From banker to fashion - Libby London

Libby Hart, founder and owner of clothing line Libby London, launched her first fashion line in 2011, while she was still working in banking. Her career was rocketing fast and she was promoted to a senior directing role at the age of 28. She soon realised a massive gap in the market: good quality dresses that weren’t cheap looking, too expensive or uncomfortable.

“I hated dressing in suits and whenever I found dresses, they were either too mumsy, too boring, too expensive or too booby,” Libby says, explaining how she began to get annoyed by the low selection of quality business wear.

“If I didn’t want to spend a small fortune in a dress, the only options for proper business wear were basically places like Zara, but sometimes those dresses can be a bit inappropriate for a woman who wants to be taken seriously and works in the highest level of the game. They are a bit booby.”

Libby Hart

Tackling the problem first hand

“In my extreme naivety,” she laughs, “I decided that if I can’t find myself dresses, there is a gap in the market and I should try to fill that gap.” And so she did. 

She spent up to 5 years working as a banker by day and fashion retailer by night, until the growth of the business was too much for one woman to handle. Libby had to face the decision of either letting her career in banking, or her business go. We know what she decided to do.

“I really loved my career in banking and I had always been determined that I would be a chairman of Goldman & Sacks one day, but while doing this fashion business on the side, I started to realise that I could be a chairman of my own company and really give it a go.

“During my last year in banking the fashion business really started to take off and I was struggling to find the balance for both. It caught me by surprise,” she says adding that no-one really starts a business thinking that it will be the 'next big thing overnight.'

Positive attitude

Taking the final step of becoming an entrepreneur could feel daunting for some, but not Libby. Her positive attitude is without a doubt the reason she has done so well in everything she has put her mind into.

“I have always been almost stupidly ambitious thinking that everything is achievable for me. Not in an arrogant kind of way, more like thinking that there are always people who will make it as well, not only those who fail. 

“There are people who start and run successful businesses and I truly believed it could be me who can do that.” And she was not wrong.

Libby says that perseverance is the most important thing you need when starting a business and that resourcefulness is a great quality which will keep you going when you think you have hit the wall. 

“You will grow a thick skin over time for sure which is a painful process, but you need perseverance to succeed."

“People will help you in different things, but ultimately, you need to do things yourself and at first every little thing you don’t know is a massive challenge, but you learn along the way,” she assures.

Inspiration from powerful women

During her career Libby has both mentored, and been mentored by powerful women who have in time formed a close network which she often turns to for help and advice. 

“I have had some amazing mentors who have been senior people in the industry with a lot of knowledge and resources. I can’t say who they are, but they have been a tremendous help and an inspiration to me,” she says. Her own mentoring is also important to her:

“It gives me a lot to be able to mentor someone. It makes me appreciate where I started and how far I have come in a very small time.” The very tight network of other business women has helped her many times along the way. 

“Sometimes we share information like factory details, and sometimes I just need someone to talk to about my emotions or about some challenge and they have all been there. They know how it feels like and can support.”

101 for Women in Business

All the channels available today have, however, given the “internet national” generation a possibility to brand, sell and work themselves as a desirable employee purpose-built for their potential employer.

Never under-estimate how important social media is for getting noticed and being visible, but also how damaging it can be if not managed effectively. And remember, your LinkedIn profile might open you the door, but your personality needs to support your online brand.

How to start building your brand

Make a plan and spend a lot of time before your job search making sure you have a clear and specific goal on what you want to accomplish in your career or in the next few years. Think about who you really are, what you stand for, what your values are and what motivates you in life. What are your strong personality characteristics, your talents and strengths?

Make sure YOU know exactly who you are, so you will be able to sell yourself.

“New employers will be looking for authentic confidence, good personal presentation that is appropriate for the role you will be in and for their corporate brand,” said Lesley Everett, the creator and founder of Walking TALL which is a methodology for building original personal brands.

“They want to know about ‘you’ not just what you’ve achieved so far, and to ensure that your communication skills in all forms are of a high standard.“ 

We live in an even faster moving world, where we are forced to make decisions quickly, have limited attention spans and where trust and like-ability are at the fore-front of our sub-conscious minds when we chose to work with, promote, recruit and build relationships with individuals,” Everett said.

