Ep. 33 Lauren French, CEO of Motto Fashions – The Honest CEO Show

The Honest CEO Show, Episode 33: Lauren French, CEO of Motto Fashions

Caroline Kennedy (00:01.343)
Welcome to the Honest CEO Show where we delve into the authentic journey of remarkable business leaders. I'm your host Caroline Kennedy and today I'm thrilled to be joined by Lauren French, the dynamic CEO and designer at Motto Fashions. Thank you for joining us, Lauren.

Lauren French (00:22.338)
Thank you so much for having me. Love that intro. I'll remember that one when I need it again.

Caroline Kennedy (00:25.185)
Well, I've got more. Lauren and her mum, Faye Brown, transformed Motto Fashions from a traditional bricks-and-mortar retailer into a thriving e-commerce powerhouse. Under Lauren's leadership, the company has experienced significant growth with revenue of 15 million plus and a growth rate of 257% in the short time since I've known Lauren. And that's just significant. But beyond the impressive numbers, under Lauren's leadership, Motto Fashions has not only embraced the digital age, but has also redefined what it means to be a modern fashion brand. It focuses on empowering women through bold styling and a strong online community.

Lauren and her mum, Faye, create designs that are magnificent and they transcend age and size and foster a vibrant community around the Motto brand. Lauren's entrepreneurial journey and her acumen has been recognised in many awards, from being a finalist in the Osmond Prenor Awards, Smart 50 Marketing Awards and securing gold and bronze at the Shecom Product Awards, just to name a few. And today we'll be exploring Lauren's entrepreneurial journey, the challenges she's faced and how she's revolutionised a family business. So great to have you here, Lauren. That was a big intro, but well deserved.

Lauren French (02:09.959)
yeah, that was a good one. Love it thank you so much yeah that was that was cool appreciate it nice to be here.

Caroline Kennedy (02:17.761)
Yeah, great. So growing up with parents who are deeply involved in the fashion industry, can you share some of those early memories that influenced your passion for fashion?

Lauren French (02:33.68)
Look, it's hard. think I was destined to kind of end up in this industry because from the time I was born, actually, I think it was a year before I was born is when mum and dad decided to start Motto. And prior to that, they were in very important jobs at Witchery. That's actually where they met and they worked together. And, you know, they both had a vision to kind of do their own thing. And they were very supported by the owner at that time to go and, you know, open, spread their wings and do their own range.

So from the time I was a baby, was on the floor of the factory pretty much, being immersed in fabrics. And from the time I was very young, I think I was probably five, six, I was already sewing garments and making things. And after school every day, I was at the factory, was mingling with the sewers and the pattern makers and cutting bits of fabric. it's just, when it's in your blood, it's truly in your blood and when it's a passion.

That's kind of all you want to do when you're a creative person. You're very much, you know, in that world. So yeah, from the time I was little, I always wanted to be a fashion designer. That was my dream. think I wanted to be a police officer for about five minutes and then I was over that and it was back to fashion.

Caroline Kennedy (03:45.953)
And were you one of those kids who made their own costumes for like, you know, the plays that you would do at school and stuff like that?

Lauren French (03:53.422)
Yes, definitely. Yes, I made my own school formal dress. I made other people's formal dresses. I made, think when I was about 17, I started my own brand and just sew it. They were disastrous. I don't know how they actually got sold. They were so handmade, but it was actually in fashion then to have that really like half made look. So yeah, I was always, always in sewing. We had a room that had a sewing machine in our house and it was full of fabric. So that was sort of where I hung out.

Caroline Kennedy (04:19.871)
Yeah, cool. And after spending your earlier career traveling the globe and immersing yourself in high fashion, what inspired you to then join the family business and eventually take the reins?

Lauren French (04:34.51)
Well, when I was, I worked at a fashion agency and it was a fantastic workplace. It really did shape the way I wanted the culture of a company to be, which has definitely led me to what Motto is now, even though mum and dad's, they had a very similar culture with when they were at the reins. But I think because I was working so closely with other retailers who owned their store and they were buying products to stock, a lot of them actually bought Motto. I didn't work at Motto, but they shopped Motto. And I quickly realised that it was such a well-respected brand in the industry. And because for me, it's just mum and dad, and I took it for granted, but hearing from other business owners how well it was doing and how well it was selling, and they would always talk to me about the brand. I think I just got a new respect for what mum and dad had built.

