Child of Wild’s deeply rooted ethos

USD alum, Eileen Lofgren discusses the successes and hardships of creating her company

Danielle Agnello / A&C Editor / The USD Vista

A college course load is extremely distinct from the by-the-books high school classes in countless ways. For students at the University of San Diego, the diverse opportunities to take courses which introduce entirely new subject matter, absorbing infinite knowledge from professionals is manifold. Former USD student, Eileen Lofgren, owner and creative force at Child of Wild, went to college for this exact reason.

“I went to school to get my mind f—ed,” Lofgren said. “I wanted to take classes that absolutely ripped me apart and broke down barriers. I took every modern lit class, every modern philosophy class, and I didn’t take intro to Christianity; I took Hinduism and a Holocaust class because when else are you going to be able to sit with a professional in that field and just be fed this unreal information.” 

On Thursday, April 4, Lofgren returned to USD, enlightening students about her eclectic and cultural jewelry and lifestyle brand, and compelling experiences as a woman entrepreneur. Lofgren took the students on a journey through her successes, hardships, and everything she faced since the launch of Child of Wild six years ago on her 24th birthday. As a woman who majored in humanities with a discipline in philosophy, the heart of Lofgren’s brand name had to encapsulate her enchanting ethos, extending knowledge, and ongoing cultural awareness. 

“I am an extreme believer in humility and I always view myself as a student,” Lofgren said. “And Child Of Wild means I am a student of everything else, the wild, physical nature, so in essence, the world. I am the servant. I am beneath and still working. It could mean anything you want to relate ‘wild’ to. But, I liked the playfulness of it too.”

Lofgren’s admiration for art surfaced at a very young age. Considering her grandmother was a painter, she was exposed to the limitless abstractions and eccentric fantasies concealed in the subconscious. Lofgren delved into the art of creating, persistently exploring the power of her hands, and their ability to make and draw, both the absurd and the beautiful.

“I just love how the human mind works and the reasons for why we do what we do,” Lofgren said.

Before she entered the immense, elaborate world of college, she considered studying psychology because of her fascination with the human mind. However, she soon found herself intrigued with the human psyche from a more philosophical standpoint rather than a scientific one, seeing as she thrived in her English and art courses.

“I really am interested in all these different facets that high school never gave me,” Lofgren said. “I took art, art history, philosophy, Englishes, languages, pretty much anything surrounding culture, and then I minored in studio art.”

Lofgren spent the majority of her college career taking a collection of courses which would progress her thinking about the importance of art within our culture, granting her the key to unlocking all the unknown she had been searching for. She left USD fired up and equipped to continue her exploration of human nature and the world itself. 

Lofgren took a full time position managing purchase orders for her mother’s shoe store which was opening. While she got a front row seat to learning the mechanisms of buying, this was also her first entrance into understanding what she says is the awfully dark and twisted consumerism side of the fashion industry.

“I spent four years going through all of these really cool philosophical theology courses and seeing how beautiful the world is,” Lofgren said. “I’m from an art background, so everything I do has a meaning or purpose and some love and I would go up to Los Angeles and see three or four stories of absolute crap, then see the same products in stores like LF and Nordstrom. Seeing how the business side of fashion is solely pushing out what a trend is, copying it in China, and having these soulless products mass produced in sweatshops is what inspired the conception of my business.” 

While working full-time at her mother’s shoe store, Lofgren was also bartending. She hustled and saved up $35,000, enabling her to move to LA where she launched her business out of a raging frustration toward what she claims are the heinous malpractices of consumerism fueling the fashion industry. 

Lofgren soon moved into her parents basement to save money on rent and started her business by decorating cow skulls as a representation of time and death.

“The inspiration was from a Hindu class where I learned about the goddess of time and death, Mother Kali,” Lofgren said. “And when I was explaining it to my dad he was like ‘you’re psycho’ but you just keep doing it, and you take a lot of confidence and you follow what lights you up.”

Lofgren’s foundation is built off of her travels, exploring new places and sourcing one of a kind oddities. She started going to Rose Bowl Flea Market to find rare antiques and other goods and would then upload them online.

“I’m a firm believer in having really cool things in the home including pillows, Navajo weavings, anything with a very beautiful history,” Lofgren said. “Everything we purchase is authentic and has a meaning of why it exists, whether it be religion or history; and I exchange money with the people and community of people who actually invented it.”

Though Lofgren’s mission statement is very important to her and the brand she has curated, her overhead when she first started was nothing. She had two employees and a “cool little weird” office downtown where they would Instagram post and sell out.

“I luckily spent money on a Shopify website and was within the first group of people to have one,” Lofgren said. “And with my company launching the same time Instagram picked up, I got to scale immediately.”

Lofgren’s Instagram account packed with Native American jewelry and decorated cow skulls went viral and now has over 500K Instagram followers.

“There is nothing more isolating than entrepreneurship,” Lofgren said. “Especially in the beginning when you don’t have sales to rally troops around you; you’re kind of like an unmarked territory”

Luckily, Lofgren’s stars aligned with her timeline. Celebrity Vanessa Hudgens found Child of Wild on Instagram and was within Lofgren’s 10 first orders.

“Social Media is such a beast,” Lofgren said.  

Though the brand got a lot of recognition through social media and celebrities flaunting the jewelry at Coachella, Lofgren faced many challenges when it came to the business side of managing her company because she had to teach herself everything.

“But I pretty much have a Masters in business now,” Lofgren said. “I have eight employees, and this is our second year hitting over a million in sales, so you just make it work, you figure it out. And what I find the most important is that I created a baseline of interesting information that I found about the world which I now tie into my business philosophy.”

Lofgren’s humanities degree empowers her to hit business at a different angle. Though mass producing and entertaining wholesale orders would make Lofgren a lot more money, she refuses to serve them.

“Mass producing is not my lifestyle,” Lofgren said. “It’s not what I want to be. I do think for anyone interested in entrepreneurship, the best thing to do is to build out an ethos and give yourself strict guidelines because you’re going to be hit with so many challenges. If you don’t have a strong foundation you’re going to turn into every other company, and then why are you here?”

Lofgren dedicated her heart and soul to this brand and it shows.

“I lived off of water and broccoli for a year and I didn’t go out,” Lofgren said. “I couldn’t afford it; but don’t be scared to be broke. A little bit of hunger is really good for you.”

She’s proving the fashion industry wrong and working each day to continue showcasing her art to the world. Whether she’s traveling to Istanbul, Bali, or Morocco to source authentic jewelry and to be inspired, or managing her employees, Lofgren is hard at work. 

“You can’t turn it off, it’s constant,” Lofgren said. “But it’s also super fun, and now that I’m making money that also helps. It’s the age old saying, do what you love and it’s not work. Honestly though, the majority of it is a fun puzzle that I get to solve every day and I love it.”

Lofgren created something out of nothing, and balancing the legalities of a business while also hunting for new art isn’t simple, but she says her strong ethos keeps her grounded. Overall, Lofgren’s degree in humanities is the foundation of her lifestyle brand, Child of Wild. Her company prides itself on giving back to the world, and changing the face of consumerism within the fashion industry, selling history and authenticity, rather than just pushing out another “trend.”