How Does It Work is our version of a Proust Questionnaire, created to explore how interesting teams operate, their inner systems and practices, and how they design their workplaces with intention. Know a team we should feature? Email editorial@earlymagazine.com

Kotn is a Canadian sustainable clothing brand known for its minimalist essentials.  Founded in Toronto by Benjamin Sehl, Mackenzie Yeates, and Rami Helali, the company has storefronts in Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, as well as Los Angeles, New York City and London.

Kotn’s ethos goes beyond clothes; they’re passionate about sustainability and supporting the communities they’re connected to. They’re particularly proud of The ABCs Project, which builds working schools in the Egyptian communities they partner with to produce their products. A portion of every Kotn order helps fund and operate primary schools in the Nile Delta and Faiyum — a program that, crucially, was born out of feedback from local communities themselves.

That same mindset of care carries into their office culture, too: hierarchy doesn’t dictate whose voice matters, and connection is treated as a core part of what makes Kotn what it is. 

Locations: Toronto, Ontario (Headquarters), Cairo, Egypt

Size: 100-200 team members

1. If Kotn were a person, who would they be? 

Sonia Fujikawa, Senior Director of Consumer Channels: We focus much more on psychographics than demographics. It’s not about defining a “Kotn customer” by age, gender, or background. What we really think about, and obsess over, is the mindset and values of the people we’re speaking to.

A big part of that is third-culture identity. Many people at Kotn are immigrants themselves or children of immigrants, and that experience of moving between worlds shapes how we see things. It creates a broader perspective, sometimes a sense of belonging, sometimes not, but always a deep appreciation for culture, history, and where things come from.

That often shows up as a passion for the arts, creativity, and niche interests, and a genuine curiosity about culture beyond your own. It’s about shared values: a belief in community, respect for history, a desire to make a positive impact, and a real obsession with craft and meaning in what we create.

2. With that third-culture identity being part of how people show up at work, how do you make sure everyone feels seen? Do you have a specific strategy for inclusion?

There's nothing rigid in structure or formal, I know that might sound a bit provocative. But for many of us, inclusion is more innate than something driven by a checklist. Most people here come from backgrounds where we’ve experienced difference firsthand, and we haven’t always fit a traditional idea of what “inclusive” looks like. Because of that, it shows up more naturally in how we work and interact, rather than through a highly structured program.

That said, we do have mechanisms in place to listen. We run ongoing employee surveys that specifically touch on inclusion and psychological safety, and we take that feedback seriously. But in terms of a formal, implemented inclusion program, that’s not something we currently have.

3. Overall, what do you value as a team?

One value I really want to emphasize is a “run for the bus attitude.” As a scale-up, it’s important that we’re all focused on the same goal and running at things with the same sort of momentum. 

In the morning, you might be rushing to catch the bus; sometimes you miss it and sometimes you make it. But if you're always running for it, that effort is there.

Our general mission is “for lasting ways of life.” It’s the integration of building lasting products, impact in our communities and lasting experiences over time. It’s also about driving results that we believe are sustainable and can last.

Everything we do has community and impact in mind. 

4. It’s interesting that you’re focused on community as a fashion brand; what does that mean to you?  ‍

We sometimes joke about the word “community” because it can feel like a fluffy marketing term these days, but for us it’s been there from the start, from the seed of the brand through to what we do in our stores. At its core, it’s about bringing people together and creating a genuine sense of belonging.

That shows up in how we think about creative expression and community marketing. That shows up in our relationship with the farming communities we work with in Egypt. For example, when we decided to build schools that choice came directly from farmer feedback, not our own assumptions. We partnered with an Egyptian organization already doing that work so the outcome actually made sense for those communities. For us, community means listening first and building from there.

5.Can you tell us more about your project building schools in Egypt?

Our co-founder (Rami Helali) has lived between Canada and Egypt his whole life.

We didn't get a team of Canadians to come in and build these schools and have this mentality of, “We're coming to help this market of farmers.” Instead, we went direct to an Egyptian organization who supports this kind of infrastructure development so that we can ensure that these programs actually made sense for the systemic functions of these communities, as opposed to us coming in and making assumptions about what these communities would need, and ultimately growing something that isn't sustainable or like useful for them.

The reason we picked schools was also based on the farmers’ feedback.  Doing the research, coming in and being prepared to listen means the outcome is ultimately building lasting communities, which funnels up to our ethos of building a lasting way of life.

