Ep. 83 Positivity and Resiliency with Project Runway Runner-Up Kelly Dempsey
How to Reach Kelly
Online Classes (very affordable)
Transcript
Melissa Milner 0:08
Welcome to the Teacher As...podcast. I'm your host Melissa Milner, a teacher who is painfully curious and very easily inspired. This podcast is ever changing and I hope with each season, you find episodes that speak to you in your work as an educator. This is the fourth season of The Teacher As... and it's exciting to see the growth in how many educators are listening. Episodes are released every other week. If you enjoy The Teacher As..., please rate it on Apple podcasts and leave a review. It helps the podcast reach more educators. Thanks for listening.
Melissa Milner 0:41
I am here... I'm very excited. I don't know if my listeners know that I'm a huge Project Runway fan and Kelly Dempsey, Kelly from the Deli is by far my favorite contestant. Why don't we start with before Project Runway. How did you get started with fashion design?
Kelly Dempsey 1:04
Yeah, thanks for having me. And I appreciate the kind words, I grew up in a small town. And we had a little church near my house called the Church Mouse. And we didn't have a ton of money for, you know, new clothes. So my mom would give me a couple bucks when I was like nine or 10. And I would go to the thrift store. And I would dig through bins super excited like 50 cent bins. And I would pick out like my back to school and clothes like that we got a majority of our clothes from the thrift store. We also my mom was super resourceful, and crafty growing up. We had hours on the front of our house, my mom would go to yard sales. And she would find like forks and silverware and make wind chimes in just had a bunch of really cool stuff in our house that she would sell from items, you know, already in existence. She was super resourceful. So, yeah, so I would, you know, go thrifting and I'd be all excited to have my new clothes. You know, I I loved it. I was nine or 10. And in being since such a small town outside of Boston, Mass, I grew up in a town called Munson, there was a lot of bullying that came from that where kids would notice I was wearing their their clothes. Yeah. And it was really hard, honestly, like, I can't imagine now with social media, because we didn't have that. But you know, it was really hard. Because as a kid, that's all you know you are, that's your whole world is, you know, school and whatever. So instead of me being super sad, and like letting myself be a victim, I was like you don't want like, I'm going to cut up all my clothes and make new stuff. And that's when I started sewing and learning. You know that I didn't need to be a victim. And I watched my mom be resourceful and take stuff that was trash, quote, unquote, you know, and turn it into something awesome and unique. So I did that. And I went to school. And I remember like, very vividly, like people loved it, you know, and like, I really overcame that bullying in that situation without, you know, money or any connections or anything. I just did that on my own. At that age, I made that decision. And I think that's where my love of recreating and design came from is because it was sort of like a fire that grew to where it's like, it wasn't just I was sewing because I liked it. It was sort of like, I was overcoming something. And I'm inspired now to teach other people, you don't need to be a victim of your circumstances.
Melissa Milner 3:36
So such an incredible story. And really, your mother was such a model for you. That's incredible. I do. I do think it's amazing that. So I mean, did you have a sewing machine in your home already? Or did you? Did you just teach yourself or did mom already sew?
Kelly Dempsey 3:55
My mom sewed, so I had all that stuff. And I did all kinds of stuff. I'd paint on my clothes. I wore tinfoil skirts to school, like I did all kinds of stuff. But you know, it was it was nice to really embrace my creativity in a way where I was also getting over that really hard time growing up.
Melissa Milner 4:17
Yeah, just because it's a teacher podcast. I do want to ask, did you ever reach out to any teachers to tell them that you were being bullied? Or did you just kind of take it on yourself?
Kelly Dempsey 4:27
I was very, I was very crazy now going but I was also any problems I had growing up. I always sort of like, in a not a great way. I guess I sort of internalized it and I always didn't want to bother anybody with things. So I would try to fix things on my own. And I'd always you know, try to do what I could. I did have to have my own bus stop because there were girls that would wait to like beat me up, you know for oh no throwing a snowball at them or whatever, you know, at 910 years old, so I had to have Somebody wait outside my house for like, the bus would sit there until like, my mom came out because I was terrified, and they would be waiting for me. And it was hard, you know what I mean? And I tolerable, but you know what, like, I don't look at anything as a negative, because it forced me to figure out solutions and situations. So in turn, it helped me grow to be the person I am. And I'm happy that I have a platform now, where I can now in turn do that for other people, you know?
