Democratizing Cashmere: Caitlin Tormey of Naadam

Meet Caitlin Tormey: Chief Commercial Officer of Naadam, a direct-to-consumer cashmere brand that’s making luxe knitwear more sustainable, more accessible, and more affordable for everyone. By purchasing directly from nomadic Mongolian herders, Naadam is able to reduce their carbon footprint, offer livestock insurance, and create special non-profit opportunities for all the herders they work with.

The result of purchasing directly from the source? An incredibly soft, sustainable cashmere sweater that feels good to purchase and even better to wear. View the Naadam video and full interview with Caitlin below.

Tell us a little about yourself. Who you are, where you’re from, what you do, and a little more about (company/project). 

My background is in strategy, operations and ecommerce.  After over a decade in the art industry, a few years as a professional marathon runner for Reebok, and two MBAs I decided to move into the retail sector. As my marathon days may illustrate, I’ve always been a “task-oriented” individual attracted to daunting challenges. 

I’m drawn to businesses — agnostic of industry — that are attempting to do something new. This affinity has led me time and again to mid-size start-ups looking to scale quickly an aggressively and legacy businesses looking to launch an entirely new commercial vertical. Almost a year and a half ago, I joined Naadam where I am currently the Chief Commercial Officer.

Naadam responsibly sources and produces luxury knitwear while preserving the nomadic way of life in Mongolia. I’m also the owner of a small consulting business that offers advisory services to ecommerce start-ups called East Bower Consulting.

What motivates you? Why do you do what you do? 

Blending strategy with execution is what really excites me. I enjoy solving complex problems and diving head first into the complexity that many people try to stay away from. 

What services did you purchase on Fiverr? 

We purchased web design and development projects on Fiverr with the goal of improving the customer experience on our site. We wanted to support our spring launch of matching sets with a shoppable "lookbook" page that would show full outfits and allow the user to shop the entire outfit without ever leaving the page. We’ve also used Fiverr in the past for a variety of other needs like graphic design, research and more.

Tell us about any type of personal relationship or "connection" you've developed with a Fiverr seller. 

I really enjoyed the experience I had with Jim (Jimavidbrio), and appreciate his responsiveness. I’ve contacted him since our big spring project for a few urgent bug fixes on our site, and he has saved the day each time! 

How does using Fiverr make your job easier?

As is typical with start-ups, we have a large project pipeline and a very lean development team. Fiverr offers us a cost-effect way to quickly ramp development resources around key projects and initiatives. This allows me to continue to operate a lean team without ever having to sacrifice or de-prioritizing important projects.

Working with Fiverr has also given us the ability to run multiple work streams in tandem, which significantly reduces end-to-end project timelines and allows us to get more done every day.

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