Building SheerLuxe: The build, growth and £40M sell

0:00Today I'm joined by Georgie Coleridge Cole, the woman behind one of the UK's most influential digital media brands, Shearlux. What began at her kitchen table as a simple directory of online fashion has grown into a global platform reaching millions and nearly two decades later has become an£80 million business. So let's find out why she's a lady who launched.

0:34I'm so excited to have you here I know that we've sort of tried to make this happen for a little while But I'm so excited to sit and talk and unpack Your journey of success It's so incredible to kind of look on from the outside and I know at times it doesn't always feel that way so I'm so excited to unpack. I mean it's so incredible the brand that you have built because it sort of really is I suppose evolved from its original purpose or the intent or kind of knowing or not knowing what you were going to stumble across so in 2007 you founded sheer luxe and i suppose talk to me about the reason that sheer luxe was born because it was obviously founded and started as a directory of online retailers so talk about the first initial intent the i actually found business plan not that long stop yeah i know i love that and it's scarily very close to where we are today i always say that our mission was to connect our target audience with the best brands products and we then went on from being e-commerce only to services and lifestyle but it was initially to connect our audience with the best brands and products to buy online and to help them live their best lives and that has absolutely not changed i always say what has changed is the roots yes via which we connect with our target audience so what started as a website and a daily email is now Instagram, TikTok, WhatsApp, podcast, YouTube, long-form YouTube, a peer-to-peer community app, events.

2:37So, you know, we've grown up with digital and we've grown arms and legs and evolved as the digital landscape has. But the mission really was and is the same as it was back then. So, yeah, it's kind of wild. I must get it out and hand it around the office. But it's crazily quite true to its initial mission. Which is so, so incredible to hear. And I think that's always like the first route of success, isn't it? When that mission doesn't change and the DNA of the brand is exactly what it's supposed to be. But I suppose evolved beyond what you kind of could have dreamed of. what when you first had that light bulb moment that sheer lux was needed sheer lux was missing from the market how did that look and where were you personally in your life well I was very young and naive I would say um yeah essential yeah blissfully naive I remember saying girl three years I'm gonna be on an island drinking cocktails and uh that didn't happen still hasn't happened working on it but um yeah I was I was blissfully naive and I don't know where I had this I guess I thought it was a good idea and that's what drove me quite you know did I ever think I'd get here no I always hoped I would um but I was yeah young and enthusiastic and not afraid of hard work was never afraid of hard work and you know I've talked quite a lot about all the jobs I did as a teenager quite a lot of the time when friends of mine weren't working you know I was never afraid of hard work what sort of things are we talking about we're talking about I mean wait I went to a boarding school and it was a full-time boarding school but I would come home most weekends and waitress and all through the school holidays which god I don't deserve a medal for that but it definitely wasn't what all my friends were doing right and yeah throughout my school years and throughout my university years I was always working and wanting to earn money and I loved the feeling of earning money and I was really happy to work hard for it and I kind of loved that transaction and it was I suppose quite apparent to you that your work ethic separated you from your friends but that time as in like oh okay I've I think I've got a different level of ambition or I think yeah I think I think that's yeah no one's ever said that before I think yeah did I remember sort of from a school perspective I remember going for meetings with my A-level teachers and I remember going to see the Doctor of English at my school.

5:38I remember this so well and I walked in I was in um god it's all changed now I was lower sixth back in those days. Anyway 30 of my A-levels and I went in to see her and she said well you know you're gonna pass you'll you'll get a D and I remember walking out of there just feeling so crushed and going I'm not gonna get a D I'm gonna work my butt off and I honestly honestly sat in my dorm and did a practice essay every night for two years every night and if you went back and asked my school friends they would all say yeah that's exactly what happened and I went and I had every Let's Guide and every sort of learnt every way you should answer a Shakespeare English A level paper and I got an A and I got actually a really high A and so I was sort of determined to prove her wrong and not afraid to put the hard work in to achieve that so yeah never been afraid of hard work and I enjoyed it I'm Definitely someone who likes to be busy.

6:57Yeah. And I'm not very good at not being busy. I'm actually trying, really trying harder to be busy and to sit on my bed and watch TV on a Sunday afternoon. Is that a big challenge for you? Yeah, it is. But it's something that I really enjoy. It's funny, isn't it? Because you grow up. I was saying to my children last night, I was talking to my daughter and a friend who were on their phones, and saying that I was really happy for them to watch a film late but not be on their phones and, you know, the damage it was going to do to their brains and blah, blah, blah. I said, when we were your age, we used to get told we'd get square eyes if we didn't stop watching TV.

7:37And ironically, I'm now consciously trying to watch more TV. I want my square eyes back. Give me square. I'll take the square eyes. But yeah, I do. yeah I'm really trying to watch more tv to switch off and it gives me such pleasure and I do switch off um but it's hard if you're sort of wired that way and you find things to do or you check in on something or the emails take over or it is actually quite hard to go okay let's have a bit of escapism let's remove ourselves for a minute because otherwise being a founder and you know living in that world it's all consuming right and you do have to try and step out a little too you know I mean because you're so in you have to give your brain a bit of space you do although I would also say I love what I do so I think it's very different you know if I was a corporate Laura I might might feel quite differently about it but I genuinely love what I do you live and breathe it I love it I sit there and I do my sort of daily audit of all our content which I'm well known for doing um at the end of every day I make sure I've seen everything and I it excites me I see things we do and I it really excites me so almost like where were you as in like you've got this great idea this light bulb goes off where you're like this is what's missing I want to connect people to the things that are great for them but where are you in your life where are you working Is this like a gamble for you to kind of go all in on something new and unknown?

