In our ‘Inspiring small businesses’ series, we share and celebrate great stories from small business owners who started and run their own business. By bringing you closer to these inspiring businesses we hope that you find motivation, tips, and ideas for building yours. For this week’s interview, we spoke to Mark Musgrave, Founder and Designer at The Level Collective, the outdoor lifestyle brand creating backpacks, clothing, tools and accessories which are ethically hand made in the UK and beyond.

The Level Collective uses organic and recycled ingredients to create quality products for everyday urban and wilderness adventures. ‘Level’ is all about their commitment to fairness for every person involved in making the products which they create to the highest quality and with the lowest impact on the planet. It’s also about balance – pursuing a life of grafting hard at something meaningful, but also making space for reconnecting with ourselves and others whilst being outdoors in nature.

What's the story behind your business?

The idea came whilst volunteering with a charity in Romania back in 2009. One of their projects trains women in the disadvantaged Roma communities how to hand-knit beanie hats. Having worked in high street fashion retail, I was becoming more aware of the issues surrounding what we now call ‘fast fashion’ I was blown away with this grass roots project which created an excellent product, whilst empowering the people making it.

So, I decided to start a brand that was fair or ‘Level’ to everyone involved in making the products using environmentally sustainable ingredients. The idea then bloomed beyond beanie hats to include a series of outdoor-inspired graphic t-shirts and sweaters, and now British made backpacks, tools and accessories. I still collaborate with that Romanian charity who make our merino wool Big Bob beanies – it’s a precious part of my story.

What inspired you to start your own business?

In short, I was fed up with unethical fast-fashion and so I decided to create a business which disrupted the status-quo with the mission and helping people to ask more questions about how and where their clothing is made and with what human and environmental costs. I also wanted to inspire people to get outdoors and provide ethically-made gear to do so, but also clothing that could be worn in urban contexts too.

What is the most difficult aspect of running your own business?

Switching off. It’s easy to find yourself ruminating over work stuff all the time, ideas, hopes and worries. Recently I’ve been creating more ‘boundaries’ such as turning off email push notifications so I have better control over my headspace. This has been so good for creating better balance and I’m starting ‘LiveLevel’ – practicing what I preach I guess. I’m definitely more effective and enjoy my work more when I’ve allowed myself to rest properly and have taken time out to go outdoors and gain a sense of perspective.

What is the best thing about running your own business?

As a designer, I enjoy creating new things that I’m proud of. I love collaborating and bringing people together to take an idea from my sketchbook to a real physical product that people can enjoy wearing and using. Having your own business feels like you’re putting a bit of yourself out into the world that wouldn’t exist without you which is kinda cool. I’m very fussy in terms of quality and design aesthetics so I love that I can make decisions without having to please shareholders or justify anything to anyone other than myself and my all important customers of course. Being in control of my time is pretty great too and living in Cornwall when the surfs up (which is less often than you’d imagine) then I enjoy the flexibility of being able to put work aside for a while and gain the fresh perspective that only comes from time spent in the wild.

To find out more about The Level Collective, visit their website or follow them on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.