Melissa Milner 5:30
Absolutely, absolutely. So, I mean, let's get to the next part of how you got that platform. You know, certainly being on Project Runway has helped you to, to really be more well known and popular and, and we'll talk about what you're doing with your classes and stuff at the end because that's like what I'm most excited about. But, um, so what was the road to Project Runway? Like, how did that happened?
Kelly Dempsey 5:55
So it's funny, I was working in a deli, and that's how I got the nickname Kelly from the deli. I've always on the side, you know, would I waitress 15 years, because it's a job where I have a lot of flexibility. So if I would write to someone in New York, and they wanted me to come to a photoshoot, you know, I would sleep in my car and parking garages and do whatever I needed to do to, you know, I was always looking for instant gratification, like I would go down there and do an event or a show, and always never had money, but people gave me opportunities, you know, and I think I was looking all the time for this instant, like, this is my break. And I realized that that's not the way that it worked. Because, you know, I was waitressing 15 years, I randomly had this like weird health thing happen. I would have stayed waitressing you know, until I could get my break and fashion. But I was working at a deli for like six months before Project Runway found me. Because waitressing I was working one day and I have like anxiety and stuff but I got this like weird numbness. Like as I was walking from my waist down. And it gave me like incredible anxiety. I went to the doctors I was fine. I don't know if it's like a pinched nerve or something like that. But every time I went back to the restaurant, for like a week, I would get like incredible anxiety and I had to stop waitressing which is just weird, because I've done that since I was like 14 years old. Yeah, so I ended up getting a job at the deli because it was like something where I could just stand there and not like I think the anxiety was just sort of snowballed, you know, and I sort of associated that place with that. That feeling or whatever. So, you know, now I look back and I'm was sad about it because I made you know, decent money waitressing. But I would have never been Kelly from the deli if that problem didn't occur. So it's like sometimes when things are bad, quote, unquote, you don't really know what the what is going to unfold, and you kind of just got to flow with it. You know what I mean? So I was working, I was working at the deli and I got this, like, I sort of get I'm very intuitive with myself, and what if I ever thought I sort of roll with it. So you know, I was posting on Tumblr, all my fashion show stuff I did over the years that I thought, you know, it was for nothing. And then Project Runway found me through, like my Tumblr page of all that accumulation of what I thought was nothing, you know, and what a lot of people don't know is I didn't apply for that season. I you know, they found me through that's crazy social, I applied, I think like three years before that, and I never applied again. But they you know, I think they said they found me through my Tumblr page. But a month before they reached out to me, I got this like really intuitive thought that I need to like, really study fashion even more than I was doing it. So when I was at the deli, I was printing out handouts of like, how to make sleeves how to perfect this. And I was sort of obsessively, like reading this while I was working at the deli. And, you know, I said to my boyfriend, I was like, I don't know why I'm being drawn to do this, but I'm just going to, and then I got an email a couple of weeks after that, of like, obsessively studying that, you know, they wanted me to apply and come to New York, and it was like, out of nowhere, you know, and then it sort of made sense afterwards. why that was happening. Yeah.
Melissa Milner 9:21
That's very cool. Again, you you were mostly self taught or mom taught you some of the sewing right? So you didn't have formal training like some of the designers.
Kelly Dempsey 9:31
So one thing is I did I say to the the end end of time is that I'm self taught, but I did go to Mass art for one year. Because it's a state regulated school, you have to take state classes. So I I think I took like an opener to garment design. But I was sewing for 20 years before that. And then you know, a lot of the courses I was taking were math and science because you have to take those state regulated class says, So, you know, my dad got sick. And I ended up not following through, I moved home. But the Dean was lovely. And she was very supportive. Everything I did was very different. I was way older than all the other kids right out of school. So yeah, you know, I was 10 years older than all the kids. And she was like, listen, just keep doing what you're doing, and you're gonna be fine. She's like, you know, I have full faith in what you're doing. Go take care of your dad and just keep going and you're gonna, you're gonna be fine. So it was nice. It was, like I said, a year of math science. I took cool Native American class that I'm very interested in history of stuff like that. So it was cool experience overall, but very short lived. And I just went back to sewing in my basement.
