Lauren Pope at The Business Show
It was great to head to the Business Show again this year and this year. As I skirted around the stalls with more efficiency this year I was able to prioritise a couple of talks from people that I feel related to where I am at and what I'm currently doing. It was great to see that Lauren Pope was on the list and I was intrigued to hear her story and get a chance to talk briefly with her.
When listening to her inspiring story, she described a rollercoaster of a ride since starting her own hair extension business(Hair Rehab) ten years ago. It was inspiring to hear how she started her business initially by collecting hair from salons in person from South London before sewing the hair extensions individually. This process was obviously labour intensive, but she stuck at it and put in some long nights of hard work and graft. It became apparent that she did this for some time of her life.
All throughout, it struck me that Lauren always had an eye on quality and had a passion for what she was doing and the product she was producing.
A few things later seemed to fall into place for Lauren, who ended up on the TV show "Only Way is Essex" due to her, then boyfriend being on the show. This helped to increase her publicity and helped to give her hair brand more exposure. It because apparent that she was very smart about how she used the network and contacts that she met through the show.
It sounds like Lauren kept a stable head regarding the way she increased her investment back into the company. She was proud of the fact that she stuck to increasing with small incremental amounts to help to up-scale the business. Lauren had a lot of support and help from her farther on the business, which may have helped to ground her a little.
What struck me about Lauren is that she was very product focussed and when up-scaling and sourcing products using "Ali Barber" she had mixed experiences, but expressed the importance of closely managing your suppliers. Through mixed experiences from suppliers, there was an increased need to ensure an effective quality control and regular check on the standards from from suppliers. This is something that we can relate to with Crowd Colour regarding creating a good working relationship with our supplier and building up trust in partnerships. It's always important to remember that your products are a reflection of your brand and ultimately a refection of you!
As Lauren continued to gain popularity and celebrity status, she started to be very savvy in using connections that she has made on her journey to promote her products for free. Lauren generally works with people who generally love her products. Little Mix is a great example and they have struck up a good relationship with Lauren, promote her wigs etc for free.
As there is growth, and upscaling, there have been been different challenges. Although Lauren is very hands on, with a rise to fame she has had to rely more and more on her team. While trying to create an environment of trust however there have been times when that has been betrayed. Lauren explained how a family friend had used her role to set-up a rival company which, from which she is learning to setup appropriate HR services to prevent such situations happening in the future.
Some parts of the unfortunate situation also don't phase Lauren as she said that people always come up with ideas, but if you focus on doing what you do well and are consistently better than others - that is how you survive.
When we got to speak, Lauren said how she tries to make personal contact with bloggers/influences and understands their increased importance in the industry. It is however important to choose who you partner with carefully and being selective. Getting blogger support can be costly, you need to be wise in weighing up the influence. It's not all about take, it's about creating win/win situations.
I explained how at Crowd Colour, we have found that helping blogger and makeup communities to solve problems through focus groups can give us an opportunity to help us create their dreams. It's been exciting working with the online community customising makeup palettes and makeup sets, not just for individuals, but for groups. I see these collaborations as a great way for smaller indie companies to gain a competitive edge on their customers. It really is important as a business keep your ear to the ground.
Lauren spoke about the great team that she has built and feels that she can fall back on. She does make herself available at the end of the phone most of the time however. Lauren is still learning to trust her team cover her as much as possible, but struggles naturally with this.
Starting to allow her team to take her brand forward has however opened up other opportunities for her to live the lifestyle that she loves. Lauren has now started to DJ off the back of her Celebrity and her natural love of music. This helps her to create and enjoy a choice lifestyle as an entrepreneur businesswoman.
It is clear that Lauren is still passionate about being in the hair industry and rivalling the best in the business picking up numerous awards and recognition for her products.
It has been great to see some of the parallels between Lauren's business and what we have at Crowd Colour with our full product range and online shop and how we are growing. It was also encouraging to hear her intrigue regarding our blogger outreach and interaction.
It's great to hear stories like Lauren's, which are an inspiration. The formula she has used is simple, but effective; Provide a quality product, Keep things simple, Work hard, Collaborate and Communicate with your community.