How I Did It is a monthly series from Between Seasons, exploring the human side of influence. Influential professionals share candid stories about how they made change happen - or why it didn’t - and the real-world reflections and lessons that followed.

Shanya’s fashion tech company helps brands launch re-commerce - resale, rental and repair services - directly on their websites with a white-label, all-in-one solution.

In this edition of How I Did It, I sat down with Shanya Suppasiritad, Founder and CEO of Revibe. We talked about her journey from stylist to startup founder - and the persistence (and wine) it takes to challenge an entrenched business model with a new, circular solution.

Our chat wasn’t all fashion, though - we explored the influence strategies, personal relationships and lessons she’s still learning as she pushes for systemic change inside a traditional industry.

🎧 If you want to hear the full conversation in Shanya’s own words - including the backstory, behind-the-scenes hustle and her candid reflections on resilience - you can listen to the full episode here:

Scroll on for the story and strategies Shanya shared as she told us How She Did It.

Shanya didn’t start out in tech. She began her career as a stylist, curating wardrobes and fueling the thrill of shopping. She was making people feel good and she was really happy doing it.

But, everything shifted after watching The True Cost documentary in 2015 - a turning point familiar to so many people working in fashion.

That moment left her with a choice: keep fuelling consumption, or create solutions to change it. She chose the latter, and launched her first startup in 2017.

A few iterations later, and Revibe now helps brands integrate resale, rental and repair directly into their websites. But the path has been anything but linear.

When Shanya launched (what was Rntr at the time), her idea was simple but radical: brands should own their own circular economy. Rental, resale, repair - all hosted directly on their websites, not left to third parties.

On paper, it made sense. In practice? Brands weren’t buying it.

The problem was, there wasn’t a business case yet. But the brands (and investors) wanted proof.

So she made her own proof.

She built a scrappy rental site, listed garments and fulfilled orders themselves. They even bought stock in real time - sometimes secondhand from Facebook Marketplace - just to keep up with demand.

One particular dress became the star of the show. Shanya’s team bought two versions of it and rented them out 48 times, before reselling them to another eight customers.

She finally had the evidence to show brands that re-commerce could unlock new customers, repeat engagement and extended revenue, all while advancing their sustainability goals.

So she took the pitch to the brand of that super-star dress, to get them on board as an early adopter.

Here’s how she did it.

When early brand partners were hesitant, asking for case studies, and investors wanted her to prove the vision Shanya knew was true - she didn’t wait for permission.

She did it herself.

Her experiment became the case study she needed to open the door to conversations with skeptical brands.

The lesson is clear:

Sometimes the data, case studies or success stories out there don’t match the reality you know to be true. Those are the moments to put your entrepreneurial hat on and build the business case yourself. Show your thinking. Get out in the field and ask the questions. Run the experiments. Create the proof you need to move others.

Revibe started with a strong sustainability story. But that alone didn’t land beyond sustainability managers, who often weren’t the ultimate decision-makers.

So Shanya reframed the pitch to be about the relatable things they were doing: inventory management, customer acquisition and increasing revenue. Data showed that 60% of re-commerce customers were new to the brand, and 10% then converted to full-price customers within weeks.

And that business case hit home sounded much more intriguing to the ears of CFOs.

Winning buy-in isn’t just about pitching - it’s about finding internal champions who keep the project alive when turnover or shifting priorities stall progress.

Champions are more than cheerleaders. They’re the people who translate your idea into their company’s (or department’s) priorities, who flag the roadblocks you can’t see from outside and who keep the wheels turning when the day-to-day pressures of the business threaten to push innovation off the agenda.

For Shanya, champions made the difference between being ghosted and getting contracts signed - and it’s a reminder for anyone driving change: influence isn’t just about who you pitch, it’s about who’s willing to carry the torch when you leave the room.

The turning point in Shanya’s story didn’t originate in the meeting room - it came from an unexpected night out.

That might not be a replicable strategy for everyone - but the principle is universal. Relationships built outside of the formal work environment (and before the formal ask) often unlock honesty and insight you’ll never get in a boardroom.

Over coffee, on a walk, or at an event, people are more relaxed. They’ll share what’s really blocking a project, what internal politics are at play, or what levers might actually move things forward.

So, don’t underestimate the power of showing up as a human first. Real relationships build the trust and goodwill that can carry your work through when decks and pitches fall short.

Even with wins under her belt, Shanya is quick to admit she’s still learning. One of her biggest ongoing challenges? Ensuring that once re-commerce programs are live, marketing teams actually give them oxygen.

It’s a common hurdle. Projects often begin with sustainability or innovation teams, but long-term success relies on embedding them into the day-to-day priorities of other functions - like marketing, who control the messaging, calendars and budgets that drive visibility. If they weren’t part of the journey from the start, they may not feel ownership once the project goes live.

For Shanya, that means creating new case studies, building feedback loops and finding fresh ways to keep the story alive inside her partner brands. And for impact professionals, the takeaway is powerful: influence doesn’t stop when the decision is made. Sustained change requires ongoing adaptation - new stories, new data, new allies - to keep initiatives relevant as teams and priorities shift.

Influence isn’t a milestone you reach. It’s a practice you return to, again and again.

I asked Shanya the question I ask all my guests:

Shanya’s answer: focus on motivations.

And the best way to uncover that? Relationships.

Shanya’s story could have been about entrepreneurship, tech start-ups or the circular economy. Instead, it’s a how-to for building influence as a disruptor in a legacy industry:

To hear Shanya tell the full story - including the behind-the-scenes experiments, setbacks that shaped these lessons, and a few good laughs - listen to our conversation on the Between Seasons podcast.

A big thank you to Shanya Suppasiritad for her candour and advice.

If you know someone navigating the challenges of building change in fashion or beyond, share this interview and these lessons with them.

Until next time,