Talking Business Now

Claudia Harvey is an avid gardener. But she was also a businesswoman who liked having her nails and hands in good shape at the office. After mentioning her frustration to a friend at a backyard Labor Day BBQ in 2007, she realized there was a marketplace need for gloves and other products that would protect women as they gardened. With that conversation, the seed for Dig It Apparel, a line of outdoor living products, was planted. After a year of research in which Harvey discovered that both the gardening industry and the nail salon industry were growing—and that the same women were customers in both industries—the company launched in spring 2009 in Canada. Initially, Dig It Apparel offered one product—a line of niche handwear. The company has since expanded its product line and its geographical reach. Harvey joins Talking Business Now host Kelly Scanlon to share her entrepreneurial story, which has taken her on a journey from a small town outside Toronto, Canada (where Dig It is headquartered) to global serial