Melissa Milner 10:46
And is your dad, okay?
Kelly Dempsey 10:48
My dad passed, he had stage four cancer.
Melissa Milner 10:52
Oh, I'm sorry.
Kelly Dempsey 10:52
It's okay. We were super close. But he gives me signs all the time. Every day, we talked about it before he passed. And I've had dreams where he's came to me and he's still with me. So he's out. He's, he's at peace. Now. He was suffering for a while. So I'm happy. He's at peace. Well, that's good. And I'm happy I got to be with him. So that was the important part, you know,
Melissa Milner 11:15
Priorities for sure. So they invite you out to New York. And just what are some highlights of that whole time including, like, you know, working with Tim Gunn, who is another like God to me. And just that whole, what are, you know, some highlights of that whole experience.
Kelly Dempsey 11:40
So I have to say that I have to give credit to Mondo who was my favorite designer of all time. And he was one of my judges for the audition. I almost didn't make it to my audition because the woman that was bringing me she had like a health emergency actually, on the way when I was driving, she didn't feel good. She had like, I don't know what it was, but she's fine. And she's like my mom, she's a second mom to me. But you know, she had she got me a hotel. So then I ended up picking my mom up on the way in her car and got there just in the nick of time. And they all gave me maybes Mondo gave me a yes. And...
Melissa Milner 12:22
You have three looks usually right.
Kelly Dempsey 12:25
Yeah, I just bought a few things. Yeah. And then, so Mondo, when they all gave me maybes, I walked out, Mondo ran over to the producers, and said, You better go get her because she's great. And I loved him so much. And amazing. And they did, they came in running got me and I give him credit now, but we he's one of my favorite, and now he's one of my close friends. And I think he's fabulous. But that was an amazing experience. So that was super cool. And then the project runway was amazing. There, I have to say I was terrified, being, you know, everyone's talking about how they studied in Prague, and, you know, all over and went to fit. And I'm like, I so in a basement. That's, you know, that's like very small with poor lighting. And, you know, off, I was very, very scared. But I think as the season you know, I won the last three episodes straight to take me to Fashion Week. So I think the fact that they really embraced me as me and I didn't feel like I needed to change myself. You know, I think that was a big confidence booster for me. And I was able to just be myself and not try to be something that I would think they wanted me to be and that was cool.
Melissa Milner 13:40
Yes, and you also listened and took their advice, and they appreciated that big time.
Kelly Dempsey 13:45
Well, I said, I said, you're over there. I'm over here. So there's something you're doing right that I need to figure out. So let me know. Yeah. Yeah. I always say when you when you think you know everything, you stop learning and you stop growing. You know, I don't care if anybody, somebody on the street was like, Hey, let me show you how to do a zipper. I'll sit there and I'll watch because you never know what you're gonna learn from people. You know?
Melissa Milner 14:13
So true. Any other highlights?
Kelly Dempsey 14:16
Tim Gunn is absolutely amazing. That's the top question I get is, is Tim as nice as he seems, because I think people really want to believe he is as genuine as he is. And he 1000 1,000% is, you know, when we did the home visits, my dad was pretty sick, but my dad got to meet him, you know, he got to see that whole thing, which is so cool, because he was so proud of me for that. But Tim got on his knees because my dad, you know, had trouble standing up then and got on his knees to my dad and was like, you never have to worry about your daughter. I love her. If she ever needs anything, I will make sure to take care of her. And I was doing a project a few years after Project Runway, where I sort of was in a situation where I felt like I was being taken advantage of and you know not Good situation. So I did, I texted Tim and I said, you know, I feel like this situation. And he called me immediately and then talked to me for over an hour. And it just made me realize that like, he wasn't all talk, and he kept that promise to my dad, which was really cool. You know, it's amazing.
Melissa Milner 15:20
And I read an article while I was researching, of course, I already knew everything about you, and Project Runway, but I was still researching for this episode. He was he really felt that you should have one. Yeah, like very strongly.
