Episode 16: Power of Influencing with Lorna Luxe

0:09Aimee Smallex: Hello everyone and welcome to another episode of Pretty Busy and today I am joined by the amazing Lorna. Thank you so much for coming on. I'm so excited for this one. I've got my cue cards because I feel like we'll just go all around the houses and have a good chat. um one of the reasons I wanted to get you on is because you're not just a UK influencer you are the UK influencer and I hope you know that and I want to talk a lot about how you've seen that

0:38Lorna Luxe: change over the years yeah I gotta remember like when I met you I was probably like peak growth yeah so that would have been like 2000 and 20 we're like lockdown era people do you remember how we met I remember I remember do you know how your brand got on my radar I remember a video of you appearing on TikTok and you'd been duped someone tried to copy your blazer yep I think it's pretty little thing and I saw that video and it is something my gut was like yeah I don't really like that that annoys me a little bit but then it drove me to your website and then I saw this incredible blazer and I was like oh I'm totally getting that so I ordered it and I remember

1:20Aimee Smallex: packing your order and some fan I was because I didn't know your name was Lorna Andrews and I remember I've got the photo somewhere I remember taking a picture like a selfie of me smiling with you at the parcel and just saying I wonder if that's like Lorna Lux like your old Instagram name and I remember you tagged me in a story later that day like it was just like a screenshot of the email and it was like oh I've just ordered this blazer and it's coming tomorrow brilliant I'm gonna go take it to paris when i buy a kelly and i was like i love that it was so at the time it

1:55Lorna Luxe: was a period of like nobody had really done what you were doing so you've got to remember that everything was very established online you know you'd get the odd niche brand that no one had heard of but actually what you learn is that they were like eight or nine years deep yeah it's just that they were only finally being heard about yeah and actually you your trajectory is still to this

2:14Aimee Smallex: day quite like unmatched but I think what that done for the brand back then like we've never seen a reaction like that even with now we've got like a million followers and we've got all these people working and nothing beats that day and I think that was how organic it was like it was a true story wasn't it yeah you literally like bought that blazer and if you go through to your like dms i was dming you constantly because everyone would say to me who do you want to wear odd muse and they'd expect me to say like hayley biebel kendall jenner and i go no there's this influencer online and the reason i wanted you to wear it so much is because i knew you wasn't just getting dressed up and wearing seven outfits a day to take photos you was genuinely like having the best day in london and just having a good time and you that's one thing i confirmed through meeting you like you're such a good time girl you're always having fun do you know what i always look

3:13Lorna Luxe: back right and i think because a lot of creators that time did do that didn't they had a suitcase you'd see them wheeling themselves down bomb street yeah and they'd have like six or seven

3:21Aimee Smallex: and i totally respect that but i just knew you know i knew i wanted you to wear that blazer you know sitting outside at scott's in paris like i just knew you was gonna live in that blazer and you wasn't gonna shoot content and i think that was the whole thing for ob music i just wanted people to really like the product I think that's just what went wild about it it was fun day that

3:44Lorna Luxe: as well because we'd got the bag and then we did do the little shoot in the street and then I remember getting quite tipsy that day in my blazer like I said I wanted you to live in

3:55Aimee Smallex: the blazer do you remember how we met though the first time we met I should remember really right so it was Soho festival is that where we met that was the first time we met in person and we got really drunk yes we did we got very very we got the train back didn't we we got the train back

4:11Lorna Luxe: to another bar i think you got you went home i went to greek street yes and i remember just

4:17Aimee Smallex: sitting there eating my pizza and i recognized your valentino sandals do you remember yeah when everyone had like the gladiator sandals and i remember just like i recognize you by your feet basically brilliant and i remember coming straight up to you and honestly i spent the whole day with you and it was like we were best friends from that moment and I just wasn't expecting that

4:38Lorna Luxe: yeah because you were with your mate and Josh but you were with your like girlfriend and I just

4:44Aimee Smallex: remember us all piling up together yeah for the whole day and then didn't we chat to someone

4:48Lorna Luxe: because at the time you were like oh I want to get membership I'm like I like so house I want membership I was like hang on I know someone who can sort that I think you had it in like two days

4:57Aimee Smallex: flat I was like hang on I waited a year for mine yeah you you did I completely forgot about that You got me my solo house membership. That's brilliant. But do you understand the way you changed Odd Muse's trajectory? I feel like you've always been too modest about it.

