Nicola Piercy — Co‑Founder, Stripe & Stare & COO, FFR — didn’t take a straight line into entrepreneurship, and that’s exactly what makes her story brilliant. In this episode, she shares how she went from temping as a secretary, learning to fax, and working across tiny, fast‑moving teams to eventually co‑founding one of the most loved sustainable underwear brands in the world. Her early career inside small businesses taught her to thrive in chaos, wear 75 hats at once, and fall in love with being involved in every part of a company. That foundation later shaped her approach to building Stripe & Stare, where she and her co‑founder Katie spent six years perfecting their now‑iconic knickers — made from ultra‑soft, sustainable Tencel Modal — before launching the brand publicly. As Nicola Piercy — Co‑Founder, Stripe & Stare & COO, FFR — puts it, customers made the decision for them: “Everyone just wanted more of them.” Nicola Piercy — Co‑Founder, Stripe & Stare & COO, FFR — opens up about the reality of scaling a product‑based business — the highs of selling out at Spirit of Christmas, landing Shopbop as a major wholesale partner, and experiencing a viral moment during lockdown where a single influencer caused three months of sales in one afternoon. She also shares the brutal lows: stock nightmares, the unpredictability of demand, and the emotional toll of running a business through personal tragedy. In one of the most powerful moments of the episode, Nicola Piercy — Co‑Founder, Stripe & Stare & COO, FFR — recounts losing her husband mid‑fundraise and somehow still showing up to investor meetings ten days later. Her honesty about resilience, support networks, and simply “getting on with it” is a reminder of the strength so many women founders carry quietly. We also dive into Stripe & Stare’s sustainability ethos and their B Corp journey — why it mattered from day one, how they avoid greenwashing, and what it takes to continually improve every three years. Nicola Piercy — breaks down the roller‑coaster of raising over £4 million, the frustration of pitching knickers to rooms full of men, and the surprising moment when one email to their customer base raised £1 million. Her biggest lessons? Fundraising is a numbers game, never assume money is guaranteed until it’s in the bank, and don’t take rejection personally. This conversation is packed with grit, humour, honesty, and the kind of founder wisdom you only get from someone who has lived every messy middle.