Kelly Dempsey 15:36
So I always say, like, people say to me all the time, like, Oh, I wish you won. I wish you won. But I say, we all won being there. You know, we're all winners for that opportunity. You know, I was looking for that break. And even though it was it's been up and down, up and down since then, because it's all part of the journey. You know, it's like, I love the whole, I'm not really focused on where I'm going. I'm focused on doing the best I can every single day. And I think Project Runway was absolutely the best thing, experience that happened to me, you know, so we all won in that situation, I say, and we're also different. You know, I thought that absolutely, I thought that the designers were going to be stuck up and snobby and rude. Everybody was helping everybody. You know, if somebody asked me how to do something, I had no problem showing them people helped me. Because we know we're so different. And we're there for different reasons. And it wasn't as like cutthroat as I thought it was going to be it was actually a really cool supportive group.
Melissa Milner 16:40
That's good, too. Because some of those episodes, some of those seasons are nasty.
Kelly Dempsey 16:46
Yeah. And I'll say this, they don't, they don't, you know, put words in your mouth. But, you know, it's, it's, I always say, even leaving out certain things, you know, can really change the story line when, you know, so it's like, don't always believe everything you hear. You know, it's sort of like, go with your own thought. Yeah. And it's like, they don't do it maliciously. But it's, it's it's reality TV, you know what I mean? So yeah.
Melissa Milner 17:14
So from Project Runway, and I, you did All Stars?
Kelly Dempsey 17:20
I did. Yes.
Melissa Milner 17:21
Yeah. And that was short lived, but I still liked the stuff you did.
Kelly Dempsey 17:25
I loved what I did. And I have no regrets for that. I also feel when I was on all stars, it's a whole different production, I felt a completely different vibe than the regular Project Runway. And not in a sense where I didn't feel any sort of connection like I did on Project Runway, I loved all the producers on Project Runway, I loved everybody working behind the scenes, it felt like they were there for us. And all stars, we I got sort of a different vibe, where it was sort of like they had their own thing they wanted to do. And, you know, we kind of were just more pawns than, you know, worse than working for us. So, I don't know, like I said, I feel very in tune with a lot of things. And that was just, I don't know, if it was a vibe that I was putting out. But it was sort of something a few people also said, you know, that not a bad way, but it kind of got in my head in the sense of like, the way of my working, you know, I was too focused on I think worrying about what, what they're trying to do or whatever. You know what I mean?
Melissa Milner 18:31
Yeah, I can't imagine because, you know, first of all, they don't give you enough time to do anything. They give you these challenges, and the time is ridiculous. You have one day, you know, all this stuff. So they don't give you enough time to begin with. And then if it's like, it seems like I'm a lot like you like if, if the vibe, if the feel and the vibe isn't?
Kelly Dempsey 18:55
Yeah.
Melissa Milner 18:56
That I feel like...
Kelly Dempsey 18:57
Yeah.
Melissa Milner 18:57
And it affects everything I do.
Kelly Dempsey 18:59
That's exactly, exactly it. And like I said, like, I'm nothing bad against any of them. But it was just my dealing with that. You know what I mean? So I don't know why that was, but I have no regrets. I loved what I did. I made headphones out of fabric in like 10 minutes. And they didn't it was amazing. I didn't love them. But I thought they were the most amazing things ever. So it's like I don't care...
Melissa Milner 19:24
Everything you make. And like, I mean, just the fabric. Let's go back to Project Runway for a minute the fabrics that you chose for that last, that last, you know, the actual finale. Those fabrics were crazy good.
Kelly Dempsey 19:38
Thank you. And you know, it's just amazing. You know, it's like win or lose. I feel like as long as I feel good about what I did, and I have no regrets about the work I put in I love what I did. And the rest is out of my control. So I'm not going to put too much energy on something I can't control. I'm going to do what I can do. And then the story is going to play out how it's meant to play out... so...
Melissa Milner 20:00
Yeah, and also Mondo has a similar story.
Kelly Dempsey 20:04
Yeah.
Melissa Milner 20:04
For his season.
Kelly Dempsey 20:05
Yep.
Melissa Milner 20:07
A lot of people wanted him to win.