9:16Yeah. So going back to what you originally asked me, I left university and went to Edinburgh, read French there, which wasn't hugely useful. Went to Paris and worked in their trade marketing department, which was amazing and taught me loads. I didn't speak any French. My boss was German. So I was working with all the international teams. but it did get me a job after university so um always not lost left university went to work for coty in london and got a bit impatient waiting for the next opportunity there they'd gone through an acquisition with unilever and yeah sort of um promotions were on hold so i was impatient moved to savills into property marketing which a little bit dry i can't see you in property marketing no no i can't see that being you uh i saw the salary that's what i saw and i love it and i doubled my salary and realized that there was more to career fulfillment than any money a little bit dry right um and i tied with being a personal shopper and found that quite tedious i remember being very very hot in a shop on ken high street holding coats for someone to try on i was like they've got to be able to skin it out so that was the end of that i think i did i saw two people that was the end of that and then but but you know personal shopping to sheer lucks was i'd i'd always been this person who'd had an eye right you know I said years ago that I spent a lot of my time in Hong Kong with my stepmother sort of rummaging around markets and I remember going to Stanley market and they would just have sort of bags and bags and bags and bags and bags of stuff and I would say 99.8 of it was absolutely rubbish but if you really rummaged you found good stuff and I sort of loved the thrill of that and then that evolved into I guess being a teenager in London with time to kill and and not having great shops in southwest London so it was partly exchange or Wimbledon shopping court and I think that was H &M and god knows what else and I used to spend hours in there thinking if I had to find three things now what would they be one of the best things I could find I sort of play this little game with myself when i was at school i used to sit in my lessons when i was bored and i used to sit and look at my teachers and i'd think if i could improve your outfit i could think mrs castell i mean she won't be alive anymore she's my math teacher and i used to look at her and i and it wouldn't be a great outfit but i'd go if that silk blouse had a shoulder pad and if that pencil skirt was a bit slimmer and longer and honestly that was the game I used to play wow um so yeah I suppose I always had an eye and I always enjoyed finding great things and actually one of the biggest thrills Laura Black our founding managing editor and I will say as whilst we love working with luxury brands of course who doesn't we sort of love nothing more than a challenge yes of working with a more mass market brand we've done incredible campaigns with georgia lasda with two at sainsbury's um we just shot primark's spring campaign and they came to us and said look we love your vibe and will you shoot our spring campaign amazing i mean it looks absolutely mega and so the thrill of sort of being able to take primark or george elevate it and elevate it and make it sexy and give it curb appeal and commercial but sort of aspirational is this is something that i love and still it's sad it's a bit of the job i don't get to do anymore but it's the bit i used to love yeah um you've always sort of been like a creator in that way like creating pieces and like you say finding the best pieces on the local high street that's always been your kind of yeah buzz i can't draw a horse but i can i can tell a good horse yes yes yes yeah yeah yeah um so i suppose that's really where it came from yeah look personal shopping wasn't my vibe and i naively thought I might write a book about the best places to shop for x y and z wow and in the sort of research period I discovered this whole world of e-commerce and this was 2005 when I was researching this and you'd be surprised at the long tail of e-commerce even then and I mean And Hermes were online very early on.

14:22It was a terrible website with butterflies and totally not user-friendly. They sort of flitted around this house and doors opened. And, you know, in terms of... Very elaborate. Yeah. In terms of best practice customer experience, it was awful. No one could kind of get in the first page. But other than them, there was Nella Porte. There were no luxury brands online. But there were a lot of independents and more and more and more. And that's when I thankfully saw the light and realised that instead of a coffee table book, I might create this e-commerce directory. Like at this point, your background, I mean, it's quite sort of varied in what you've done and what you've sort of got behind you.

15:03Did you have sort of the first clue on how and where to start this and what you'd need to get this off the ground? i mean i didn't is the answer i read a book called starting an e-commerce website for dummies do you remember those yes yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah um i remember reading one of those just before i got married one of those egypt five-star hotels that cost about 249 pounds on teletext teletext gosh um that's going back no i mean not really i naively thought you well you build a website and how hard can it be how hard can it be and I suppose what digital has given us it's sort of democratized in a way or created this really low barrier to entry um that has allowed everyone and anyone to create a website for so little I mean I hasten to add it was custom built at the time yeah there weren't there wasn't open source software you can't do it on ai yeah there was no squarespace or um wordpress did it exist then i don't know if it did i didn't know about it so um we yeah coded from scratch a directory which was time intensive but you know as i said those templates and things didn't exist now and i remember sort of when something broke going into the back end yeah and and be looking for the open bracket i don't know if you've seen how much raw code you've seen but yeah i have and it's for me that's not i've seen it but could i understand it and do i know what to do absolutely not that to me is like just like a word salad staring at me yeah there was a founder um a female founder who started a business called decoded which became huge about sort of 15 years ago and she would do coding courses and I thought right I'm going to go on a day's coding course because I feel like I need to understand a little bit like I knew what an h1 tag is and an open bracket and a closed bracket and I knew she couldn't have a gap because that would break the code and I remember going we spent the whole morning coding like four words because the amount of code for a capital letter or a new paragraph or a piece of punctuation or whatever and I was like yeah I mean this is heavy going my brain just doesn't react or respond well to that kind of information so it was very early days yeah so I worked with a developer who I gave equity to and subsequently brought out um to build the site and yeah as I say um blissful ignorance so when you're in this like you say you're in the start phase where you're taking on the web developer and you're in this really early what we're calling that kind of kitchen table startup phase what and it was by the way it was a table about this big and the kitchen was a covered like it was really really that kitchen yeah yeah and what did that sort of kitchen startup phase look like financially what did it take to get sheer lucks off of the ground in those early early days well very little in that i gave a developer equity and my husband who who i've said is an accountant and is and i mean it's only in in in a light that it sort of made me think actually this is a good idea is that he's an accountant glass quite half full tiny guy right and and i suppose now having been married him for so long he really is an accountant and he's also got great gut instinct and and is incredibly savvy um but yeah he he would he will definitely see the negatives i think with me because I'm the creative and the vision and he feels his role is to find all the loopholes that the bits that you won't have considered that I won't yeah yeah and actually I think in an entrepreneur you have the idea and then you kind of work it out I'm always like one one layer of the onion at a time when someone's stressed or having a meltdown I'm like come on one layer of the onion at a time don't don't think of the whole thing and so that's always been my approach kind of minimum viable product test to learn and i think he's he's always sort of taken on the role right i've got to i've got to catch her i've got to check she's not gonna but actually the fact that he he really saw the potential was was more amazing than i perhaps gave it credit for at the time but um going back to your question he was he just qualified as a chartered accountant i mean sexy stuck here and um my my book my online book for dummies in the last chapter it said if you've been clever enough to marry an accountant you can skip this chapter stop it's true no way true i was we were about to get married and i was like i am done and i'm marrying an accountant so i'm sorted um and that turned out to be crucial but he he i think he was on a he i said 45 i think he was on like a 40 grand salary newly qual 45 grand salary and we lived in this rented flat i mean thankfully i worked so freaking hard like hours into the night every night he would quite often go to bed wake up at three in the morning and i'd still be sitting there at my laptop and die bed bed but we didn't need very much money because i didn't do anything i literally did nothing but work so we lived off his salary gave an extra and um i gave a developer some equity and that's all we had i think we knew that we didn't need much cash yeah and then laura black who is our founding managing editor joined the business about seven months and she worked for equity um for the first six or so months um again we couldn't afford to pay her a salary and she saw the potential and had some support at home from a father who also saw the potential.

