Our Story

For all of Kaitlyn’s life, her grandma, Catherine, mended the family’s clothing. After she passed, Kaitlyn kept her grandma’s favorite green sweater because it smelled like her perfume. When she noticed the sweater had a hole in it, she thought:Who will fix my clothes now?

Expecting a simple answer from Google, Kaitlyn learned that finding someone to fix her clothing at a reasonable price is frustratingly hard. More than that, she realized that there is a direct link between the difficulty in finding clothing repair services and the explosion of the environmentally unsound fast fashion business model.


​And so, MendIt was born-- A digital marketplace that will make it fast and easy for everyone to find help and save clothing from landfills. 

Meet Our Team

  • Kaitlyn Allen, Founder & CEO

    Kaitlyn Allen is a sustainability-focused serial entrepreneur and executive leader. She is the founder of MendIt, Inc., the nation’s first apparelcare marketplace enabling brands to offer clothing repair and end-of-life care at scale through a decentralized model.

    Previously, Kaitlyn was founder and CEO of Global Affairs Associates (GAA), a boutique corporate sustainability consulting firm, which was acquired in 2021 by ClimeCo, a global decarbonization solutions company. Kaitlyn co-founded and co-hosts the ESG Decoded podcast, the number one podcast in its category, which shares updates on business innovation and sustainability in a clear and actionable manner.

    Beyond her mission to re-introduce respect for nature to business, she enjoys spending time outdoors with her family, baking, and reading.

  • Erin Fitzpatrick, COO

    Erin Fitzpatrick, COO at Mendit, is an accomplished entrepreneur with notable exits from two pet care businesses in 2023. She's a dynamic leader driven by a passion for sustainability, integrating circular economy principles to minimize waste and maximize resource efficiency. Erin's background in hospitality management ensures exceptional customer service, reflecting her dedication to meaningful interactions. Her multifaceted approach combines business expertise with sustainability values, positioning her as a dynamic leader in her field. Beyond work, Erin enjoys time with family, traveling, and exploring new vegetarian dishes.
We would love to hear from you! Click here to email our team.

Our Advisory Board

  • Angela Masching

    Angela Masching is an executive, board member, and advisor who has led, raised, and exited ventures across diverse industries, stages, and regions.As the founder and managing partner of Avisen Strategies, she drives growth through strategic capital raise advisory, facilitating international expansion, and managing geopolitical and operational risks. She provides guidance in merger integration, operational support, and investor relations.

    Angela possesses deep sector-specific expertise, particularly in energy, fintech and financial services, and her experience encompasses ad tech, med tech, biotech, and business services.Her contributions as a board member and executive include successful transactions with prominent firms like Warburg Pincus and Founders Fund and strategic alliances with Fortune 500 giants such as NBCUniversal, WBGames, Procter & Gamble, and Electronic Arts. Her nonprofit work includes tenure on the boards of an entrepreneur support organization and an international literacy NGO.

  • Andrew Bate

    Andrew Bate is the co-founder and CEO of Safely, the industry’s leading protection for short-term home rentals though its guest screening and liability insurance. Safely has covered over $100 billion of homeowner liability since launching in 2013.

    Andrew served as a founding advisor to Rented.com and TravelPerk, and co-founded HotelUpgrade to help hoteliers identify and attract high margin business travel through guest perks and upgrades.

    Before founding Safely, Andrew was a senior researcher and faculty member at Emory University’s Goizueta Business School where he focused on neuroscience and strategy. He served in a similar research role at The Wharton School.

    Andrew’s early career was spent as an analyst at McKinsey & Co., where he specialized in revenue management, distribution, and loyalty programs for the Firm’s Travel Practice.

    Andrew holds an MBA from The London School of Business, attended The Chinese University of Hong Kong on exchange, and a BBA from Emory University.

  • Rebecca Harrison

    Rebecca Harrison is the founder at Old Flame Mending, a Pittsburgh-based sewing service that helps people keep their clothing out of the landfill through repair, alterations, and custom work.

    Rebecca is a SCAD alum, with a BFA in Fibers and a minor in Design for Sustainability. She has worked with textiles and clothing professionally in multiple capacities, including farming, manufacturing, screen printing, personal styling, tailoring, mending, production management, entrepreneurship, and teaching. 

    Rebecca has found her niche in managing a 9-person team at Old Flame Mending. Since the business was founded in 2019, it has saved over 10,000 garments from the landfill, opened a brick and mortar shop, and taught hundreds of people how to mend through workshops.

    Old Flame Mending also has a mail-in program, which allows people across the US to ship and receive their garments in need of repair. 

Affiliations

  • Vision

    Every piece of clothing passes through the MendIt ecosystem at some point during its
    ​life and ends up recycled instead of landfilled.

  • Mission

    Our mission is to enable a circular economy for apparel – economically and at scale.
Learn More About Our Vision: A Circular Economy For Textiles

Core Values

  • Convenience

    We develop products that make reducing one’s environmental footprint convenient to consumers. The marriage of convenience and sustainability strengthens our market position and transforms sustainability from a niche cause into a broadly accessible service that appeals to everyday consumers.

  • Sustainability

    At its core, sustainability means meeting the needs of our generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Our humble contribution to a more sustainable economy is two-fold: removing barriers to extending the life of clothing and recycling at end-of-product-life. 

  • Honesty

    Honesty with our stakeholders--whether it’s good or bad news or somewhere in between--allows us to continually improve our business and strengthen our value proposition to society and customers.

  • Free up your time for the things that really matter.

  • Save money and give your clothes a second life.

  • Foster community and support local business.

  • Reduce your environmental footprint.