And I didn't like, you know, prior to that, I just thought that that was just what they did. I didn't really know the ins and outs of the business, but hearing it from other people who I really respected, who had thriving businesses say that mum and dad were incredible designers and all that sort of thing. just kind of put Motto in a diff. I saw it as a different lens.

Caroline Kennedy (05:48.255)
Yeah, so perhaps they helped make it cool in your eyes, right?

Lauren French (05:51.79)
Yes, yeah, exactly. was, it was a bit cool. And I was getting a little bit older. Like I wasn't 16 anymore. At this point I was 20, not that much of big difference there, but you know, I was kind of thinking a little bit more, I guess, about my future. And I always knew I was going to end up at Motto. It was just a matter of when. And it was just, it was like an unwritten understanding in our household, that that's just where I was going to be. I never thought anything otherwise.

Caroline Kennedy (06:17.493)
Yeah, yeah. And transitioning a traditional retail business right into the digital age is no small feat in itself. What were some of the significant challenges you faced during that transformation?

Lauren French (06:34.222)
Well, there was so many, I think coming into a business where they didn't have an online presence as you know, not everyone did back then. Cause I think I started the online store about 2006 or 2007. So it was very early days. A lot of big retailers didn't have any e-comm store. And it was getting mostly, I think the challenge then was really getting our staff on board with what we were doing. They didn't really understand it, kind of didn't like it, thought that maybe we were going to try and all their customers were going to go and shop online and no one was going to go into the store. And it was that real mindset of it was online versus in store. Now it's a really, there's such a big loop between online and e-commerce and one supports the other and you can't have one without the other, in particular in the, e-comm space. So there was a lot of hesitation. Took a lot of selling and convincing our staff to promote our online store. So that probably went on for a good couple of years until maybe 2012, 2013, when all the major players started to go online. That's when it kind of shifted. But being one of the first really in Australia, it was really hard to get people to understand it.

Caroline Kennedy (07:48.435)
Yeah, yeah. And people don't like change naturally, right? We're so resistant to it and our brain is hardwired to keep us safe. So particularly when you're the first and you're leading the way and you're doing things differently, people will be resistant to it. And that would have been a huge challenge.

Lauren French (08:07.018)
Yeah. And that's right. think they sort of thought, mean, they open, they were externally supportive. And I do believe they knew it was the future, but I suppose they felt it was maybe putting their job at risk. Cause back then there was a lot of talk around online's going to destroy jobs and just a bit like how people talk about AI now it's going to destroy this district. It doesn't, it doesn't. We've never seen it completely wipe out the human population, any technology it's, you know, things evolve and things progress and it actually has created many amazing things for them. So now they know, but at the time I suppose it was a bit scary. So in the early days, I think that was probably the biggest challenge and it hung around for a while because I kind of had to push it on my own whilst my mum and dad were really sort of protecting their retail business and making sure that, you know, our online store didn't actually take from the other side of our business, which was very important.

Caroline Kennedy (09:00.671)
Yeah, of course. And then we had COVID-19, right, that pandemic. And it was that pandemic--

Lauren French (09:06.35)
Your eyes, just that roll of the eyes. That old thing. Yeah, that old thing. That happened.

Caroline Kennedy (09:15.615)
It was really challenging for many businesses, but particularly retailers, right? And so how did you navigate the brand through that period? Because I know you excel during that really difficult time. And what were the strategies that you used and implemented to adapt quite quickly?

Lauren French (09:39.01)
Well, we, because of why stores did close very suddenly and no one had much notice. We decided to, we kind of thought to ourselves, there's two sides of it. Number one, we don't know how long we're going to be closed for. Are our customers going to forget us? And at the time I was thinking, you know, we had nearly 40 years under our belt of connecting with customers. Is this all going to be thrown in the bin? Because if we have a year shot, is anyone going to remember who we are?