6. What tools do you use internally to stay connected and manage your people programs?

We use Slack, Notion, and HiBob.

We’re very much a Slack-first company — a true millennial company in that sense. Slack is where everything lives, and it allows us to work in a really nimble, conversational way. It enables faster execution than more traditional tools would. That said, we sometimes use Slack to a fault because things can get lost in the Slack sea, which I think is a common challenge. But at the end of the day, it’s still our most critical tool for staying connected and getting work done effectively.

We use Notion for our Wikis, training infrastructure and project management. Each team generally has its own hub where people can learn about their role and understand the day-to-day processes within their division. It’s really the backbone for how information is documented and shared.

We’ve been using HiBob for about a year now, so we’re still getting our feet wet and discovering new ways to use it. It’s been especially helpful for organizing information, staying compliant, and giving people visibility into the org chart, which is critical as we scale. With constant growth, team changes, and people shifting under new management, having clarity on who’s who and who’s doing what really matters. 

7. How are you structured? Is there a particular way you think about people management or growing people's careers on your team?

‍We’re at an interesting inflection point as a company. When I joined six years ago, we were a 15-person team and very flat by necessity. Everyone had to be both a manager and a subject-matter expert. As we’ve grown, we’ve started to introduce more variation in seniority and clearer career levels.

At a high level, we now have a leadership layer at the director level and above, a manager and specialist layer, and a coordinator and assistant layer. There’s more nuance beyond that, but broadly speaking, we’ve moved toward a more traditional structure.

What’s important, though, is how that structure shows up day to day. We think about development as part of total rewards, and there’s a real lack of pretentiousness across levels. Even at the assistant or coordinator level, if someone brings value to a conversation, they’re in the room, including with executives or the C-suite. That kind of exposure to innovation and new ideas is intentionally shared across the company.

So while we do have structure, it doesn’t feel stuffy or overly formal. There’s a lot of cross-pollination between levels, and that openness is a big part of how people grow here.

8. What do you not care about as a company?

We don’t care about a stuffy or overly buttoned-up version of professionalism. Respect is important, of course, but beyond that, we believe that people should come as they are. People wear jeans, some people wear sweatpants, and some people dress up daily. It’s just not a traditionally formal environment, and how you show up — what you’re wearing or how polished you look — isn’t what defines your skill set or the value you bring.

We also don’t believe in career development based on tenure alone. Being somewhere the longest  isn’t what matters. What matters is how much you care about your job, the effort you put in, how nimble you are, and how much you value your own intellectual abilities. When it comes to how we structure the team and think about growth, those more traditional markers of “professionalism” just aren’t at the core of who we are.

9. What do you look for in a new hire? 

At a foundational level, I truly believe people are smart and capable of learning what you put in front of them. Skills can be taught. What you can’t teach is attitude.

And by attitude, I don’t mean being toxically positive all the time. It’s about carrying yourself with authenticity, which ties back to the psychographics and communities we look for. Integrity, self-accountability, and initiative are really important.

The ability to take feedback is also critical, and surprisingly, something a lot of people struggle with. There are moments when feedback can hurt your ego, but for the most part, we’ve fostered a culture at Kotn where feedback genuinely comes from a good place. It’s rarely about the individual; it’s about the outcome, and how effort could have been better channelled.

So we look for early indicators that someone can receive feedback, pivot when needed, and stay nimble as priorities shift. That adaptability is especially important in a fast-growing business and a very reactive industry.

10. Do you have any outside-the-box perks that you offer your team?

Being a clothing brand, there are some obvious perks. People do get free product, which is always exciting. Our clothing allowance, especially for how small we are, is actually more generous than what a lot of larger retailers offer. 

Another benefit — maybe not exciting to everyone, but especially meaningful from an HR perspective — is that we cover the full premium for employee healthcare benefits. What we can do are benefits and packages that are representative of what we care about as a community. 

11. What’s your hiring process like? 

Depending on seniority, our hiring process typically involves two to three interviews. Some roles include a technical assessment when it’s relevant to the position.

One unique aspect of our process is that for any salaried, long-term, permanent role, a final conversation is always part of the journey. We currently have two offices: one in Toronto and one in Cairo. Even though we’re all busy, our CEO Rami (Helali) meets with final candidates on the Toronto HQ side, our GM leads final interviews for the Cairo HQ, and I do the same for retail roles.

