Kerri BridgmanWhen I left New York, I didn’t know exactly what I was walking towards but I knew I was done living a life where everything had to be urgent, loud, and transactional.
In the corporate fashion world, I was managing timelines, tracking shipments, and juggling expectations from every direction. I was good at it, actually great at it, but it left me burned out, anxious, and disconnected from why I started in the first place.
I walked away. I’ve almost gone back a couple of times, but instead..
I traveled. I visited the very factories and suppliers I used to only communicate with over email. I became a yoga teacher. And most importantly, I slowed down, enough to notice how different everything felt when I approached business with curiosity, calm, and real conversation.
When I re-entered the fashion industry on my own terms, I brought those lessons with me. Today, when I work with suppliers and factories, I don’t show up as just another production manager. I show up as a person first. And that shift has changed everything.
People respond better when you treat them like people — not numbers on a spreadsheet, stops on a supply chain or necessary items to check off on a list.
Yes, I still care about precision. I still make sure timelines are hit, quality is met, and money is spent wisely. But the way I communicate — that’s the difference. That’s what gets samples made faster, pricing clarified quicker, and mutual respect built stronger.
If you’re building a fashion brand and finding yourself overwhelmed by the production side, here’s what I’ve learned:
You don’t have to push harder to get results. You just have to connect better. Your connections and relationships will propel you much further than your deadlines.
Ready to bring that energy into your own production process?
My upcoming membership was designed for founders and visionaries like you — ones who value both structure and sanity. I’ll be sharing tools, systems, and the exact approach I use to build smoother, more human supply chains.
Some of those tools come from years of holding it together when my brain was on fire and some of those tools come from sitting in the Balinese Jungle.
Let’s make this easier — together.