The part of social media

You must know by now that each post made on social media sites is a layer added to your personal brand. A certain carefulness is always good to keep in mind. Before posting, ask yourself: ’Would I care if my boss saw this?’

Also, those warnings your mother gave you are worth considering - whatever is added to the internet, could very well stay there even if deleted later.

The first steps in branding should always include taking a closer look on your existing accounts and ‘cleaning’ them up.

“I recently pointed out to a young guy, who has a lot of talent and drive, that his profile picture with his hand gesture as it was, and a certain comment in a post about the police should be changed immediately,” said Lesley Everett.

Her advice on social media use is: “You need a LinkedIn profile with a good, clear and professional head and shoulders photo and a strong summary statement. On Facebook make sure you have your settings so that when you are tagged in a photo you know about it to delete if necessary. 

“Twitter is great for building a presence if you have an area of interest or expertise, and great as a tool for research and following relevant people or companies. Always ask yourself before posting – is this in-line with my personal brand and how I want to be perceived in the professional world? 

“Just remember, that your personal brand is about being who you really are and being the best you can be. Just take time to define it, refine it and project it consistently in all you do,” she said.

Lisa Christensen

Women in business

Women in business can succeed if they remember one simple tip, according to Lisa Christen, the Founder and Managing Director of Christen Consulting. She said: “You have to take the action and control your own destiny. Don’t sit back and wait for others to recognise your work, give you a promotion, hire you for a job or tell you your opinion matters.”

“The best way to get noticed for a job is to network, network, network offline... and then use online to stay recent and relevant in a potential employer’s mind,” Lisa said.

The trick, Lisa explains, in selling your brand forward is to take part in the social media conversation. Weekly, post links to interesting articles or provide insightful and interesting comments on LinkedIn, XING, and other social media platforms. Show initiative and give your brand some coverage and visibility.

In the world of business, women should empower each other and surround themselves with other strong and confident women. Your brand should be one that works as a positive force for others.

In the world of social media and information, there is a great amount of knowledge your future employer can gather even before inviting a candidate into an interview.

Sporty fashion with a mission

Alishia Hasan combined her knowledge of texture and design to her passion to tennis.

Determined tennis enthusiast starts her own eco-fashion line

Alisha Hasan always knew she would start a fashion brand at some point in her life. As a young girl her entrepreneur spirit was known to all as she was consistently the top seller of her class competitions to raise money, and had a stall in every single school fare.

It was during her master's degree studies in London in 2013, when she won a business idea contest and got the initial seed money to buy the first batch of fabrics and the final kick to start her business.  

DREAMS & DOORS, Alisha’s business, is not just a regular central London fashion line. It is a fashion line with a mission: 

“It was definitely clear from the beginning that D&D would focus on organic and natural fibre fabrics in all of the garments - uncompromisingly,” Alisha says. She thinks that although the ‘eco-wave' is accelerating, she caters to quite a niche audience.  

“Eco-fashion is still very 'hippie', and I'm here to change that,” Alisha says. She started her company from her tiny student accommodation room which she turned into design production studio. 

Her own background in tennis and the knowledge her mother passed on to her of textile designing, guided her to creating her first organic tennis wear collection. Today, her collections have both sporty casual garments as well as activewear pieces.

Samples of Alishia's line.

Not a ‘one garment wonder’

According to Soil Association UK, the market for ecofashion has risen 2-4% during the last year, and Alisha really feels like she is in the right place at the right time with her concept. She knows that building a brand takes time, so she is still very patient and works hard to build a firm foundation and effective supply chain. 

She doesn’t want D&D to be a “one garment wonder”.

“D&D is for ambitious and active people, who want to change the world,” Alisha explains. 

Her menswear collection has attracted much wanted attention. “It was a conscious choice to have a men's collection from the beginning, although I was discouraged to do this due to resources, because men are so deprived of fashion, especially ecofashion.”

Alisha’s most popular men's products are worn by young men working in banking in the City area in London. 

