Deathcare & cleantech by day, filmmaker with a fashion empire for sale by night
What LinkedIn Doesn't Say about Built By Wendy Founder Wendy Mullin, a multi-hyphenate careerist who dabbles in deathcare, screenwriting, and costume design
Living the dream on the daily:
Wendy Mullin is a serial entrepreneur, death doula, filmmaker, and cleantech pioneer who doesn’t plan to retire
Occupations:
Founder, Built By Wendy: multidisciplinary design studio for fashion, interiors, and other projects
CEO & Co-Founder, Kiosk Mobile Utilities: a Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator startup, Kiosk is an all-in-one sustainable mobile utility providing renewable power, responsible waste management, water, first aid, communications, shelter and supplies for people working and playing on-location.
Filmmaker: screenwriting and costume designer
Founder, Departing Dearly: Funeral director and counselor and end-of-life doula
Age: 55
Location: Los Angeles
Previous locations: Brooklyn, New York, and Kansas
I’m in the midst of:
Built by Wendy: I started this line while I was in college in Kansas in the late ’80s/early ’90s and it’s been going for over 30 years, but during COVID, I found it too difficult to do. I’m self-funded and it felt too stressful to invest my limited resources into clothing when the world felt/feels so unclear. I scaled back to just selling my tees and guitar straps.
Costume design: So in 2022 I got into the Costume Designer’s Guild and started working on commercials and films to supplement my dwindling income from scaling back Built by Wendy. But to be honest, I don’t love it. I actually started my career in NYC styling music videos, so I thought it might be interesting to scope it out again since I live in L.A. and know lots of film people. I’ve worked on some cool stuff with great people like Marty Supreme most recently. But I find it stressful and physically exhausting. And dealing with racks of clothing is something I’m just kinda over.
Built By Wendy circa 2001 Screenwriting: I think partially why I don’t love costume design is because I actually love filmmaking, and screenwriting is more my thing. In high school, I founded my film club and made films and did photography, so my angle was always from that point of view. But I was kinda of a messed-up teen and ran away all the time because my family was having problems. That sort of derailed me and I ended up in a hospital where I taught myself to sew and that’s how I handled things. From there is how Built by Wendy happened. Anyhow, back in 2014, I wrote a teen John Hughes–esque dark comedy about it, which has been in development for the last year. We have a great cast attached and a director and it’s being packaged by UTA. So we’ll see!
Sustainability and cleantech: Going back to 2022, I got interested in sustainability and was thinking about pursuing my next chapter in something that could create less waste in the world. I don’t love how much junk is out there, especially with clothing, which is partly why I don’t care about making clothes anymore. There are just so many clothes out there, which was not the case when I started Built by Wendy 35 years ago.
So when I started working on film sets, I realized how wasteful they were and how inefficient the logistics and machinery was, so my partner and I came up with an idea for a sustainable all-in-one basecamp for film shoots, live events, disaster response… basically any off-grid situation where people’s needs and basic resources — shelter, seating, communications, water, first aid, bathrooms, power, and waste management. We are currently in the Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator as one of their portfolio companies and we are finally launching our first truck this fall.
Deathcare: My main passion is really creating a new structure on how we deal with end-of-life and deathcare issues. My mom died in 2018 and realized there weren’t any modern resources that spoke to me and gave me resources, so I created a death and dying concept in 2019. Then in 2020 I built a website to share not only practical resources but cultural items for art, music, film, etc. that are deathcentric. I became a death doula as well. Then in 2025, I got my funeral director license and have been working at a funeral home and also developing a business concept for sustainable celebrations of life and funerals.
Interior design: Last one! I have always designed my shops, but then in 2010 I started taking on interior projects for friends and still do by word of mouth. I’ve designed a few restaurants, offices, and homes, and sometimes assist my friend who works on fancy celeb homes. I love designing interiors and my dream is to one day build my own house. I can really make things look great on a budget, kinda like what I did with Built by Wendy.
I’d like to connect with:
As a lifelong entrepreneur, I love to engage deeply in things to see what is broken and where structures and systems could be done better. I am always looking for investors to help me take my ideas to the next level. I’ve always been a self-funded scrappy founder, but my current projects are on a bigger scale and scope and I need support.
About my relationship status and/or family:
I have one daughter, 15, and an ex-husband who co-parents with me. I also have a long-term partner. I love having them all in my life.
Follow me here:
Instagram: @builtbywendy and @departingdearly
My superpowers:
Intuiting trends, deep-diving into a field, being fearless in trying new things and supremely on top of multiple pieces of information and being very organized.
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