How to build a clothing empire: Interview with Girlboss Jane Lu of SHOWPO
Scrolling through Jane’s Instagram profile @Thelazyceo, its hard not to get serious life envy. Not only is Jane a total mega babe, but she also injects some serious fun into her life with exotic travel, a wardrobe that’s to die for and a girl squad that even Taylor would be jealous of.
But life isn’t just all one big party. Jane has in fact nailed it when it comes to building her empire and, as the the CEO of what is fast becoming my favourite online store, is totally crushing it in the online retail space.
I’ve been super excited to share my interview with Jane as I’m sure you are all just dying to know how this total Girlboss did it and what advice she has for an aspiring entrepreneur.
Can you explain a little bit about your business and when you launched? What were you doing prior?
Showpo is a pureplay online retail store for women 16-30. We have the latest trends, constant new arrivals (dropping 50-100 new styles weekly), affordable prices and super fast delivery.
Prior to this I was working as a business analyst at Ernst & Young.
Lusting over the ‘Roll in’ knit and ‘Django’ jeans via shop.showpo.com
What was your motivation for becoming an entrepreneur and how has your life changed since launching your business?
To be honest, I originally got into entrepreneurship because I hated my job and knew the corporate path wasn’t for me. I was sick of cubical life and the 9-to-5 grind so I foolishly just quit my job in the middle of the GFC.
What are some of the hurdles you have come up against on your entrepreneurial journey so far and how have you dealt with them?
The business that I quit my job for actually flopped within months. It was devastating but it taught me SO MUCH!
A massive hurdle I had to deal with was that I didn’t have any funding at all to start the business and knew nothing about seeking out capital (I also didn’t have a great track record given that my first business spectacularly failed). Instead I hustled – I bought the stock on consignment (which meant that I ddn’t have to pay for it until it was sold), I built the website by myself by googling HTML, and I built up the brand using social media.
My biggest obstacle however was convincing myself that I was crazy and that this was actually going to go somewhere… day after day, especially on those days where you feel like you’re going backwards.
What three qualities do you think a woman needs to have to become a successful entrepreneur?
Tenacity, intelligence and sass
‘Bodacious’ bralette + ‘Django’ jeans
What do you think is important when growing and promoting your brand?
Staying true to who you are… I know that sounds corny, but now that I’ve been in the game for so long, I can definitely see that it’s true. That being said, it’s important to not be too fixated and strict on what you think your brand is as it grow and adapt with you along your entrepreneurial journey.
What does a typical day as a #girlboss look like for you?
I’m not at all a morning person, but recently I’ve been getting up super early to fit in a F45 session. When I get into work I normally spend half an hour drinking my morning coffee and having chit-chat with the girls, then I spend a couple of hours on emails, which I really try to get myself away from, but I can’t help it. Then our Showpo team lunches together on our amazing cityscape rooftop. The day is broken up by internal and external meetings here and there and sometimes I pop around next door to the shoots. At 3pm I’m always feeling hungry and looking forward to going home, but by 5pm I’m always like “where the hell has the day gone!?” and frantically work through my most productive hour. After work it’s either out for dinner and drinks with friends or vegging out on the couch with my boyfriend which Netflix docos.
Lastly, what advice would you give to any aspiring entrepreneur?
Never wait until you’re ready and things perfect! If I was to wait til the website was perfect, I’d be still pre-launch! If you’re waiting til everything’s perfect, then you’ve waited too long. Your idea of perfection is so different to that of the consumers’.
And a great piece advice sometime recently told me – if you achieve all of your goals, then you’re not ambitious enough, so dream big!
To keep up to date with Jane’s entrepreneurial journey, you can follow her on Instagram @thelazyceo and @Iloveshowpo
To get your mitts on Showpo’s latest collection, hop on over to the site
Don’t forget to check out Showpo’s latest collection of workwear too…
http://www.showpo.com/workwear.html