Episode 4: A Young Woman, a Wallet & Oprah Winfrey's Wishlist
What does a young woman, just starting out in her own business do, when the world’s most famous female entrepreneur and media juggernaut picks her product out of a line-up of thousands as one of the hottest must-have accessories of the year?
Making Oprah Winfrey’s Annual List of her Favourite things is any business owner’s lifelong dream. A golden goose it would seem and a first-class ticket into one of the toughest retail markets in the world, the United States.
It’s an elusive dream for many, and some even hire marketing experts and PR machines to actively pitch to get a coveted spot on that list year in and year out, most with zero return on their investment and no dice at the end.
But Lou King, founder of Australian leather goods company, Arlington Milne, never even tried, it was her 2015 best-selling wallet that caught the American TV Talks Show hosts eye after her creative director picked it up at a Las Vegas tradeshow.
I’ll let Lou tell you the rest, because like pretty much everything in business nothing is ever what it seems on the outside, and it’s what you do with the win that matters most.
But full-disclosure here getting Lou to give this story the weight that it’s worth was tricky, because she’s so damn self-deprecating! Lou is an incredibly accomplished business woman who now runs multiple business entities.
Lou founded Arlington MILNE, a women’s lifestyle brand, with a focus on apparel and leather accessories in 2009. Not long after, in response to customer demand, she then launched a diffusion brand, non-leather accessories at a more affordable price-point as an alternative for her dedicated following.
The Hunted Stores on Sydney’s lower north shore soon followed and she’s on the cusp of opening her third store in Avalon as this recording takes place.
Then there’s the multi-million-dollar wholesale business…this is one busy woman!
But no matter how hectic her life is, Lou King is a woman of her word.
She’s 72 hours from opening her new store and has sought refuge on the floor of her teenage daughter’s bedroom for this interview.
She’s knee deep in ironing new stock on the floor of her living room (it’s too dusty in the store to do it there) and there’s a bathroom and kitchen renovation happening as well, literally the tiler turns up just as we’re about to hit record on this podcast, so Lou reschedules me for later in the day.
One of her staff has moved in with her to help, that’s right, she’s living with Lou and her husband Pat (who’s also in the business) for the week so she can be on call 24/7 to get this shop up and running.
13 years on she’s still all in in her business but with a fabulous story to tell.
