Caroline Matthews is a Multi Award Winning fashion designer, Speaker and founder of The Luxe Collective Co. which is a platform to help aspiring creatives and female entrepreneurs to follow their dreams, write their own rules and build their global empires both online and offline.
Caroline has showcased at NYFW, and is a business and empowerment coach for female entrepreneurs. Caroline believes that everything is possible if you dream big, believe in yourself and be yourself unapologetically in life and business. Caroline has hosted Luxe Collective events in the UK and LA and continues to build a global brand to help more women become leaders and founders in the world.
Hey Caroline, can you introduce yourself to us?
Firstly, can I say I love what BEYOUROWN stands for and I am so grateful to be a part of this awesome movement of women. Where do I start, I am a Multi Award winning International Fashion Designer, I have showcased at NYFW and I also founded The Luxe Collective Co which is all about empowering female creatives and entrepreneurs to find build global empires both online and offline and be part of a global sisterhood of women who support, connect and help each other to get to where they want to go. I also host event under my brand globally too. I did have my own award winning bridal label too for over 15yrs but I decided to focus on my fashion line and The Luxe Collective Co.
Can you take us through your journey to where you are now?
I started my journey as a bridal designer. I happened to pick up a random bridal magazine one time and felt like I saw the same style dress on every single page so I decided to change the world of bridal and create bridal fashion that was stylish, fashionable and for brides who had good vibes, hanging out with their girlfriends and actually looking like themselves on their wedding day in super backless, gorgeous dresses.
I did this for over 15 years, I have been blessed to have worked with hundreds of brides and also a few well-known brides in my time and enjoyed it immensely. We had over 10 stockists globally for our bridal along with a stand-alone studio but in 2018 I decided to put my focus on my true love which is fashion (having wanted to be a fashion designer since I was 4) and started my own label 3 years ago. its been an amazing success, stocked in luxury department stores, dressing celebrities and winning designer of the year 3 times in a row. I am not one for shying away and realised that none of this was enough and I wanted to share my knowledge with other female entrepreneurs, bring them together and see them succeed and thats how The Luxe Collective Co started in 2016.
How much research did you do on the market prior to launching Luxe Collective?
To be honest I am one of those women who goes on her instincts so if I answer honestly I will say I didn’t do a lot of research mainly because I had so many women coming to me asking me how I started, watching my youtube channel, my facebook lives and loving what I was doing and wanted to be confident to do the same in their business so I guess in some ways I just listened and that’s how it all began.
Can you tell us more about the brand DNA and ethos of Luxe Collective?
The brand values for The Luxe Collective Co are: Connection, Strength, Creativity, Love Action and Belief. To me these characteristics are what you need in order to be yourself unapologetically, build an empire that stands the test of time and is authentic in its messaging and voice. Our ethos is to empower women to go after their dreams, become the woman they dream of being and build an empire that supports them in their lives. To never feel alone, to never feel judged and to always know someone has your back.
Can you give us 3 tips ways you are aiding bad ass chicks to achieve their business goals and dream life?
- Be yourself unapologetically every single day and in every single decision you make.
- Work on the woman behind the brand, this is what I am so passionate about, I want women to stand in front of their brand with confidence, with strength because this is what we want to see badass so 1 focus upon this a lot in my 1:1 mentoring and group programmes and finally to always put some skin in the game.
- If you want success you have to be ready to show up and commit! We all want things but its never the ones who are more talented that succeed, its the ones who show up consistently, put skin in the game and go fiercely after their dreams.
Where can you see yourself within the next 5 years?
The Luxe Collective will be a global brand within 5 years, our educational online platform will be the place to go to get all the knowledge you need to start your business. We will have more amazing workshops for women and we hope to have Luxe Ambassadors on board who will host events for us all over the world under our brand and create an even bigger sisterhood of luxe women in business.
The ultimate goal is to have a co-working space where early-stage entrepreneurs can go that is affordable with a photography studio, cocktail bar, coffee shop etc because a lot of coworking spaces are expensive for new businesses so that would be a big one for us as I would like it to be in the UK and also in the US. I have always had this dream of having 4 female founders who essentially are part of TLC and we invest in up and coming businesses to give them support, finance and build more empires so this is on the cards too.
What outlets do use to promote Luxe Collective?
I am obsessed with video content more than anything because I love the connection you can have with a brand and you get to see the real someone so I use Youtube a lot and also as I am a creative Instagram is also a big platform for both my brands so I can give people a look BTS of our businesses and take them on a journey with us.
What gives you ultimate career satisfaction?
What gives me ultimate satisfaction is seeing women succeed and feeling confident succeeding too. That feeling of knowing who you are, making it happen and inspiring others to do the same, I get a feeling that nothing else gives me when I see my clients succeeding or making their dreams happen. Also seeing women all over the world wearing my fashion is a huge satisfaction for me as every single woman always tells me how amazing, unstoppable, confident they feel and that is all I want for women everywhere.
What challenges have you seen to have been presented during the growth Luxe Collective?
We have overcome a lot of challenges from finance to having ideas fail and starting again. But its all part of the journey, I believe that failings are just lessons and we all learn how to be so much better from obstacles. I was told that I shouldn’t be a designer, it was too competitive, I didn’t have enough money, I needed an investor, “go get a job Caroline.” If I had listened to that then I wouldn’t have had a brand worn by celebrities, won designer of the year 3 times and shown in New York and LA!
Which other leading entrepreneurs and pioneering game changers do you also admire and why?
I am a huge fan of Gary Vee, just because I am a firm believer of documenting and being yourself and Gary Vee is definitely himself.
I also love Victoria Beckham, for someone who has stood her ground, even without being a designer but still has built a fashion brand to rival anything out there.
I am also very inspired by the likes of Lewis Howes and James Wedmore!! I love learning and following the success of others who are looking to share their knowledge with others. I admire women and men who go after what they want with passion, determination and, commitment.
Top 3 go-to Podcast channels?
- ‘The Mind Your Business’ with James Wedmore.
- My friend’s podcast, ‘Think Like A Boss.’
- Sheerluxe who do some amazing success stories of women in business amazingly uplifting.
- ‘Under the skin’ with Russel Brand.
How do you define your own success?
Everyone defines success differently, it used to mean a big house and a fast car living by the ocean but now it means impacting, making a difference and women sending me messages saying How I helped them to believe in themselves, go after what they want and never give up (the house by the ocean is still on my vision board but I know that will come eventually!)
What does #BEYOUROWN mean to you?
#BEYOUROWN means to me to be my own everything, to be my own inspiration, to be my own biggest cheerleader and to be empowered in everything I do. Moving through life with courage, strength, taking decision action everyday and having belief and standing behind everything I do as much and finally trust! We have to trust, trust ourselves, our intuition and the people who come into our lives for everyone appears to teach us something! be open to it all.
Finally, what are you working on throughout 2019?
2019 is all about growth for The Luxe Collective Co. I want this year to really push through boundaries. I intend on up levelling in all areas of my personal life and business life and really build some massive connections with women all over the world. I feel we are constantly building an even stronger foundation and one that I want to share with more and more women everywhere. The launch of our membership site in the summer will be another goal for us and our ambassadors. I basically can’t wait I’m super excited about it all as I am saying it.
Instagram:@theluxe.collective @carolinematthewsfashion
Facebook: www.facebook.com/carolinematthewsfashion www.facebook.com/groups/theluxecollective
Website: www.the-luxecollective.com/ www.carolinematthews.co/