21:38I'm very grateful he's not around anymore, but I'm very grateful to him for believing in us. And I will say my husband wrote most of the business plan. Sort of my vision, he wrote it. Right, got you. And it was a freaking good business plan. And we went to see a VC who invested in us. And was that early doors? Yeah, really early doors. So my mother had a goddaughter who worked for Nick Jenkins, the dragon, founder of Moonpig. And I early on went to see him. He said, yeah, I like that idea. He's like, I took in the plan. He said, yeah, I like that. And he's like, that's a bloody good business plan.

22:20And that was my husband's doing. And we then went to see Venrex, the VC. and they really liked, you know, VCs, PE, whoever it is, you know, they backed founders, right? It's an idea is one thing, but you've got to be built. Who's executing it. Yeah, you've got to be built of strong, gritty stuff. And I had that and they really liked that I had a husband supporting me who was a chartered accountant. And sorry, hon, if you're listening, I know you're not on accountant these days but you know i think we were you know we were the sort of yin and yang as he said the other day and that gave them confidence because obviously a bit of security i suppose too yeah and just you know we all know the realities of cash flow and and then you need a really really driven founder who is going to drive that vision and be relentless and actually venrex are well known for backing women um and they've had great success with female founders but yeah we in terms of you know how we funded the business we raised 60 grand um in the first year set some targets um smashed those targets then we raised about another 150 um just before Lehman's went down and that was it but I definitely couldn't have raised that money without my input you know it's yeah raising money is really hard i was gonna say what was the process like for you because we we talk about and it's so incredible that you had such a a great experience because we touch a lot of founders that sit in that same seat as you are like it's and we know how sort of underfunded women are when it comes to that kind of vc space but we have that experience for a lot of founders can be so challenging so for you to have that almost someone that you trust so deeply in your now husband and knowing that he does his job incredibly well and he's supporting you and like you say I'm the creative and this is my vision but without him it would have been impossible to sort of bring that to life well I like to say I'd have done it anyway but yeah don't get too big yeah yeah yeah exactly um but no it was it was definitely you know i i've said before you know financial savvy being all over the numbers i mean i am all over numbers i know i know you know i'm permanently onto my fd can i just have those numbers you know i i am very analytical in that sense and yeah he taught me really good financial savvy and um that that has helped hugely and we still behave very much like a startup you know we're very very test and learn and test and learn um in terms of getting the vc money look i think I think a lot of it comes down to whether women have got the confidence to go for it.

25:36I actually think in, I know globally there's still not enough money. There's a big disparity. There is, for sure. I would say it's never come up for me. Which I love to hear. I'm in the industry that I'm in, but I think the world's changed so much, particularly since then. I'm not saying then it was the norm. but I do think the world's changed hugely and I think there are a lot of people looking to invest in women and money ring fence women and I think a lot of it probably comes down to women and imposter syndrome and not believing in themselves I would say that my husband taught me the importance of hanging on to equity right and I think I mean that's interesting I I would quite happily, there was a PR firm and I was like, oh, let's not pay them.

26:30Let's just give them equity. And I think. Because that almost becomes a strategy when you're not sort of at the beginning, when you're not cash flow rich. It's not, you know, that's a real advantage. Oh, yeah. I was handing it out like jubberships. If they're going to work, we'll give them a bit of that. And who knows what it will mean in the future. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And my husband, working in Gordwick-Rhyne-Anse, you know, was adamant that we shouldn't be handing it out unless it was absolutely essential. And, you know, you look at where we are now and what that would have mean, what that would mean for us with less equity on an exit.

27:10You know, that's huge. So I think giving away equity is something people should be really, really freaking careful of because it's very hard to get it back. We did and we brought out our investors, but it's very hard to get it back. And in terms of being female, I think women actually drive a great return. We're known to drive a great return because I think we are frugal and cautious and we don't overly believe in ourselves to the extent that we're like, well, we'll make that back and think big because we're going to smash it. So I think that really works in our favor. favor and it always amuses me how many male and female business partners i know or founders that i know that run businesses together and how many of those businesses were started by women yes and the man then goes in so that was she doing quite well i have a little slice of that yeah she's smashing it and you don't see it the other way around yeah you're so right um i mean men always think they can add value to us don't they it's not it's not a huge surprise yeah before we sort of talk about the way that Shear Lux has sort of evolved from then to the kind of big monster that it is now I am I I want to talk about what you think the hardest thing has been for you about being a business owner I suppose the part that people don't really see and has it changed for you at different stages it's really I've said before it's It is the best thing, but it's also incredibly hard.

