Ladies Who Launch

Lucy Aylen built Never Fully Dressed into one of fashion's most coveted cult brands; without investors, without chasing trends, and without ever optimising for virality.
In this episode of Ladies Who Launch, Lucy shares the philosophy behind building slow, why she resisted the pressure to scale before she was ready, and how growing a fiercely loyal community from day one became the brand's greatest competitive advantage.

From navigating the devastating business impact of COVID to knowing exactly when and how to grow a team, Lucy gives us the unfiltered blueprint for building a brand that lasts.

In this episode, we cover:

Why Lucy Said No To Virality
The Power of Building Slow
Growing the Never Fully Dressed Community
When & How To Build Your Team
Surviving COVID As A Fashion Brand
Building Without Investment

If you're a founder who's tired of being told you need to move faster, raise money, and go viral to win this one's for you.
We Are Ladies Who Launch!

CHAPTERS
00:00 Meet Lucy Aylen
02:51 Never Fully Dressed Anti Viral Strategy
07:52 Bootstrapped Ownership
13:51 Building Through Customer Feedback
20:10 Inclusivity and Sizing In Fashion
29:11 Community Loyalty Lessons
32:27 Small Team Big Energy
33:38 Founder Role Evolution
37:31 Motherhood and Boundaries
39:50 Detaching From Business Drama
45:19 Brand Identity to New Venture
50:05 Advice for New Founders
55:46 Work Life Blend Choices
59:05 The Beyonce Topshop Moment
01:00:03 Family First Routines
01:04:46 Mum As Mentor

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#LadiesWhoLaunch #NeverFullyDressed #FashionFounder #BuildingABrand #CultBrand #FemaleFounder #BusinessPodcast #BrandBuilding #SlowGrowth #StartupStory

FOLLOW LUCY
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lucyaylen7/
NFD Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/neverfullydressed/
NFD TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@neverfullydressed

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In this episode, Sarah Jossel, award-winning beauty editor, author, and presenter on This Morning, for an honest conversation about carving out a career in fashion and beauty when everyone's fighting for the same seat at the table.

Sarah takes us from her early days breaking into the industry all the way to writing her book, Diary Of A Beauty Editor, and everything she learned (the hard way) in between. We get into what it really means to build authority and trust when the market is saturated, why authenticity is your most powerful career asset, and how to develop the editorial eye to know what's worth your time and what's just noise.

We also go deep on beauty product red flags, the trends she's watching, and the questions every woman should be asking before she buys into the hype.

In this episode, we cover:
How Sarah broke into the fashion industry and navigated her way to the top
Building credibility and authority in a saturated, competitive space
Beauty product red flags and the trends shaping the industry right now
The journey of writing a book and what it teaches you about your own voice
Beauty product guidance for pregnant women and women with cancer
Myth busting beauty perfection standards

If you're building a career in a crowded space and trying to figure out how to stand out this one is for you.

We Are Ladies Who Launch!

CHAPTERS
00:00 Introducing Sarah Jossel
07:02 Making the Fashion to Beauty Shift
11:34 Building Credibility in your Career
29:07 Beauty Trend Red Flags
31:18 Smart Spending on Beauty Trends
34:54 Beauty and Confidence
39:07 The Journey of Writing a Book
42:59 Approach to Functional Makeup
45:12 Filters and Fake Realities
47:24 Finding Your Voice
53:13 Clean Beauty Marketing Myths
56:52 Clearing Up Clean Beauty Confusion
59:36 Pregnancy and Cancer Beauty Product Guidance
01:03:36 Pressures of Perfection Myth
01:13:33 Consistency Over Noise

🔔 New episodes every Wednesday — subscribe so you never miss a launch.

FOLLOW SARAH
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sarahjossel/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@sarah_jossel

FOLLOW US
Instagram: www.instagram.com/weareladieswholaunch/
TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@weareladieswholaunch
YouTube: www.youtube.com/@Weareladieswholaunch
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Sedge Beswick was ASOS's first ever social media hire back when social wasn't a career. What followed was an accidental leap into agency life that became SEEN Connects, a powerhouse she built, scaled, and sold for £24 million.

But, this is more than an exit story. Sedge gets radically honest about the parts that don't make the highlight reel, founder loneliness, cashflow problems, navigating private equity while pregnant, and why breaking hustle culture was one of her best business decisions.

In this episode, we cover:
How Sedge became ASOS's first social media hire before social was a career
Landing big clients fast and managing the growth that followed
Investment, cashflow, and the realities of founder finance
Motherhood, setting boundaries as a founder, and breaking hustle culture
What the £24M exit really felt like
Owning and creating balance as a successful woman in business
Redefining success, freedom, and what comes after selling

This is a masterclass in building with intention, exiting with clarity, and redefining success on your own terms.

We Are Ladies Who Launch!