5:12Lorna Luxe: I think that how you used that moment is the difference between you and everyone else. Because I think sometimes I probably do do that for brands in different ways. And they're not ready for it.

5:24Aimee Smallex: Yep.

5:25Lorna Luxe: And they're not ready to think outside the box in terms of the pre-order model. yeah in terms of capturing it and meta spend and all those things and you for whatever reason were

5:34Aimee Smallex: just so geared up for that I think it's because like I said it was the moment that anyone that would ask me it was the moment that I wanted yeah and it's like you said like everyone gets there like 15 seconds and their big shout out but you've got to run with that momentum and you so run with

5:48Lorna Luxe: it and I just remember I never like you never look back and like for me as a not just as a creator but a founder and all the other things it's really exciting to watch someone do what you did

6:00Aimee Smallex: and I haven't really seen anyone do it since well I think that goes very nicely onto speaking about the Lorna Lux effect which we can now rebrand as the Lorna effect but when I worked at ASOS that was a real thing so and it probably still is now like if you was to wear something and link it there would be 500 people on that department like literally winning like they're winning in trade this week because Lorna linked it like do you understand that kind of effect that you have

6:31Lorna Luxe: right I do because I have my own brand so I see traffic that I drive to my own businesses yeah but what I find lovely is that as a community of people there's a lot of different interests right yeah so sometimes I'll think I'll just land I'll link to the most spurious thing very niche yeah a good example yesterday I linked to basil oil I saw that and it's like but then I look back at the clicks and the clicks are high they're in the thousands and I always think how have how I found a community of people that are interested in so many different things that I'm interested in yes and so that's maybe that's helped me in some ways because it gives me credibility in lots of

7:07Aimee Smallex: I think that's one of the reasons why I'm so interested in it because it's not it is genuinely just everything you like it's not necessarily fashion or beauty or it's kind of just anything that fits into your daily life but also like it's just lasted a long time like this lawn effect has lasted so long and it sees no sign of stopping so how have you been able to kind of

7:31Lorna Luxe: maintain that i think as well as having a bit of consistency in terms of how often i post and how how regularly i update yeah i straddle that line of vulnerability that some people aren't willing to give there's a lot of people on the internet and we meet a lot of people yeah but when you meet them in real life they are quite affected or a bit distant and they're quite detached from their own life yeah and I think with me for whatever whatever's happened to me I've managed to not do that yeah so you see what I put out online is pretty much pretty accurate yeah it's not it's not me putting on a performance I'm just documenting what I'm up to at that moment yeah now I'm self-aware enough to know that there's certain things going on in my life that no one needs to know about yeah and I think I navigated that really in some ways with a lot of difficulty with John being poorly because when he was very ill with cancer there were certain things where I'd think do you know what as much as you want me to film you today yeah I don't think you need to look or say things right now yeah so it's like protecting him yeah but generally what you see with me is what you get yeah and I think people not just respect it but they appreciate the honesty yeah they trust it and it's like do you know what a fair play to if she can come on looking absolutely crap or be be that vulnerable share that awful thing or I think that's brought me a bit of respect within my community yeah and they've just stuck with me thank god yeah um in

8:56Aimee Smallex: terms of like the influencer world now versus how do you think it's changed in the last 10 years

9:03Lorna Luxe: I think that we were all playing at it 10 years ago because an influencer really was about a

9:09Aimee Smallex: content creator and creating a person yeah whereas what we've seen now is as is more obviously there's

9:15Lorna Luxe: more variety there's more choice you've got the customer you know the viewer demanding more from the creator and so that's why they become interested in people like you know a founder or you know you're really interested to watch because you share the highs and lows of a business yeah

9:31Aimee Smallex: that's quite interesting to yeah rather than someone who's just sharing the highs and lows

9:35Lorna Luxe: of shooting their outfit of the day.

9:37Aimee Smallex: Yeah.

9:37Lorna Luxe: And I think that's what's happened. It's that we're craving more storytelling.

9:42Aimee Smallex: Yeah, more substance. But I feel like you've always given that substance.

9:46Lorna Luxe: Yeah, maybe. But even back in the day, like just before we met, I didn't talk really to camera.

9:51Aimee Smallex: Yeah.

9:52Lorna Luxe: It was all like pictures and picture telling.

9:54Aimee Smallex: Is there anything you miss about the old Instagram era?

9:58Lorna Luxe: I miss, no, actually, no. I think it's a lot easier now.

10:02Aimee Smallex: I like that. I really like that. I agree. Yeah. I think you can give that substance without it having to be as curated now.

