Cobus Ooosthuizen has always wanted to bust advertisement claims and proof them wrong. That is also why he took on the wool industry to proof the outrages claims the industry was making about wool as false. These claims about wool included that wool was soft, durable, cool when it is hot, warm when it is cold, breathable, UV protective, odour resistant etc. Cobus Oosthuizen tested a wool t-shirt during a 250 km running race for 6 days through the South African desert.

Cobus talked about his experience with wool at the last IWTO Wool Round Table in South Africa. This episode is a live recording from the event. Listen to the amazing story of how Cobus ran for 6 days through the South African desert with temperatures of 42-52 degrees Celcius to test wool’s marketing claims.

About Cobus Oosthuizen

Dr. Oosthuizen is passionate about change…”that moment when you discover something and you know you can never go back to the way things use to be.” It is his drive and passion to see everyone have moments like these, leading them to more productive, effective, healthy and purposeful lives.” As the founder of LifeXchange and owner of LifeXchange Solutions, Cobus and his incredible team of experts are leading both communities, schools, and churches as well as small, medium and large business and corporate clients into effective mentoring and change management processes!

Cobus is married, has an 8-year-old daughter, lives in Cape Town and is always ready to show you that you are more capable than what you could ever imagine!

Connect with Cobus Oosthuizen here

LifeXchange website

LifeXchange Facebook

The T-Shirt Cobus wore was from Core Merino

Cobus was sponsored by Cape Wools, Core Merino and NWGA

 

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Andrew Cuccurullo is the CEO of Waverley Mills in Tasmania. Waverley Mills is the last remaining woollen mill in Tasmania. The weaving mill produces woollen blankets. When Andrew invested into the company in 2016, the mill was in bad shape and in urgent need of a rebranding and repositioning of its products. Andrew shares the story of how he implemented the new marketing strategy. He even goes into detail about his social media strategy, photo and video shootings and product design.

About Andrew Cuccurullo

Andrew Cuccurullo has a history of clothing and knitwear manufacturing from the late 80’s-2000 working with Gowing Bros and many other retailers. Andrew was also involved with the surf label Insight.
From 2001 – 2014, Andrew worked in the cutting edge of digital technologies for 14 years through start-ups he founded. Currently, Andrew is CEO of Waverley Mills.

Andrew invested in Waverley Mills in April 2016 after seeing the potential of its products and its rich heritage. Since getting involved with the mill he has undertaken a rebranding and repositioning of its products in the marketplace.

Connect with Andrew Cuccurullo and Waverley Mills here:

Waverley Mills website
Waverley Mills on Instagram
Waverley Mills on Facebook
Get in contact directly at hello@waverleymills.com

Waverley Mills is doing a fundraising campaign, have a look here.

 

Similar podcast episodes you may enjoy

#005: Mac Bishop from Wool & Prince

#012: Galina Witting from Baabuk

#021: Philip Attard from Gostwyck Merino

#026: Debbie Luffman from Finisterre

#038: Francesco Botto Poala from Reda 1865 and Rewoolution

#039: David Michell from IO Merino

#046: Janne Strommen from Devold of Norway

#047: Nick Armentrout from Ramblers Way

#050: Claudia Weiss from Don Baez Eco Chic

#052: Gaspard Tiné -Berès from Lasso Shoes

 

Ben Watts is a wool grower based in Australia who is using automation technology to help him run is farm more efficiently and more effectively. Drones, RFID tags or automated scales all help Ben look after his sheep, the farm, ensure the health of his stock and improve is production and therefore his overall business. Ben explains in this episodes how the different technologies work and how they aid wool growers, sheep and consumers. As Ben saw so much success with the new types of technologies he also started his own consulting and training company, Bralca, to assist other wool growers achieve the same goals. Listen to the fascinating world of automation on farm.

About Ben Watts

Ben has been working in the merino industry over the past 25 years, in this time ben has managed sheep farms for corporate business’ up until 2005 when he and his wife Fiona purchased their second farm and began to focus on utilizing automation.

In this time Ben has developed commercial applications for a number of technologies to better utilize skilled labour by reducing repetitive tasks, providing meaningful live information and identifying individual animals within large commercial flocks.

Traditionally data collection has been based on manual processes to collect mob based information. Utilising individual electronic ID, Ben uses remote data collection for live monitoring of animal body weights, matching ewes to lambs and recording animal treatments.

In the past two years, Ben has incorporated the use of Drones to track stock, monitor water and measure pasture growth. This has provided a new level of automated monitoring to assist in management.

Connect with Ben Watts from Bralca

Bralca website

Ben Watts LinkedIn profile

 

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#018: Geoff Kingwill about wool growing in the semi-desert

Gaspard Tiné-Berès is the founder of Lasso Shoes, a young startup based out of France. The first product was a felted wool slipper which the company successfully launched on Kickstarter in 2013. Gaspard talks about how he came up with the idea for the wool slipper and how the put together a very local supply chain. Gaspard explains why it was important to him to source the Lasso shoe within a radius of 500 km of Paris and why the customer needs to do the final assembly.

Furthermore, Gaspard shares insights about this social media strategy and introduces the brand’s latest product – a felted wool bag.

About Gaspard Tiné-Berès and Lasso

Lasso is a family business based in Paris, France. Founded in 2012 by Gaspard Tiné-Berès and Amandine Richard, they launched their first product,
the Lasso slippers, on Kickstarter in 2013 and sold more than 1400 pairs in just a month.

As a design driven company they care about the origin, sustainability and production process of their products. They understand the responsibility of a business and the ethic is very important to them. They consequently thrive by building lasting relationships with all of their customers and suppliers.

Connect with Gaspard Tiné-Berès and Lasso Shoes here

Lasso Shoes website

Get your own Lasso Bag by supporting Lasso’s most recent Kickstarter Campaign

Lasso on Facebook

Lasso on Instagram

Lasso on Twitter

Lasso on Pinterest

 

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These brands also launched their products successfully on Kickstarter

#005 Mac Bishop from Wool & Prince

#012 Galina Witting from Baabuk

 

Want to get inspiration from other wool retail companies

#050 Claudia Weiss from Don Baez Eco Chic

#047 Nick Armentrout from Ramblers Way

#046 Janne Strommen from Devold of Norway

#040 Lorna Haigh from Alternative Flooring

#039 David Michell from IO Merino

#038 Francesco Botto Poala from Rewoolution

#026 Debbie Luffman from Finisterre

#008 Chris Tattersall from The Wool Room

#006 Andy Caughey from Armadillo Merino

#001 Rikki Beier from IKKI Small but Brave