I was influenced alot by the circus and performing industry, as a Hula Hoop artist myself. I always wanted new costumes with something in mind that I just could not find. I started to design and have my own costumes made by a local seamstress while living in China for all of my shows. So yea.... basically I just couldn't stop designing outfits. I fell in love with creating outfits and began to see a big interest on my social media. So I took a huge risk by making 150 costumes in the hope that they would sell.. and slowly but surely they did. My company has evolved in such a short space of time, I will admit there has been alot of failure along my journey but I have learnt so much from all these experiences. I always wondered how other people start their own busineses and how did they prepare themselves for it, but the truth is nobody is ready or prepared to start their own business. All it takes is one step no matter how small it is, You just need to start it even if you have no experience at all, Then the rest will follow, make mistakes and make them fast so you can learn quickly so you don't repeat them.
What were the biggest initial hurdles to building your business and how did you overcome them?
WOW, I had ALOT of them, Prior to this, I was a hairdresser then trained to become a Hula Hoop Artist in China. I had literally ZERO business experience, All I knew was I absolutely loved the clothes I was making and had an idea that surely other people would too. But I suppose being inexperienced resulted in making a ton of mistakes along the way and alot of money down the drain, but for some reason it didnt bother me.The money I wasted probably added up as the same cost of doing a business course.
Did you ever deal with contention from your family and friends concerning your entrepreneurial pursuits? How did you handle it? What would you do differently in hindsight?
Yes actually I really did feel alot of contention with my family, I think they were just genuinely worried about me. I always felt a bit angry that they didn't believe in me but to be honest I am happy they reacted the way they did because it pushed me to work harder to prove to them that what I was doing and would be successful.
What would you say was the single most influential factor in your business success?
I dont think there was one single influential factor in my business success, mostly because for me it is a continual work in progress, Each day I am learning something new and I think it will always be that way.
What do you know today that you wish you would have known when you first got started as an entrepreneur?
The biggest thing that I wish I knew before is to be more organised. I am still working on that today but I have made alot of progress since I started. When I first started I was just constantly working on things, replying to emails any time any day. But now I have realised I need to separate my work - life balance. To set myself a set schedule and to know when to turn off. But its still a constant struggle when you are trying to run everything by yourself.
What advice would you give to an upcoming entrepreneur locally and internationally?
The advice I would give to an upcoming entrepreneur would be to not let the failures set you back, Always keep an open mind and dont be afraid if needs be to change course or take a different approach to things even if it wasnt what you intended. I really do believe in the law of attraction and that was my biggest motivation (I read all "The secret books") But once you make the initial step, the rest will just follow. The universe will just make it happen once you have that belief. The best advice really is JUST DO IT... start right now and see what happens. Oh and One last thing.... You need to absolutely adore your product!!