28:58Employing people is really hard and amazing. And, you know, I often say there isn't a single person in the show office who I wouldn't want to sit next to if we were out on a social. Like, there isn't one, honestly. um and it's phenomenal to work with people that we do and and I count myself so so so lucky it is it's really hard to strike that balance between yeah wanting to create the right atmosphere and be light yes and also and you want them to like you because why are they working for you? And if they don't like you and you're their boss, what does that mean about how they feel about the business they work for?

29:49So I think, you know, that can sound a bit wet saying, I want everyone to like me. I think if everyone didn't, I'm not saying everyone does, but if everyone didn't, then you're not doing something right. But striking that balance between being a leader and being somebody that wants themselves to like you because that impacts the atmosphere hugely is hard. And I think you've just got to hope that the good bit outweighs the shitty bits that you have to do sometimes. And I think if you try and do those in a human way, you hope that they might understand a little bit. It is, it's really, it's hard in this country.

30:36And I sort of, I don't expect sympathy, but I think there should be a bit more awareness around how hard it is and that people who are in a position to employ others. yes they're doing it themselves and and yes they take you know the lion's share of the ward reward but what SMEs founder and businesses contribute to this economy is is is huge and that creates jobs and workforce and opportunity and and so that's not aimed at my team but I think i think we should be doing more actually to sort of champion founders particularly in this country um absolutely and we do yeah absolutely that you know since those early days and like you say people are working for equity because that's kind of the state of the business at the time the business has evolved incredibly since then how big is the team now oh probably around 90 wow that's incredible it's a lot of people it's a lot of people and what I love when I think of shillucks I think what you've done so differently and so brilliantly is of course there's a way that you can be some founders could be perceived as a little bit gatekeeper-y a little bit I think what I think I like when I think of sheer luxe is how inclusive it feels and how many opportunities that you give and have given to people that are front-facing and I think it's quite easy to be kind of I am sheer luxe and it's going to be me doing this and I'm going to be doing the podcast like you know it's an easy space and also not even necessarily because it's you want to be front-facing but also because you trust yourself and I should do that because I know how I like things done but what I when I think of Shilux and what you've done there is how many opportunities that you've given to people that are having their own like budding careers because of the platform that you've given them and I love it when you sort of built this team and you're kind of so confident and passionate about the crew that you've got around you was that quite an instant feeling that you kind of wanted to champion them out loud yeah it's it's such a good point i mean i would say two things one i've i've people say to me she likes a blog you still really annoy me no so blog is one person and this is a brand yeah and i think in the early days in particular well a there aren't very many of you and b you leverage everything you've got yes and people connect with people and therefore you use yourself i would say as time has gone on i've been very focused on the fact that if i was going to ever sell showlarks which is what i've always wanted to do right because i i do believe that chances of being the next murdoch are pretty freaking slim and i i would only be able to get it so far if i really wanted it to grow internationally and and into much bigger product product than it is so I think I've always known that I couldn't be Sheilars right we couldn't be the same thing and I could be the founder and the CEO but I didn't want to be the face of Sheilars and I work really I've been working really really hard on that for a long time and i've seen other founders not in publishing but in wellness or who have been brilliant to what they've done and you got to a point where they can charge a lot of money for sort of access to them if you're a nutritionist or you're a um instructor or yeah yeah and you can have a brilliant career doing that and you can have a really good lifestyle and earn a good salary but that's never been what I've wanted I've always wanted to create a publishing title a brand that lives outside of you that can live beyond me and grow bigger than me so that has been really intentional that I have disconnected and there are still a lot of people who go onto our channels and have no idea who I am because they're a different generation and I don't show up very often on the channels that they're connecting to Shear Larks with.

35:40In terms of the women in the team who have sort of gone on to be influencers under the Shear Larks brand and then in their own right, that has genuinely happened really organically. It feels that way too. And I think one of the things that has been so magical and, well, magical, one of the things that's been so special and has sort of warmed my heart so much is the response to the acquisition from other women saying that I've always championed them. And I think I think that is just in my nature. I was listening to a podcast this summer and it was talking about givers, takers and makers. And it was all about taker is someone who takes an introduction from someone else because they see that they are going to get something back from that.

36:49Makers are making introductions because they know it's a bit two way. Yeah. And a giver is just making introduction because they think something could be useful for somebody else. Yeah. And the summary was that net net, the giver gains more than the maker or the taker. Taker. Yeah. I see that. And I am not a giver because I know that actually net net, I'm going to come out on top. I think I just am that way. I'm just molded that way. And yeah, not for any gain other than, yeah, I sort of, I want to help people and champion other people. And I always say I'm not spiritual, but I believe in karma.

37:42It's not for that. I just get, I genuinely get real satisfaction and pleasure from connecting our audience with great people, brands and products. and knowing that they're going to love them and that everyone's going to be happy and sharing connections. You do it so incredibly well. You do. That really does shine. But it's, yeah, it's sort of that simple. And I suppose in a way, yeah, just who I am. I like to help people. And if I see somebody who I think is struggling or someone that I need. Or you could add value to them if they met someone for lunch or... I sort of can't help myself. And I was saying to someone the other day, you know, I'm not sure they're doing that right, but, you know, maybe I'll just ignore it.

38:36And his girlfriend said, well, you won't because you can't help yourself. You're like, yep, that's me. Yep, yep. So there's that. And then, you know, in terms of our team, I mean, our team was sort of influencers before influencers were called influencers. Yeah, yeah. But I do feel like Shearlax has really sort of helped to elevate them. And I know, you know, I know a couple of the girls that were at different places before and then joined. And what was incredible is Nana. I know Nana. I've known Nana for a long time. And she was obviously years and years at Fabulous Magazine. And I remember she, we did a shoot together.

