GLENYS BERD

Networth:$7+million

www.lovethoseshoes.com

Country of Residence: UK

GLENYS BERD, is founder of LoveThoseShoes.com.

She started her fashion business, ladybwear in 1998. Even though we had a really good business plan, and we had the idea, and we had the website, and the machinery to manufacture it. They were scared of the internet; there was not enough in it. So in the end we put 5000 pounds in ourselves that was the initial investment.

It would take really long before they sent the goods out. There was no flexibility with them that enabled us to give good customer service. And because they were incompetent, it made us look incompetent. So I guess the big lessons learned there was: you have to do it yourself.

It think women bring a really big extra into the business. It is not just about competing, just about succeeding. It is about doing it in the right way and doing it for a good reason. I think men in business are so terribly competitive. I think woman in business work together. There is an understanding. It sounds trite to say a sisterhood. But they relate to each other. They understand what makes each other tick.

“It is very important to believe in yourself. It will give you confidence. If you get knocked down, which will happen a lot in business, get back up again. It is not personal. It does not mean anything. It is just a little lesson learned. Keep going and believe you can do it. I always think, when my guts tell me to do it, I do. That would probably be the advice: go with your guts and believe in yourself.”