Kelly Dempsey 20:10
A really fun, funny quick thing about that is when I went home to take care of my dad, I would watch Project Runway with my aunt at my aunt's house where I was staying. And we would watch Project Runway. And I remember she would say, and I'd say it to her, like, we're gonna have Tim Gunn, he's gonna be in this house. Like he's coming here, I'm gonna be on the show. And we did the math, it was pretty much almost to the day, 10 years. And then Tim Gunn ended up coming to Western Mass, not where I live down near Boston, because he wanted to see my dad, you know, and have my dad in it. My dad couldn't travel out there. So they ended up wanting to shoot my setups studio, in that living room where the TV was where we said that, Oh, almost 10 years to the day. So it's like your words are power. You know what I mean? You gotta throw it out there.
Melissa Milner 20:59
That's amazing. That's amazing. So speaking of power, what you are doing now is the main reason I wanted to have you on the podcast, because this is a podcast about education and teachers. And you are doing some amazing things with upcycling and thrifting. And not just your Tiktoks and your Instagram videos and stuff, but really just having classes. And now the newest thing you're saying is you're opening it up to others. So you're gonna end up having like an online fashion institute.
Kelly Dempsey 21:36
Yeah.
Melissa Milner 21:37
Can you talk about that whole genesis of how that happened?
Kelly Dempsey 21:40
Yes. So I actually went on vacation to Mexico. Last year, in February, and I got COVID I had to postpone my trip. You know, it was just random how it happened. I ended up you know, going to the hotel, and I met a couple from Austria, who was amazing. I talked to everybody, but you know, they were lovely. And we didn't talk business or work or anything. We just, they went ziplining with us. Like we just hung out with them for days because me and my friend because we just love them and made friends with them. So once we started talking, he's like a amazing marketing professional in Austria. He teaches marketing stuff. He's builds platforms, he does all this stuff. And when I told him about what I you know, do, he's like, did you ever think about teaching? And I was like, actually, yeah, I was thinking about, you know, doing Facebook, like, classes or whatever. I was looking at different platforms. He's like, how about we build you your own platform, we'll talk about it after vacation. So we partnered up, and I have...
Melissa Milner 22:47
I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Just like, What in the world, you end up meeting this person. That's just amazing.
Kelly Dempsey 22:53
The funniest story is that him and his fiance got COVID A week before they were supposed to go to Mexico had to postpone their trip a month, and then their hotel was booked. So he ended up in my hotel, it's like, you can't make things up. You know what I mean? And, you know, I've never been in a healthier business relationship. Like, I feel like I met like a soul brother, like, you know, it's just really nice. And Bing, you know, that he's seven hours, six hours difference than me. You know, we make it work with our zoom calls and stuff. But he built me this entire platform from scratch. And I realized that, you know, we have, we just hit over 500 students, and you've just started, we just started like, seven months ago. And you know, after Project Runway, I was, I wanted to be this, I'm like, oh my god, I'm gonna be this big fashion designer, I always wanted to be once I learned a lot about producing clothing on a high scale like that. I learned about how much the fast fashion industry is incredibly damaging, corrupt, sad, it is everything I don't want to be, you know, part of, you know, this, I think 97% of garment workers across the globe aren't paid a living wage, and one in six people on the planet works in fashion. So that just shows you how many people are suffering for these clothing that is being made so fast for trends. You know, I think one in three women now, say that a garment worn once or twice is, is garbage. And, you know, you're seeing all this really cheap clothing at the thrift store. Now, that doesn't last, you know, and it's made just like $3 So, I feel bad for people like me, who put love and make clothing and they're like, why is that? Why is that bad? $300 I could get that at Target for 10 And it's like well, you don't understand that. You know, that's not a that's not realistic. somebody somewhere is getting abuse taken advantage of whether it's our planet and or garment workers. So the more I learned about it, I was like I That's why I got into teaching sustainability and why I wanted to teach courses because it's to help people break out of this cycle that we are totally engulfed in now of fast fashion, because it is a huge problem. And I'm actually just, I had a call today, you know, working with the biggest microplastic clean up in the ocean, they're over in Bali, and 1/3 of all microplastics in the ocean is from fast fashion, it is a huge, huge problem. And, you know, I'm going to be partnering with them possibly going to check out some garment factories in India, Indonesia, and I want to, you know, be there firsthand, so I can really help in whatever way I can with my platform that I have. So, you know, it's just crazy that I grew up drifting, and I was mad about it, because I was bullied. But then after being on Project Runway, I'm just doing full circle back to my upcycles, you know, where I started and realizing that that wasn't an accident, that that that was I was meant to go through that, you know, to be able to come back full circle here, where I can do more than just make it a collection. You know, it's not, it's bigger than me. So, yeah, I'm excited to have, you know, when he built his whole platform, you know, I also have, like, so many different things I do at once, because I'm just, I just do too much my ADHD brain, but I, you know, I realized that it's not, Oh, this isn't my platform, if this is a space, where I can make a change, and I can, there's plenty of room for other people. So I want to bring on jewelry, people that work with recycled fabric, jewelry designers, people that paint, and maybe they want to paint on scrap fabric, you know, I want to make a sustainable teaching community of all arts and bring people together. So this is, you know, something I'm very excited about doing and I just announced in my live.