39:16And she was like, this is going to be my last shoot because I'm leaving soon. And I was like, what? And I've done like, over the years, I dread to think how many shoots I've done for that magazine. And I was like, what the hell? This is so weird that you're like, what's going to happen? This is like an end of an era. Like, you can't leave here. This is you. You know, it just felt like such a big statement because she's always been so, I don't know, acclaimed there. You know, she was kind of really. But when she said, I know I'm going to chill out. because I was like wow that's a big look like we it and it's interesting that that's the kind of feeling that you get that we were like oh no this is going to be great for you this is going to elevate you and I feel really happy for her because I can see that it has and and that is a real credit to you and the brand that you've built that that was the feeling you know I'm like well where are you going she's like sheer luxe I'm like okay makes sense well that was my feeling too when I met her she's fabulous isn't she and i was like i literally left the coffee around my chief of staff i was like we need to have a nana she's fucking great um but i think yeah we've just sort of not by default because it's been totally intentional we've ended up with this incredible amazing team of women and as we have grown over time so too has the digital landscape yeah and the influencer creator economy and and really we do the same thing and I was talking something the other day about display advertising and I was like unless you've got a really strong call to action you know it's two for one flights at British Airways or whatever it is um or it's retargeting or programmatic I just as a client would not be spending my money on display I would be spending my money on branded content like that's what sells people connect with people yeah and we've got this amazing team of people team of people and we do it under a media brand and so that's so powerful so really we we do what implements as creators do and it's really effective because for us because we have been so laser focused on our point of view and our brand and our look and feel and we've we've got a really diverse range of women now but yet we're sort of all the same yeah yeah yeah and because you've got the same sort of you know the taste level and what you you know it's it's that that's bringing you all together yeah that's that's what's clear to see I think what I find so interesting about Shear Lux and you is that you've managed to sort of stay relevant whilst, as you say, the digital landscape has really changed.

42:04But you've managed to stay relevant while everything around has sort of shifted and you've kind of grown with the landscape, which I do think is actually really, really hard for a lot of brands and a lot of businesses. How have you managed to be relevant at all those kind of different pits of time? Yeah, I mean, it's a really good question. I mean, agility is the name of the game. And actually in our acquisition by future, what's been so interesting is that, you know, in the past when they've acquired other businesses, they've fully integrated them into their offices, onto their systems, onto their platforms, etc.

42:41and actually one of the reasons why we chose them and not others was because they were so focused on doing no harm and not trying to sort of one size fits all and yeah merge us fully into their existing well ways of working structures etc because they wanted us to keep our core and what makes us unique and that's that's being agile and nimble and not getting in our way and i have to say they've been phenomenal thus far it's early days but um yeah i i i firmly believe i said recently on a podcast you just have to be so comfortable with change and and i don't think i necessarily was initially that's interesting um but i've got people in my team i mean laura black are founding managing editor i mean she is a woman in her 40s who has sort of blown me away throughout the last 20 years at her enthusiasm and appetite for change and you're getting behind whatever is next and working it out to pivot yeah constantly pivot constantly learn constantly try new things constantly go well that's not working so let's try this and you know with everything we do we're always thinking about how do we show up here as sheer lux what is our way of doing this platform right that is sheer luck so on on youtube that is long form content and we've done you know from leading ladies to day trips to weekends away to you know we're starting to go on on press trips and film those and turn those into long-form videos for brands and and so i think we're just we're always thinking about you know we are 90 women who are our target audience so yes we've got a you know a massive audience there that that we can sort of test on and get it right but we're always thinking about what's next what's next is it whatsapp is it a community app is it you know youtube is flying um podcast is very much going back into show podcast sort of territory which is where we we had a show on youtube years ago and and so we're always thinking about what's next looking at it how do we show up there and being ready to move yeah being ready to move and then and then really really focused on how do we shop there in a way that is unique to us right um but you know to your question digital is is endless and relentless and there's the next silicon valley you know social platform about to launch and you try things and some work and some don't you know we've we've come off x we came off x long ago pinterest is really interesting at the moment so we're working very closely with them on our strategy there there's whatsapp there's you know it's endless but what i would say is we really know what we're trying to achieve right and it's how does our community show up there and how do we eventually we always focus on getting the product right from a sort of editorial perspective and then what's a commercial opportunity as well because we're a business you've got 90 salaries to pay so we always focus on editorial first let's get that right let's get traction let's connect with the audience there let's see if it grows but what how could that then that be commercialized yes yeah that's that's so interesting and i think that's also good advice too because obviously sheer lux is doing that on a big scale but if someone's listening to this it's they're good foundations yeah they're good foundation great products yeah and making money like you've can't have one without the other absolutely that I want to sort of touch on the acquisition now because earlier this year you sold sheer lux in a deal worth up to 80 million pounds which is just I mean like you you touched on earlier that it's always been in there somewhere that you knew that you wanted to exit at some point and you wanted to build this brand that lives on beyond you and bigger than I sort of what did this moment mean to you emotionally like as a founder because of course you've built this from scratch you take it to a point where you know that it can become something bigger and the legs keep growing and it keeps evolving what did it mean to you you know you said recently that you found that early business plan and it is very close to what has become.

47:41But, yeah, what did it mean to you as a founder?

47:47It's that somebody wanted to buy it and that I haven't failed in what I set out to do is the main thing. I haven't said this before, but... I got quite close to selling Sherlock's for a million quid. Wow. about five years ago a very very well-known publisher who I had about five meetings with and in fact they rang me up one of them rang me up very well-known guy and uh he rang me up and he said Georgie we're not in a position to offer you more than about a million but he's like you've got a great business he's like you shouldn't do this I was just so desperate for somebody to want to buy and see the potential in what I'd started.