10:09Lorna Luxe: Yeah, and it's like people accept me and like me for me.

10:12Aimee Smallex: Yeah.

10:13Lorna Luxe: I don't need to put six filters on my picture.

10:15Aimee Smallex: Yeah, I love that. So yeah, I like it better. Do you ever feel pressure to keep up with like newer influencer trends or like anything like that?

10:23Lorna Luxe: I probably should do. I know that in my, like my management, we have a WhatsApp group. On the worst influencer in the world. On the worst influencer in the world. No, you're not. but there's like a whatsapp group and it'll be like trending tiktoks this week but i it's just not my but don't get me wrong i love them and i'll really enjoy them yeah but i might not necessarily jump on it yeah but it's like what you're trying to do at that point like i'm listening i'm trying

10:47Aimee Smallex: to grow on tiktok at the minute okay so i'm interesting i know i'm trying to be a tiktoker

10:52Lorna Luxe: and i've got what 350k which i think it's quite respectable number i think that's quite a good number and the engagement's there because most of my tiktok followers have probably found me from

11:01Aimee Smallex: Instagram yeah so we're a bit of a community yeah so there's lots of chat going on I just don't have the massive volume to support it what what has made you this year want to grow more on TikTok

11:11Lorna Luxe: because it's fun yeah and I like how much engagement you get and I feel like I want to grow that

11:18Aimee Smallex: and it's quite fun to create I love how whenever I speak to you it's more like because it's fun and it's like genuine enjoyment and kind of like I feel like the business and the growth of it kind of just follows you I think that's quite natural because even for someone like me like I'm obviously trying to kind of go more down a personal brand route but I can't help but like try and put that business side on it and like put too much stress on it and strategy and stuff like that when really like at the end of the day it's just an app like you just gotta have fun you've got to

11:47Lorna Luxe: have fun but also I've got that backstop of that existing 10 or 12 years of being an influencer right so I feel like because my business is me and then all the other businesses piggyback off my own personal brand maybe there's that I don't know maybe I've got this

12:03Aimee Smallex: unwarp confidence that I shouldn't have well my next section is community and confidence that goes on quite well when did you realize you had a community and not just followers

12:13Lorna Luxe: very early on probably about 7 000 followers really yeah because straight away you've got to remember when I joined Instagram I was in the depths of an eating disorder I was really unwell and that was my escape so I would come online.

12:25Aimee Smallex: That's so interesting that you had that confidence to just like come online.

12:29Lorna Luxe: But it was all hiding behind pictures right?

12:31Aimee Smallex: Yeah.

12:32Lorna Luxe: So I could hide behind a pretty picture but I could engage with people and they would judge me just on the picture not on my mental health.

12:40Aimee Smallex: Right.

12:41Lorna Luxe: And I kept with that that community grew I always describe it like an onion like layers of an onion.

12:46Aimee Smallex: Yeah. And we grew each other and I think I've always I've stayed in touch with a lot of those people from back then yeah that's so interesting how like that era kind of helped you back then and maybe if Instagram was in the kind of world it is now would you think would you have ever started if it was that kind of world where we are coming online and we're not necessarily curating it too much and we're just plopping the phone up do you feel like you would have had the confidence back then to do it or are you glad that kind of it was more of this like picture app and I don't know because I have to look at like all the things

13:22Lorna Luxe: going on in my life at the time yeah so like where would I be now had that not happened yeah I don't

13:27Aimee Smallex: know I feel like those early years really solidified you as kind of like that kind of like style fashion yeah and then moving into kind of the more recent years and also like network is

13:40Lorna Luxe: currency in this game right so in those early years I turned up to the opening of an envelope like if there was a party or an event you name it I was turning on breakfast lunch dinner so I may still like that I like to know people right and I'm quite curious yeah I will ask the questions

13:55Aimee Smallex: I think that is the number one best trait to have whether you're growing as a creator a business owner what that is just such a good trait to have being interested in others yeah totally and in my

14:08Lorna Luxe: head I always thought well I might meet them again in another guys and I just want to know what everyone's doing and understand the net like understand the world and I think I kept a lot of those pals from back then who have now given me you know opportunities later on there's one

14:23Aimee Smallex: thing I always say about you is you have the best group of friends around you I do have good mates you have such good mates around you and they're so in they're so in your life and in your business

14:35Lorna Luxe: and it just seems to work so perfect but I've met lots of can I say this word assholes yeah we're

14:42Aimee Smallex: Not on live television, don't worry.