Melissa Milner 26:58
So yeah, do you have an age limit for people who can take your classes? Because I'm thinking there are teachers listening right now? Who teach middle school, high school, even elementary? Like fourth, fifth grade. You know, do you feel there's an age like to cut it off at a certain age for those classes?
Kelly Dempsey 27:16
Absolutely not. One of the biggest questions I get is, Can kids take your course you know, and absolutely, I mean, not gonna lie. In my real life. Sometimes I have a potty mouth, but in my courses, I never I nannied for 10 years, like I, I know how to. But I, those are definitely kid friendly, I'd say the only thing is, you know, using irons and stuff like that I would, you know, and stuff like that, I would, I would just say having like an adult supervision for things like that. But a lot of kids are taking my courses. And I, I'm always open to all different types of feedback. But the feedback I've been getting is super lovely. And I'm not professionally trained. So teaching I was in at the beginning and a bit, you know, in my own head, but I realized that you don't if you have a natural skill for something that you've been doing for 30 years, and it's unconventional, then that I can teach that to somebody, you know?
Melissa Milner 28:18
yeah, I've watched your tiktoks You're an excellent teacher, because you're just yourself. You're just yourself. And, and I'm sure, because you've been making these things forever, you know how to scaffold and break it down? Well, actually, this is your first step, then you want to do this, you do that I've watched you do the with the bleach, the you know, all that stuff. And you you teach you scaffold, you break it, it's, you do a really good job on the I've watched most of your videos. And actually a friend and I, I showed her one of the videos, she does all my social media. And I said I got Kelly from the deli. And I sent her the video where you did the potato masher and the spray bottle to make this adorable, adorable shirt. And she like the next day, I think she took a picture and sent me and it was a on her table was a potato masher. And she's like, we're doing this. Like it was awesome. Yeah. And I'm like, I don't I don't sew or anything. But like, I could take a t shirt and do that, you know?
Kelly Dempsey 29:23
So that's why I wanted to include on the platform is not just sewing courses because you know, not everybody is going to invest in a sewing machine and it does take time and that's why I launched a beginner sewing course which is 70 minutes for $17 My classes you have access to forever, and it goes through like so many different topics. And, you know, I just did a course on how to take a t shirt decal, like any decal you find in the kids sections got fun little decals because you can get sparkly cool unicorns and you cut those out and I'll show you how to turn that into an iron on patch without sewing. That's really fun to use to do for kids as well. But like I said, with the iron, I would just have supervision. But yeah, that's a really fun project.
Melissa Milner 30:11
Can a parent or a teacher, go to a website and see the courses? And does it say whether it needs an adult or not? In each of the descriptions?
Kelly Dempsey 30:22
Yes. So I have it all in the description. It's, it's Kelly dempsey.com. And it has all the product course products, links, and then you can just click on them, and then it'll tell you all the full details inside.
Melissa Milner 30:35
I just wonder how you could get the word out to more young people, your story too, on that platform? Can you also share your story somehow or?
Kelly Dempsey 30:47
So, I'm working? It's not fully done yet. But I'm working on a little "About Me" section there.
