3 Sets Of Business Partners Tell Us How They Make It Work

Jess: We met on set for a campaign I was modelling in. I was doing my own make-up – I used to have the most extravagant brow routine and Jenna asked me to talk her through the process…

Jenna: I couldn’t believe she spent so much time getting this look, and I said there had to be a simpler way. I had my business hat on and thought there was a gap in the market for innovation in the brow category.

Jess: Our mission hasn’t changed from day one – we want to simplify beauty. You don’t need to be a make-up artist to enjoy doing make-up. We wanted to make products that are accessible and as easy to use as possible.

Jenna: We still deliver innovation with every single product we bring to market. The beauty space is so over-saturated and overwhelming, so it always goes back to how can we simplify beauty further to make our community feel their most confident selves. I think we’re the perfect team. We both share the same vision, which makes decision making easy. We both pride ourselves on being REFY customers too – we create products that we want to use.

Jess: Working alongside Jenna has been amazing. She has a background in growing successful beauty brands, so a lot of the hurdles we faced as a new brand she knew how to overcome. We have grown so quickly, I always forget that we are still only four years old.

Jenna: Having Jess as a creative director with a background in content creation has significantly impacted our growth too. She’s got a loyal following, so when she announced we were launching REFY, people were excited from day one. She’s so particular with the brands that she works alongside to ensure she remains authentic and credible, and it has benefited us massively. We also have a fantastic product development team – our product director Danielle has been with us since the beginning. The team are so passionate about innovation and solving problems.

Jess: The product team is where all our campaign ideas begin – products are always informed by community feedback. From there myself, Jenna and the brand teams map out the messaging.

Jenna: We love to call out product USPs and benefits – we never want to bring anything to market that has been done already.

Jess: Once product is finalised and we’ve agreed on messaging, it’s handed over to the creative team. Again, myself and Jenna love to be involved with this process – it’s something we’re both passionate about.

Jenna: We’ve never really had big differences in our opinions. We both share the same vision for the brand which is so important for co-founders. 

Jess: Actually, Jenna, I can think of one…

Jenna: Oh, how did I forget?! In October 2023 we launched our red campaign, and Jess wasn’t her usual passionate self…

Jess: I didn’t fully see the vision. But this is what’s so great working alongside someone else. Red was so new for us – we love to simplify beauty, so everything is normally neutral. But when I wore the Lip Sculpt and Gloss combo and shot it in Paris, it ended up being one of my favourite campaigns we have ever done. 

Jenna: It’s important to see each other’s perspectives, but if you don’t see the vision, it’s about having the trust – if one of us is really behind it, we know that it is probably right for our customer. It is no longer enough to develop innovative products without purpose – companies must listen to what their customers want. 

Jess: Jenna’s business and industry insights have no doubt made us the success we are today. She is a force to be reckoned with and sees the bigger picture so clearly. I am blessed to have her as a co-founder and friend on this journey. Industry insights are so important and help us to inform decisions, but we ultimately listen to our community. If we’re always creating and reformulating based on their feedback, we know we can’t go wrong. 

Jenna: It is so important to understand who you are going into business with before you embark on building a brand. Do your values align? Does the mission you’re setting out to do make sense to you both? Is this something you’re both super passionate about and are doing for the right reasons? The foundation has to be solid and make sense for both parties.

Jess: I agree. There are times when the business will test you and hard decisions will have to be made, but if that alignment is there, it makes everything that little bit easier. I also think it is so important to play to your strengths. Jenna and I have very different skill sets and we can lean on each other in different areas. Also, know when to ask for help when you’re struggling. For so long I felt like I needed to know it all, which I now know is not true at all. 

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Christie: The idea for Otiumberg came to us while we were living together in London. I was working in luxury fashion and Rosanna in the arts world. We had a lot of piercings and have always been interested in beautiful, subtle details. We started looking for jewellery that was well made using precious materials. We soon realised there wasn’t a brand to fall in love with. 

Rosanna: We started Otiumberg on the side while we were working our full-time jobs, slowly and carefully building it together using our different skill sets. We knew we had the same drive because as sisters we grew up together, so there’s never been any doubt. It was very organic, but it felt right from the start.

Christie: We share a vision for the brand and how we want to build it. Our roles complement each other as Rosanna is highly skilled in the brand's aesthetic and operations, and I oversee the design. We come together on everything, but it's powerful to know that your co-founder thinks and feels the same about almost every decision. 

Rosanna: Our process is always very intuitive – especially when it comes to collaborations and product. We’ve built the business on our personal feeling towards something – the brand is truly an extension of who we are and therefore we’ve really trusted our gut on a lot of decision making.

Christie: We rarely disagree but if we do, we hear each other out. We have similar styles and very similar tastes, so it’s never a battle. Rosanna leads the brand side and ultimately makes the call, and I do on the product. I welcome feedback and so does she; it’s important to always express opinions and we really value each other's thoughts. 