48:42What it is you've built, yeah. And in the early years of Sherlock's, I went to, it was Duncan Edwards at the time, who was CEO of Hearst, and also Nicholas Coleridge, Condé Nast and Albert Reid. Actually, Albert Reid saw real potential in what we're doing. Nicholas was a little bit more sceptical. I think he was very kind. later on it was quite early for digital for them they were not there yet right but I I was just desperate for someone I was so desperate to grow Sherlock's I saw such potential and such an opportunity in what we were doing as this digital publisher I just wanted every chance to make it a household name to the extent that if this guy and it rung me up and said you can't do it that don't do it you know I probably probably would have done it because I was just so so it feels now amazing and the money's obviously it's obviously amazing um um but i mean i'm married to an accountant but you know

50:02but look it it's it's it's exciting it's you know gives us huge opportunities to do exciting things with that and i'm on holiday so yes holidays are nice but um you know whether that is it in investing in businesses you know it's early days we will We will see in time. But it is genuinely, I've said it before, and I'm sure people think that's an easy thing to say, but it wasn't about the number. We, I, we felt like, on principle, given that, you know, Shit House is a really good business model. It's like nearly 100 % gross margin business because we don't manufacture any products. Of course. We don't print magazines.

50:55Yes. And, you know, I have toyed with starting the Goop, the Gwyn, whatever it is of women's wear, the sheer lux. And I remember when Ray, when matches went to administration, the amount of people said, you must buy Ray, you must buy Ray. I mean, it has been born, it's coming back, but not by us. And I think, you know, I've no desire to start a clothing brand or manufacture any other product, if I'm honest, because I know it's really hard. And I also know how cluttered most categories are and that there's great product out there. So I'd rather support other founders. But Show Notes is a really good business model.

51:34Digital publishing is a great business model. There are more millionaires in this country than there ever have been before, largely because of the creator economy. And so it's a great business model. The more eyeballs you get on something, the more money you charge. yeah it's sort of that simple so you know on principle i we my husband included felt that you know shade arts was worth a double digit multiple um based on you know his knowledge of m &a which he works and and and mine also um so i think yeah we felt on balance and you know we've been trading phenomenally well and the business is is is it's doing really well it's really doing well so i think we felt on principle for you but not not i don't feel like my life is it's not bound to that i'm going on an extra nice holiday yeah in the summer but But, you know, my husband's got a good career too.

52:43And I think, and it's really just the fact that someone wanted to buy it. That's the great bit. That's what like I'm hearing for this is like, of course, it's great for the business. And like you say, that's booming and the numbers are great. But for you, it feels more like that. Almost that validation. And that like somebody believes in this as much as I do. And that's what's made this for you. I think for all of us, I think for my senior team too, who, you know, the number of comments, which I'll, on to my team of the, you know, God, they're all married. Shearlucks pays, you know, 15 grand a year and they're all bankrolled by their husbands.

53:26And they're all like, I mean, couldn't be further from the truth. My senior team are doing really well. They had equity. I'm really happy to say that was really important to me years ago I made that happen and I wanted them. Equity was your thing. It was my thing but I gave it away to my senior team because I really believed that you know I wanted them to be on this journey with me I wanted to lock them in because they're bloody good and nothing made me more happy than Laura Black and my lucky and charlotte collins and you know like they freaking deserved it and i think for them you know they have battled their way to you know the victoria beckham show here and there's something else here and and it's like we perform you know we're known to drive more sales than vogue and and they won't give us a seat at a show it's wild and there's still a bit of what does show let's do and a bit of stigma do you think yes and that's so interesting and it was in the times article about declaring the number and i i said that my husband understandably didn't really want to think because the future is the plc that they had to anyway but i talked to the senior team about it and they were like hell yes let's let these people know yeah one of my favorite comments when that came out was oh Georgie I love that you're a woman and you wanted everyone to know and if it had been a man it wouldn't have been a question no there wouldn't have been a meeting about should we should we do yeah yeah so I think yeah I think the validation acknowledgement for me for sure also for my team has been like game-changing and wonderful yes I bet I bet because we often discuss you know by nature of this podcast it's you know it's founder focused for females and we talk about the kind of juggle of making it all happen and we've discussed your team and there's you know 90 plus and you know you want to be liked and whilst leading and have that kind of real nice balance and flow of how that looks we use the elusive word balance when it comes to having a family at the same time as having a career how have you found building your dream and that sort of skyrocketing but at the same time you do have a family is it possible for you to separate the two and live a fulfilled life in both of those things or do you feel like there's always something that's sacrificing i don't think of it as sacrifices i think i think there's too much emphasis put on this juggle it's it's so overwhelming isn't it because it's no one that i know has mastered it no well i don't think you do master it i mean i've i've said before i think the idea of being not being a mother at work and not being a working woman at home just sets us up to feel like we're failing yes and I'm definitely both in both places I was very sorry to be a bit late this morning because I've got children late in the in the perfect place this is what we do here I'm like for reference Georgie walked in I was like I've had a bit of a nightmare it's still Easter holidays the kids are this I'm like welcome this is what we do very kind but I you know I think this idea that you you can't talk about motherhood and or work at work and and work at home is is just unhelpful and not realistic and you know I guess my children don't know anything else yeah so they know they're really my daughter I like to spend my life to my daughter saying do you know i loved her she's like yes mommy you daddy tell me all the time okay just letting you know um but no this is life right and the days of a mother not working like we wouldn't live the life that we do if i didn't work like you know being a single salary household is pretty hard these days no look it's a choice it's a personal choice and look I guess I'm luckier than some and for many who are employed they don't have the same you know the luxury of of being in charge and making these decisions I think we try as a business to support mothers as much as we can i've definitely got better at that as i've got older but it's it's not perfect i don't think perfect exists i think you think of the most perfect family you know and and none of us know what goes on behind the scenes when we're all killing each other you know i'm not i'd love to helicopter into someone else's i remember one mother once telling me that her children were arguing at breakfast so much she just walked out the front door and shut it behind her and didn't go back that's just it yeah i'd love to have seen that happen it'd make me feel a lot better but i think it's really hard i say to my team i was on a podcast recently at work and i said just like from the minute you give birth to that baby put the foundations down now because i think for us it was we've navigated it really well my husband does a lot more than he used to but you know in the early days and I also think it comes down from you know being a mother and rid of a control freak and if they fall over and didn't shout mummy I'd be like absolutely I'm so with you yet we moan that they want us all the time yes mummy will solve it come here yeah yeah yeah no I know how to don't worry come here um I'll give you a special cuddle and loads of sweets and I will fix this but you know I think we've had my husband and i have had to navigate this as my career yeah grown and the demands on me and my time and running a sizable business and you know versus him as an employee i mean that that he's got a very good job and he's been very successful in his career so that that's not but it is different no no of course critical way but what i mean is i am i am in charge yes i have the luxury of being able to do the things that he can't always do because he's employed however you know he's had to make changes particularly in recent years to be more involved because there were the days where for a long time he would just school holidays came along he just got up and took himself to work yeah it's that that's where you realize it's so different isn't it or you have those moments where the school calls and someone's sick and you're like we're actually both at work so who leaves yeah but you know and and it always and i've had that with my team i've had that with my team and i'm like i noticed that it's always my employee that needs and I don't know how and why because I'm like you where my husband is so hands-on and he's you know for example if we're looking like school run he does the drop off actually way more than me because I fit mine in that school window and then I'm free but weirdly when we're in that situation I remember once there being a I think I may have been here or however it was I was working and he was in rehearsals to go on tour but it was it was weird that I I just went I don't know if that's me just not stopping myself if a push comes to shove it does fall this way and I don't really know like you say if you've got a female office yeah you will really see that if someone's kid's sick at school but it's your employee they're leaving it's it's really really interesting I think what you said earlier is that your kids don't know any different and I've also as you said that it dawned on me that actually we ask these questions and we all kind of want to know how everyone else is doing it and it all really looks the same right we're all kind of finding our feet but actually we don't know any different no because I've always worked and parented so actually they don't know any different but actually not I don't know how to mum any other way no this is how we do it and they have love in abundance yeah and I also love it that they get to look at us being fearless 100 i think that's you know they are growing up in a world where they will have to work and i say have to work i love what i do like i love to work i'm a better mother because i work here i i'm you know the weekends i'm not on groundhog day and i i salute i salute full-time mothers it's not a job i could do and for me i'm a better mother because of it i do always say to my team many give give birth to that baby i was like start splitting let's start you know dividing and conquering from day one because you will make a rod fiori back um but look it's changing isn't it we're seeing more and more females who are you know equal breadwinners if not you know the major breadwinner and and i think i think it will look very i do different in years to come but i do think sort of in summary that this sort of how do you do it all you prioritize to you what's important and that's different for everybody yeah and it's okay it is i know nothing's perfect yeah there is no perfect and even the most perfect family that you think they are they're not they going through their own juggles struggles challenges and and i don't think anyone has it has it absolutely not i agree with you before i move on to our rocket round i want to sort of just touch on like how your day-to-day sits differently after the acquisition and also what excites you the most about the future of sheer lux so two different questions but i suppose they weave into one because i suppose it has changed for you now yeah it hasn't it hasn't it hasn't it hasn't i i feel as i've as i've said already i feel content i feel relieved the danger is we've sort of got a three-year plan now and and i need to sort of go wow if if this is if this is sort of it i've achieved i set out to achieve i can't kind of help myself but yeah think about what's next and the goalposts always move don't don't they you achieve this and then you want this right what's the next thing yeah um so i think actually on a day-to-day because of the way the acquisition was structured um it's not hugely different I'm enjoying discovering.

