Two perspectives, one shared belief.
Kelly Dempsey and Stefan Krajczar founded Barterloo around a simple idea: everyone has something valuable to offer.
Their work combines Kelly's instinct for creative reuse and community with Stefan's product and technology experience.
Kelly & Stefan
Co-founders
Secondhand roots and a self-taught instinct
Kelly Dempsey grew up in Monson, Massachusetts, in a creative home where her mother ran a craft store. She began experimenting with sewing and reworking secondhand clothing at a young age.
Her nickname “Kelly from the Deli” came from the deli job she was working before Project Runway. Her self-taught, resourceful approach became part of the identity people came to know on the show.
Kelly finished as runner-up on Season 14 of Project Runway and has continued working around sustainable fashion, secondhand materials, upcycling, education, and creative reuse.
Her online courses are the practical side of that mission: helping people build the confidence and skills to make, repair, adapt, and rethink what they already have.
Create. Teach. Exchange.
Kelly's work began with reimagining clothes, grew through teaching, and led to a broader idea about sharing value.
Create
Sewing, thrifting, upcycling, and turning overlooked garments into something personal and new.
Teach
Beginner-friendly courses that help people build confidence, learn practical skills, and make things themselves.
Exchange
Barterloo expands the same principle beyond materials: people already have goods, skills, time, knowledge, and creativity that can create value for someone else.
Building Barterloo
Creativity and technology, working toward the same goal.
Kelly Dempsey
Co-Founder · Creative & Community
Kelly brings the creator perspective behind Barterloo: finding new value in things, skills, resources, and people that conventional systems often overlook.
“I once stood at a Mayan trading post in Coba, and something sparked inside me, like a memory of how it used to be.”
Stefan Krajczar, MSc
Co-Founder · Digital Business & Product
Stefan has worked in e-commerce since 2013, helping businesses plan and improve digital products, online stores, and marketplaces. He holds a master's degree in Digital Business.
“I wanted to create a place for peers to share experiences and coaching. Now it's Barterloo.”
Project Runway · Sustainable Fashion · Online Education · Barterloo