CHAPTERS
00:00 Meet Sedge Beswick
01:23 Working In Social Before It Was A Career
06:17 ASOS First Social Hire
14:02 Social Media Becomes Marketing
16:17 Accidental Agency Leap
20:46 Landing Big Clients Fast
23:43 Investment And Managing Cashflow
30:06 Lonely Founder Rollercoaster
33:20 Boundaries In Motherhood
37:51 Breaking Hustle Culture
41:20 Scaling Through Sales
43:18 Lessons In Hiring
46:03 Leadership vs Being Liked
48:47 Private Equity and US Expansion
51:01 Pregnancy Changes the Deal
56:59 Selling The Business and Resetting
01:00:32 Redefining Success and Freedom
01:10:22 Final Advice and Wrap

🔔 New episodes every Wednesday — subscribe so you never miss a launch.

FOLLOW SEDGE
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sedgebeswick/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@SedgeBeswick
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sedge-beswick/

FOLLOW US
Instagram: www.instagram.com/weareladieswholaunch/
TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@weareladieswholaunch
YouTube: www.youtube.com/@Weareladieswholaunch
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Josephine Philips is the founder of SOJO, the UK's first on-demand clothing alterations and repairs app. She started SOJO by manually cycling garments across London to validate the idea before raising £1.8M in pre-seed funding (backed by Depop's own founder), landed Forbes 30 Under 30, and opened a permanent concession in Selfridges.
In this episode, Josephine gets brutally honest about the real journey: finding a tech co-founder early on,, the hiring mistakes that slowed her down, a six-week fundraising sprint that changed everything, and what it actually means to build with the end in mind.

This is a masterclass in doing more with less, moving fast without breaking your team, and why representation in VC funding is still one of the most urgent conversations in entrepreneurship.

What we cover:
Finding a tech co-founder as a non-technical founder
Navigating the fashion space outside of fast fashion
Finding a niche in a typically crowded space
The timings and strategy of raising investment
The stats around investment for Black Women
Hiring and growing a team for your business, not following the status quo
How to build a B2B strategy without losing focus
How to SOJO x Selfridges Partnership happened
The honest truth about representation in VC

If you're building something new or struggling to articulate why your idea matters, this one's for you.

We Are Ladies Who Launch!

CHAPTERS
00:00 Meet Josephine, Sojo Founder
03:17 The Tailoring Niche
07:48 The Problem with Fast Fashion
13:52 Validating The Business Idea
16:59 Finding A Tech Co-Founder
22:24 Launch Traction And Press
23:40 Funding And Getting Investment
29:48 Hiring Growing Pains
33:01 Corporate vs Startup Hiring
34:19 The Right Time For Funding
35:24 More Team Slower Progress
37:09 Focussing On Your B2B Strategy
38:11 Where Is Sojo Today?
39:16 Hiring for Complementary Skills
41:36 Testing Agility in Interviews
43:43 Representation in VC Funding
47:53 6-Week Fundraising Sprint
50:57 Selfridges Partnership Breakdown
54:49 Global Expansion Plans
01:00:33 Build With the End in Mind

🔔 New episodes every Wednesday — subscribe so you never miss a launch.

FOLLOW SOJO
SOJO Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sojo.uk/
Josephine Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/josephine__philips/

FOLLOW US
Instagram: www.instagram.com/weareladieswholaunch/
TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@weareladieswholaunch
YouTube: www.youtube.com/@Weareladieswholaunch
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In this episode of Ladies Who Launch, we sit down with Georgie Coleridge Cole, Founder & CEO of SheerLuxe, the e-commerce and lifestyle powerhouse that redefined how women discover fashion, beauty, and culture online.

Georgie opens up about the formative experiences that shaped her entrepreneurial mindset, how she stumbled into the world of e-commerce before it was cool, and the raw reality of building an incredible team from scratch while the industry was still figuring out what digital media even meant.

What we cover:
The honest story of building SheerLuxe and becoming an entrepreneur
Discovering and navigating the world of e-commerce
Business investment and financing. Why access to capital looks very different for women in business
How to structure a strong team early and build a culture that scales
Juggling life, business, and motherhood. The real, unfiltered version

If you're a female founder navigating the chaos of building something bold, this one's for you.

We Are Ladies Who Launch!

CHAPTERS
00:00 Introducing Georgie and SheerLuxe
01:14 The SheerLuxe Mission and Platform Evolution
09:16 Navigating Career Detours
14:55 The Start of Building SheerLuxe
21:56 Raising VC and Keeping Equity
28:23 The Hardest Part of Leadership
31:30 The SheerLuxe Team as the Brand
41:52 Staying Relevant Through Change
45:56 Editorial First, Monetise Later
46:47 The £40M Sell
53:09 Equity And Industry Stigma
55:17 The Work and Motherhood Reality
01:03:41 Life After the Acquisition
01:07:19 Rocket Round
01:15:22 Best Piece of Advice

🔔 New episodes every Wednesday — subscribe so you never miss a launch.

FOLLOW GEORGIE
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gcoleridgecole/
SheerLuxe Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sheerluxe/
SheerLuxe TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@sheerluxe

FOLLOW US
Instagram: www.instagram.com/weareladieswholaunch/
TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@weareladieswholaunch
YouTube: www.youtube.com/@Weareladieswholaunch
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.