Melissa Milner 30:52
Yeah. It's so inspiring.
Kelly Dempsey 30:56
Thank you. Yeah, I feel like it all ties in with exactly what I'm doing. And you know, what one of my courses is just a mindset about thrift flip. It's called for flipping one on one. And it's it's just a mindset course on when you're in a thrift store, how to look at things in a different way as material raw material, rather than this is a old shirt, right? You know, because everything in there, if you look at it as raw material can be turned into anything. So, you know, that's very important. I think before you do any creating is really switching the mindset to looking at something as a way of turning it into something else.
Melissa Milner 31:35
Yeah, you're so creative. It's crazy. I mean, I do recommend that people watch the Tiktoks and watch the the I don't know whether they're Facebook or Instagram stories, but...
Kelly Dempsey 31:51
The reels.
Melissa Milner 31:51
Yeah. Like watching you go into one of my favorite Salvation Army places of all time, Saugus, and, saugus. MA.
Kelly Dempsey 32:00
And that's the best, that's the best one that I've been to.
Melissa Milner 32:03
I used to go there and get the costumes for like, if I had a, I had a character who was like a king, I would go in and I get like a purple silk robe from the woman's area. And it was perfect. And then I just added some things to it and made it the king's robe. And...
Kelly Dempsey 32:19
I love it. Some people, I'd say 1% of people, you know, will say, All right, you can't use items at a thrift store, like you're taking it from someone that needs it. But the thing is that people don't understand is that 84% of all donated items will end up in a landfill. So most of that stuff that you see there is going to end up in a landfill. And if it's polyester, it's going to take at least 200 years to decompose. It's going to be around longer than us. So if we can take that stuff, that's going to end up you know, either being burned and then microplastics in the air. I think a new study just showed that we eat, on average, a credit card worth of plastic a week. And that is with all different not just in the air, but everything in the water. So it's like a credit card. If you eat about a credit card a week, there's the new study. so...
Melissa Milner 33:12
Gosh, no wonder everybody's getting cancer.
Kelly Dempsey 33:14
Yeah, yes. So that's why I'm excited to be working with this plastic clean up one of the biggest nonprofits, so yeah, it's just, it's just been a fun, a fun ride. And I, I love where it's heading,
Melissa Milner 33:27
It seems like you're doing a lot of research, I think doing a course, where you're kind of teaching about fast fashion.
Kelly Dempsey 33:34
Fast fashion, which is anything, which is anything that you get at a store, basically, like at a chain store. And there's there's a lot of good resources and information out there, there's a website called fashion revolution.org. And they do this thing called the fashion transparency index. And every year they rate the top 250 fashion brands, and they send them, you know, questionnaire, and depending on how much that brand is willing to disclose, will scale them, like where they get where they disposing their water, you know, what are they? How much are they paying. So you would be very surprised at some of the brands that are very, very low. And, you know, it's most of the brands are in like five 10%, like not good range at all. There's very few brands that actually big brands like that, that do ethical practice. So it's definitely something that needs to be changed.
Melissa Milner 34:29
Yeah, I hope that the people listening, the teachers will share this with their students and say, here's this awesome online thing or share it with the parents of their class. You know, if if they know that they have students that are interested in fashion, I think I just I hope that everybody who would ever want to take this knows about this because it's I think it's amazing what you're doing. And I want to thank you for doing what you're doing.
Kelly Dempsey 34:58
Well, thank you. I I've always been, I think, interested in you know, myself, at least just personally. And I enjoy the fact that I can also share it with other people. I just started the hashtag fast fashion Friday, where every Friday on my social media, I just share a little video of a different fact. And, you know, I'm learning a lot as I go, you know, it's just constant learning.
Melissa Milner 35:24
I've seen some of your videos on YouTube.
Melissa Milner 35:26
I don't post consistently on YouTube because I want to so all my fast fashion stuff, everything is Instagram, Tik Tok Facebook, because the format, you know, is the long format, and then YouTube's the opposite. So it's hard to sort of make content for both unless I'm doing it twice, you know?