“The feedback I've received is that they don't sweat as much when wearing organic cotton shirts and tops and that the Gatsby-inspired polo is easy and comfortable to wear under a suit jacket and takes you from work to after work.”

Our potential is greater than we think

From a young age, Alisha’s personal goals in life have been very present. Over the years, her friends have known her of being a very hardworking, determined and open-minded.

“Alisha believes in her friends probably more than they believe in themselves. She is always pushing us forward with our dreams and goals,” says Mirja Vainio, who has known Alisha for many years.   

“Often, during my moments of doubt, she has told me that my true potential is greater than I think. I am so proud of her that even many people doubted her when she started her fashion line, she is now taking of and doing well.”

Alisha does come a cross as a person, who is not afraid of other people’s fortune, rather she drives from it. And she is neither afraid of what other people might think or say - that is what her brand is all about - building your own success. 

Find out more about Dreams and Doors on their website, or click to take a look at Alisha's fashion line for 2015.

We want to know would you buy eco-friendly products? Has the "eco-wawe" gotten the hold of you?

Create your free online surveys with SurveyMonkey , the world's leading questionnaire tool.

Want to find out more about eco-fashion? No problem, here are some facts and links to get you started:



By: Ida Ääri

Power-woman behind a theatre company

Power-woman behind a theatre company

“I went to university thinking I wanted to do acting. At that time I thought drama was just acting,” Charlotte Bennett says, sitting in a cafe right around the corner of the theatre where Carole King’s musical Beautiful is playing. That’s where the office of her theatre production company is based. 

“I started to get interested in other things when I realised I was very bad at acting, I couldn’t get into any plays so I just sat at home bored. I thought I’ll just direct a play then, even when I didn’t really know what that meant.”

Charlotte feels she was very lucky going to university knowing what she wanted to do, not trying to figure it out like the rest of us. Poppy Melzack, her room mate from university has an idea on how determined Charlotte is:

"It's so inspiring see someone follow their dream. Watching Charlotte go from sitting in the living room deciding to direct a play at uni to watching her work in the National Theatre is amazing. 

“It's more than just innate skill (which she has), she's the most driven, dedicated and persuasive person I know."

The Forward Theatre

Charlotte’s company, The Forward Theatre project, produced its first play for York Theatre. After that they have done around two productions a year. 

“The transition from assisting director to a director is really hard and I don’t know how I would have done it without starting my own business,” Charlotte says adding that the contacts she made before starting her company helped her to take off. 

Her proudest moment was when the  she directed a play to the National Theatre, a one man’s dialogue show from David Bradley, called ‘On The Harmful Effects of Tobacco/Can Cause Death’.  

“At the time and remembers thinking ‘how on earth have I done this’,” she says.

The play was on for one night only and it was sold out, but for Charlotte, the best part was being able to work with such a prolific actor. Bradley also happens to be known for his performance in the Harry Potter movie series.

“My biggest relief in the first day of rehearsals was, because I was thinking that he is so amazing, how an earth.. you know.. what am I going to do here. 

“But actually, when we worked together, we really found that we got a lot from each other. It felt great.”

Unpaid internships

What Charlotte realised very soon, was that if she wanted to direct for a living, she needed to get as much experience as she could while still on student loan. She did several unpaid internships as an assistant editor, something Charlotte won’t tolerate easily in her own company.

“I had some really good times and some really bad times. I was sometimes paid ten pounds a week, living in London thinking ‘what am I doing, I have a degree’, but I learned from it. 

“Every single one of those jobs was paid of in some way. It either led to other work, or meeting somebody who was really exciting and I could work with, and it was all just really exciting.”

At the moment, Forward Theatre is working on a play called the Bird & Bay, which Charlotte is currently pitching to festivals for next summer. She is dividing her time between her own business and a company called Rush Tash, where she does freelance directing. They are currently working on a radical feminist play for the National Theatre. 

Find out more about The Forward Theatre Project, here.

Find out more about Charlotte:

-  Charlotte talking about the start of her career and how she got into directing:

- The story behind the Forward Theatre project and its future plans:

- Knowing what she knows now, what would Charlotte do differently and why her company will not work with unpaid people:

Find the trailer for 'On The Harmful Effects of Tobacco/Can Cause Death’ here:

Have your say: Is it beneficial to work for free or just free work force for companies to be able to not hire real people? Would you like to learn more about unpaid internships? Leave us a comment and we'll find out for you.

