Vanessa Barboni Hallik is the founder and CEO of Another Tomorrow, a B Corp Certified end-to-end sustainable design company with a fully digitized product eco-system delivering technology-enabled transparency, authenticated recommerce and an on-ramp to Web3 applications. She is also an investor in early-stage companies with strong ESG commitments positioned to catalyze systemic change. Vanessa serves on the Board of the Accountability Counsel and on the Advisory Board for Harvard's Carr Center for Human Rights Policy.
Vanessa is an active speaker and advocate for systems change. She has been featured in The New York Times, Fast Company, Bloomberg, Forbes and Vogue for her work, and is one of Worth Magazine’s Worthy100.
Prior to founding Another Tomorrow, Vanessa was a Managing Director at Morgan Stanley, where she held several leadership roles in the emerging markets institutional securities business. Throughout her career she has worked across global markets and managed culturally diverse and cross-border teams.
While at Morgan Stanley, she served as a Trustee on the Board of the Morgan Stanley Foundation and represented the firm at the Council on Foreign Relations. She likewise chaired the Fixed Income Philanthropy Committee.
How can we fix the fashion industry to make it better serve the planet in the face of the coming climate crisis?
The fashion industry requires system change and new business models for enhanced economic and impact outcomes. That means real vision and not just adjustments at the margins.
In many respects, it is the broken economic model that is driving poor outcomes as there is so little business resiliency that the industry focuses on lowest cost production and liquidation of excess inventory that leads to a vicious cycle.
New circular economy models (ie resale and recycling) that can scale profitably are a critical part of the solution as are far more flexible “just-in-time” production systems to calibrate production to demand.
And of course “farm to closet” (or industry terms “cradle to gate”) transparent, traceable, regenerative supply chains are a big part of this as well, but we have to fix the economics and policy landscape that shape the operating environment of the industry to enable (and enforce) companies at large to pay for the required costs of ethical and sustainable production as it does cost more.
What are you and your brand doing to create a better future for the planet and how does this give you hope?
Another Tomorrow exists to model a new vision for the future of fashion. We are seeking to be a living case study that adds value every day for our customer and helps to demonstrate for the industry that there is a new path forward that brings the industry into alignment with our planetary boundaries.
Because we believe in system change, that means taking a systemic approach from traceable “farm to closet” sustainable sourcing, to leveraging technology and digital twins for our Authenticated Resale program to commercializing our “just-in-time” manufacturing program. And of course accountability mechanisms like our B Corp certification.
I am seeing incredible positive energy and collaboration within the industry, particularly from the next generation of talent and from a handful of leaders who are willing to stake their reputations on new ways of doing business.
What are you doing now to lead your business forward that other executives and entrepreneurs could learn from?
I have found a lot of inspiration from other industries and so I find leadership to be a delicate balance of internal focus married with curiosity and connectivity with what’s happening much more broadly in the world to connect the dots that lead to innovation.
Much of what we have done was actually developed in the car industry decades ago - from leveraging the example of BMW’s Certified Pre-Owned program as inspiration for our Authenticated Resale program to my obsession with just-in-time manufacturing, which I believe is key to unlocking resilience in the industry.
What is your biggest learning since you started running AnotherTomorrow?
I have learned a tremendous amount about myself as a leader - major strengths and major weaknesses. Faced with that clarity, I have worked hard to kill off the part of my ego that wants to be the best at everything and focus on bringing together an exceptional and complementary leadership team.
Do you have any tips for female entrepreneurs who are running successful businesses but haven’t reached the type of named brand scale you have?
I think it’s helpful to really know where you want to go, make that vision crystal clear in your mind and determine what is critical to make that vision a reality and focus on THAT. The energy and focus that comes with that clarity has helped me tremendously vs. times when I have been more scattershot. And scale isn’t always the goal and if that’s the case, don’t be afraid to name that for yourself and focus on building the kind of business that you want.
But also - help each other out there. Without any expectation of anything in return. I see this all the time with the Wie Suite and I think it is part of its utter magic. Let’s create an ecosystem of support where we can all thrive.
What’s one trend you see coming?
I think we are all going to start treating and trading everything we own as an asset. This is very exciting.
What’s one thing you cannot live without?
Time with my family.
Who are women you admire right now?
Two categories (who are often one and the same) - the persistent visionaries who just keep showing up and doing the hard work. Their combination of real-time clarity, dogged optimism and perseverance is so powerful. And the helpers. There are some women in our midst who are consistently quiet door openers and game-changers for others - often a result of the credibility they have built and their generosity in sharing that.
What’s the best piece of networking advice you have to share with others?
Follow your curiosity. Follow the energy. I was allergic to the concept of networking early in my career because it felt forced, fake and I think on some level I was afraid of rejection.
Real relationships are built on energy, on shared curiosity, and I’ve found following that intuition and interest very freeing and powerful because it’s so grounded and real and light and you become sort of fearless in approaching people with the knowledge that if a connection meant to be, it will be and you take the ego out of it.
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