1:04:57It's really interesting. Future have got some amazing titles in their portfolio from wallpaper to country life to Claire, the week canter, you know. So it's fascinating to see how that works and how differently we work and to see how we can leverage from them and vice versa. I feel there's definitely been a sort of a bit of a turn. I think as well as the acknowledgement that we enjoyed, witnessed, saw from the acquisition, there's also been this sort of permission for brands and the industry to say, gosh, yeah, we've always loved Sherlock. Yeah. And the amount of people, you're like, oh, couldn't you not have said that all those times?

1:05:53but you know that's fine and yeah so I think there are definitely exciting opportunities coming our way and I think the validation that we got has enabled those so look we are forever innovating evolving moving that's for sure there's lots in the pipeline and I'd say we're all as ambitious and driven as ever we're working on you know international plans and sr man is thriving i mean shill ups is thriving and you know we're in a position where we continue to work with female founders established and emerging and that's really important to us and and connect people with great brands and products and services but you know we're also in a position where you know we're working with google on a phenomenal campaign and so that's also really freaking cool so you know we don't rest i know i can't imagine that you will ever rest either i mean sheer luck is one thing but i can see it in you and i but i see how you light up when you talk about it and i just don't think you can sell and you can exit but i don't think that will ever leave it's written all over you.

1:07:16You can see it, which is exciting. I'm going to do a rocket round now, which is our quick go. Do I get to put the helmet on? Do you want to? I mean, you'd be the first to put a helmet on whilst you're doing it. I mean, bloody hell, go for it quick. Where's the helmet come from? Well, this was the original artwork and this was a picture that's done by a mistake. So obviously, we always talk about launching into space. I mean, to be fair, you look legit. Do I? Send her up. She's off. Right, the first. Don't make me land in the ocean. the first question is this is brilliant what do you believe are the non-negotiables for running a business this is just great I can't I would say work ethic yes I was thinking about it I'm trying to take you seriously with this on your head do you want me to take it off no it's great I live I'm here for it I would say work ethic just work ethic I've said before you know being all over the numbers cash flow being really clear on what your revenue model is being really focused on the quality of your product those two combined i can't take myself seriously either combined with the with with a really phenomenal work ethic like no it makes like you say it's almost like taking it back to the kind of foundations of it and yeah they are not negotiable when did you first realize that you truly launched i'm gonna i'm gonna kiss goodbye there you go there we go was there a moment where you thought okay this is connecting we've done it no i think that's the truth i think there are moments when i go wow we got to work on that and god can you believe you know we've just someone's just put a half million pound campaign with us and well we've had the luxury of creating that like you know the align campaign when we were you know Sherlock's studio is our sort of it's an extension of what we do already but it's a creative solutions and campaign so a lot of brands come to us and say can you shoot this on your team right we want to promote you know these trainers can you can you shoot them on your team make them look cool and then we'll run them on your channels and we're now getting clients coming to us you know where they've worked with traditional creative agencies that are just crazy money and they're coming to us and saying actually let's use your people and your expertise to create a campaign that we will then promote on our channels of course but they will then use on their own in lieu of paying another agency sort of crazy amounts of money so that is like a real so i mentioned the primark one we've got another very exciting on the pipeline and um a line that was phenomenal to see our creative all over the cheeks and yeah it's really cool but i i mean i've always said you move the goalposts i'm sure you're the same yeah yeah so you're almost and it's almost like you kind of like there might be that moment that you really notice that it connected but actually you always need to keep that I don't ever think we've nailed it mentality because I think otherwise we'd all get too comfortable, wouldn't we?