Melissa Milner 35:44
Yeah. Well, you could do a podcast, because then you wouldn't have to worry about visual at all. That's true. If you're just talking to people about fast fashion and all that, then you wouldn't need the visual. Your other stuff. You need the visual, you're showing things. Yeah,
Kelly Dempsey 35:58
Yeah, that's true.
Melissa Milner 36:01
I mean, I, I would listen to your podcast.
Kelly Dempsey 36:04
I thought about it. I've definitely thought about it. And I have I have ever I have 87 million ideas always floating in my head. So it's like, I gotta figure I got to Toe Pick one and then go with it. And then you know, but that's, that's why I'm excited about bringing other artists on, because I'm going to still be teaching courses, but you know, it's going to be something that's going to have legs, and then I can also branch out and do other things like that.
Melissa Milner 36:30
Exactly. If you need any help, either with teaching or with podcasting, I'd be happy to help.
Kelly Dempsey 36:35
I appreciate that.
Melissa Milner 36:36
Yeah, with whatever you need. Yes. So everybody, check it out. You're gonna give me all your info. And I'll put it on the episode page of the teacher as.com so that people can get on there and or just go to Kelly dempsey.com. Right. Yeah, this is amazing. I really, I'm so inspired, watching your videos, and and seeing you now doing this whole platform where you're gonna have all these courses. And it's, it's so it's so exciting to watch it at its baby stages as it's just perfect grow. It's so cool.
Kelly Dempsey 37:13
You know, I think I had this like stigma in my head that I was overthinking everything at the beginning to make sure it was perfect, because I'm not professionally trained. So I wanted to, you know, come off as like, I'm good enough to teach, but in reality, like, I just need to, like be myself and chill. You know, there's plenty of different methods and, you know, ways of teaching. So, you know, that's something I had to like really let go of, but I think I did.
Melissa Milner 37:41
Especially with kids. Kids are going to be able to tell if you're faking it, like you got to definitely... you have to be yourself.
Kelly Dempsey 37:48
I give you a lot of credit because I did like an art after school program in Cambridge for one hour a day. And they were amazing. They were five years old, but it was the longest hour of my entire life. They were they had so much energy. I'm not a mom. But I did nanny for 10 years, they were just the the girls I needed for were so chill and like calm. But a whole group of these kids, you know, was I give you lots of credit because it was one hour was like I felt like 10 It was like What were you teaching this like art, just art stuff. Like I would just paint with them. You know, I would just do little crafts with them. But there was some really cute kids that looked I was only there two weeks, let's be honest. Like I love them. And they loved me. But I was like, I just can't do it. I couldn't. But there was a really cute girl who she would get so excited to see me and she would pull out of her bag a different she she pull out these drawings she did all day just to show me at the end of the day, and there was like 30 a day. And I every single one I was like, so excited because she was like, so happy to show me she was so cute. Yeah, that's adorable. They were they were cute. It's just definitely tired I don't know how I like I said, I give you lots of credits. So...
Melissa Milner 39:11
Well, I... my zone is third, fourth, fifth grade. I taught first grade one year, like Yeah, no, yeah, I'm intermediate intermediate grades, ya know, there are a lot of fun. But um, you know, I've had kids through the years that have really been interested in fashion. And this was not in place. Now. If I see a kid really psyched. I'm going to email the parents and say, Listen, this awesome. Kelly Dempsey, she's a Project Runway, she has this platform, and I'm going to be sharing it with parents.
Kelly Dempsey 39:43
I appreciate that. And, you know, the kids are the future and I get really excited when I see kids excited about that because I was nine or 10 years old when I started and it just only grew from there and it's, it's sort of like you have no limits right? You can express yourself and make whatever you want. So it's super fun.
Melissa Milner 40:03
This was amazing. Kelly, I can't thank you enough for taking time out to talk to another Massachusetts friend.
Kelly Dempsey 40:13
Hopefully I run into you at Salvation Army. But I appreciate you having me on. And I'm very excited to grow this teaching platform, so it'll be fun.
Melissa Milner 40:24
For my blog, transcripts of this episode, and links to any resources mentioned, visit my website at www.theteacheras.com. You can reach me on Twitter and Instagram @melissabmilner and I hope you check out The Teacher As... Facebook page for episode updates. Thanks for listening. And that's a wrap.