I wanted to be a ballerina for as long as I can remember. I loved everything about it – the music, the costumes, the expression through movement, even the discipline and dedication it takes to do it well. I was simply obsessed with it, and I was quite good, but I decided not to pursue it as a professional career when I turned 19. It broke my heart to give it up, but you have to have the right physical qualities to be a professional dancer which I felt I didn’t have. My time as a dancer taught me so much and it brought me to England at the age of 12 so I’m so grateful for that.

I loved fashion from a young age and had a dream that one day I would start my own fashion brand but honestly, I had no idea where to start, let alone map out a clear career path! I just thought I would go into the business side of fashion and set a goal to work in one of the big luxury fashion houses in Paris. I studied French and business management at university and spent a year in Paris learning French and interning wherever I could.

After I graduated, I worked for a small, independent luxury fashion brand in London. It was an amazing to start my career, working in a small company where I could try a bit of everything – marketing, merchandising, finance, wholesale and PR. I just tried to learn as much as I could about the industry and everybody’s part in it which really gave me an insight into how a small fashion company is run and it has helped me to this day.

I suffered terribly from imposter syndrome. I felt so lucky to be working in such an amazing, creative and sought-after industry and felt an immense amount of pressure to prove myself constantly. I had no idea how to do so many of the things I was asked to do and didn’t have much support, so it was just about looking like I knew what I was doing and then figuring things out by myself behind the scenes. Running my own business now, I feel a lot more confident but most importantly I have learnt to accept that there will always be things I don’t know, and I really enjoy constantly learning – it’s all part of the journey and that’s what makes it so fun and exciting.

No two days are the same and I love that about my job. I normally wake up early with my two-year-old daughter and get her ready to go to nursery. After drop off, I walk along the canal to our studio, grab a strong coffee and start the day with the team. Depending on the day, it can involve trade meetings, marketing meetings, design meetings and/or a shoot – sometimes all of them on the same day! I try to be as structured as possible but it’s not always realistic with so many moving parts. I usually leave the studio at 5pm to pick up my daughter from nursery then spend time with my family until she goes to sleep. After that it’s a quick dinner with my husband and an hour or two of work before going to bed around midnight.

When I first started Kitri in 2017, there was more breadth in the collection to test what really worked – I included everything I loved but also tried to balance it out with styles that were popular at the time, even if there weren’t totally my style. Now, I make a conscious decision at every design stage to only include styles that we absolutely love and would wear ourselves. Authenticity is key now there’s so much competition at every level and that’s what I feel customers want to see to connect with the brand on a deeper level. Not every style we put out there works but I’m okay with that as long as we really believe in it and put our all behind it.

The best part is that I get to do what I love every day – the design, the production, the marketing and most of all getting to collaborate with the most amazing, talented, hard-working people. Seeing anyone wearing one of our designs walking along a street will never stop to feel incredible. I love that we get to be a part of our customers’ lives and that’s a huge privilege.

The worst part of the job is the lack of work/life balance. Having your own business means that the line is always blurred – especially as I work with my husband! I’ve kind of given up on looking for the ‘perfect’ balance and accepted that loving what I do and running my own business means that I just have to do my best to carve out some ‘offline’ time each week to be my best self to my family and to my work and that’s enough.

There’s been a few but being featured on a double-page spread in The Telegraph and The Times was a huge highlight and something my parents were so proud of – my dad has it framed in his study! Also, it was really amazing to be stocked in some of my favourite stores around the world like Liberty, Selfridges, Harrods, Harvey Nichols and Le Bon Marché. We have since started to pull back from wholesale to concentrate on our DTC business but, nevertheless, it’s been a huge pinch-me moment to see Kitri on the floor of some of the stores that I’ve loved since I was a young girl.

Like so many businesses, Covid was a hugely challenging time for us. We were just turning two when it all happened and had taken on some big wholesale customers who were supposed to launch around that time, which didn’t end up happening. We had to pivot really hard to clear the stock and it had a reverberating impact on the business for a few years after, which was very challenging. I’ve learned that you have to spread the risk, stay agile and move quickly to adapt and survive. There are so many things that are not within our control so we must focus on the things that we can control and make sure that we’re doing our best and hopefully that comes across to our customers.

I find it extremely difficult but I’m getting better at it! I check my emails constantly – right until I fall asleep, which I’m trying not to do so much. I very rarely put my out of office email on, even when I’m on holiday, but my husband and I do have a rule that when we’re on holiday we block out at least three days where we won’t look at our emails or discuss work. After that, we plan an hour or two a day each to sort anything out we need to, which is not ideal, but it works for us.

Watching a great movie or TV series with a glass of wine normally does the trick but I love going to my husband’s family home in Italy at least twice a year to unwind, relax and spend some quality time with the family.

I’ve always admired Natalie Massenet who started Net-a-Porter and Amy Smilovic, the founder and creative director of Tibi. I love the fact that they are formidable and fearless female founders who have built their business with passion, strength and compassion while staying true to themselves.

Being a good listener and being decisive. I’m guilty of being a perfectionist and having to think through things and waiting until everything feels perfect, but I’ve learned that sometimes getting things done is better than not having done them at all.

Hugely. It could have been just me and my insecurities as a young woman, but when I first started in the industry, I felt a lot of judgement, exclusion and competition among women, like there wasn’t enough space for all of us to progress and succeed. It almost broke me. Now, I feel there’s a huge sense of community among women in luxury, particularly among female founders, which I honestly didn’t expect when I started Kitri. Everyone is so supportive of each other and it’s amazing to feel that you’re not alone in your journey because, at the end of the day, we’re all going through very similar challenges and can really help each other.

I hope that we continue to support each other and nurture and support the young women starting out in the industry. It’s a tough industry for sure but there is definitely enough room for everyone and we’re definitely stronger together.

For me, the biggest change has been the idea of women ‘having it all’ in the workplace and looking after my own mental health, particularly now that I’m a mother of a two-year-old. I think a lot of us are realising that it’s not realistic to have it all. I don’t have unlimited time and energy to do everything I want to do so I have to prioritise and make the trade-offs that I’m comfortable with on a daily basis.

Listen to good advice but trust your gut. Take up space and be bold. I think I was so scared of not knowing enough and making mistakes early on in my career that I listened to other people when deep down I knew that it wasn’t the right thing to do. I’m not always right of course but I know now that at least if I make a mistake based on my own decision, I can live with it and learn from it.

Be true to yourself and your vision. Be fearless and don’t be afraid to have the uncomfortable conversations. As young women, we’re trained to be polite and not rock the boat but sometimes that’s what’s needed to see your vision through.