1:10:39I mean, particularly in digital. Every day you start again. Yeah, exactly. It's so true. What's the first thing you do when you wake up and the last thing you do before you go to bed? Probably the most interesting other than a cup of coffee is PT, strength training. Is that your thing, strength training? Yeah, pretty much everything. I've just tried to really get in. I'm like almost there. I'm going once a week for strength training and I find it very hard, but I quite like it. I don't think about anything else whilst I'm there. I love it. Love, I love my PT so much. I do it with a friend. She comes to my house.

1:11:15I honestly bounce out of bed. I love it so much. Is that every day? Four times a week at least. And we have a crazy playlist from 80s dance to, I mean, we've been working out to the Love Story soundtrack. for about the last three weeks. Love it. Have you seen it? No, I've not seen it, but I love that you're in. You're laser-focused. Yeah. So good. I've not seen it. Do I need to? About Carolyn, Lisette, Kennedy, and J.K. Jr. Yeah, I've just not... Well, I wouldn't say it's like the fastest-paced thing. She's pulling it back already. No, but... I was a teenager in the 90s, and those of us that were kind of inter-fashion were obsessed with her.

1:11:58I remember them dying. and god I howled I howled it was so sorry I need to watch okay now I'm in you've sold it to me it's good um what's a skill that you'd love to learn art to sing ah I don't think it's possible listen I've got a great vocal coach by Luka I can send her your way I honestly can't see a note okay she's not got a wand but she's a I've taken up painting and the piano. Are you? See, I like that. See, is that having those moments to really zone out, a bit of escapism? My husband came back and we had two girlfriends and I was sitting in our, I've got a little gym at home, sitting in our gym, we turned it into an artist.

1:12:43Love. Workshop. Yeah. Painting these massive canvases. We didn't have easels, we had them on dust sheets. Oh. The most fun. They came in at 7.30. at 10 we were still going our sushi was upstairs we hadn't touched it wonderful I highly recommend brilliant okay okay um what's one piece of advice that you wish you hadn't listened to I can't imagine that you've listened to something that you didn't believe to be true

1:13:15no no love that love it no I know I can't imagine you being like yeah okay I'm gonna do that even though I don't, I'm not quite sure. What would be the dream collab for Sherlock? So, Charlotte. Well, and me. I was going, I was going bus, she wants a plane. We want to take over a plane. Right. Okay. So, in what, with an airline or? Yeah. Okay. That's a fan. Dream airline? Yeah. I mean it would be nice to do it with British Airways I think they get quite a real deal with the show they are a national carrier aren't they anyway we've got great visions of pimping a plane oh girl you would do it for a trip I can picture the aesthetic it would be quite cool the seats would be epic it would be quite cool and you know what I think about when I think about taking over a plane are those little bits on the back of the seat you know the little things that you can stick to that oh yeah endless endless merch yeah can you make the toilets really chic Of course Thanks Okay I'm in If you could choose one female figure as a mentor Past or present Who would that be?

1:14:27I've got Carolyn Bissett on the brain Yes you do At the moment I was really quite fascinated by her Right In the 90s What about her fascinated you? Just she was She seemed quite mysterious And she had this amazing 90s Calvin Klein kind of style and having watched that series I've sort of really been grieving I mean I howled in the last episode so I might say her or I might say my granny because she was just she was just fabulous and I would just love to pick up the phone to her and have a chat and tell her everything yeah Yeah, that's a good one. That's a lovely one. And every episode I sort of end in the same way where I ask each guest to leave a tip.

1:15:30And it's almost like a tangible piece of advice. If someone is listening to this today and they sort of have watched on and admire what you've built and are looking at starting something in a perhaps similar vein, what would one piece of advice be that you would give to a lady looking to launch I would say get on with it I would say just just start I think a lot of people wait until they become a mother and their previous careers sort of don't serve them or fit anymore and I think that's a really hard time to give what a business needs in the early years yeah and it needs so much for so long so I would say do some market research and be sure that that product is a good one know there's a revenue model you don't need to make revenue straight away but but know what that looks like and I would then say just get on with it and be prepared to work really really hard because it is not for the faint-hearted that's very good and then lastly I ask everyone this because I'm nosy and we talk about ladies who launch but when we speak of ladies who lunch how do you spend your lunch hour every day is that a thing or are you just working through it like most of us are if I was your assistant for example and I was going to order your lunch what would I order right now what's a winner for you how am I going to put a smile on your face and where are you eating it at my desk right of course my assistant is sitting right there and she would and she'd say a salmon or a beef rye roll from Pratt is that what you would say okay and if it's not that it's soup from gales that's your trust and a kit kat oh good we like a little kit kat break thank you um i have loved speaking to you it's so sort of nice to as i said i've watched on and always been in awe of what you've achieved and how you're changing the life of so many other women in the process which is fantastic and And it's been so nice to unpack it all with you.

1:17:52So thanks for coming and having a chat with me. Thanks for having me. Can I take this home? No. Okay. It's one of one now. You can get us a chic one back. Oh, look. Shitlucks will find me one. Thank you. Love that. Lovely.

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