How do you get from a market stall to an international outerwear brand without taking a penny of investment? Why would a founder deliberately price her coats below what comparable brands charge? And why does one influencer post sell twenty coats when a famous face usually just buys you awareness? Ducie Keam-George left a job at MTV, started a stall on Portobello Road and turned it into Ducie, the outerwear label worn by Hailey Bieber, built on twenty years of her own profit rather than on investment. She walks Poppy through the money behind a fashion brand nobody funded, from a stall on Portobello Road to the fractional CFO she brought in this year, in her first ever podcast interview. It is for anyone running a product business who would rather stay in profit than raise a round. In this episode: ◼️ Funding every batch from the profit on the last one keeps a brand alive and caps how fast it grows ◼️ The supplier who says they can do everything is the one who will miss your deadline ◼️ Why she refuses to price at what the market would pay, even though she could ◼️ Why she gifts to the people who already bought the jacket, and never pays a fee ◼️ Hiring the thing you are worst at, and the nineteen years she waited to do it ◼️ Twenty years in profit with no investor, and what finally made her borrow this year ◼️ The burnout, the trip to Goa and the stranger who told her to start a brand ◼️ Moving production from India to China to Turkey, and what she was chasing each time ◼️ Danielle Bernstein selling twenty of her coats in a single post, and the traffic spike she can see on the site ◼️ Hailey Bieber wearing the coat in a campaign Ducie was not paid for, and what it did to sales _________ Chapters: 00:00 From MTV to a market stall 03:08 Supply chains, and the red flag in a new supplier 04:47 Twenty years in profit, and the first loan 06:53 Why she prices below the market 08:28 Instagram, Shopify, and learning to sell 11:31 Bad with numbers, and the CFO she hired 13:45 Her first senior hire, in year nineteen 15:09 Her first million, and the influencers behind it 19:35 LTK, ShopMy, and marketing on almost nothing 22:14 Brand shoots, expensive mistakes, and an LA PR company 28:21 Wholesale, DTC, and the 20th anniversary 30:17 Loans, equity, and keeping control 35:19 Marriage, and where the brand's look comes from 39:52 Hailey Bieber, and whether celebrities sell 41:48 What's next, the US, and copycats 44:55 Quickfire: advice, books, and how she switches off 48:20 Spend or save _________ 💜 Stream on Spotify: https://tr.ee/hgfspotify 💜 Stream on Apple Podcasts: https://tr.ee/hgfapple 💜 Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hgf/ 💸 Powered by Aave App. Start saving smarter: https://aave.com/app