14:44Lorna Luxe: I've met as many great people as I've met crap.

14:46Aimee Smallex: How do you tell the difference between the two?

14:48Lorna Luxe: I don't always. And I've had, you know, I have bad judgment. I probably drop one friend a year. Oh, okay. That's industry.

14:55Aimee Smallex: Okay. And I literally cut them out. Interesting.

14:58Lorna Luxe: And I think that's not ideal, but it's usually quite healthy. Because some people are leeches. 100%. And you don't see it sometimes. You just, I always look for the good in people, right?

15:08Aimee Smallex: Yeah. And I give them chances.

15:11Lorna Luxe: responses yeah and then too many red flags you're out what's a red flag to you I think a red flag

15:16Aimee Smallex: for me is deliberately making me feel crap about myself yeah yeah or using me to access somebody

15:25Lorna Luxe: else and it being so obvious and and then dropping me out once you've got to the next person how did

15:31Aimee Smallex: you take your community with you and starting new businesses without them feeling like they're

15:37Lorna Luxe: constantly being sold to well I definitely when I launched LAS I didn't do it in the same way that you did and I regret that but I think John was so unwell when LAS was being built that I couldn't be online and present the way I would like to have been so when dramas were happening in the business at the beginning I couldn't really share them right because I was so distracted with what else I was working on yes yes yes so it kind of just sat there and the crazy thing about LAS right as a brand is it earns lots of money it does really well it ticks over nicely but it could be scaled if I just threw a little bit more welly at it but there's always more that we can be doing especially when we're doing like all these different things I completely agree I think maybe launching 98 so quickly after LAS was a rush for John to see it so it was that thing of like I want you to see this before you don't see it yeah so I kind of ran and maybe didn't give them both enough air time

16:31Aimee Smallex: time am i right in saying he was quite involved with las more than 98 he was really involved with

16:37Lorna Luxe: las um he wasn't really involved with 98 really but he was very proud of 98 yeah because he loved the strength of the branding because charlie obviously was at the helm of that yeah and charlie is very she's just a creative genius yeah and so i think john was really impressed with

16:54Aimee Smallex: charlie's like ideology about i remember when you launched las i just remember how much he just loved it he did he was just so impressed by it and he couldn't believe you have a fashion brand remember the launch party that was another late night that was very fun that was very very fun introducing pandora's holiday collection this season celebrate the ones you know by heart with a gift that says it all from engraveable pieces to festive charms to lab-grown diamonds pandora's jewelry is made for the ones who inspire you who've been there through it all give a piece that says exactly what words can't pandora more than a gift shop new styles in store or online at pandora.net actually that day i was going to another brand event and i bumped into you and john at brassiere of light you did and i thought i'm gonna go with them yeah i'm gonna have a glass of wine with them and then i ended up getting home about 3 a.m yeah you did how do you deal with people misunderstanding you because that must happen a lot because you're talking to like a mass of people and you're you know you're recommending a mass of products and you're doing all your businesses like mostly doesn't happen i mean that's good i get misunderstood with like

18:09Lorna Luxe: a good example yesterday i was chopping a pizza and people thought i was chopping it on my marble worktop right but john being john had had these glass uh like cutting boards made right that matched the marble. It's like marble effect glass boards. So it looks like I'm trashing my work service, but I'm actually not. So of course, last night, I've got a couple of hundred people to appease because they're really worried about John's marble work time. So stuff like that, I just, because I'm in my DMs every day, I shut those things down straight away. But generally, am I misunderstood? I don't think I am.

18:48Lorna Luxe: And would you care? I think I would care if it was something really... important but it generally isn't but have you ever had that in the past where you feel like

18:57Aimee Smallex: you've really made a mistake online and you've had to kind of like explain yourself I feel like

19:00Lorna Luxe: I've not seen a law and luck scandal well it happened years ago when I said in I think I said on street very flippantly that the reason I was putting press on nails was because when you go to the nail salon it can damage your nail I don't know why I said that stupid thing to say and actually in hindsight I hadn't been to a nail salon in years so I didn't even know I was talking about and it very quickly people got really upset about it oh really and I kind of came on I went hold my hands up and I was like you know what I don't know why I said that I'm talking absolute crap and I then said let's the only way I could see it was like let me shine a light using my profile shine a light on some brilliant nail text yeah and so I would share nail text each week and actually I've learned so much now in the nail community I mean Megan who does my nails is just exceptional she's an artist yeah and some of these girls are at the top of their game and it's really a privilege to get to know them so it's kind of in being so ignorant it actually gave me access to a community I probably wouldn't have had access to interesting so now I want to talk about you becoming a multi-business owner when did you realize your audience was gonna become something bigger than just content I think that when I started to create collections for a fashion brand before all my own brands yeah I realized the the power of that and how that I thought if I can do that for them I could probably have a bash at doing it for myself so that was how I kind of understood that my community was my when you was like doing those collections what was the kind of

