If you would like to be interviewed as a Surprising Expat, please write with a few details of what you do, to: Marion by clicking here.

American-born Heather Szabo spent her early years constantly having to spell or pronounce her surname to fellow Americans; her Hungarian identity consisted of little more than that. Her father could not speak the language, and his stories of his grandparents (Heather’s great-grandparents) were all that linked Heather with the country.

“So, even though the relationship was distant, it was kind of ever-present in my childhood, we had the last name Szabo - the combination of SZ together was just unheard of for people, and really a subject of curiosity. It featured prominently in our childhood and in our identity, having to tell people every day that your name is Hungarian. And after a while you get curious. We also all knew three words of Hungarian that my dad taught us: igen, nem and nagymama, I imagine because my dad had a nagymama!”

Having studied physiotherapy and finished her degree, like many young American graduates, Heather decided to backpack around Europe and finally visit the country of her origin about which she had become increasingly intrigued.

“That was October of ’98. I arrived just after the 1956 memorial day holiday. I thought it was amazing! So many interesting people, everyone was just making their way and nothing had been discovered, but everything was possible. I came for a week and then I travelled on. I went to Romania and Bulgaria and Turkey, and then came back. I never really left again after that!

“When I came back, I thought, yeah, I really could do this. These other people are doing this – I could do this too. And, you know, there was kind of the word on the street, I guess like with any immigrant community, on how you can do things.” This led Heather to the Berlitz language school where she trained and started to teach.

As she made more contacts, Heather was told about the American Clinic (now First Med) which was just starting to establish itself in Buda.

“I was almost one of the founding employees- they hadn't even opened. They didn't have any patients. I was a receptionist for a long time, and then I started training other receptionists and doing more administrative work until I became the operations manager.

“And then, once you're sort of living your life somewhere, you’re no longer a traveller any more. I was working. But I didn't know any Hungarian. What I did, which turned out to be the best long-term decision, and what I recommend to everyone who comes here, is that I found myself a teacher and started on language lessons straight away.”

Heather alternated between private lessons, language courses, and picking up Hungarian from daily life. In the meantime, she left the American Clinic and started her MBA studies at the Central European University. This was followed by work with South African Breweries, and that in turn, by a position as a Project Manager with Raiffeisen Bank.

“The official language is English, but it's such a huge Hungarian organization, and everyone else is speaking Hungarian. I just was in the way if I didn't try to speak, or if I tried to turn it into some sort of English meeting. So, I thought I spoke Hungarian until I arrived there, and then I was like: oh, you do not! And that’s really where I learned to speak Hungarian.”

Heather’s years at the bank were punctuated by her marriage to Vic, a Hungarian musician and teacher, and her subsequent determination to obtain citizenship based on her family ancestry.

“My great-grandparents left Hungary before the First World War. I knew their names, I knew their birthdates, and I knew my great-grandfather was born in Miskolc and that he belonged to the Református [Presbyterian] Church.” It was Vic who thought of contacting the Church in Miskolc to see if they had any documentation relating to Heather’s great-grandfather. Such records were kept in handwritten tomes.



Heather, with Vincze, looking at her great-grandfather’s name, Szabó Lajos, in the records (line 8)

Not only did they find Heather’s great-grandfather, but they found the word ‘nemes’ written after his name, indicating this was family of the nobility. It also transpired that he was the youngest of ten children, and therefore unlikely to inherit much of the family’s wealth (assuming they had money alongside their title), which may explain his decision to leave the country and try his luck in America where he became a baker in New York City.

Heather’s father Richard, and grandfather Joe Szabo, in America


Heather’s Great-grandmother, her father, his brother J.F Szabo, Jr., and their mother, Heather’s grandmother, Rosetta C. Szabo

In 2013, Heather’s first child, Vincze, was born. This was followed by the birth of her daughter Lily, in 2016.

It was in the years following, that Heather began to muse on her future work plans.

“My last role at Raiffeisen was as a Lean Project Manager. ‘Lean’ is a production methodology that originally came from Toyota in Japan.  It’s the idea that you improve business and you improve productivity and customer and employee satisfaction through a radical reduction of waste. I had just become more and more interested in this concept of reducing clothing waste, household waste, waste at home…. Through my previous work as a lean product manager, I wanted to do something meaningful for my children and the natural world.  And so much of our waste comes from clothes.”


Vic, Heather, Lily and Vincze in Malta – all wearing second-hand clothes!

It was thus, that The Garment Exchange was born.. However, along with countless others, Heather’s plans were thrown into disarray by the start of Covid.

