Just because you started your brand and it is your "baby" doesn't mean that you know or have the skills to grow it and make it profitable. 

And unless it is profitable and operated in a way that allows it to grow - you will be stuck in a hamster wheel feeling exhausted and frustrated.

So here is what you or your CEO needs to do in your business to ensure you end up with the fashion brand that you envisioned and want to have.

Discover:

• The 3 key roles a business CEO must fulfil
• Why are they important
• Should you be the CEO of your own brand and business?

About the Podcast Host:

Dessy is the author of Become a Fashion Insider book and the founder of Fashion Insiders & Co - an online platform supporting fashion and creative entrepreneurs who are in the process of launching and growing purpose-driven brands. (Buy the book here: https://amzn.to/35wo2y9 )

*** If you would like to book a powerful Breakthrough Power Hour and work through a challenge or strategize how to launch or grow your fashion business, book an hour with Dessy here*** Contact Method: Fashion Insiders & Co official website: http://fashioninsiders.co/ Instagram: @fashioninsidersco

Discover more great content on our YouTube channel.

If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a 5 *star* rating and a review on iTunes - it helps us get this podcast discovered by more listeners just like yourself. Thank you. To submit any questions or get in touch with topic suggestions, write to us at insider(at)fashioninsiders(dot)co

Jane Hamill, a successful ex-clothing designer and retailer who saw a growing need in this niche for honest advice and specific step-by-step strategies to run a profitable product business without losing your shirt – or your mind.

In this episode we chat about all things fashion business, lessons learned from mistakes made and what works now that leads to more sales.

Discover more in this episode:

• 6:00 - pricing fears when launching your brand for the first time;
• The reasons why we underprice 
• The mistakes Jane and Dessy made early on with their brands 
• Why “copy-paste” what others do is not a sustainable business strategy
• The importance of stock management 
• 12:00 wholesale - the role it plays in business in today's day and age
• 19:00 the need to have a backup plan for suppliers, especially in times of economic downturn
• 20:00 - lessons about managing inventory
• How to pivot and adapt to tough times as a brand
• 25:00 what helps a brand to do well in business one course of income
• 30:00 How to find success with FB ads
• 39:00 Jane's advise about how to make more sales

Key Takeaways:

• “I want to give people a good deal” is NOT the mindset to have if you want to operate a profitable sustainable business;
• “ ...that’s working for them, I better do it too” - a common mistake made by many new creative entrepreneurs;
• “It’s way more fun to have lots of little bosses than one big boss” is the advantage of selling DTC versus Wholesale;
• “Inventory is your biggest expense”
• “Your relationship with the customer is the most important thing!”
• If we learned one thing from the pandemic is that we cannot just rely on one source of income.

Resources:

Connect with Jane via:

Website: https://fashionbrainacademy.com/

Instagram: @janehamillchi

About the Podcast Host:

Dessy is the author of Become a Fashion Insider book and the founder of Fashion Insiders & Co - an online platform supporting fashion and creative entrepreneurs who are in the process of launching and growing purpose-driven brands. (Buy the book here: https://amzn.to/35wo2y9 )

*** If you would like to book a powerful Breakthrough Power Hour and work through a challenge or strategize how to launch or grow your fashion business, book an hour with Dessy here*** Contact Method: Fashion Insiders & Co official website: http://fashioninsiders.co/ Instagram: @fashioninsidersco

Discover more great content on our YouTube channel.

If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a 5 *star* rating and a review on iTunes - it helps us get this podcast discovered by more listeners just like yourself. Thank you. To submit any questions or get in touch with topic suggestions, write to us at insider(at)fashioninsiders(dot)co

If you have a fashion brand chances are at some point or right now you might be wondering why you are not selling - at all or more of your products. 

It is very common for new brands to launch and sell nothing for a long time. Imagine having spent months and years working on your brand and a vast amount of time and money and then silence. No traffic to your website, no sales...and everyone you ask telling you how nice your product is. This is the reality for many newly launched brands. 

Then a few years later - you are not selling enough - you know you can sell more but why is it not happening? 

The answer for many is simple and hiding in plain sight. 

Listen to this episode and discover:

• The four reasons why you may not be making any sales;
• What could be wrong if you are NOT making any ales at all?
• What can be the reason behind not selling MORE?
• Why conventional marketing is not working as efficiently for fashion brands?
• Why marketers are wrong to speak of multiple ideal client profiles and why you really ONLY have one.
• Why you need to tailor your marketing to the three types of customers you will have at any one time?
• and much, much more...

Resources Mentioned:

Discover more about Fashion Collections That Sell training opened for enrolment now. Discover how to create a steady flow of supply and demand for your fashion business - join us here: https://www.fashioninsiderstraining.com/fcts

About the Podcast Host:

Dessy is the author of Become a Fashion Insider book and the founder of Fashion Insiders & Co - an online platform supporting fashion and creative entrepreneurs who are in the process of launching and growing purpose-driven brands. (Buy the book here: https://amzn.to/35wo2y9 )

*** If you would like to book a powerful Breakthrough Power Hour and work through a challenge or strategize how to launch or grow your fashion business, book an hour with Dessy here*** Contact Method: Fashion Insiders & Co official website: http://fashioninsiders.co/ Instagram: @fashioninsidersco

Discover more great content on our YouTube channel.

