It turned into a 10-year long case, which resulted in the only police raid on an animal laboratory in the United States. This event triggered an amendment in 1985 to the Animal Welfare Act.

Steve Jobs says: “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.  Don’t be trapped by dogma, which is living with the results of other people’s thinking.  Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice, heart and intuition.  They somehow already know what you truly want to become.  Everything else is secondary.”

As the owner of a vegan belt company, I often think, “how can I make a difference in this world?” Eventually, an idea popped into my head! A crazy one … one that would totally shake things up! The idea was as follows…. “I want to be a guest on the Ellen DeGeneres Show”.

Yup. That’s what I dreamt up.

After being so inspired by people like Albert Einstein, Steve Jobs, Stella McCartney, Parvati, Ellen, Oprah, Deepak Chopra and many others, I realized that there is no good reason to not pursue this giant of a goal. I know that it is not 100% impossible. So that means it’s possible! My company is a vegan fashion accessories company.

Ellen is a vegan. I think that if Ellen and I could have a conversation on her show, people could be inspired to make changes in this world! The livestock industry is a giant and it’s hurting our environment! Fashion does not have to be cruel. It can be cool.

The strategy to get onto the show is through a wacky multi step campaign, which involves a series of steps in the form of articles and/or videos that will be unleashed into the social media world, one by one. Ellen herself inspired this idea when she created a campaign in order to be on the cover of O Magazine. It worked for her!

Here is what I have noticed now that I have decided to shake things up.

  1. It feels great and I am having a lot of fun.

  2. Whatever crazy idea pops into my head, I go for it.

  3. I have learned some new computer programs such as iMovie!

  4. Most people are supportive.

  5. Some are not. Whatever! I just ignore them.

  6. Why not try? The worst that will happen is that I won’t get onto the show. I have a feeling that life will still continue.

 

If we are not happy with the way the world is going, or how our own personal lives are going then we have the power to make changes. It’s not always easy to shake things up and do things that are considered outside the norm, but if you want changes in your life, sometimes you’ve just gotta shake it up!

In closing, I will leave you with another quote by Einstein. “What is right is not always popular and what is popular is not always right.”

Renia Pruchnicki Renia Pruchnicki lives in Toronto, Canada and is a vegan fashion designer. In 2001 she started a company called Truth, which is a line of vegan belts made in Canada. She has a passion for sustainability, healthy living and fashion. She loves to express her creativity wherever she can.