“I had held one event right before the pandemic. I held another in November 2021, thinking I could finally focus on this, and then next thing I know, Russia has invaded Ukraine and all of these refugees are flooding over the border, and I have a big stock of clothes. I got in touch with this grassroots organization that was helping refugees and I started distributing the clothes I had, and then people were delivering clothes to me left and right. And so my stock grew, and I was trying to distribute them all to different refugee organisations however I could.

“As the acute need started to die down towards the summer of that year, I thought, OK, now I really want to get back into the clothing exchange model. There's an appetite for the sustainable, for sustainability and sustainable clothing, with higher quality brands and pieces, but also a higher quality experience too. What we've found is they've become really like social events as well. People come as sort of a bit of a party, and for a drink and to shop and see other people. It has turned into a interactive artistic display of clothing. And that’s largely because of our core group of volunteers by the way.”

So far, interest has been generated via social media and word of mouth. Events are typically attended by approximately 50-70 particpants.

“At the beginning of each event, I give what I call a pep talk. It's basically a speech,” Heather laughs, “but I cite the grim statistics of the fashion industry. Making our clothes accounts for up to 10% of global carbon emissions – that's actually more than the shipping and aviation industry combined.

And then after all of the problems that come along with pollution and working conditions, we end up throwing out most of that work, most of those resources that we use, most of those people that we abuse –  we just throw out their work! 92 billion tonnes of textiles are thrown into a landfill annually.”


Heather giving her introductory talk

The Garment Exchange runs on a door fee (2,000Huf) and credits are given for the clothes you bring.

“If you bring me fast fashion, you get one credit and most fast fashion also costs one credit. If you bring something better, I give you more credits, and better clothes also cost more credits. I try to price the clothes in the same way that you would find in a shop, I make allowances for better materials, better craftsmanship, better brands, and so on.

We like to say at The Garment Exchange, we make no judgement on brand, style or type of clothing, only on condition. The clothes must be in excellent condition. The entrance fee goes to cover the rent of the room and any expenses I have. I have a team of around ten core volunteers – all women – and all from different countries, who help me put on the events. They are involved almost every step of the way with whatever amount of time they can commit to our cause. They have become a dedicated and smart advisory team as well, with an invaluable skill set.”

The Garment Exchange: core team of volunteers

Nevertheless, Heather acknowledges the challenge of finding a way to combine marrying their hard work and ardent principles, together with generating any sort of income. 

“I have an MBA, I come from the corporate world. The past 20-30 years has seen a rise in concepts, thought leaders and jobs focusing on a new sustainable business model. The general idea is that profit should not be the only measure that gets tracked, managed and rewarded.

All aspects of a business’s impact have to be in harmony, whether that is the environmental side, social impact and justice side or financial side. My goal is that we follow these concepts and we find the clue to making it a viable business model as well – it’s an environmental initiative first and foremost, I mean, even the equipment we use, we source second hand, but it should stand on its own two feet.

“We will be true to these principles with every decision we make – it won't only be whether it is profitable or not.

“Since 2022, we have held 17 Exchanges, recirculated 39% of our stock on each night, served between 50 and 70 participants at each event –  of which 15-20 are usually new participants – and 'sold' 1.5-2.5 kg of clothing per head. Almost no one leaves empty handed!
 

The Garment Exchange

“But the real impact of our work is that since November 2022 we have recirculated 1,480.87kg of clothes. Recirculated means that our participants have brought those clothes home as new to them. 1,480.87kg of clothing being re-homed and reused is the equivalent in CO2 savings of keeping 1 car off the road for 352.51 days! Almost a full year. The Garment Exchange has truly offset someone's carbon footprint!

“We have also donated 1,210.34kg of clothing and household goods which were rejected from our exchanges, or which were donated along with clothing. We are very proud that we are still exchanging more clothes and shoes than we are donating. It means we are changing people’s mindsets, introducing more people to the concept, and ensuring clothes are staying out of landfills.

“We have introduced a loyalty program and we are starting with a new small sponsorship at our next event. We are currently looking at both investors and sponsorship partnerships.

“I'm not an activist,” concludes Heather, thoughtfully.  “I just want this to be a business model that can stand on its own and which people can come and participate in.”

Next events:

Friday  9 May
Friday 13 June
 

Budapest VI, Eötvös utca 10
Check-in 5.30pm / Shopping 6pm

Links: 

Facebook / Instagram / LinkedIn 

Marion Merrick is author of Now You See It, Now You Don’t and House of Cards and the website Budapest Retro.

If you would like to be interviewed as a Surprising Expat, please write with a few details of what you do, to: Marion by clicking here.