20:38Aimee Smallex: like volume like what was you like what was that moment when you was like really exposed to it like wait a minute I should maybe bring this in house or do something for myself here pretty soon on

20:50Lorna Luxe: probably from the first collection because I remember the first collection I'd launched I'd effectively sold it out in the night so the first when it dropped it sold out and I think the brand owner was like the same as me I'm a bit shocked to be honest because I didn't realize you'd have that kind of clout yeah and we both agreed that we would do another collection quite soon after right and I think as the collections did well and the money came in and so it became this thing of like well what more can we do what other brand what other products can we sell because maybe we don't just do a core lawn a collection maybe do a swimwear maybe do lounge wear yeah and so I was designing multiple collections and I think that's when you first

21:28Aimee Smallex: started learning like your actual kind of range and earn you know understanding average spend

21:33Lorna Luxe: of basket and conversion rate and really getting ahead on that those stats of like my link clicks versus my sales yeah and also returns right because returns in fashion are horrendous so horrendous horrendous so and also knowing that like if I did a loungewear collection the returns are pretty low yeah and so that was quite a nice little you know spinner for me yep but that also So my girl wanted a really beautiful dress.

22:00Aimee Smallex: Yeah.

22:01Lorna Luxe: So it was like.

22:01Aimee Smallex: You know the fashion industry average for returns on dresses is like 65%. Terrible. It's crazy.

22:08Lorna Luxe: And also for us where we both do quite a bit of, you know, tailored.

22:14Aimee Smallex: Yes.

22:14Lorna Luxe: And stuff like that. Then it's about fit and refit and doing, you know, when I was doing those collections, I wasn't getting to do three or four fits. Yeah. To nail it. Yeah. Because the turnaround was so fast.

22:26Aimee Smallex: Yeah.

22:26Lorna Luxe: and so I would look at things like how can we add sheer into the back of everything yeah how can we make sure that it's less likely to get returned yep and it's just that was a learning that I was on what have you learned about yourself since being a founder that I'm not a great manager but I'm a good leader I like that I'm not great at day-to-day I'm not a micromanager I trust my team implicitly yeah but and that's very important it is they know they're not scared of me but I think they really respect me I hope they do yeah and we work really well and collaboratively together anything can be said and I won't get offended

23:02Aimee Smallex: by it interesting what have you had to unlearn about yourself as a founder that I might sometimes get it wrong that not everybody likes what I like yeah that happens definitely that happens as a founder you think everyone's going to love everything you do and some products just don't

23:19Lorna Luxe: don't hit they really don't hit and you're like why is that not hit and I think that goes back to the you know from my or my community it's about who's wearing it I remember us doing a community event and I said to my team I was like right can we just meet the woman that's actually shopping us yeah because we were designing for a girl that was 10 20 years younger than the actual woman showing up to the shop and I was like can we start designing clothes for the girl that's actually got an appetite for us yeah and then we'll grow our circle I think it's kind of implementing like

23:49Aimee Smallex: your how you've always worked with your community online as an influencer into your business yeah totally what was the biggest shock for you running a business the emails the level the level of communication yeah that was demanded of me there's a lot of tiny little things day to day and making

24:10Lorna Luxe: decisions so I always remember watching an interview with Oprah and she was kind of like you just got to make a decision it might be the wrong one but you've got to be decisive you haven't got time to willy-nilly around and I think honing your skill in making decisions as fast as possible yeah I say I'm not somebody that ums and oh I don't really know about that I just make a decision I own it yeah and we crack on I mean that's so important how have you kind of

24:34Aimee Smallex: like set the brands up for success in management and in the day-to-day when you are like the the business of yourself is a huge kind of running business as day-to-day that you're managing as well so how is that 98 and las set up so you don't have to be so much in the day-to-day and you can still stay creative for your channels yeah you can still be the face of these brands certainly