And then the other side of it was we do have such a beautiful relationship with our community and it's something we really focus on. What is their mental state going to be if they are not connecting with any other women? So we decided just to get, start live streaming. We'd never done it before. And a lot of people weren't doing it then. It definitely wasn't something that a fashion brand would do. So we decided just to get on and not have it, just do it. Like there was no time to think, there was no time to get nervous, just as of tomorrow, we're going to be live streaming at this time and we're just going to try on clothes because we had a lot of stock to move. We wanted to show people, but we knew our customers needed to be inspired. They needed to know how to wear it. A lot of them at that point had never dabbled in online shopping. So how were they going to manage this? So we just threw ourselves in and just gave it a go. And it was a complete game changer in how our business operated.

Aside from the fact we did connect with women and we did all those things that, we didn't let them forget who Motto was. We did all the things we set out to do, but it, there was two other things that really astounded me. It was the brand awareness piece. When just went nuts, we got through and got connected to so many more women who had never seen Motto before, that we, you know, got a lot of new customers but also what it did is it gave us the opportunity to educate our current audience on how to wear things. And by Mr. By accident, really our new best sellers became the things that they and I really loved. Whereas pre that time, usually our favorite things actually didn't sell because we are very fashion forward and we like things that are different. And there was a bit of a disconnect in what we were designing. It would land in the store and what had always been popular remained to be popular. It was hard to penetrate that new fashion and new trends because it was a long process. Whereas while we were live and showing people they felt our excitement overnight a new trend would kick off. So it gave us the opportunity to really change our product mix, which was unexpected.

Caroline Kennedy (12:19.849)
Yeah. Yeah. And you know what I find really interesting about that is that they do say the business experts that during difficult times is when businesses are really made, the ones who capitalise on it, the ones who think strategically about it too. But first and foremost for you, what I hear is that you put the customer at the heart of everything that you do and you guys have always done that.

And then you thought about how are we going to engage, how are we going to help them connect with other women? And what I would say to anyone watching this or any of the listeners is I loved watching you guys. I learned so much about fashion and the tips and the tricks and how to hide tummies and, you know, and I don't think people need that. They need to be able to be educated and you guys do that so well.

And you do it with a genuine interest in wanting to help people with fashion and to help them feel empowered. Yeah.

Lauren French (13:23.426)
Yeah, absolutely. got to, know, fashion can completely change your persona. And if you don't feel good, well, if you don't feel that you look good, sometimes you don't feel good. And that, you know, that was the other part of it with COVID. Like don't go slopping around in tracksuit pants unless you're going to do it in style. So we had this whole like community of women that we said like, let's wear sequins to the supermarket because we couldn't go anywhere else. And lots of women were wearing sequins to the supermarket. It was great. We loved it.

Caroline Kennedy (13:47.169)
I love it. Yeah, that's fantastic story. Now under your leadership, obviously the brand has grown quite significantly. And what do you think have been the key decisions or innovations that you've implemented or what do you attribute that success to?

Lauren French (14:11.916)
There's a lot of things because I think there's so many different parts that couldn't have made the other part work. when we shifted our focus, it's difficult because I feel like we've always kind of focused on this. But when we truly shifted our focus to increasing brand awareness, that changed everything. Because for me, prior to making that decision, I was so focused on looking after our current customers, there was almost no space for a new customer to come in. That's how much I cared and still do care about our customers. But bringing in new women into the ecosystem doesn't have to be at the expense of another person. And I think probably looking back, is what, you know, we have grown for a very long time, but that's the key difference in what's happened in the last two years is that we've opened the floodgates to let more women in.

And that was done in many, many ways, but in particular focusing on using social media as a tool and also using certain products to introduce to women to see if they want to join the Motto world. So there's a few pop, you know, when you've got a popular product, often it's popular to a huge range of ages, sizes, personality types. And that's kind of what we took on in the last two years and it's been a game changer.

Caroline Kennedy (15:40.745)
Yeah, yeah. And one of those products is the Miracle Pants and I want to give that a bit of a plug because I think people everywhere, everywhere should go get a pair of these Miracle Pants. They do wonders to your bottom, let's say, and to your figure. Yeah, yeah. And that there, the

Lauren French (15:58.956)
Yes, yes, that's right. We all need a good perky butt, yep.

Caroline Kennedy (16:06.149)
One of the products you're talking about right because it is quite universal and you know that that makes women feel great and confident but yeah yeah.