If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a 5 *star* rating and a review on iTunes - it helps us get this podcast discovered by more listeners just like yourself. Thank you. To submit any questions or get in touch with topic suggestions, write to us at insider(at)fashioninsiders(dot)co

Back in 2008 I launched my very own fine jewellery brand Deci London. Despite knowing so much after working for 10+ years in the fashion industry, launching and growing a brand and business of my own came with a whole new set of learning and lessons I didn't expect. 

Reflecting back on running the brand for 8+ years has resulted in 19 lessons which you can read all about HERE, but in this episode, I share 3 invaluable lessons that I often share with brands I work and advise and are lessons everyone must learn from. 

Listen to this episode and discover:

• Why asking for advice from experts and business gurus can be detrimental to your business.
• Why if you are not aligned with what you create as a product or business, you will not succeed and get the results that you want and need. 
• Go where the demand for your products and business is. Move with the demand and expand on your target market. 

Resources Mentioned:

Discover more about Fashion Collections That Sell training opened for enrolment now. Discover how to create a steady flow of supply and demand for your fashion business - join us here: https://www.fashioninsiderstraining.com/fcts

Read the full blog post HERE

https://fashioninsiders.co/features/behind-the-brand/lessons-launching-fashion-fine-jewellery-brand/

About the Podcast Host:

Dessy is the author of Become a Fashion Insider book and the founder of Fashion Insiders & Co - an online platform supporting fashion and creative entrepreneurs who are in the process of launching and growing purpose-driven brands. (Buy the book here: https://amzn.to/35wo2y9 )

*** If you would like to book a powerful Breakthrough Power Hour and work through a challenge or strategize how to launch or grow your fashion business, book an hour with Dessy here*** Contact Method: Fashion Insiders & Co official website: http://fashioninsiders.co/ Instagram: @fashioninsidersco

Discover more great content on our YouTube channel.

If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a 5 *star* rating and a review on iTunes - it helps us get this podcast discovered by more listeners just like yourself. Thank you. To submit any questions or get in touch with topic suggestions, write to us at insider(at)fashioninsiders(dot)co

A childhood love for hats became a thriving business for Swiss-born, Thailand based Anne-Claude, the founder of accessories resort brand Mon Panama.

When the pandemic came, the demand for her retail business overnight dried up. But closing down never crossed her mind. Her passion and determination to save her "business child" led her to pivot to survival. 

Listen to this episode and discover:

• How Anne-Claude started the MonPanama hat brand;
• Discover the origins of the famous Panama hats (hint: you'd be surprised to know they do not come from Panama at all); 
• How she overcame the challenge the pandemic presented to her and her business model at the time; how she pivoted her business model and repositioned herself and her brand;
• What are her challenges and how does she deals with them in terms of product development and manufacturing;
• How she works with local artisans 
• How she plans to retail new material collections to her international markets
• and much more....

Key Takeaways:

• “When you are so much inside of your brand you don’t see what’s in front of you”
• “Believe in yourself and love what you’re doing” 

Resources:

Connect with Anne-Claude via:

https://monpanama.com/

Instagram: @monpanama

About the Podcast Host:

Dessy is the author of Become a Fashion Insider book and the founder of Fashion Insiders & Co - an online platform supporting fashion and creative entrepreneurs who are in the process of launching and growing purpose-driven brands. (Buy the book here: https://amzn.to/35wo2y9 )

*** If you would like to book a powerful Breakthrough Power Hour and work through a challenge or strategize how to launch or grow your fashion business, book an hour with Dessy here*** Contact Method: Fashion Insiders & Co official website: http://fashioninsiders.co/ Instagram: @fashioninsidersco

Discover more great content on our YouTube channel.

If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a 5 *star* rating and a review on iTunes - it helps us get this podcast discovered by more listeners just like yourself. Thank you. To submit any questions or get in touch with topic suggestions, write to us at insider(at)fashioninsiders(dot)co

Meet Monika Young, a London-based creative, ex-fast fashion buyer and a lover of all things California. 

When her buying job in Berlin started giving her the blues, she knew she had to make a change. She saw first-hand how fast fashion brands were destroying the planet and she wasn’t down for being part of the problem.

Launching Monika The Label was born out of her love for fashion and desire to re-imagine how a fashion brand can be fun and do good at the same time. 

Listen to this episode and discover:

• How her dream job of being a buyer pushed Monika to walk away and start her own brand doing the opposite of everything she experienced and learned as a buyer;
• How she balanced sourcing and manufacturing in the UK with offering a well priced mid-market product that is affordable for her customer base;
• How she got copied multiple times and her approach to dealing with this creative "worst nightmare" type of challenge;
• What her plans for growing her label are and what she is ding in order to become a fully circular fashion brand;
• How she great a community before she launched her brand;
• much much more...

