How to succeed in making the shift from founder to leader
I have built two businesses, but leading The Prestwick Place has been the biggest growth I have achieved.
When I launched IIXIIST, I was a one-woman show. I started with US$2,000 and a product I believed in. I had no investors, no team and no experience – just hustle and a laptop.
Over time, I built that swimwear label into a global brand worn by names like Kim Kardashian and Kylie Jenner. But I did it all myself. I was across every decision, every customer, every detail.
When I closed IIXIIST after co-founding The Prestwick Place, everything changed. This wasn’t swimwear anymore. This was fine jewelry, a category where trust, craftsmanship and consistency matter. The stakes were higher, the product was more technical, and the business needed structure from day one. I couldn’t do it all alone – and I knew I didn’t want to.
Doing everything yourself works – until it doesn’t
In the early stages, being across everything feels efficient. It’s your baby, and you know it best. You move fast, you make instinctive decisions and can keep things lean.
But as your customer base grows, so do their expectations. When you’re managing higher-value orders, more touchpoints and a more complex product, that solo mentality quickly becomes a bottleneck.
I had to unlearn that instinct to be in everything. I had to go from being the engine to building one.
At The Prestwick Place, I had to unlearn that instinct to be in everything. I had to go from being the engine to building one. Because when you're stuck doing all the doing, there's no space to think, plan or lead.
The messy shift: From founder to real leader
No-one tells you how confronting this part is. Going from doer to leader sounds great in theory, but in reality, it’s messy. At The Prestwick Place, I had to learn to trust people. I had to empower others to make decisions – even when their approach looked different from mine.
It’s not just about delegation. It’s about changing your internal narrative from, "I need to do this to keep it right" to "I need to step back so the business can thrive". It takes time, and it’s uncomfortable. But it’s also where the growth happens – for the business and for you as a leader.
Building a high-performance brand without being the bottleneck
The biggest difference between IIXIIST and The Prestwick Place is how I’ve structured the team. With IIXIIST, I carried the brand. With The Prestwick Place, I’ve invested in people, systems and infrastructure that mean the business doesn’t rely on me to function.
That’s the real shift: a founder builds momentum; a leader builds something that can outlast them.
Today, we’re a team of eight. We have in-house jewelers, customer service specialists, production leads, marketing support – every person owns their role. We’ve built processes so things don’t fall over if I’m not there. That’s the real shift: a founder builds momentum; a leader builds something that can outlast them.
The leadership lessons I didn’t see coming
There’s a lot of glossy talk about entrepreneurship, but not enough about the emotional load that comes with leadership.
Leadership can feel lonely, even with a team. You won’t always get it right, and when you don’t, you own it. People look to you for direction, even when you’re still figuring things out.
What’s saved me is staying clear on my non-negotiables: building a product I believe in, working with a team I trust and showing up for customers who feel seen and heard.
Why this shift matters more than ever
As The Prestwick Place continues to grow, I’ve realized that the brand’s success depends less on my presence and more on how well I’ve built the engine underneath it. The more I’ve leaned into leadership, the more the business has grown.
We’ve doubled our average customer spend. Retention sits at 89 percent and 75 percent of checkouts happen on a customer’s first visit. We’ve scaled our non-jewelry offering by more than 100 percent in a year. And all of it has happened while I’ve stepped further into the role of leading, not just operating.
That’s the real reward of making the shift: freedom, clarity and a brand that doesn’t fall apart without you in it. You don’t need to be everywhere. You just need to build something that works when you’re not.