Audrey Khaing-Jones is the co-founder of GlamCorner, Australia’s leading designer dress hire destination for all of life’s special occasions. GlamCorner is a wardrobe in the cloud where our customers can hire designer dresses for one-off occasions for a fraction of the retail price. “We’re bringing the convenience and savings of the sharing economy to women’s wardrobes,” Khaing-Jones says.
What prompted you to start the business?
I had so many social events and work related functions to attend and whenever I had to go these events, I would always be standing in front of a wardrobe full of clothes and having nothing to wear! I wondered why I couldn’t hire a suit like men can? So I jumped online and searched “rent designer dresses”. I then came across Rent The Runway in the US and was initially disappointed that they didn’t deliver to Australia. But then I asked, “Why isn’t anyone doing something like this excellent service here in Australia?” And so GlamCorner was born.
What have been the biggest challenges you faced?
As a founder of a start-up, I have to say, everyday you have a different challenge to tackle. Some are small and some are big. I think the three biggest challenges that I’ve faced so far would be (although I know there are more to come), getting the idea off the ground, hiring the right team and growing the business to another level in a very short amount of time.
What did you do to overcome those challenges?
It was very scary to start a new venture especially when I didn’t come from a fashion background and had no idea how e-commerce works, let alone a reverse-logistics business. However, I wasn’t thinking about all the hurdles at that time though. It was all about the exciting journey ahead and how many lives we could touch and provide an amazing experience to.
When you have a growing business, there comes a time where you know that you need help to build a better company.
People say that it’s hard to hire your first employee and I have to say it’s hard to hire every new employee. In reality, you’re actually building a second family and it’s very important to have people who share the same values and passion as you and finding the right one is always a challenge. I think the only way to overcome this challenge is to give time to find the right one and be patient because the right person is out there.
We have grown more than five times in less than a year and this has come with a lot of growing pains. We are so proud of how far we’ve come but we still have a long way to go. The journey ahead is exciting yet challenging, so it is so important that we have built systems that will help us cope with the demand.
From your experience, what are the 3 key pieces of advice you would give other women?
1. Always trust yourself no matter whatever everyone is saying. If you have an idea, go for it and follow your instincts. Life is short.
2. Hire the right people. This is important for all businesses large and small because you spend most of your time with your work family and it is very important that you have people around you that share the same goals and values to make great things happen.
3. Do not be afraid to ask for help. We’ve met so many people along the way who have been through what we are going through and people who are willing to share their valuable time to share some lessons that they’ve learnt. These people are hard to come by but they are there and when you meet them, don’t be afraid to ask for a little advice, they’d be more than happy to share their mistakes and lessons.
