Soon, the office started filling up with
stock and staff and we ran out of space after
a year. I literally had stock placed under my
desk, in the kitchenette, every service area of
the office had merchandise in it, and that just
became the official location of that SKU.
Since then, we expanded our office
space several times, launched into the US,
Manila, and the Philippines as well as
hiring over 40+ staff members. If you told
me that this would all happen in a few
years’ time, I would have never believed it,
but I’m very proud of what my team and I
have accomplished.
Did you ever see yourself as the CEO of
a major fashion label?
I never even had an interest in starting a
business at all. I was working as an analyst
and thought this was my life. It just seemed
way too risky and out of my league and I
was pretty happy with where life was already
taking me. It wasn’t until I spent 9 months in
Europe and came back to my job that I knew
I couldn’t readjust to cubicle life.
I came back with travel withdrawals
and one of my university friends reached out
and wanted to start a fashion business with
me and another friend. I thought this would
be an awesome, fun project so I guess this
is where my entrepreneurial journey started.
Sadly, that business was a complete and utter
failure and I was devastated. I had literally
hit rock bottom. All of a sudden, I was
unemployed, my business had failed, and I
had lost quite a bit of money on it.
This was probably one of the toughest,
most FML, times of my life. I never saw
myself as a CEO of a fashion label until this
moment. Any sane person would’ve given up
and gone back to the safe corporate life, but I
decided to start another fashion business
straight away.
“I never saw
myself as a CEO
of a fashion
label until
this moment.”
How would you describe your
personal style, and does your personal
style influence the items you carry?
My style depends on what I’m doing
throughout day, but generally I’m a fan of
color and prints. If I go to the gym in the
morning, I’ll usually wear something sporty
with runners and a big duffle bag. If I want
to buckle down and get a lot of work done,
I’ll wear a comfy shirt with some ripped
jeans, sneakers, and a shoulder handbag. If
I’m catching up with a friend for lunch, I’ll
usually wear a summery dress paired with
some cute heels and a small clutch.
What is your must-have clothing item?
Jeans! They go with so many tops and are
so comfy.
www.clichemag.com
Showpo has obviously expanded
immensely from Show Pony. Has its
growth aligned with your vision for the
brand, or did you find it taking a new
direction as it grew?
It was my dream for Show Pony to grow
into something big but I didn’t expect it to
come so quickly. It wasn’t until 8 months
into Showpo that we had our first big win.
Through a Facebook campaign I came up
with, we were making up to $22k a month
online. The idea came to me one night whilst
watching America’s Next Top Model, on
the couch with a glass of wine. I thought to
myself: why don’t we make a Facebook ver-
sion of this and get our Facebook followers
to enter for a chance to model for us?
Girls would enter the competition, ask
their friends to vote for them, some of them
even created events and groups, then some
of their friends in turn would enter and do
the same, and there was a massive ripple
effect. We went from 3,000 followers to
20,000 within the space of a month, and it
cost nothing. And this was back in 2011,
when 20,000 followers was seriously a lot! It
gave us so much credibility.
Showpo continues to grow each day
and since the very beginning, I’ve had the
same vision for the brand which was to
provide girls with fun, on-trend fashion at
affordable prices. We want to continue to be
‘her go-to place to shop.’
Tell us about the Winter collection. Who
designed it, and what is the inspiration
for it?
Our production team was behind it (talented
bunch they are) and their vision was to
create cozy and comfy clothes to keep our
gals warm during the chilly months without
losing their style.
What is your favorite piece from the
Winter collection?
ALL of the cozy knits! I can’t get
enough and they’re so comfy you’ll fall
asleep in one!
What’s next for Showpo?
We just moved into our massive new office
in the heart of Sydney’s business district, so
we are very excited of what’s next to come
for Showpo. Our vision is to be her go-to
place to shop and to have a lot of fun on
our way there. Our main focus is building
out the right team and focusing on expan-
ding our product range and our geographic
footprint.
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