24:59Lorna Luxe: for 98 there's a lot more um you know it's a four-way split right so it's me and three other founders together nice and we all bring different skill sets nice and they know that my skill set is certainly with creative and having an opinion on the product because effectively I'm going to be selling it yeah so I'm always a part of the early r &d of any product we work on nice but that middle bit is up to Charlie to then interpret my ideas and my taste and make it a visual reality yeah and you know it's been so fun working on 98 because we're literally with we're working with guys that are at the top of their game that have delivered you know multi-million bound skincare and beauty brands in the past so they are very knowledgeable but also we are knowledgeable about customer and community right yeah because we have that day-to-day I think you see that difference

25:49Aimee Smallex: in 98 so for anyone watching 98 is kind of your beauty brand LAS is kind of your clothing brand LAS feels like a lot more yours community led yeah kind of like the community is leading the product whereas 98 feels like so luxurious and it's gonna be I mean Zendaya was wearing it yeah Zendaya had the gloss in her hair for Spider-Man it's what more do we need to say I honestly I'm

26:17Lorna Luxe: really excited about 98 i predict 98 to be a global brand so do i it's we can see it we've got it mapped out yeah we know where we're taking it we're on track yeah we're scaling at a rate that i've never seen in anything i've worked on before yeah and i've got the right business partners to get from it from one spot to the other and also it's not it's not and deliberately so it's not about me yeah i'm you don't really see me feature on anything to do with the brand

26:43Aimee Smallex: no so obviously obviously you're you're pushing products on your own channels because you're creating products that you want and that you love but when you look at 98 it is really being positioned as you know a celebrity hair care brand and kind of like that red carpet finishing touch

27:01Lorna Luxe: I mean it's so it smells bloody great doesn't it it smells so good I'm so proud and I'm so proud that we were early on on the whole understanding that it's really important to empower the hairdressers the creatives yeah because that's come full circle and those people that we championed at the beginning are now supporting us in ways that I could never have dreamed what are your like biggest goals for 98 if you ask me that I mean I changed my goal each week

27:30Aimee Smallex: because it would have been it's very important to you know Charlie and I had a chat about Zendaya

27:34Lorna Luxe: a year ago and he was like who's your dream girl and you know we were both like oh zendaya that's never you know that's never going to happen and it did yeah now maybe the goal isn't a person but uh you know a country or a multi-brand we're about to launch into a multi you know we're actually

27:51Aimee Smallex: going into a high street store and like those moments for us are really key for the growth i can't wait for people to smell 98 then this is the thing when you buy it online you don't know what's coming like the smell is just gorgeous it's so good thank you what is your definition

28:09Lorna Luxe: of success in this new era so a bit controversial this because i fully i feel like success is about my how i feel inside contentment and happiness i love that and i think where i've had such sadness happen to me in the last couple of years yeah especially this year it's really been quite challenging yeah I'm craving feel waking up in the morning and feeling like I'm really looking forward to my day yeah you will not see me doing something I don't want to do I will pull out of something if I turn up to something and I'm not feeling it I'm out I don't care who it is so I think protecting my peace yeah I'm feeling content I know we go back to me surround you know I've got a network of people industry and non-industry they're just really good mates yeah and they've been crucial to the reason why I'm out of my bed in the morning because I think a lot of people

28:59Aimee Smallex: who go through grief probably do need six months of just staying at home and their PJs eating ice

29:06Lorna Luxe: cream yeah and the fact that I was able to just get back up yeah and slowly don't be wrong there's days where I don't want to get out of bed but fundamentally my friendship my friendships are my mates yeah my parent my mum my cousin bless her she's just been seeing me this weekend And it's kind of like Katnig Owen. Yeah, I love that.

29:25Aimee Smallex: And I feel like a lot of people can relate to that. Like even, you know, that is definitely what I define success as, you know, throughout Odd Muse. And I can remember a time just wanting to sell the business and not wanting to do it anymore. And I think you get to a point where it doesn't, success isn't a metric or a number. It is just actually getting out of bed every day and loving what you do.