Key Takeaways:

• "Working as a buyer and seeing the cost prices at which we were buying products made me question the ethics and practices of the industry. How can buying a garment at $3 be possible and provide a living wage for those who make it?"

• “Even if the garment can no longer be worn, there are many ways in which the fabric can be re-used and up-cycled”

• “My priority is to focus on growing my brand and myself”

• “Learn from your mistakes and when things seemingly go wrong, don’t spend too much time feeling down about it because the solution is often so much better than before.”

Resources:

Connect with Monika via:

https://www.monikathelabel.com/

Instagram: @monikathelabel

About the Podcast Host:

Dessy is the author of Become a Fashion Insider book and the founder of Fashion Insiders & Co - an online platform supporting fashion and creative entrepreneurs who are in the process of launching and growing purpose-driven brands. (Buy the book here: https://amzn.to/35wo2y9 )

*** If you would like to book a powerful Breakthrough Power Hour and work through a challenge or strategize how to launch or grow your fashion business, book an hour with Dessy here*** Contact Method: Fashion Insiders & Co official website: http://fashioninsiders.co/ Instagram: @fashioninsidersco

Discover more great content on our YouTube channel.

If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a 5 *star* rating and a review on iTunes - it helps us get this podcast discovered by more listeners just like yourself. Thank you. To submit any questions or get in touch with topic suggestions, write to us at insider(at)fashioninsiders(dot)co

Most fashion brand founders chase cash in the wrong way and for the wrong reasons. Often if they find financial success at the beginning, they struggle to maintain it and make it last. 

Others spend years building a "brand" without (seemingly) much success until one day...everything seems to fall into place and money starts to pour in. 

Ever wonder how success is created in the fashion industry and what it takes to monetise your brand and business....then listen in...

Listen to this episode and discover:

• What is branding
• How is branding different from direct response type of business brands
• What creates better long term financial success 
• What you need to do in order to make the right decisions 

About the Podcast Host:

Dessy is the author of Become a Fashion Insider book and the founder of Fashion Insiders & Co - an online platform supporting fashion and creative entrepreneurs who are in the process of launching and growing purpose-driven brands. (Buy the book here: https://amzn.to/35wo2y9 )

*** If you would like to book a powerful Breakthrough Power Hour and work through a challenge or strategize how to launch or grow your fashion business, book an hour with Dessy here*** Contact Method: Fashion Insiders & Co official website: http://fashioninsiders.co/ Instagram: @fashioninsidersco

Discover more great content on our YouTube channel.

If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a 5 *star* rating and a review on iTunes - it helps us get this podcast discovered by more listeners just like yourself. Thank you. To submit any questions or get in touch with topic suggestions, write to us at insider(at)fashioninsiders(dot)co

Yusuf’s passion for making started whilst reading law at The London School of Economics where he thrived in the extracurricular. He continued to explore his creative side whilst training to be a solicitor. An avid workshop taker, he tried the gamut of crafts and discovered a passion for premium natural materials and a flair for working with his hands

A chance weekend workshop in The Cotswolds introduced Yusuf to the world of traditional British leather craftsmanship and began a quest that has taken Yusuf all over the world to learn from the best and returning home to obsessively hone his skills in his home studio

An all-consuming hobby turned into a career and you can learn all about it and a lot more in this episode:

Listen to this episode and discover:

• How Yusuf turned a passion into a hobby into a profession and why he is proud to be a craftsman;
• What are the mistakes he made and continues to make that he would like other creatives to know about;
• The importance of not falling for the current culture glorifying the idea of "hustling" [12:00]
• The importance of having different streams of income [18:00]
• How to protect your designs from being copied [33:00]
• What it means to be "sustainable" as a brand [38:00]

Key Takeaways:

• Leatherwork is a beautiful marriage of beautiful material and the craftsmanship process. 
• Craft is about connecting. Connecting with the materials and then transmitting that connection. 

• For me, there is no choice but to work on my own.

• Making is therapy. It is a way to process things, a way to turn whatever feelings I have inside into something beautiful.

• When most people start out they want to overprice the value of their art.

• Why are you setting up a brand if you care for the planet?

  Making more products is not saving anyone! The solution is not making more stuff!

Resources:

Connect with Yusuf via:

https://www.yussi.co/

Instagram: @yussico

Fall in love with leather under Yusuf's watchful eye - book a workshop HERE

About the Podcast Host:

Dessy is the author of Become a Fashion Insider book and the founder of Fashion Insiders & Co - an online platform supporting fashion and creative entrepreneurs who are in the process of launching and growing purpose-driven brands. (Buy the book here: https://amzn.to/35wo2y9 )

*** If you would like to book a powerful Breakthrough Power Hour and work through a challenge or strategize how to launch or grow your fashion business, book an hour with Dessy here*** Contact Method: Fashion Insiders & Co official website: http://fashioninsiders.co/ Instagram: @fashioninsidersco

Discover more great content on our YouTube channel.

If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a 5 *star* rating and a review on iTunes - it helps us get this podcast discovered by more listeners just like yourself. Thank you. To submit any questions or get in touch with topic suggestions, write to us at insider(at)fashioninsiders(dot)co