How Poppy Barley went from Idea to Startup Status

Last week, Startup Edmonton celebrated its Founders 50 Program. It was an evening dedicated to celebrating prominent business and community leaders committed to mentoring and supporting entrepreneurs and young startup businesses in Edmonton. My co-founder, Justine, delivered a slightly emotional speech. As entrepreneurs, we are overly critical and always pushing forward. We rarely take a moment to celebrate our accomplishments. Last week, when Justine stood on stage staring out at the people who’ve mentored, inspired and invested in us – she realized just how far Poppy Barley has come. Here’s the thing: 14 months ago, we didn’t know any of these people. We started as two girls with an idea to make made to measure boots. After knocking on a few doors, Justine showed up at Startup Edmonton. The floor was still new, and the paint was fresh. The space was vacant, but full of a vision to make Edmonton a place of creativity and entrepreneurial thinking. Justine immediately registered for Preflight, an intensive workshop to help put the framework around our idea to take it to market. Preflight transformed Justine’s thinking (and mine). We committed all of our efforts to making our idea happen. Then we quit our jobs to focus on Poppy Barley. In September, we were one of the first companies to participate in Flightpath, a 4-month accelerator program complete with seed financing, free food, pitch practice and mentors. When Flightpath concluded, we were selling boots to customers. Poppy Barley went from being just an idea to something we could feel, touch and wear, in eight short months. I’ll say this boldly: we would have never accomplished this without Startup Edmonton. To those involved with the Founders 50 Program, from the bottom of our Poppy Barley hearts, we thank each one of you for your contributions to Startup Edmonton. If you have idea, come visit Startup Edmonton. The space is bustling with smart and fun people, all working hard to make ideas happen. It’s a pretty inspiring place to be. -Kendall Barber, Co-founder Side Note: I missed the Founders 50 event because I was away in Kelowna for metabridge, an initiative to connect top Canadian technology companies with key Silicon Valley and international technology partners for investments, partnerships and mentorships. Of the 15 top startup companies in attendance, four (4!!) were from Edmonton - Granify, Mover, Zenlike.me and Poppy Barley—a testament of the entrepreneurial culture we’re starting to build. We are choosing to build our companies in Edmonton, along with the many other companies working out of Startup Edmonton, in the Mercer Warehouse, and other creative pockets around the city. *Images provided by FO Photography