That last conversation is really intentional. It gives candidates the opportunity to make sure Kotn is the right fit for them, and it allows us to do a final culture check before bringing someone on. We’re looking for soft skills and checking if there’s a fit with current business needs and our core values.

12. What are you bad at as a company? 
‍

One thing we’re still working on is slowing down enough to really relish in those moments of recognition. We do provide recognition, but we’re very much a forward-looking, fast-moving organization. Sometimes that means we don’t spend enough time sitting in those moments, and fully acknowledging what went well.

As we scale, another area we see room to improve is communication structure. Everything for us is very Slack-based, and we’re not a particularly email-forward company. That works in many ways, but ensuring everyone has access to the most relevant information, in the right place, at the right time, is something we’ll need to be more intentional about as we grow. 

13. Is there a practice or ritual you have as a team that other people might find strange?

A lot of us come from traditional fashion retail backgrounds, and in that context, we operate more like a tech company. Things that might not feel unusual in tech — like free lunch from time to time or having drinks and snacks readily available — are actually pretty uncommon in retail.

For people who’ve been in the industry for 20 or even 30 years, coming into Kotn can feel surprising. Having juice in the fridge, coffee that’s always stocked, or the company buying lunch is something they’ve described as “wild” for retail. We’re not a kombucha-on-tap kind of company, but those small perks stand out in an industry where there often aren’t many.

14. What’s something you splurge on?

Food. We’re a big lunch-culture company and really value eating together. If we don’t intentionally create that space, people will just work through lunch. Once a month, we host a team lunch to celebrate birthdays and encourage everyone to actually step away and spend time together, but we’ll also do lunches more spontaneously.

It’s very family-style. We always order more than enough for everyone, and people can take food home too. It’s part of the cultural thread of Middle Eastern hospitality that we deeply value, ensuring everyone is taken care of.

15. What’s a myth about your industry, and how do you try to subvert it?

I think one myth is that if you work in fashion, you’re automatically cool, stylish and dressed up all the time. And don’t get me wrong — 95% of the people in the office are. But when you work around clothes all day, it’s different.

I think about people like Kelly Cutrone in the early 2000s — she wore all black all the time, because she was exhausted and the industry is so fast-paced. And I think that still holds true. The pace we move at, the lifestyle, and the value people now place on comfort means it’s not about dressing up every single day. Fashion doesn’t look the same for everyone, all the time.

16. What type of person wouldn’t want to work at Kotn? 

Someone who needs every process to be fully defined and perfected before moving forward would probably struggle here. If you prefer to move slowly, take a lot of time on every detail, and prioritize time over momentum or adaptability, this likely wouldn’t be the right environment.

17. What do you never want to become, as a company?

I think something we all have to remind ourselves of from time to time is that we’re selling clothes, not saving lives, even though the impact of what we do is really important to us.

We’re incredibly lucky to work in a creative industry and to have built careers in fashion. A lot of people would love to work in creative fields, and that’s not always an option. Because of that, we wouldn’t want to become a company that’s too buttoned-up or overly serious. What we do matters, but it shouldn’t lose that sense of perspective.

18. How do you think about pay? Has that changed over the years?

This hasn’t necessarily changed, but it has evolved as the company has grown. I’ve always believed that pay shouldn’t be structured around tenure alone. It should also reflect contribution to the organization and individual performance.

Industry benchmarks and comparisons are valuable as a framework, but we also try to push back on the idea that the only way to get paid better is to leave your job. We put a lot of effort into understanding what matters most to people within total rewards. If base compensation is someone’s North Star, how can we do our best within budgets to make that a priority for people who are high performing? 

What has changed over the years is structure. When I joined,  compensation was very much based on what the budget allowed. Everyone had to be high-effort and high-output. As the business has grown, pay has naturally become more structured. That shift is due to the growth of the company, not a deliberate change in how we think about pay.

19. What do you hope people say about working at Kotn?

I hope they say it’s a fun environment where they’re constantly learning and committed to continuous improvement. A mix of self-reflection, development, and a bit of fun.

I hope people walk away with great memories, but also feeling like they learned a lot and grew in ways that help them advance their careers, wherever they go next.

This Q&A has been edited and condensed for clarity.  

Disclosure: Bright + Early has partnered with Kotn since their early days, helping them craft innovative people processes and policies that centre care, intention and community.