Humans have a tendency to fear the unknown, it is a natural part of our evolution - uncertainty, change, unpredictability. They can rule over our mindset with an iron fist if we’re not careful. By now, we should know that there is really nothing to fear when it comes to Web3 and the Metaverse; if anything, we should be learning to adapt to and roll with it. But brands are still scared of its existence, after all, when anything innovatively different comes along it means they have to learn something new. We’re here today to tell you not to worry, to embrace the change and to try and see the possibilities of VR and the Metaverse. We can’t build a better world if we don’t face our fears first.

In this episode of Building a Better World, Hrish is joined by Andrea Abrams, Founder and Chief Metaverse Operator at PHYGICODE, a consortium of industry leaders involved in various aspects of Metaverse development, helping brands and experiences transition into a dual identity of both physical and digital. She is a veteran in the field of fashion and retail, and is also the Chief of Strategy at Faith Tribe; a Board Advisor at LUKSO; a Strategic Advisor at Scytale Ventures, among a myriad of other impressive titles!

Needless to say, what Andrea doesn’t know about the Metaverse isn’t worth knowing, so tune in to this episode to find out more!

From Architecture to Fashion Retail to Web3 - Andrea started out her career as an architect and later went into fashion retail… so why make the pivot over to blockchain technology? Well, as she points out when chatting with Hrish, the fashion industry was massively disrupted by the implementation of ecommerce, and with the emergence of Web3, Metaverse and NFTs becoming more prominent, it was a natural progression and transition into that space for retail and fashion.

Creating an Emotional Connection Through VR - The key to any successful brand is creating an emotional connection with the customer. Upon finding out about the Metaverse, Andrea made it her mission to study it and figure out how to make that emotional connection through simply putting on a headset. After seeing just how much the metaverse and VR helped her disabled brother during the pandemic, she wants to realize its full potential with the rest of the world.

The Accessibility of Virtual Realities - It’s so much easier to connect with people all over the world now, all thanks to the internet. But how can this be taken one step further? With VR implementations becoming more accessible, it could open up so many avenues and disrupt the ways in which we can discover talent not just in the fashion industry, but in all industries.

Focusing on Web3 as a Brand - Before we can even begin to think about brands becoming exclusive to Web3, it’s important to acknowledge that the technology isn’t fully there yet, that no everywhere has access to the internet, and that a lot of the world still doesn’t understand the very concept of Web3. Andrea wants to advance the technological infrastructure of today and help more countries gain access to it. Only then can brands outside of the tech world really focus on being Web3 exclusive.

The Building a Better World podcast is hosted by Hrish Lotlikar. In each episode, Hrish interviews people who are involved or interested in the Metaverse, VR, and Web3, and are actively using technologies to improve people’s real-world lives in a practical way.