Lauren French (16:15.596)
Yeah, that's right. Yeah. Anything that's flattering, I think can be so universal. There's a lot to say about it. There's a lot to show about it. So it gives us the chance to keep talking about it and then people keep buying it. So it's just this cycle of hype and excitement and we're very passionate about it at Motto. So it's something that gets talked about a lot because there's just so many opportunities with it.

Caroline Kennedy (16:37.545)
Yeah. And reflecting on your journey, what are the top three lessons you've learned about leading a successful fashion brand in today's market, particularly?

Lauren French (16:49.998)
Focus on the right things would be number one and I know that's really broad and hard to understand until the penny kind of drops and you experience it but you can focus on so many things there's a million ways to get to your goal but if you focus on something that's not quite right you end up being really off track so constantly fine-tuning your eye into what is working, keep checking, is it still working? Is it still working? And the things that are working is where you put your energy. That's been a huge lesson in itself. Number two would be build, you know, build a community around you, whether it be staff or customers. But in this instance, I'm talking to staff and then people that can help you get there. Because without the execution being 100 % spot on, it's great to have an idea. It's really great to have an idea, but we've all got a lot of ideas. And if the execution part isn't done perfectly, it can be the difference between fail or succeed. And looking back, I've probably attempted to do these certain things before, but really they didn't kick off until let's say maybe two years ago and before then at the start of COVID because they were done so well. it's because the 100 % focus was in the right spot, I would say, but you do need people around you on the same path. And number three, would say social media cannot be taken for granted. It's everyone's out there now, but doing the right thing on social media can really change everything. And again, there's a million different things you can be doing on social media. But if you find something that's really true to yourself and feels natural and organic, it doesn't feel like work. It doesn't feel like a hassle.

So once you find that thing, people will find you and you just got a persistence pays off. So don't stop.

Caroline Kennedy (18:48.755)
Yeah, yeah. And I really like the advice about the focus and the clarity, right? So know where you want to go, know how you're going to get there and then break it down into bite-sized pieces and be relentless at that focus. But I also like what you said before around measure and monitor and adjust as necessary, right? What is working? Why is it working? And if it's not working, what do we need to do differently? And I think that is so critical and the social media piece even feeds into that, right? What is working through social media? What is working for even others out there as well? And what can you learn from that? So I think that's spot on advice. And having the right people around you, as you said before, for the implementation piece. For any entrepreneurs out there that are looking to revitalise a family business, what advice would you give them about navigating the balance between traditional and innovation?

Lauren French (19:53.87)
It's always a balance, I think. you know, I think with a long standing family business, you do have history that can't be ignored because history and knowledge is so important. But I would say what we've done is I've bought, I've kept the values of Motto, they've never changed. They are still the same and really that's about people and culture and customers. they actually all tie in because the way we want to treat our customers is how we treat our own people. It's the same thing. But what we've done, well, what I've done is I've implemented some of my own ideas, which are probably, I like to be a bit shocking. I like to stand out. And again, Motto has always done that, but I've bought those, that personality in bit by bit to merge it with who Motto is today, because I think a lot of brands say we're very customer focused. It's all about the customer. That's something every business I think thinks they are, whether they are or not. So how can we show it in a way that's eye catching that gets people to look twice. And I guess that's what I've bought in. I don't want to be the same as everybody else. I want to be different and I want to say things maybe sometimes that are a little bit shocking. So people pay attention and look twice and that's what people are going to remember. So just I would say if someone else is in that situation, start thinking about what you want to see and then see how the two can be blended and just chip away at it one by one. You don't need to change the business overnight if it's a long-standing business. It won't work. No one will understand it. Pick one thing that is going to be bought in for the next 12 months and make it a solid part of your business. So when people think of your brand, they think of that one thing. You can't do too many things at once. And even for Motto's Journey, know, it's been now nearly five years of these changes that we've made. COVID gave us the opportunity to get things out there quickly and connect with current customers and new customers. So everyone got this same immersive experience, but it's still been five years and we're not finished. We're still going. So it's an evolution. It's not an overnight thing. It is an evolution. So you have to have a little bit of patience.

