Rising star Sian Marie Gabbidon

Ri ing Star

Are you thinking you might just recognise Sian Marie? Well, that’s probably because she’s a previous winner of The Apprentice, a British business-style reality television programme that has spurred a host of similar shows around the world. Despite her humble beginnings on

British TV, you can rest assured that Sian Marie has come a long way since then.

“OUR SOLE PURPOSE IS TO MAKE WOMEN FEEL GOOD”

It’s the little things that make growing businesses stand out – and this certainly rings true for Sian Marie’s eponymous loungewear brand. With its mission to empower women, the 2018 winner of British TV show The Apprentice has created a thoughtful brand that intends to make women feel good about what they wear. We sat down with her to discuss the highs, the lows and, most importantly, the future of her business.

So, tell us how it all began?

I first set my brand up in my bedroom, when I was 21. It was predominantly swimwear, and I made everything myself – I had no money, no investment, but I slowly managed to build things up.

Then, in 2018, I applied for The Apprentice – and I won! As the winner, Lord Alan Sugar invested £250,000 into my business, which enabled me to grow at a much faster rate. Since then, we’ve transitioned to specialise in loungewear, and our ethos is to make women feel good about themselves through wearing our brand.

What inspired you to launch Sian Marie all those years ago?

It happened very organically – I never thought “right, I’m going to sit down and start my own business”. After I graduated from university, I landed a marketing position and designed and made swimwear on the side, because that’s what I love doing. At first, I had no real business experience, but I knew I enjoyed everything about designing; sketching, creating and planning the fabrics – that’s my bread and butter.

Now, I do a lot of talks with kids in schools. It’s important for me to be a role model for them – especially as I’m mixed race – as, when I was younger, there was no one that looked like me to look up to. So now, it’s nice that I can be that person for others.

What would you say to those that may not have the funding to start a business?

Be really savvy with every penny. And if you have little bits of money, be really sensible about how you use it, because it’s easy

to blow money pretty quickly on various different things when setting up a business. So be smart and be savvy.

What makes your brand stand out?

Our sole purpose is to make women feel good, by providing high quality clothes that are super soft and comfortable. We try to do little things to make our brand stand out, for example each garment has a little message sown on the inside to empower the woman who wears it.

A lot of people buy clothes today because they’re super cheap – that’s not right. Although our products are reasonably priced, they’re made to a really high quality so they withstand the test of time. We don’t make huge bulk productions and we are as sustainable as possible.

And what would you say your biggest success has been as a business woman?

My greatest success was probably my biggest challenge, too – which would be COVID. As a UK-based swimwear brand, sales dropped because all events had been cancelled. Swimwear wasn’t in demand.

I had to completely adapt the business. I had planned to introduce loungewear to Sian Marie, but not as quickly as we did. It was tough as no one knew the answers or the ‘right’ way to do things – even Lord Sugar’s advice was literally just to make it through.

So ensuring that the business survived through such a terrible time was a great success, and I’m thankful for it, as I know many businesses didn’t have the same outcome.

Image © Jakub Taylor

What future plans do you have for Sian Marie – what’s the dream?

There are so many dreams! I’m really excited to expand the loungewear range and continue driving our ethos, so our customers know who we are and what we stand for. We’re focused on creating a lifestyle and wellness community too, so our customers don’t just buy the clothes to look good, but because they agree with our mission. We have a new blog section on our website covering topics such as mental health and general wellbeing for example, to help the two marry up.

We’ve also recently partnered with George at ASDA, so our loungewear is stocked across the UK, and we’ll be expanding to more stores soon. I love having our products in stores because it gives people that chance to feel the quality and truly understand what we’re all about.