Create your free online surveys with SurveyMonkey , the world's leading questionnaire tool.

More on the internship conversation.


By: Ida Aari

Mums in Business

Mums + Business

Esthers passion is to help other mums to fulfil their potential by starting businesses

Flexible working

Mothers these days are continuing the trend of having children at an older age than previously. According the Office of National Statistics (ONS), the average UK mother is now almost 30 (29.8 to be exact).

“We live in a society where we want to accomplish everything, so it is natural that some mothers build their career and then have children. It is just a shame that in general the workplaces are not flexible enough to cope it,” says Esther Radnor, who got the idea for her company, Mum Plus Business, whilst on maternity leave from her first son.

“After becoming a mother I didn’t want to return to a full time job and decided to set up my own business,” explains Esther,

“Although I had experience in PR and Marketing I felt that I needed to work with someone who could complement my skills and also provide support where necessary for the start-up. There wasn’t such a service out there that would help mothers connect to team up or work together in order to launch a successful business so I set up Mum Plus Business,” she says adding that she had noticed that there were so many mums in a comparable position to her. 

Mothers that wanted to develop their career and themselves but not being able to find suitable jobs that would give them the flexibility they needed.

Still hard to compare career and family

Esther feels that it is still generally harder to find flexible jobs compared to full-time jobs in London, even though the capital seems to have more knowledge around flexibility, probably because there are a greater number of mothers here voicing their demands.

“Most companies, in fact 98% do offer some form of flexible working, however very few actively advertise and promote the possibility of flexible working. Particularly more senior roles are mostly not advertised as flexible. 

“There is a barrier that needs to be overcome for many employers but flexible working can offer many benefits to businesses and shouldn’t be regarded as a hindrance,” Esther says.

Even though new technology means that many jobs can be carried out from home office, including meetings with Skype or other software, many businesses still don’t use enough of these options.

“Businesses should certainly take a look at the benefits of flexible working for their employees. Employers who work flexibly are for example generally less stressed and feel more in control of their work which results in better work outcomes,” Esther says. 

Amanda Rees

Helping mums with businesses

Mum Plus Business is the leading website helping mothers develop flexible careers trough a free collaborate program, enabling members to swap skills or find a business partner. The website also offers a job board, dedicated to flexible work opportunities for mothers. 

Esther helped both Judy Parris, who started her crafting business EK Buddy Blanquilts, and Amanda Rees, who founded Pumbaliciouc and sells pregnancy clothes online, to take their first steps into the world of business. 

Amanda Rees says that her inspiration to start a business came from trying to create better life balance to her family. Both she and her husband worked as lawyers. 

“Being a parent totally changed my priorities. My husband is also a lawyer and works very long hours. 

"I wanted to work but I also wanted the time to be a hands on mum. Setting up my own business gives me much more flexibility to work when I want," she says 

Judy Parris emerged herself from difficult times by focussing on her creativity.

“I re-found self worth through entrepreneurship,” she says. “I find crafting refreshing and therapeutic and it just feels right for me. I love what I do.”

Before starting her own business Judy worked as a beautician. She was also a full-time carer, which, she says, made her feel down at times. 

“You can feel a sense of helplessness and isolation when you witness a loved one in that kind of situation. But my work gave new purpose for my life,” she says.

At the moment Judy is working on a project that glows in the dark which makes her very proud of herself. You can see more of her products on her website here:

“Balancing work and family commitments can be difficult, whether you are pregnant or already a mother.  Working full time may be too much, but not working at all can become quite dull and make you feel isolated especially if you were used to going to a busy work place,” Esther says, adding that her number one advice to starting businesses is to plan their success.

Interactive map about live births by age group of mother in England and Wales between 1938-2013. Source: Office of National Statistics:


Have your say: Let us know when would you start a family (or when you did) and we'll create a story about how our readers see their future family life.

Create your free online surveys with SurveyMonkey , the world's leading questionnaire tool.