"The best way to predict the future... is to create it."

Abraham Lincoln

Armine, you created your brand ' Les Ateliers J' proposing clothing for kids 1 year ago, how did it all start? 

I didn’t have at all the idea to create a company. I was just sewing for my nieces, my nephews, my friends, my daughter. I was just doing it for fun and little by little people got excited, started asking for more and after a while I didn’t have time anymore to do it on my own. So I decided to create a small line, based on the designs that I had sewed in the past to start with... That’s how it all started!

What was the trigger that makes you do the first step? It can be something you said to yourself, a click, an event, a belief,etc.

I thought that making a kids clothing line on my own would be exciting. Knowing that I will start a small activity - working on my preferred style designs that people will like to have at home as well, hoping that I will be able at some point to create partnerships (with specific sustainable suppliers and people) on my own without following any company rules or any corporate world. Just do the way I like and around what I like, create my own activity. 

Any particular event that triggered the starting point?

The birth of my daughter Jade was the starting point of my real interest for kids clothing. I got more and more excited to sew for her and later I decided to create the brand ‘ Les Ateliers J’. Living the kids fashion with her accelerated the materialisation of the project.

What were the barriers/difficulties you faced and how did you overcome them?

Many barriers came and are still coming along the way! At the very beginning, it was simply the basic tasks (find the right seamstresses to work with, source carefully the fabrics, make sure about the quantities, sizes, etc). It was all new for me and I was not sure that I will be able to do it, but after a while I finally managed to overcome these challenges step by step. That’s how I could move on, but for sure at the beginning nothing was clear! 

Would you say that you anticipated them?

No, I had no idea! And sometimes I am still surprised by all the things I have to manage and learn! In fact, I didn’t have this project in mind at all, it came spontaneously. I told myself, ‘I will try it and if it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work’. It was so new that I didn’t anticipate anything. And each time I face some difficulties, I wonder if I will manage to go through it or whether I will simply stop. You just need motivation and mostly to be eager to learn! There are still so many things/ideas that I would like to implement (especially more toward the sustainable/social) but it is challenging for me due to time constraint, with my full time job and two kids.

...so there are moments when you think ‘ I should stop’?

Yes many!

..and what makes you continue?

The hope that the activity will increase progressively and that at some point, the brand ‘Les Ateliers J’ will become a sustainable business.

Even though you have been creating this project by yourself, you had secure bases that gave you a sense of protection and the energy to make it all happen. A secure base can be a place, a person, a belief, etc*.

Who/what were the secure bases that helped you to bring the project to life? How would you say they made you strong enough to make it happen?

My husband definitely. He believes in me. He supports me. He listens to me a lot, at least he was at the beginning! Nowadays a little bit less 😉 To see that he believes in it makes me think that it’s worth it, and makes me feel more confident. If I would see him doubt, I guess I would just give up. His point of view really matters to me.

Singapore and the environment here is one of my secure base as well. It is easier to start a business and financially I could afford it, since I already have a job. 

How do you manage to be a mom of 2 kids, have a job and still find time to have your own company?

I optimize! I work during my lunch time, in the public transport between home and work or in the evenings after the girls showered instead of watching Netflix for instance. I have a to-do list that I follow.

What did you visualize when you started your company? Did you have a vision from the very beginning or did it come along the way?

I had zero vision! It just came along the way. For example, today, one of my wish is to provide sewing job to women in need, but when I started 1 year ago I had no idea where I was going! Each step gives me an idea on how to go further. So step by step, I am developing actions. My next target hopefully: try to donate some dollars to a charity for each item sold. 

What has been your motor/fuel to become an entrepreneur?

-- long silence--- I still don’t believe that I am an entrepreneur! - she laughs- 

I would never have thought that I would be an entrepreneur one day! For me an entrepreneur is someone that has an idea, a business plan in mind, a vision etc. I still don’t consider myself as an entrepreneur!

Coming back to your question, my main motor is to play with my own rules. And I like as well the challenge: I want to prove to myself that I can do it!

That's an interesting answer. I am coaching a lot of women that put themselves barriers, because they have an idea of what is an entrepreneur and they don’t think they can be one. These barriers we put to ourselves do not really exist, because an entrepreneur can be anyone, doing anything!

Yes exactly! I never pictured it for myself. It is not the fact that I wanted to become an entrepreneur that made me an entrepreneur. It is the things that I have done that make me now an entrepreneur.

What would you like to share with the people that are reading this article and are hesitating to launch their project? How can they do the first steps?

First of all, believe in yourself and in your project: why not you? I meet many entrepreneurs and I start to think ‘if he or she did it, why not me?’ 

Secondly, tell yourself: ‘If it doesn’t work, it’s ok’. I actually still think a lot about that. Now I am going to launch my second collection and if the business doesn’t follow and I have to stop it, I would not think that I have failed. I always tell myself: ‘you try and if it works, good for you, if at some point you have to stop, you stop, it is also ok cause anyway you have learned so much’.

And finally, I would say: You need to dare it! 

So you are not afraid to fail?

No. For sure, I would be sad if I have to stop the activity, but I would not be destroyed by it. I would think that it was a fun experience and that I have learned many things actually and that eventually it didn’t work for some reasons.

Thank you Armine for sharing your story. We are curious... Can you tell us: What is your next step?

I have many ideas in mind, I see many next steps! My short term next step is to launch my second collection and hopefully a third one! Wish me luck!

.... What about you? Are you ready to dare your next first step?