Success Doesn’t Have to Mean More: Olivia Rubin

In this live episode of Virgin StartUp Changemakers, Natalie Pearce sits down with fashion designer and founder Olivia Rubin to explore what happens when you stop measuring business success by how fast and how big you can grow. From creating her first rainbow skirt after stepping away from fashion to building an instantly recognisable brand stocked by major retailers, Olivia shares how creativity, community and social media shaped her unconventional founder journey. She also explains why she chose to slow the business down, produce less and rethink what growth, sustainability and success actually mean to her. Whether you're building a creative business, feeling the pressure to keep scaling or questioning what success should look like for you, this episode offers a refreshing perspective on creating a business that supports your ambitions without letting the industry define them. In this episode: How rediscovering creativity led to the Olivia Rubin brand Building a business organically without starting with a traditional business plan Creating a distinctive brand through colour and personal identity Using social media to build community, test products and drive sales Why founder-led content can be difficult to outsource Rethinking overproduction and sustainability in fashion Introducing rental and giving existing designs a longer life Why Olivia decided to step away from the pressure of constant collections Defining success on your own terms rather than chasing endless growth Learning to recognise and celebrate the wins along the way Changemakers is brought to you by Virgin StartUp, the not-for-profit organisation helping founders start and scale the businesses they're passionate about. Recorded live at Virgin StartUp's Changemakers events, every episode features honest conversations with entrepreneurs, founders and business leaders sharing the lessons, challenges and ideas shaping the future of business. Looking to start or grow your own business? Find out more at virginstartup.org Brought to you in partnership with our friends at Virgin Money - the home of brighter business banking.