29:49Lorna Luxe: but I always remember with you we met up in New York I was there with 98 last year and we went out for a few drinks and I remember saying to you like how's everything going you're like yeah I'm all right like you know I think I'm I'm not going to stay in New York and the difference even between you then and now and I do think that if if you've not got a circle around you or if there's something not quite clicking it doesn't matter what all the other stuff is you know you were so incredibly successful last year you couldn't put on tiktok or instagram without your name being served with some amazing figure that you'd earned so from an outsider it's like why would you be anything other than absolutely chuffed to bits but it's got to be all adding up yeah and you just gotta be that

30:32Aimee Smallex: is it though you've just gotta be like content and you've got to know what your what your definition of success is because you can hit all these numbers that you can you know work with people to build those numbers in but if that's not you know if that's not making you happy that's not what's making you happy so true what does your next era look like well I don't want you to move on too quickly from this era it's a great era for you it is isn't it it's such a good era because I've got

31:03Lorna Luxe: the legacy of John to get sorted because I'm like I'm not having I'm not dropping the ball now he'll be watching going you better not drop the ball yeah so that's keeping me kind of positive because I'm kind of like, I've got this, John. I'm going to make sure that all the things that we dreamed about, I'm going to bring them together for us. But also from a personal perspective, I've got good mates and I've got quite a tight circle. So I don't feel the loneliness. I feel very lonely of a night time. So I really miss John of a night. But generally day to day, I'm able to just crack on.

31:37Aimee Smallex: Yeah.

31:38Lorna Luxe: And I'm, yeah, I think I'm really happy with so many elements of my life I just think I've got to get used to my new normal now yeah and make hobbies like I'm gonna start Pilates yes we were talking about this the other day so I found a reform a Pilates place in Leamington and it's just little things like that little clubs I'm gonna join a few things are you discovering about yourself lately uh that I'm quite resilient yes that things don't really big things don't really phase me so you are quite laid back i would say that do you think yeah i think it takes a lot to

32:15Aimee Smallex: frazzle me yeah and ruffle my feathers yes i i change that to like i feel like you have quite

32:21Lorna Luxe: a high tolerance yeah because i get it that people are with it and a lot of people are like different right to me yeah so sometimes i'll be looking around and be like what are you doing yeah but it's not my it's not a me problem yeah and i just let people get on with it right quick fire round Okay.

32:37Aimee Smallex: Best first luxury purchase?

32:41Lorna Luxe: My Rolex.

32:42Aimee Smallex: I like that one. Perfect day in London. Talk me through like morning, lunch, evening. Talk me through whole day.

32:50Lorna Luxe: So I'm staying at a really nice hotel. Yep. Probably the Lanesboro.

32:54Aimee Smallex: Nice.

32:55Lorna Luxe: Just love it there. Or maybe the Chancery now because I do like the Chancery.

32:58Aimee Smallex: Oh, haven't tried that one.

33:00Lorna Luxe: No check-in or check-out time at the Chancery.

33:02Aimee Smallex: Oh, God.

33:03Lorna Luxe: Which is quite handy.

33:04Aimee Smallex: if this goes far on tiktok they're gonna change that and then um i'd probably have a really

33:10Lorna Luxe: lovely breakfast in my room i don't really like going down for breakfast nice robe yeah will the will the breakfast in absolutely get dolled up and probably if i'm staying in may for a nights bridge it's quite a nice place to be going shopping yes now i don't i'm not a big shopper so you wouldn't find me day-to-day shopping but mine and john's love language was using shopping as a vehicle for a boozy lunch so we'd look at a few things that we were like we don't really need that then we'd go for a really boozy lunch and then that would then encourage us to go and buy said thing that

33:42Aimee Smallex: we didn't need well you need to come on the next trip to paris of mune isbel because that's exactly maybe we copied you guys where we're going for lunch probably scott's just love it i'm so glad you said that scott's is like my favorite place in london old school just quintessentially london consistent amazing the the wine's flowing what time are we getting there we're probably getting

34:07Lorna Luxe: there even you've got to get there early if you want an outside seat yep so we'll probably get in there about half 12 yeah then we're probably going to eat lunch and then move inside nice get a bigger table get a few people around yep and then probably bounce at about four five ish and where are we going we're probably going to stumble into the row nice might see totem if We're on Mount Street. Gorgeous. And then maybe when we've bought something we don't need, we might probably pop to the Connacht for a cocktail.

34:39Aimee Smallex: Yes, I wanted you to say that.

34:40Lorna Luxe: Then we might go to one of the galleries. Gorgeous. And make out like we're looking for some art just so we can just nosey.

34:46Aimee Smallex: Nice. That is a perfect day in London. Recommended luxury holiday destination.

34:52Lorna Luxe: Ooh.

34:53Aimee Smallex: I don't want to go... I feel like you've been on the most amazing trips.

34:57Lorna Luxe: A luxury to me is I don't want to travel too far. Right. So we're not doing Maldives, we're doing Europe.

35:02Aimee Smallex: Yep.

35:02Lorna Luxe: I would always choose Italy. It's double the price of everywhere else, but there's a reason.

