We’re looking forward to introducing you to Meghan Hogrefe. Check out our conversation below.
Hi Meghan, thank you so much for joining us today. We’re thrilled to learn more about your journey, values and what you are currently working on. Let’s start with an ice breaker: What are you being called to do now, that you may have been afraid of before?
This question is so timely because for about 2 years I have been dreaming of re-doing/re-purposing my clothing line. The line was not a success at all. I debuted the Work in Process line when we were knee deep in our portfolio of business in Ohio. Consequently, I was passive/aggressive toward my clothing line. I also felt estranged from it. This is a long answer that is more emotional and less entrepreneurial. I felt like I had broken up with my clothing line before we even started our relationship. It was very much my passion however I felt like when the line was finally completed, I had already been changing. My life had shifted dramatically. I got married, we bought a bunch of buildings and businesses in Ohio and most important, my focus was on everything but my clothing line. Work in Process clothing line could not be any more of a literal and physical name. I was ( still am) such a work in process, always continuously evolving, yet aren’t we all? If not, shouldn’t we be? My line was something I paid attention to when time permitted and when I was completely in my own headspace for a day or weekend.. Not the mindset for an entrepreneur. I had failed. I knew it. I felt it, I heard it. It hurt deeply that I had let myself down/down hard. I love the clothing line and what it identified and solved for me. However, I changed, we all change, we grow, or lets be cheeky, we recede too! All of this explanation to tell you, I finally decided to return to the drawing board. To take this failure and revive it. Work in Process was on life support before it even started and it’s time to let it breath again. I am taking it in a new direction. It is risky however I am ready for this new collection and new perspective. The Grace Collection ( named after my birth name before I was adopted) will still exist however it will be featured as a capsule line. Time capsule, That’s what the original line feels like to me, Very fondly speaking, she was a time, a vibe. I am only partly that woman I was then. She is still existing in the heart of the line, it is all very close to me.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
My brand Work in Process was named as an ode to all of us, always looking to change and grow or at the very least, continue to be reflective. That has always been my perspective and my line was aptly named this. The Grace Collection was an amalgamation of my active sports life ( surfing and running) and my business professional and office life. The brand itself, regardless of collection, celebrates that we are all under no obligation to be who we even were yesterday. We are allowed to change, we should change. Whatever direction that change takes us, we have the agency to move the needle any direction we choose. My clothing line has always captured an individual’s personal growth. Work in Process never felt more tangible and literal!
I will continue to create clothing that is a merge of work life balance. Balance is where reality and dreams collide in my mind. Women’s clothing, whether practical or playful, should always give you pleasure and make you feel like the best you! My clothing line uniqueness will always have an element of the historical nod that inspired me. For the Grace Collection, the zipper pull was an ode to surf suits. Stay tuned, I have something up my sleeve. I am staying the course and I will consider my Grace Collectiion my first mulligan!
Great, so let’s dive into your journey a bit more. What breaks the bonds between people—and what restores them?
This is such a loaded question. Maybe a very bold one at that. I think what breaks the bonds between people is SILENCE. Not what happened before the silence. Mistakes, bad decisions, even really bad ones, there is always always room for forgiveness. Forgiveness doesn’t mean a clean pallet it just means moving forward. The breaking of the bond is the silence, The most deafening emotional state is silence. No one can move forward and they remain in that moment. Regardless of the situation, silence only stores the hurt for later. Consequently, you cannot go through to get past it and eventually over it.. This goes for personal and professional relationships. Deep thoughts over here..
What’s something you changed your mind about after failing hard?
Actually, something that I changed my mind about was my relationships and how I exist within them. The bottomline is, not everyone is your close friend. It’s ok to exist in casual friendships. You don’t have to have a deep and meaningful friendship with everyone you vibe with. I think we get enamored with the “girl tribe” setting and social media creates this vision of the what was once regarded as “chick flick like relationships.. Who doesn’t want to belong to this fictitious club! I always want to feel like I belong to a group or that I have that army. Reality is, I always had one, it just wasn’t found as one big group rather than separate and deeply enriching relationships.
I have always loved to be around people socially and I had always thought my relationships were deeper than perhaps they really were. That is always an emotional head slapping moment when you realize the facts At some point, as you mature and change, your life factors changes, so these relationships shift, sometimes positively and sometimes painfully. I think what changed with my “mind set” and not necessarily decision of “making up my mind”, is that I held many pockets of people “close”. I had to learn that not everyone is meant to be your close friend. I changed how I viewed connections and sharing myself with people. I decided that just because you vibe doesn’t mean you connect and disclose. your life and feelings. So I changed my mind about how I connect with people.
Sure, so let’s go deeper into your values and how you think. What are the biggest lies your industry tells itself?
The biggest “lies” or rather projections our industry ( beauty and fashion) tells us is that is it ok to grow old gracefully, that body positivity exists for all shapes and sizes. The mantra that we can be whomever we want to be, as long as we are authentic. This is an ideal that says one thing but pressures and pushes the exact opposite. What do they say, Actions speak louder than words. We have to exhibit and live in these changes to create healthier perceptions.
Our cultural norms of being “authentic” still show youthful women striving to look even more youthful than they already are, thats pressure. Weight in pop culture is based on “body positivity ” and embracing it and being authentic to yourself. Yet, magazines, social sites often, the majority of them, still feature the message that a smaller physical body size is most beautiful, Even if there is “body positivity”. underneath it all, there is still pressure. “Age gracefully” and “body positivity” is what sounds good to say and write yet as a society we aren’t really believing our own words and creating authenticity. There is still pop culture/social media perceptions of what women ( it is mostly directed at women and often by women) should look like, sound like, age like, live like. If someone lives authentically, that means they observe themselves in the absence of the pressure to look/present in a certain way. So it’s a spurious authenticity.
Thank you so much for all of your openness so far. Maybe we can close with a future oriented question. If immortality were real, what would you build?
What a fun question! I feel like for this answer I should write something profound and altruistic for human kind . However I am going in a slightly different direction. A nursing home for senior dogs/cats and humans jointly.
In this utopia, immortality is an advantage because you have the historical knowledge and experience of invention and solutions merging. I would run a pet and people nursing home! Lots of little details would be ironed out but since I am immortal I would have worked out the answer via trial and error. I would be helping seniors, human and animal, thrive together in their senior years.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://workinprocessshop.com/
- Instagram: workinprocessstyle
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/meghan-hogrefe
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/workinprocessstyle/
Image Credits
Photography by Image Theory Photoworks
@thegerardharrison
Model is Savanna Martinez
@savannahmtz
