Annie Stacey

Annie Stacey is the founder and CEO of Reloved, a UAE-based eco-tech marketplace redefining how people buy and sell pre-loved furniture, fashion, and lifestyle items.

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Hosted by

Hilmarie Hutchison

Annie Stacey

Founder & CEO, Reloved | Eco-Tech Entrepreneur | Sustainability Advocate

Annie Stacey is the founder and CEO of Reloved, a UAE-based eco-tech marketplace redefining how people buy and sell pre-loved furniture, fashion, and lifestyle items. Originally from the UK, Annie moved to the UAE over a decade ago with plans to stay briefly, but quickly found a long-term home in the region. With a background in HR and corporate leadership, she brings a people-first mindset to entrepreneurship, balancing commercial growth with community impact.

Her journey as a founder is marked by resilience and reinvention. After losing her life savings to a fraudulent app developer while pregnant and working full-time, Annie chose not to walk away from her vision. Instead, she rebuilt Reloved from scratch, launching a lean MVP and steadily growing the platform into a trusted circular commerce brand. Today, Reloved has helped save over 1.5 tonnes of CO₂ emissions through conscious consumption, while empowering individuals and families to participate in a more sustainable economy.

About this Episode

→ Read the executive analysis inspired by this conversation

In this episode of the Matrix Green Pill Podcast, Hilmarie Hutchison sits down with Annie Stacey for an honest and grounded conversation about entrepreneurship, failure, and purpose-driven innovation. Annie shares the behind-the-scenes reality of building Reloved, from being scammed during early app development to navigating trust, logistics, payments, and buyer–seller dynamics in the UAE market.

The conversation explores the emotional side of founding a startup, including self-doubt, burnout, loneliness, and the pressure to “push through” at all costs. Annie reflects on motherhood, mental resilience, and why stepping back can be just as powerful as working harder. The episode also dives into circular living, conscious consumption, and how small choices can create real environmental impact. It’s a candid reminder that meaningful businesses are often built not from perfection, but from persistence, alignment, and the courage to start again.

“My biggest learning is just being yourself, be authentic.”

Annie Stacey

“It’s the small things that matter and it’s the small things that count. And if you’ve got your health and you’re happy, then everything else is good. ”
Annie Stacey