Josephine Philips is the founder of SOJO, the UK's first on-demand clothing alterations and repairs app. She started SOJO by manually cycling garments across London to validate the idea before raising £1.8M in pre-seed funding (backed by Depop's own founder), landed Forbes 30 Under 30, and opened a permanent concession in Selfridges.

In this episode, Josephine gets brutally honest about the real journey: finding a tech co-founder early on,, the hiring mistakes that slowed her down, a six-week fundraising sprint that changed everything, and what it actually means to build with the end in mind.

This is a masterclass in doing more with less, moving fast without breaking your team, and why representation in VC funding is still one of the most urgent conversations in entrepreneurship.

What we cover:

• Finding a tech co-founder as a non-technical founder
• Navigating the fashion space outside of fast fashion
• Finding a niche in a typically crowded space
• The timings and strategy of raising investment
• The stats around investment for Black Women
• Hiring and growing a team for your business, not following the status quo
• How to build a B2B strategy without losing focus
• How to SOJO x Selfridges Partnership happened
• The honest truth about representation in VC

If you're building something new or struggling to articulate why your idea matters, this one's for you.

We Are Ladies Who Launch!

CHAPTERS

00:00 Meet Josephine, Sojo Founder

03:17 The Tailoring Niche

07:48 The Problem with Fast Fashion

13:52 Validating The Business Idea

16:59 Finding A Tech Co-Founder

22:24 Launch Traction And Press

23:40 Funding And Getting Investment

29:48 Hiring Growing Pains

33:01 Corporate vs Startup Hiring

34:19 The Right Time For Funding

35:24 More Team Slower Progress

37:09 Focussing On Your B2B Strategy

38:11 Where Is Sojo Today?

39:16 Hiring for Complementary Skills

41:36 Testing Agility in Interviews

43:43 Representation in VC Funding

47:53 6-Week Fundraising Sprint

50:57 Selfridges Partnership Breakdown

54:49 Global Expansion Plans

01:00:33 Build With the End in Mind

🔔 New episodes every Wednesday — subscribe so you never miss a launch.

FOLLOW SOJO

SOJO Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sojo.uk/

Josephine Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/josephine__philips/

FOLLOW US

Instagram: www.instagram.com/weareladieswholaunch/

TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@weareladieswholaunch

YouTube: www.youtube.com/@Weareladieswholaunch

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of Ladies Who Launch, we sit down with Georgie Coleridge Cole, Founder & CEO of SheerLuxe, the e-commerce and lifestyle powerhouse that redefined how women discover fashion, beauty, and culture online.

Georgie opens up about the formative experiences that shaped her entrepreneurial mindset, how she stumbled into the world of e-commerce before it was cool, and the raw reality of building an incredible team from scratch while the industry was still figuring out what digital media even meant.

What we cover:

• The honest story of building SheerLuxe and becoming an entrepreneur
• Discovering and navigating the world of e-commerce
• Business investment and financing. Why access to capital looks very different for women in business
• How to structure a strong team early and build a culture that scales
• Juggling life, business, and motherhood. The real, unfiltered version

If you're a female founder navigating the chaos of building something bold, this one's for you.

We Are Ladies Who Launch!

CHAPTERS

00:00 Introducing Georgie and SheerLuxe

01:14 The SheerLuxe Mission and Platform Evolution

09:16 Navigating Career Detours

14:55 The Start of Building SheerLuxe

21:56 Raising VC and Keeping Equity

28:23 The Hardest Part of Leadership

31:30 The SheerLuxe Team as the Brand

41:52 Staying Relevant Through Change

45:56 Editorial First, Monetise Later

46:47 The £40M Sell

53:09 Equity And Industry Stigma

55:17 The Work and Motherhood Reality

01:03:41 Life After the Acquisition

01:07:19 Rocket Round

01:15:22 Best Piece of Advice

🔔 New episodes every Wednesday — subscribe so you never miss a launch.

FOLLOW GEORGIE

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gcoleridgecole/

SheerLuxe Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sheerluxe/

SheerLuxe TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@sheerluxe

FOLLOW US

Instagram: www.instagram.com/weareladieswholaunch/

TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@weareladieswholaunch

YouTube: www.youtube.com/@Weareladieswholaunch

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of Ladies Who Launch, Rochelle sits down with Bernicia Boateng, makeup artists to the stars to go behind the scenes of her incredible journey, from the makeup chair to founding Enoléh, the hair brand redefining what it means for Black women to feel seen, celebrated, and authentic in the beauty space.

In this episode, we cover:

• The mission behind Bernicia's work and why authentic representation in skincare and makeup matters more now than ever before
• What self-belief actually looks like in practice
• The beauty and power of women wearing wigs and hair extensions, and why it's so much more than aesthetics
• The behind-the-scenes of building Enoléh, the team, the challenges, and the dream

Whether you're a founder, a dreamer, or someone who's been holding back, this one is for you.

We Are Ladies Who Launch!

CHAPTERS

00:00 Introduction to Bernicia

02:05 From makeup to wider mission

06:22 Gaining confidence

11:25 Building repeat customers and loyalty

13:56 Why wigs matter

20:45 Building a fashion forward brand

25:42 Launching with a business partner

31:51 The ‘Just Do It’ mission

40:13 Smart category strategy

41:22 Quality over ego

43:30 Bernicia’s 2 year vision

45:58 Dream retail partners

47:23 Business non-negotiables

49:30 Quickfire habits & lessons

🔔 New episodes every Wednesday — subscribe so you never miss a launch.

FOLLOW BERNICIA

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/berniciaboateng/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@realberniciaboateng

Enoléh: https://www.instagram.com/enoleh/

FOLLOW US

Instagram: www.instagram.com/weareladieswholaunch/

TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@weareladieswholaunch

YouTube: www.youtube.com/@Weareladieswholaunch

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.