cover story
T
he spacious, open plan warehouse
office in the middle of Sydney CBD
with racks upon racks of clothing and
a full team of highly engaged and motivated
employees, is a stark contrast from the humble
beginnings of online global fashion giant
Showpo. This is the 6th office the Showpo
team have had in the last 8 years, having to
continually move due to the expansion and
rapid growth of the company.
Founded in 2010 in her parents’ garage, Showpo
(originally Show Pony) was started with just a
laptop and two shelves of consignment clothing.
Through being disruptive in the retail space and
capitalising on the use of social media, Showpo
now boasts a cult following of over 3.5 million
fans and customers, proving that even with
simple beginnings an empire can be built.
The catalyst for Jane’s foray into fashion and
entrepreneurship came after a year spent
living and travelling abroad. She knew she
wanted to leave the cubical life, so decided
to quit her comfortable corporate job and
start her own business.
Although Jane’s first business venture failed,
she was resolute in starting again. Learning
from the mistakes and unsuccessful business
model of her first company, Jane credits the
failures of that to the success of Showpo.
With over 80 staff members, offices and
customers across the globe, and a yearly
turnover of more than 30 million dollars;
Jane Lu is one of Australia’s greatest start-up
success stories. She has an arsenal of accolades
under her belt including featuring in Forbes 30
under 30, Online Retailer of the Year 2018 and
Cosmopolitan Girl Boss of the Year 2018, Jane is
going from strength to strength.
As well as continuing to play an active role in
nurturing and growing Showpo, Jane has put
her entrepreneurial expertise to good use and
is responsible for co-founding social media
business group “Like Minded Bitches Drinking
Wine.” It is an online space for women in
business to collaborate and to share; not only
the good times, but also the bad. The group
was conceptualized over a glass of wine with
some business savvy women lamenting over
not having an easily accessible platform for
support and encouragement. Now with over
84,000 members the continually growing group
organises meet ups across the world.
Jane is as impressive in person as she is
on paper. Spending the afternoon with her
left us feeling motivated and inspired. Her
determination and drive shows that with the
right attitude and right people, you really can
achieve anything.
Women’s Network Magazine
7