I may be well-known for winning The Apprentice, but I want to change that and become known for my brand, Sian Marie.

woman’s guide to investing

Globally, women typically earn 23% less than men. Until the pay gap closes and men and women reach financial parity, it’s essential that women are provided with the knowledge and tools to start their investment journeys. Cory McCruden, Founder of Norstar Insights, shares her advice for women looking to invest wisely

ne of the most common questions I am asked about personal finance and investing is where to start. There are so many options to invest today, it’s overwhelming. Types of investments include individual stocks and bonds, mutual funds, ETFs, interest bearing bank accounts, CDs, options, annuities, real estate, and cryptocurrencies, to name a few.

Before diving into any one particular type of investment, it’s important to first understand your goals and time horizon. When you think about your goals, consider how important they are to you and your family. Asking what’s at stake if you don’t achieve this particular goal can be a useful way to then understand how important achieving your goal is to you.

What’s most important to you?

Have your priorities clearly defined. Once you have identified your goals, if you have more than one, try to rank them in order of importance. This will help you prioritise where to focus your efforts. Be mindful that your goals may change over time, which is fine. Do this before considering investments. It can be very easy to get swept up in the excitement of a particular opportunity or to feel like you are missing out on something. It’s important to have your own game plan and also to write it down. Goals may be the purchase of a car, home or vacation, or to graduate school, take a sabbatical or have a child. They are personal and for you to determine for yourself.

When do you need to make something happen?

The next thing to do is specify a timeframe of when you would want to achieve each goal. Taking into consideration when you will need to have achieved your goal is a critical factor that will help you figure out the most appropriate investments and approach to take. Try to make it easy, and consider a short-, medium-, and long-term time frame. Generally, short-term covers less than three years, medium-term would be three to ten years, and long-term lasts longer than ten years.

Your age or the type of lifestyle you’re looking to build for yourself will influence which goal goes with which time frame. Gone are the

days where ‘retirement’ is a long-term goal. Thanks to the myriad ways we can earn a living, people have become much more creative in how they spend their time. A sabbatical, semi-retirement, or early retirement may be what is most appropriate for you. It’s important to note that some people never fully retire. Think of a consultant, university professor or artist. You may choose to work as long as you wish, however, the way you work may look very different later in life than early and mid-career. The bottom line is that retirement is not necessarily something you plan for once you reach 65 or 70 years of age; take into account whether this is a temporary or complete exit from the workforce. Then structure your investment goals based on your needs.

Risk versus volatility – know the difference

Once you have determined your goals in order of importance and timing, next consider risk. Risk is any uncertainty that may result in a decline or loss in value of your investments. The more important a goal is to you, or the shorter the time horizon for when you want to reach that goal, then the more you want to reduce the risk or probability of loss of that investment. How do you assess the riskiness of an investment? In the case of a stock investment, consider the cash flows generated by a particular company and determine how robust and durable they are and if they will continue into the foreseeable future. Think about that company’s competitors, how innovative the company is and whether the business has been able to build a moat around its products and services such that it would be difficult for another player to take market share away. This will give you an idea of how resilient the business is and whether you can count on that company’s cash flows to sustain a healthy economic return in service to your goal.

Now that we’ve covered risk, let’s talk about volatility – it’s important to understand the difference between the two. Volatility is how quickly the price of an investment moves up or down within a certain time frame. This may have less to do with the “risk” of an investment than you think; they are not necessarily correlated. In addition, some volatility can actually be good and can work to your advantage. For instance, when the stock market crashed toward the end of February 2020 because of instability triggered by COVID-19, this was a good time to buy stocks in high-quality companies whose prices were much lower than they would be under normal circumstances. Many of these companies quickly rebounded because they were sound companies with healthy businesses producing quality cash flows.

Investing doesn’t have to be difficult or complicated. Everyone can and should use investing to achieve their goals. In order to be successful, have a gameplan with your prioritised goals and time horizon clearly laid out, and use this as a framework with which to assess different types of investment opportunities. As you evaluate different investments, be sure to consider risk or the permanent loss of capital and don’t be afraid of a little volatility. Buying low and selling high (or higher than what you bought at) is always a good strategy.

Cory McCruden is the Founder of Norstar Insights and an Entrepreneur In Residence at Yale University