Caroline Kennedy (22:26.867)
Yeah, yeah. And what I love also too about that when you talk about COVID gave you the opportunity. It might have been the catalyst, but you guys embraced it, right? And particularly you and going, how do we leverage this? And I think that for listeners, that's really important because we can go through really challenging times, but we have to look at it and go, where's the opportunity here? And I've always said, problems or opportunities, regardless if they're external or internal. And what you've just described is you saw a problem and you thought, where is the opportunity here and how can we leverage that? And I love that because that is forward thinking, that's adaptability. And that's critical to any business. And I don't think you recognise just how adaptable you are in terms of the innovations that you bring either.

And I also want to circle back to where you talked about being bold, right? And I love that for you guys, because it resonates so much with your brand. Can you talk to listeners and people watching about the Fuck It era campaign and where that came from? Because that's bold.

Lauren French (23:42.08)
It is a bit bold. Yeah. where did it even come from? Now? I'm trying to remember. think, I was watching what was I scrolling on Facebook and I saw Brooke shields. you know, she had someone had taken a photo of her and she had no makeup on and she looked beautiful by the way. the PR piece was that she was, you know, not looking after herself and eating a chocolate and whatever. and she had said, you know, I'm going to embrace it. I'm in my bucket era. And I was like, I love that. I love that. So it was a whole movement that was kind of at the time we did it, was just bang on the start of that movement in the US. And I think Pamela Anderson was not wearing makeup and going to events as well. And that is so Motto because people get to whatever they age there are, we get a lot of people saying, I've just turned 50. What should I wear or what can I wear now? And I don't understand the mentality around that because you should wear what you want to wear. And it doesn't matter what your circumstances are. You wear what you want to wear. it reminded me that people don't know that. They don't know that they're allowed to do what they want to do. And I think, you know, a lot of women will go to their family Christmas day and their sister-in-law might say, what are you wearing? There's a lot of this chatter that goes on, especially in families. And they're saying it with love, but they don't realise how much it puts someone down.

So we encourage people to say, fuck it, I'm gonna do whatever I wanna do and ignore everything else. Cause really the only thing that matters is actually how you feel. And if you feel good and genuinely feel good, someone can say a million things to you. It doesn't matter. So we encourage people to embrace those two words because they are very, very powerful when you start to believe them.

Caroline Kennedy (25:31.977)
Yeah, yeah, very true. And I love that because also to everyone has their own perspective, their own lens and just because they don't like something on you doesn't mean that it doesn't look amazing on you. And we shouldn't, you know, it's challenging not to take on other people's opinions, but you're right. Do what you want, be who you want to be. And that's really important. I love that campaign for you guys. It just speaks to who you are as people and as a brand.

Lauren French (26:01.494)
I agree. And if someone comes on and sees that messaging, they know very quickly if they're, if we're for them. So we get a whole lot of women who are very, very empowered.

Caroline Kennedy (26:07.593)
Yes, very true. Yeah. Now, how do you stay ahead of fashion trends to ensure that Motto, the brand remains relevant and appealing to your target audience?

Lauren French (26:22.978)
I think research comes in many shapes and forms and because Faye and I, who are the designers, we immerse ourselves in fashion in and out of work and we genuinely love it. So we're influenced in so many ways besides all the obvious like travel and research and you know, we have some trend forecasting data that we're subscribed to, which is a leader in the world. So we're always up to date with the newest.

But we're also very inspired by our customers because, because we are live streaming, do, and we've also got a very thriving, Facebook community. We are privy to customer feedback and data immediately. And this isn't just looking at numbers behind a screen. This is actually seeing customers post pictures and looking at their body shapes and looking and hearing their concerns. And we're adapting. need to be looking at, at minimum one year in the future, but we know that.

Women at a certain age tend to get conscious of X, Y, and Z area. We know that. So there is no point in us focusing on product that they're not going to feel comfortable in because it doesn't matter how much they love it. They're not going to wear it like that. So I guess then as we're exploring, we're thinking, okay, let's say our most popular customer's age is this. Let's say it's 50 years old. What are the kind of things they want to look trendy and they want to be modern, but they don't want to wear something that's a prop top with a tight waist. It's just not going to fit the body shape or it's not going to fit the realm of who someone's going to be comfortable being. So we look to solve those problems just as much as we look at fashion trends.

Caroline Kennedy (28:07.073)
Yeah, yeah, I love that because that's so true. You can have all the fashion trends, but if they're not comfortable or that you're not solving a problem and people are not going to wear them. It doesn't matter what business it is. If you're solving problems for the customer and you know what they're you're intimate with what their problems are or what their concerns are, it doesn't need to be a problem. But yeah, then it's then you serve them ultimately, right?

