A BUSINESSWOMAN has told how she went from discovering she was £1.5m in debt to now running a very successful underwear company.
Katie Lopes, founder and creative director of sustainable underwear brand Stripe and Stare, may run a company that turns over a whopping £6 million a year, but things haven’t always looked so rosy.
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Speaking to Grace Beverley on the podcast’Working hard, hardly working‘, Katie explains how she got her start in the TV industry.
After being transferred to Australia for a year, she finally received an incredible promotion that would make her Channel 7’s youngest producer at the time.
But after observing women and the sacrifices they made in their personal lives, Katie says she turned down the job after realizing it wasn’t the path for her.
Determined to do something different and eager to take control of her own life, she realized that the job that would allow her to have a family while still working hard resided in the fashion industry.
After living with their sister in Australia, the pair realized there were many brands that weren’t available in England, so they opened their own retail business on King’s Road in Chelsea.
The aim of the business was to stock brands you wouldn’t get in England – including Zimmerman and Rag and Bone.
We used to have people like Sienna Miller come over all the time and Kate Middleton came there the day after she got engaged…she literally showed up with her mom
Katia Lopes
“Between 2004, when we opened, and 2008, London was really good and prosperous,” says Katie, who grew up in Devon.
“We had an incredible customer base.
“We used to have people like Sienna Miller over all the time and Kate Middleton came there the day after she got engaged…she literally showed up with her mom.”
Katie goes on to explain how she started selling a brand of lacy thong panties from America, famous for being super comfortable.
“Women came and bought armfuls of this product,” she remembers. “They weren’t cheap – they cost around £18 for a ball of rolled lace.
“…it really interested me and I loved the simplicity of underwear, which is not seasonal and is a very simple size.”
Katie says she quickly realized there was a gap in the market after realizing there was no one making “super cool, soft, sustainable underwear for every day.”
After having his mother make the first prototype, called Cheap Frills, on her sewing machine, the popularity grew from there.
Over the next six to eight years, Katie says they became the store’s best seller and it wasn’t long before she realized she had something globally salable with volume appeal that was much simpler than what she was making.
However, she soon faced her first hurdle and had to give up the brand due to a legal dispute with a brand in Austria – and in 2017, Stripe and Stare was launched.
As the business began to grow, Katie’s personal life was falling apart – after discovering her ex-husband had left them £1.5million in debt and homeless.
She describes how this all happened in the “week from hell”, which also saw her father die tragically after a long battle with cancer, and her house burgled “from top to bottom” while she was at her father’s funeral.
Side hustles in numbers
Based on new research from Finder, around 22.8 million Brits are using side hustles to boost their income.
Among Gen Z (those ages 18 to 23), 68% will face hardship in 2024.
The Millennial generation (aged between 24 and 42) is not far behind, with 65% having an additional source of income.
Side hustles are less popular among older generations, with 40% of Gen X (ages 43 to 54) having one.
While 23 percent of baby boomers (ages 55 to 73) and just 7 percent of the silent generation (ages 74 and over) are earning extra money this way.
However, Katie continues: “It was a lot, but I’m actually grateful for it, which sounds weird, but I think those are the moments when you discover who you are, what you can do.”
She goes on to talk about how it took her two years to rebuild her life and get back to the point where she felt “normal.”
Explaining how she got over it emotionally, Katie recalls: “There were times when I didn’t really get over it.
“There would never be a quick solution.
“I just remember all my friends and family around me, how are we going to help her? What are we going to do? There was nothing anyone could do.”
Katie says the only way forward was to take a “slow and steady” approach and make a lot of difficult decisions.
“I moved from London and so I came back to Devon because there was a support system there, it was a lot cheaper with kids, my brother was really kind and there was a house we could live in.
“I was very lucky to have an amazing group of friends and a great family that helped me.”
After moving to Devon, Katie started Stripe and Stare from scratch in 2017 with the help of an angel investor and an old friend she trusted – Nicola Piercy.
“I needed her to be my rock… after going through that kind of trauma, you need people you know you can trust… that’s how we founded her.”
It was a lot, but I’m actually grateful for it, which sounds weird, but I think those are the moments when you discover who you are, what you can do
Katia Lopes
They accepted £70,000 in investment and decided to develop the business organically, and it has gone from strength to strength ever since.
Not only does the underwear company boast clients including Oprah Winfrey and Fearne Cotton, but last year alone they turned over almost £6 million, according to Crowdcube.
“I’m so grateful this happened to me, because what would I be doing now if it hadn’t happened?” Katie says.
“I wouldn’t be discovering all these things that I’m capable of.
“There’s still a long way to go with Stripe and Stare, but I’m really proud of what we’ve done – we now have a team of 30 people.”
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