
Lacey Cadieux-McLean
Founder & CEO of Rhubaia Ventures, a Calgary-based fashion-tech company merging sustainable professional apparel with an AI-powered virtual closet app.
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Jul 8, 2026
Ep.238: Fashion Tech, Sustainability and the Founder’s Journey; Pulling the Threads of Leadership, with Lacey Cadieux-McLean | Leadership
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David HatchHOST
Tell us a bit about your career story so far, what you do today, why you do it, and all those lovely things.

Lacey Cadieux-McLeanGUEST
My career journey so far has been a series of mountains and valleys and side quests is the way that I would put it.

Lacey Cadieux-McLeanGUEST
I have a business degree and a bachelor of management specializing in business economics.

Lacey Cadieux-McLeanGUEST
which was a wonderful way to position me to get some early internships and jobs that ended up eventually, actually quite quickly, leading me into information technology within a year.

Lacey Cadieux-McLeanGUEST
I think I graduated in 2005 and by the end of 2005 and definitely into 2006, I was starting to lead small projects as a junior project manager.

Lacey Cadieux-McLeanGUEST
And that really started a journey that's lasted many years of me getting into the IT project management space.
6 MINS LATER

David HatchHOST
So fashion, speaking as about as far as possible to get from being a fashion guru, me personally, What was something about that industry that surprised you when you started doing your research and started to set up the company and work within fashion?
Revolutionizing Fashion: Sustainability, Technology, and Responsibility with Rhubaia
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What shifted in your thinking when you saw that behavior, not just products needed to change?

Lacey Cadieux-McLeanGUEST
And I have a tendency to think of things not just as the physical item, but also the whole system or process that's involved.

Lacey Cadieux-McLeanGUEST
And so when I kind of started thinking about doing a sustainable clothing brand, it just came naturally that I would start to consider the full process that goes into purchasing and then wearing that that item of clothing and so after i sat and was kind of thinking about it i was just like i could use my experience in tech and actually try to help people gen genuinely try to help people reduce stress and the anxiety that we feel when we're trying to choose an outfit and we feel like we have nothing to wear um but also i realized that sustainability and technology don't have to be disparate systems.

Lacey Cadieux-McLeanGUEST
Basically, we can help to reduce textile waste in the world if we improve the way that we utilize the clothing that we have.
14 MINS LATER
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And my next question is, if every purchase is the vote for the kind of world we want, what responsibility do you believe individuals carry and where does the industry need to step up?