Caroline Kennedy (28:36.702)
What's the future of Motto fashions? What are your plans?

Lauren French (28:42.594)
I've got so many plans. I don't even know where to start. need to like start just fine tuning some plans. Look, I want to spend the next decade hustling like I have never hustled before because I love the pace and I love being energetic and I love excitement. But I want to push this little old brand called Motto as far as I possibly can.

Because I think I was thinking about what is my real motivation? Because I've got a beautiful family. I love coming to work. I've got beautiful customers. Like what is the next step? And I think deep down, I wanna show my mum and dad how far we can go as a little family business who's been, know, they used to cut out bits of fabric on the floor of their warehouse when they couldn't afford to have X, Y, and Z.

And I think that we need to see how far this machine can go. So I'm very excited to completely dominate our space in Australia. That is something that I want. it definitely, don't know if it will just be an Econ. It may be bricks and mortar as well, because that is our bread and butter and we're very good at it. But we will be a household Australian name. And beyond that, I definitely want to be international because to get to the kind of revenues that we want, we probably will have to, but stay tuned. The next 10 years is gonna be a crazy ride and I'm gonna give it absolutely everything that I've got.

Caroline Kennedy (30:17.119)
Yeah, I love that. And I've got goosebumps when you were talking about that, like for your family and just showing them what's possible and you were absolutely going to achieve everything you set out to. I have no doubt about that. And what about your legacy in the fashion industry? What do you hope to be remembered for?

Lauren French (30:40.094)
That's a deep, tough one. I would like to be remembered for pushing boundaries, not fitting into the norm. And I want to be remembered as a brand or a leader of a brand that was a bit spicy, a bit sassy, a bit bold. Don't figure that's what our clothes are about.

And someone who is not afraid, I want to take risks. Motto is a risk-taking brand. It always has been for the last 40 years. But I want to go out doing everything I ever wanted to do. I don't ever want fear to get in the way. So I want to be remembered for doing things that are very innovative and the first of its kind in the fashion space. We don't need to be innovators in any other space, not tech, none of that stuff. We are the leaders in fashion.

And I want to create some trends and, and, not only that for our demographic, which the reason the bucket era came about was because we are known as the forgotten demographic. Once you hit, I feel like it's getting younger. It's almost once you hit 40, like, you even seeing anywhere? and I know that once people from customers have told me once they get to 50, things change, people stop noticing them as much. I actually want to create a movement of women, that are so empowered by the time they hit this age, which often people are fearful to get to, even 40, no one wants to be 40 and then no one wants to be 50. I personally can't wait till I turn 50 because if what I'm creating works and it penetrates and we actually start a movement of empowered women, our life is going to be better and better. We are going to be more seen, more heard, and we're going to be true leaders for our kids. They're not going to be the leaders. My 20 year old won't, she's not 20 yet, but when she's 20, she won't be the leader. She's going to be truly looking at her mum saying, what a boss. I cannot wait to be like her. I want that to be what I'm remembered for.

Caroline Kennedy (32:46.825)
Yeah I love that. Just like you are with your mum right?

Lauren French (32:50.51)
Yes, exactly, exactly. But we want all the mums to be like that. My mum's like a very rare specimen at the moment. She's 71. But every 71 year old should be as fearless as her. Don't have to necessarily dress like her. I know she's a bit out there, but be as fearless and confident as her.

Caroline Kennedy (33:10.869)
Yeah, yeah, yeah. And she is a role model, by the way, not just for you, but also for fashion and for your customers. And I love watching her. I love watching the fashion trends and what she dresses in and her energy and it is really infectious, just like yours, just like

Lauren French (33:36.278)
Yeah. Thank you. I'm sure. I'm sure. Well, you know, you've to have passion and that's the thing when you love fashion. You know, my mum could very easily be if she was retired, didn't work, didn't have a passion, didn't have a hobby and was just dressing in her pajamas every day. I'm sure the energy wouldn't be there, but she pushes herself to keep herself up to date and stay modern in her thinking and her health and she's very progressive and it's a state of mind. we want our brand to be a part of someone's state of mind. It's not just about how you look, it's actually a mindset.

