Starting your own Brand with William Hardcastle of WannaHug

MADE Apparel Services Podcast

Host Heather Zager interviews MADE client and brand entrepreneur William Hardcastle of WannaHug. WannaHug is a clothing line that aims to help every customer make a difference in someone’s life. Every garment purchased allows the customer to select another garment to donate at no extra cost. William talks with Heather about where the inspiration for WannaHug came from, how he set up the brand, what it cost, and how to handle setbacks.

Heather finds out from William how long it took him to get WannaHug from a concept to where he is now, in online selling. William is very transparent about timeframes, marketing, and the cost of the start-up, breaking down the initial costs for listeners curious about starting their own brands. One of the things William is open about is how he reshuffled his sale garments to better drive revenue and allow for more options in donatable items. The vision William has for giving back to his community is as admirable as his enthusiasm for the manufacturing process, something he truly enjoyed being part of.

This episode contains insights, detailed itemization, and inspiration for anyone interested in a brand startup, manufacturing, or creating a purpose-driven sales model.

About William Hardcastle:

William Hardcastle is the founder of WannaHug, a purpose-driven clothing brand that emerged from his time in Seattle. While working as a commercial diver, William and his wife were deeply impacted by the stark contrast between the city’s wealth and the needs of its underserved communities. This disparity inspired him to create a brand that not only provides high-quality clothing but also empowers consumers to make a meaningful impact. With every purchase, customers can choose a donation, enabling them to contribute to positive change at no additional cost.

—

Contact Heather Zager | MADE Apparel Services:

• Website: MADEApparelServices.com
• Facebook: MADEApparelServices
• Instagram: MADEApparelServices
• Linkedin: MADEApparelServices
  
  

Contact William Hardcastle | WannaHug:

• Website: WannaHug.com
• LinkedIn
• Instagram: @wannahugclothing
  
  

—

Transcript

Heather Zager: [00:00:00] Hello everyone and welcome to the MADE Apparel Services Podcast. My name is Heather Zager and I will be your host for this series. I am also the founder of MADE Apparel Services, which is a sewn product development company for small brands. Whether you are just starting out or a seasoned pro, I have a lot of resources to help you on your journey to manufacture. Don't forget to sign up for my newsletter and follow me on social media for other fun updates. Links to both are always in the show notes.

Heather Zager: [00:00:28] Welcome everybody! Today I'm chatting with William Hardcastle who started his own brand called WannaHug. William, welcome. Let's start off by having you tell me a bit about who you are and how you started your brand.

William Hardcastle: [00:00:42] Thank you Heather, it's a pleasure to be speaking with you again. My name is William and I started the WannaHug brand when I was in Seattle. I was there at the time doing some more professional skills as a commercial diver. And whilst we were there, my wife and I found the discrepancy between the wealth and those in need quite large in Seattle, and it gave me the idea to start a purpose driven clothing brand, which empowers the consumer to make change at no extra cost. Through your purchase at 'Wanna' brand, you get to choose a donation, therefore empowering yourself and making a change in the world.

Heather Zager: [00:01:19] That's a great idea, I love that. You just got that from what you saw going on in Seattle, the homelessness and things on the street?

William Hardcastle: [00:01:28] It's a beautiful place for a start, Washington. And Seattle has a certain buzz about it. There's obviously a great wealth there in Seattle, but unfortunately there's also a very large issue with homelessness and abuse that happens on the street. It seemed to me that those people tend to get left behind, even though there is such huge wealth there that could help that issue. One thing led to another and I thought, why isn't there a place for people to go where they can do what they're going to do anyway through consumerism, but make a difference and make the power of their choice, making it a positive impact in society.

Heather Zager: [00:02:05] And bringing that across everywhere, not just Seattle. Absolutely, it's a great idea.

William Hardcastle: [00:02:09] It's a good place to start, but we hope to service the Midwest and beyond as it carries on.

Heather Zager: [00:02:15] Excellent. How long would you say it took for WannaHug to get where it is today, from your concept and your idea up to where you're at right now? And expand a little bit about where you're at right now too. Are you in manufacturing or are you online selling?

William Hardcastle: [00:02:29] It all started when I came across your profile online back in February. Your page was very helpful, very self-explanatory as to what you'd be looking to do. It was a comfortable place to start because I was new to the industry. I'd never done anything in apparel or clothing or anything like that. I just knew where I wanted to go, so finding somebody like yourself was really helpful in getting my conceptions down on paper and then into design. Which came with a lot of things like the tech pack, your expertise, small business and what you need to have sorted before you reach the manufacturing stage. We worked together for maybe 3 or 4 months where we went through everything from design, cut and sew, choosing materials, everything that you need to get ready in order to go to manufacturing. Now as we approach the 9th or 10th month of WannaHug, we are at the manufacturing stage. We have signed off on all of the designs last week. We have seven garments in production and they will be due to release at the end of the year. And they will be sold through the website and marketed through our social media platforms. Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, the usual ones.

Heather Zager: [00:03:49] Great, that sounds excellent. What goals are you still trying to reach, if any, with your brand?

William Hardcastle: [00:03:57] With experience, and the more we experience within the industry, I'd like to get better at streamlining. This is the first time I've done anything myself, and there's always a place to streamline. I think that comes from being more thoughtful and perhaps planning better and being more realistic on timelines. That was a big thing for me. Being more realistic on timelines would be a good goal, because that way it unburdens pressure on yourself. Then a goal is to continue reaching as many people as possible and empowering those people to help others, like I said, at no extra cost. I guess a big thing for both of those things would be planning, I think that always helps to have a good plan.

Heather Zager: [00:04:38] You ma...