35:07Aimee Smallex: I remember I booked Gritty Palace because you and John went there. Did you? And me and Josh had the best day. We always say it was his 24th birthday was like the best day of our lives. And we just completely copied you. Whatever you and John did, this was near on 10 years ago when you went there. You posted on your Instagram, we just completely copied you and we had the best day.

35:27Lorna Luxe: Quite romantic Venice, isn't it?

35:28Aimee Smallex: oh it's so gorgeous and I remember you saying something like you prefer going in the summer and everyone had always told me to go in the winter but I was like no going in the summer because Lorna told her Instagram to do that Venice is special I'm taking mum though in November

35:43Lorna Luxe: but actually last few years me and John have done it in January nice because we've got a tasty deal because it gets a bit cheaper in January but you get the weather because Italy just has this like perfect weather all year round it's perfect isn't it yeah one designer bag everyone should own

36:00Aimee Smallex: i know you're a bit like you've gone off your birkins haven't you so i haven't gone off birkins

36:05Lorna Luxe: i think maybe it was taken out of context but my reasoning was i've got because i've still got a birkin but i can't wear it anywhere because i'm a bit of a target yeah and i don't want to leave it at home because i got my house got burgled for my birkins right so i think if i lived in dubai or somewhere that was incredibly safe, then maybe Birkins all day long because the investment value.

36:28Aimee Smallex: Yeah.

36:28Lorna Luxe: You know, certainly if you buy a Birkin for seven or eight grand, your insurance is 20 odd.

36:33Aimee Smallex: Yeah. So it's a valuable bag. Yeah.

36:37Lorna Luxe: But would I buy Birkins again? Nah, I wouldn't. Yeah. So what would I buy? I mean, I'm getting really into this kind of like mid-range bag, you know, five or 600 quid.

36:45Aimee Smallex: So am I. So am I. I got a D 'Amelie bag the other day and I love it.

36:49Lorna Luxe: Yeah. and like anything a bit suede and tactile yes and there's so many brands doing that in fact i've just put on my instagram stories this morning a holland cooper bag and a strathbury bag so both british brands doing that kind of mid-range five six hundred quid bag yeah i don't think you can

37:04Aimee Smallex: go wrong one thing you always used to say is you used to tell girls not to spend their money on any bags before they're 30 and just go on holiday yeah do you remember saying that i do I'm really just like remember quoting things you used to say um do you still stand by that I do

37:21Lorna Luxe: and I like right this is my thing because I'm 44 so maybe it's because I'm older but I just think in your 20s if you do spending money on anything it's got to be experience yeah I love that because

37:33Aimee Smallex: we especially with the rise of like Instagram and TikTok and unboxings and wanting all these things nothing can be a good girl's holiday where you don't get any content yeah like put your phone away yeah and also are you quite good at that I am very good at that yeah I'm quite present yeah in a lot of things you do get it all done you get your stories done you get it all done but you also have a good time and I really appreciate that about you I don't get as much done but the what I do do is meaningful yes and it has weight to it because I think sometimes you go to these events sometimes I find the events really really intimidating because people literally bring their tripod and they're making like 30 tiktoks and i just kind of am lucky if i just come out with a picture how do you feel when you see that going on you just i mean i usually get

38:22Lorna Luxe: rigged into it i don't know because i don't do it yeah and i sometimes wish i would because i can see the growth that it brings yeah the virality of those videos and every piece of content will grow you in some way shape or form so it makes sense that the more you do the quicker you'll grow but is that what I want now I mean I definitely want to go on TikTok but not the

38:43Aimee Smallex: expense of having a good time I love that okay well I should have asked you this at the beginning but what is keeping you pretty and what is keeping you busy I mean what's keeping me pretty is

38:54Lorna Luxe: probably something that I can't even speak about yet but 98 is working on a new category okay and that is keeping me very pretty okay well I'll be asking you about that after

39:04Aimee Smallex: and what's keeping you busy?

39:05Lorna Luxe: My dog because my mum's gone to Canada

39:08Aimee Smallex: and I'm looking after the dog

39:09Lorna Luxe: for the next three weeks.

39:10Aimee Smallex: Oh, in London?

39:12Lorna Luxe: Bit stressed about that, I'm not going to lie.

39:13Aimee Smallex: Oh, he can just come anywhere with you. Lorna, thank you so much. I really enjoyed that.

39:18Lorna Luxe: Oh, thank you. Thank you so much. Thanks for having me.