Caroline Kennedy (34:15.849)
Yeah, yeah, that's very true. And you guys are definitely achieving that and hence why you will broaden your reach in Australia and then globally and you'll empower a lot more women to feel confident in who they are and how they dress. One last question before we wrap up. Now, we've been working together for a while, right? And

Lauren French (34:34.741)
Yeah, thank you.

Caroline Kennedy (34:43.411)
If you were speaking to other business owners about considering outside support, what advice would you give them about what to do and just how much it can impact their business?

Lauren French (34:56.59)
I would say just literally as soon as you finish listening to this podcast, get online and find someone. It has been instrumental. This would not have happened. What has happened would not have happened. And I have no doubt about that. If I didn't have someone assisting my focus along the way, there is zero, zero doubt of that.

And, know, before we started working together, I didn't think I needed something like this, even though I've done lots of little things, but I really didn't think I needed it because I thought I've got my parents who are my mentors. They still work in the business and all of our communications happened together. And I thought, well, they've got a lot of experience. You know, why would I need something extra? But then when I decided to do it, having an out, having something outside your business.

Challenge your thinking and inspire your thinking is completely different to anyone who knows your business. So it's just, you know, it's like when someone says something little, your mind thinks about it and you change the way you look at something. Even if it was just a simple comment, everything changes. And it's very important to have that outside perspective for sure. So I would say do it. It's, it's been key. I think having for me, for my stage of business, having one-on-one environment has been much more effective than having group environments, because I've done lots of different things. Of course, you've got to find the right fit and you've got to find the person that really aligns with your brand. yeah, having that one-on-one is so important. Just do it. And you know what? If you don't like it and you don't think it helps your business, you can always stop. Change it. Just change it. That's right.

Caroline Kennedy (36:49.259)
Change it. Exactly. If you don't like something, change it. I say that all the time to people. Yeah.

Lauren French (36:54.658)
Give it a go. mean, what's the worst that could happen? You could learn a truckload of stuff that you didn't know. That is the absolute biggest disaster that could happen in getting someone to help. So I would say go for it.

Caroline Kennedy (37:03.125)
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And as you were talking through that, I had a memory of the first time we ever met and we were doing a strategy session and we were like, looking at where do you want the business to be? What does that look like? Can we put a number up there on the board? And you're like, no, no, I don't think that that's achievable. I just don't feel like that. I know. And did you excel that? Like,

Lauren French (37:26.158)
I'm like, I don't think it's possible.

I think we probably excelled that like one month after or something. Actually, it's crazy. It's absolutely crazy. It's, know, thinking big is scary because clearly I was scared too, but people are so scared of failure. But now the numbers we throw out there are wild in comparison. And you know what, if you don't get it, don't worry. Do better next time. I don't know. Yeah. It's just a number.

Caroline Kennedy (37:49.281)
Yep. Exactly. Exactly. But yeah, no, but it is it's about knowing what is achievable as well. And it's kind of not putting that glass ceiling on what's possible. Because I was I remember saying you'll easily get this you have so much potential here. This is this is just a starting point. And look what you've done. Well done. Yeah.

Lauren French (38:17.708)
Yeah, thank you. Well, we clearly needed someone to guide our thinking. So thank you for what you've done. But I feel like I think that first strategy session where we got to in one year was the five year plan until you're like, come on, no, no, no, we're not having any of that. So yeah, it's pretty wild what you can achieve if you set your mind to it.

Caroline Kennedy (38:36.339)
Yeah, and I can't wait to see what you guys do in the next decade. I mean, you're just going to blow it out of the water. I have no doubt about it. You'll continue to go from strength to strength. So thank you so much, Lauren, for sharing your inspiring journey with us. I really appreciate it. And you're a testament to the power of innovation, resilience and a passion, in driving business success. And I have no doubt that our listeners are going to get so much out of this interview. And please go check out Lauren online and Faye online and Motto fashions online and look at their fashion because it's amazing and you're to feel great in it. Not are they only fantastic and strong business women who are very successful, but also the best designers.

Lauren French (39:33.183)
Thank you. I'll take it.

Caroline Kennedy (39:34.785)
Why not? Alright, well thanks for joining me.

Lauren French (39:39.438)
Thank you.