You tweeted Simon Dolan a 140-character business pitch to help recover Destination. What spurred you to do this and why?
“It was because the administration explained to me that the only way the game will go forward is if I’m involved because I added a lot of value to the brand. So I took some time out, just recovering and focusing on getting better and then when I felt up to it I started looking at possibilities for people coming on board and helping to take the brand out of administration. That’s how I met Simon.”
How did your now new brand, She Who Dares, come to exist? And how did you get Destination back?
“It was actually through the process with Simon – he explained to me that the administration would take a long time. When he came to visit me about Destination he also noticed some art work I’d done for She Who Dares and I explained it was a brand I’d registered a while back. It was an idea for a lifestyle brand celebrating women and he loved the idea. So he said why don’t we set that up and see how we go with that and in the mean time we’ll still keep pitching for the destination brand.
“So I spent the last two years developing She Who Dares, we have a fragrance being launched, a beautiful signature leather handbag and a Swarovski necklace and clutch bag. I’m very proud of the range. But aside from that we got the games back as well. We got a contract with the administrators on Christmas Eve 2010 - within four weeks of that we had signed a deal with the 2012 Olympic Games for Destination London 2012.
“Then I got a new deal with Warner Bros for the final film of Harry Potter for Destination Hogwarts and that got back into Debenhams and Toys R Us and Harrods. I realised at that point that there had never been anything wrong with the game or even myself as a business woman, because all these big companies are still happy to work with me now regardless of what happened during that dark time. And She Who Dares as a brand really is about never giving up and believing that nothing is impossible.”
In all the highs and lows is it your family that’s kept you going?
“Absolutely, my girls are everything to me. They come first. And one thing I have learned is that previously I would put way too much energy into my business, now my life is a lot more balanced and the girls come first, I’ll never let business get in the way of what’s really important in life.
“I feel that this experience has showed the girls that you can fall down but you can get back up again and you can keep going and I think it’s made all of us stronger.”
What sorts of games do you like to play as a family?
“The girls do like playing Destination of course. But we enjoy playing things like charades, but then we also enjoy things like karaoke and the Wii games. So it’s a whole combination, we do like the old fashioned stuff and we like the modern technology as well.”
What’s next for you?
The launch of the fragrance and definitely putting all the energy behind making She Who Dares a success. And eventually bringing out the rest of the product range that we’ve planned for the last two years.
Rachel Lowe is Director of gifting brand She Who Dares -
Follow Rachel on Twitter @Rachel_Lowe
FemaleFirst @FemaleFirst_UK
Shabana Adam @Shabana_FAM