Introducing Priya Downes, Founder of NUDEA
Priya Downes, Founder of NUDEA
Meet Priya, Founder of NUDEA.
Join us as she shares the importance of building a strong team around you, both personally and professionally. How rewarding passion investments can be, and her hopes for the fashion industry to start putting people before profit.
Nudea is sustainable women’s underwear brand re-shaping the bra shopping experience. The brand is for those who demand ultimate comfort from their underwear without compromising on style. Powered by data from 15,000 bra wearers, Nudea’s designs are engineered with intelligent features uniquely created for the modern woman, responsibly manufactured from premium fabrics and crafted from recycled yarns.
website | ig: nudea underwear
“My first job after university was as an Actuary and although it was great start for getting comfortable with data and numbers, I knew it wasn’t going to excite me enough to spend my whole life doing it. Eventually after a few years of finance, I moved into the Luxury Fashion industry which I was much more passionate about. After 8 years working for the some of the big houses, including Chanel and Burberry, I felt the itch to try something new that married my head for numbers with a love of great product. I knew straight away I didn’t want to create yet another fashion brand, it was important for me to create a product that served a need as well as being made with care and passion, that’s when Nudea was born.”
NUDEA
Who are your typical clients?
Honesty, there is no typical client. All of our customers are different, much like our bra sizes, there is no one size fits all! We have a wide range of ages but the common thread is that these are bra wearers who want to be comfortable.
Did you have any doubts before you started?
Yes (am I allowed to admit that?!), we all have fears but if you believe in something passionately overcoming those fears and doubts are easy and most of the time they are usually trivial in the bigger picture.
What were the main steps to setting up your business?
Prior to launch we engaged with over 600 UK women in a pioneering size and fit research and development process, and as part of this work we dissected and re-engineered the 20+ components that make up even the most basic of bras with fit and comfort in mind. This helped to shape the direction of our product range.
A good business plan is key, and I was lucky to have the financial savvy to have nailed one early in the process.
The rest came down to operations and setting up our website.
How did you attract your first customers?
The women we engaged with as part of the size and fit research project became our very first brand ambassadors. They talked about the brand and the product to their friends, passed on the bespoke NUDEA Fit Tapes and the word has spread from there.
Underwear is an unseen item of clothing and referral/word of mouth remains our no 1 way to reach our customers.
NUDEA
What changes do you want to see in the fashion industry?
The Fashion industry has for too long lured customers into an unsustainable existence, one where it’s ok to follow trends and refresh your wardrobe regularly with new purchases, coupled with the means to access fashion cheaply. This has led to a generation of shoppers who are used to a throwaway, single-use culture. We all need to reset, unlearn and relearn how to exist more sustainably. The fashion industry has a huge part to play, almost every country in the world has a garment industry, there is no other industry which comes close to this breadth of impact, on people and the environment.
I would love to see the fashion industry thinking beyond profit and working with consumers towards a better way to shop, buying less, caring more and disposing responsibly. Governments also have a key role to play in legislation, for example France and Germany now have laws that enforce any retailer selling online/offline to pay towards the disposal of your packaging. Much in the same way the plastic bag is almost a thing of the past, legislation such as this can have a massive impact.
Tell us about your fundraising journey.
Fundraising has been the steepest learning curve especially as a retail business trying to pitch through one of the biggest shocks the industry has seen. Running and pitching a retail brand has never been harder.
Fortunately as a business set up for a new generation of bra shoppers we saw the need to be digital first which accelerated our first two years of growth. We were fortunate to bootstrap and get through our first year of launch without the need for external capital. This made our pitch story stronger and valuations better, so our first external angel raise saw us oversubscribed. Our recent crowdfund was also a great success leading us to gain a staggering 671 new investors and lead to 188% funded against our target of £250K. The breadth of interest has been amazing and testament to the opportunity in this space and how NUDEA is tackling that head on so well.
What are your most valuable business resources?
-Linkedin-
great for finding talent and also networking
-Tech Crunch-
for looking at benchmark businesses which helps in raising and financial planning
-Drapers/Business of Fashion-
for in depth reads on retail industry news
-The Economist-
for reliable macro economy views and global news, especially with so much happening globally that affects our daily lives and ultimately our business (the price of commodities that affect our products like cotton and cost of living increases that impact consumer spending)
NUDEA
What are your 5 go-to tips for running a business
Build a strong team
to build a stellar brand and fast growing business you need the best and brightest. Hire and treat them well, they will grow with you.
2. Be truly passionate about what the business you’re running
gone are the days that founders and CEO can bury themselves in an office. You need to go out there and be the face of the brand, no one will do that for you. So you need to live, sleep and breathe your business and live by the principles personally too.
3. Be empathetic
everyone has gone through so much in the past few years not everything right now is about you and your business. Think about how your employees, customers and stakeholders might be feeling.
4. Surround yourself with a good balance of mentors and advisors
that can share their experience and knowledge with you. Especially ones that you can challenge you and ask you difficult questions in the interests of helping you and your business grow.