Rosanna: I manage the brand identity and Christie oversees design. It works really well that way and plays to our strengths and experience. It also gives us both a creative outlet. We’ve been profitable from the early years of the business, which comes down to thinking both creatively and always commercially around decisions. We have a long-term vision for Otiumberg, and as such we have always been focused on building strong foundations. 

Christie: I have to love what we design and want to wear it myself. I usually wear samples for a few months before deciding whether we launch the piece. I need this time to review and understand how a customer would wear it, and how it would make them feel. Usually when we love a piece, it’s commercially successful. Rosanna also wears and gets a feel for the pieces, and we come together with the team to review. 

Rosanna: Opening our flagship store in Holland Park was a huge moment for the brand. We’re an independent business with a team of ten women, and we were so proud to have been able to open our first store with no investment, just a lot of hard work. Our B Corp certification is also up there with some of the most exciting moments. It took a lot of work to get there and we are so proud to be on a responsible trajectory with the business. 

Christie: My final piece of advice is that you really need to know and believe in the work ethic of the other person if you’re going to make a partnership successful. Business is up and down, it’s mentally and emotionally challenging, and there is no such thing as work/life balance – you are always thinking about it. This is a positive and sometimes a negative. What’s given us strength is that we support each other. You need to be passionate, kind and understanding.

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Henrietta: RIXO came about after Orlagh and I met while studying at London College of Fashion. We bonded over our love of vintage and realised we both had positive mentalities when it came to work. We worked on a project together at university and really bounced off each other. I would go around to Orlagh’s university accommodation, and we’d stay up all night making sure we perfected the project we were working on.

Orlagh: After we graduated, we were eager to learn and didn’t have any responsibilities such as partners, kids or mortgages, so it felt right to take the leap and start the business.

Henrietta: Our roles have evolved naturally. As the business has grown, we’ve had to divide and conquer. Orlagh leads the design and marketing teams and overall creative vision, while I have the trading, finance and people teams reporting to me to ensure RIXO is set up for success and we are thinking ahead. We decided to structure our roles to make the most of our time and efficiency. However, this doesn’t mean we operate separately – we remain a partnership, collaborating closely on RIXO’s vision and future.

Orlagh: I'm lucky that Henrietta trusts me to take the lead on designing collections and expanding our product range without the need for constant back and forth. That said, I always love checking in with her to share what I’ve been working on; it’s my version of a ‘show and tell’ and I genuinely get so excited to take her through everything with my design and print team. My design work typically starts months before I even put pen to paper. Finding time for inspiration can be a challenge when running a business, but when you truly love what you do, you naturally find ways to fit it into your life. My most creative moments come in my downtime, late at night when my husband and baby are asleep, or during weekends spent exploring vintage fairs and charity shops. Even holidays are often planned around visiting fairs abroad. Over the years, Henrietta and I have collected some incredible vintage pieces that serve as inspiration and, when the time is right, they feature in the collection in a reimagined way. 

Henrietta: Orlagh and I have a very similar creative eye, and our style and the way we mix old with new is very much in sync. We could be at a vintage fair or charity shop together and easily pull out the same print or item. Our taste runs across all our collections but also in our store décor – our eclectic interiors style is very aligned. We’re also closely connected to our customer via data but also from in-person events where we get invaluable feedback. Commercial success comes from ultimately understanding your customer and always trying to improve.

Orlagh: I really value the insights Henrietta picks up from speaking with other brands or learning from industry interviews; it’s always interesting to hear different perspectives. Because our designs are deeply rooted in making women feel great rather than following trends, they naturally translate into a commercially relevant range that still feels unmistakably RIXO. Being so closely involved with the product at every stage helps ensure that each piece stays true to our brand’s identity. One thing we both agree on is that, while sales numbers are important, nothing can truly capture the magic of emotionally falling in love with something. We’ve always been great at that and it’s what makes us so proud of what we create.   

Henrietta: Opening our flagship store on the King’s Road was one of our proudest moments. We dreamed of opening a RIXO flagship from the early days in our living room. It also feels pretty surreal to now have a permanent presence in New York – we made the decision to make our summer pop-up shop there permanent last September.

Orlagh: One of the most rewarding moments has been seeing RIXO worn by people in everyday life. Whether it’s spotting someone on the street, at an event or even on holiday, knowing that something we designed has become a part of their wardrobe is incredibly special. Additionally, an early and very proud moment for us was launching on NET-A-PORTER. It felt like a real milestone. Seeing our brand alongside some of the most established names in fashion was both surreal and incredibly validating.   

Henrietta: Building a brand isn't short term, it's long term and you've really got to be passionate about what you do – it's a seven-day-a-week job. It's key that you get on with the person you go into business with, supporting each other through the highs and lows. We're so lucky we get to ride this rollercoaster together. You also have to be totally aligned on your big-picture values and vision for the business, especially the way you want to operate every day and what really matters to you.

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