While she was preparing for brain surgery, Jo Tutchener-Sharp tackled the unimaginable horror of her little son growing up without a mother.
Still, her darkest days provided her greatest inspiration. Because Joe’s illness and her recovery inspired the idea of her extraordinarily successful clothing brand, Scamp & Dude.
Frankenstein, with 20 staples on her shaved head, when he recovered from 10 hours of surgery to remove a potentially deadly cavernous hemangioma (an abnormal mass of blood vessels). I don’t want to look like this. Instead, she wished they had a snug toy that could have given them a pocket to keep her picture close to their hearts.
“I thought these things weren’t available, so why not create one? That way, you can comfort the kids who have to leave their parents,” said Joe, 46, Cookham, Berkshire. Says.
Jo Tutchener-Sharp, 46, from Cookham, Surrey, underwent brain surgery for fear of his son’s growth. Still, her darkest days provided her greatest inspiration. Because Joe’s illness and her recovery inspired the idea of her extraordinarily successful clothing brand, Scamp & Dude.
She registered the company two months after she was discharged. She called her company Scamp & Dude and nodded to her sons Sonny (now 10 years old) and Jude (7 years old).
The near-death experience of a former public relations company owner was also dying to give back to her, so she thought: That was my goal to be energetic. “
Two months after she was discharged, she registered for Scamp & Dude. Nodded to her sons Sonny (now 10 years old) and Jude (7 years old). And in November, her superhero Sleep Buddies, a line of children’s clothing and two women’s sweatshirts were launched. All of these carry the Scamp & Dude trademark logo, A Superhero Has My Back.
Five years later, her company is primarily a women’s clothing label, boasting unique leopard and lightning prints that have produced countless copycats. Celebrity fans include Billie Piper and Emma Bunton, Joe says she has a huge number of fans, and Scamp and Dude fans “friend each other” with 8,700 powerful fans. There is a private Facebook group and a new store is scheduled to open in Marlow, Buckinghamshire, next month, these friendships could develop.
“It will be a place where our community can get together,” says Joe. “The fact that they are so excited to see others at Scamp & Dude is ridiculous, but very nice. They are planning these shopping trips together.
This is not bad for a woman who promised to be nothing more than a “small business” as she regained her health to her parents. Joe laughs: “They remind me of it now!”
In October 2015, Joe sold a cosmetology PR company and began to suffer from severe headaches in the process of launching a skin care brand.Her Joe’s family doctor referred her to her hospital the following month after she developed her facial cramps.
A scan revealed that she had a cavernous hemangioma and needed to get rid of it —’because if she bleeds again, she would probably kill me.’
Joe, 43, married to Rob, asked for the surgery to be postponed until January 2016, so he could spend his last Christmas with his family if he didn’t survive the dangerous surgery.
“I’ve always thought this might be the end,” she says. “You look back on your life, and I was really annoyed that I didn’t make a difference. I’m not doing well enough.”
So she exchanged her skin care brand plan for Scamp & Dude. The lightning logo, or “super power button,” aims to empower children when they feel vulnerable, and has donated more than 5,000 Sleep Buddies and 6,500 scarves to women so far. I did. Cancer and a family of children with cancer.
The 46-year-old said she had a fire in her abdomen after surgery and found no barriers. She was contacted by the London department store Liberty and started stocking her children’s clothing brand.
Joe says there was this massive fire on her belly after the surgery and no barriers were seen. Then, as she described it as her “fate” moment, she was contacted by London department store Liberty about a skin care line she heard she wanted to launch.
When Jo said he switched to children’s clothing, Liberty agreed to stock the Scamp & Dude line. She also said she sold well quickly, partly because of her public relations career that boosted her media support, but because her business had “meaning”.
Women’s sweatshirts were particularly popular, so Jo added more in addition to women’s T-shirts and dresses.
For the first six months she did every aspect of her business herself. She said, “She’s just ready to process orders until 2am.” — But she currently has 31 female employees. They work primarily remotely and can spend a flexible four-day week with their children. This is a decision that Joe missed to meet the boy when he was working long hours in PR.
“I don’t want anyone to have such regrets,” she says. “I never say” where are you? ” I trust them to get the job done. “
In her own part, Joe tries not to look at her phone during school pickup and bedtime, but she emphasizes that it is “less sacred than you.” “There are times when I have to meet the absolute deadline.” This is your supper, kids, I have a little more to do. It is impossible to do business like this, and it is impossible not to do so. “
Both boys helped Joe test her design — Sony made a print for her mother last year — Rob, an event business, was the driving force behind the opening next month. is.
“The only person in business is my husband,” says Joe, who adds her job: “My kids love it because I love it, and my husband loves it. I don’t feel it’s invading my life, and I don’t feel like I’m keeping me away from them because we’re all involved. “
Joe says she doesn’t have a nanny, and she and her husband Rob make it work and raise a child between them.
She and Rob have been married for nearly 11 years and share childcare. We make it work among us. I don’t think I could have done all this without him. “
Social media is essential to the success of Scamp & Dude, the label is primarily sold online, and Jo describes Instagram as “your storefront.” That’s how you build a community. In fact, her online followers have empowered her to fight the retailers who copied her designs, including the one that filed the proceedings in 2018.
“I hate fighting, but honesty is a big deal for me,” says Joe, who made a charity profit from the win, along with unsold copycat clothes.
Jo explains that many small brands don’t fight because they think they can’t afford it. She has come to the point where she thought “I can’t let my business go bankrupt”, but you read the comment “Don’t stop” (on social media). There was great support. “
Being a small brand means she can make quick decisions. After Deborah James, also known as Bowel Babe and Scamp & Dude fans, revealed that she was receiving end-of-life care in May, Joe funded Deborah for her bowel cancer fund. I was told to pick an item from the label to procure. Deborah’s chosen handbag sold out in 24 hours and raised £ 7,500.
When the war began in Ukraine, Joe turned one of her T-shirts into a charity item. It sold out overnight and she donated a £ 5,000 profit to the humanitarian charity Choose Love.
Jo states that aspiring business owners need to have passion and purpose as well as good products. “The purpose doesn’t have to be philanthropic, but it does have to be for you.” They also need to “live and breathe” their brand, she warns: “You do. You’ll have to be obsessed, and if you don’t, don’t even start. “
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The entry deadline is July 11, 2022. For entry details, please visit everywomanforum.com/ewawards.
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