5. Be prepared to roll your sleeves up,
not only will it help you understand more deeply an area of the business but you will build stronger relationships with your team.
What do you wish you had known before you started?
The importance of having a well balanced work/life day. Running your own business works you harder than you ever have. And, of course, I expected that but I didn’t spend time thinking about the balance to that. You need keep a healthy mind so you can better serve your business.
Unfortunately the success of your business isn’t directly correlated with the sweat hours you put in but the ideas and passion you bring.
Priya Downes, Founder of NUDEA
W E A L T H
Describe your relationship with money and personal finance in three words?
Back fewer, bet bigger!
That’s 4 words, but it sums up my personal ethos, spend on things that you LOVE and that you can truly give time to and then go big as you can go (within sensible means of course) and pass on the things that you don’t. It’s easy to get a herd mentality and follow the crowd, but if you don’t feel good about it in your gut, even if it feels safe don’t go halves.
How do you define wealth?
Financially secure and independent and having the freedom to spend on the things you love whether that's physical items or experiences.
What is the best financial decision you have ever made?
Investing in my own business and hence myself. Nothing gives investors more assurance to back your business than standing by your side as you back yourself with your own money.
What did you learn about finance and money when you were growing up?
My mum is an accountant and my dad owns a small business. I learnt the value of good financial discipline, spend within your means, always have a rainy day stash and the value of good budgeting.
What is the best piece of financial advice you've ever received?
Spend and invest in categories and assets that you're willing to devote time to learning and understanding. It’s important to understand what you’re buying, whether it's your house, bitcoin or a piece of art and take the time to learn and understand what you stand to gain or lose.
My husband is an investor in alternate asset classes such as vintage cars and watches. I’ve been so impressed about the rewards he gains because he applies himself with rigour in learning so much about the market.
NUDEA
If you could give your younger self one piece of advice about her finances, what would it be?
Save wisely and spend on what you truly love.
Who manages the finances in your household?
I’m lucky to be married to an ex VC investor, and as we are both financially savvy so we tend to share the load. We are lucky to have a broad portfolio of diverse investments from start-ups, to properties and alternative asset classes, we make our investment decisions together and we both have different interests and skills which brings different perspectives to this.
What was your first investment, and where is it now?
A start-up fashion tech company in NY which, like a lot of startups, failed. Nonetheless, it hasn’t put me off, I still believe in the importance of investing in small businesses. I wish it had done better but such is life!
What has been an financial ‘mistake’ that you have made, and what did you learn from it?
I don’t think I’ve ever made a financial mistake per se, bad bets sure, but not a mistake. It’s easy to look back on poor investments but in all honesty all my big financial decisions were made with sound thinking and advice at the time.
Looking back I probably would make the same decisions as each one brought about a learning.
What tools do you use to manage your personal finances?
Xero accounting, it's a great book keeping tool and I use it both for NUDEA but also my personal accounting.
What is your most valuable possession?
My collection of vintage Vogue magazines which go back to the turn of the century, you retrace so much of what was happening in history in the pages. I have over 2000 copies of Vogue going back to 1916 and I love thumbing through the sketches and then in the later editions photographs, so inspiring. Digital has changed print so it's not quite the same anymore and it's hard to capture the magic that was a printed Vogue magazine 50 years ago.
Which area of finance do you wish you knew more about?
Digital currencies, I wish I had more time to learn about the different ones that have emerged. My son was gifted a ⅛ of a bitcoin when he was born in 2014 (great present!) - I actually forgot about it and was amazed to learn that on his 7th birthday last year that it had gone up in value by 8,000%! It has gone up and down a lot since then, but would love to have been a bit more active with trading it.
Priya Downes, Founder of NUDEA
Do you have a mentor or inspirational figure that has guided or influenced you?
Angela Ahrendts – the ex CEO of Burberry and who I was lucky enough to work under at my time at Burberry. She was brilliant at being at making compassion a strength as a leader rather than a weakness. She was never afraid to show her human side, and so much of what she stands for as a leader inspires me today.
And also my husband. It sounds so cliché, but he has been my sounding board for the past 13 years. He’s an entrepreneur himself as well as an investor, he’s been my biggest supporter. He’s also just smart and sensible, so when I need honest advice he’s my first point of contact.
What are your top everyday styling tips?
A nice pair of shoes and great jewellery can dress up any outfit. Invest in some great pieces you can wear every day.
What’s next for you?
We’ve just announced NUDEA’s B Corp certification, as above, and we also ran a very successful round of crowdfunding where we achieved 188% over the initial funding target. Our plan is to use this funding to develop further products including loungewear and sleepwear pieces later this year, as well as broadening our range of lingerie with even more colour and recycled fabrics to respond to our customers’ demands.
What are you currently reading and listening to?
Right now am glued to the news (like most people) and I’m listening and reading to a lot of news at the moment
Business podcasts - ‘How I Built This’ and ‘Masters Scale’.
I’m inspired by Elon Musk’s ambitions with pretty much all his companies (I’m a Tesla owner and won’t go back), and usually have Space X FM playing in the background.
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