Louenhide founders Heidi Bailey and Lou Kendall share the secrets of their success

Resilience and tenacity are two words that kept coming up when Graziher spoke to Lou Kendall and Heidi Bailey, the co-founders of handbag and accessories brand Louenhide.

The friends, who both grew up in rural New South Wales, first met when they were attending boarding schools in Sydney. Years later, their paths crossed again when they found themselves living in Brisbane and starting families of their own.

“We were both mums, rearing kids, and felt like the energy was right to give something a go,” Heidi explains.

In 2006, they founded Louenhide after noticing a gap in the market. With their country roots and Heidi’s experience working as a pharmacist for 10 years, the pair focused on getting their products into as many country towns as possible, often stocking the local pharmacy or newsagency.

“The regional part of Australia drove our business, and we kept servicing those clients and that customer journey because they were the ones who really loved us and loved what we were doing. So it became the foundation to our whole business,” Heidi explains. “The store owners in those regional towns would say ‘Gosh, if you did one of those in hot pink I’d buy 50’.”

Eighteen years later, they continue to go from strength to strength. They now offer more than 200 styles in a range of colours and they’ve expanded into accessories including scarves, sunglasses and jewellery boxes. The pair credit their success to ‘accidentally’ having different skill sets and the hard working ethos instilled in them while growing up in the country.

“I’ve always described us as like a hockey team: she plays as a forward and I play a back. She looks forward and is future­proofing the business, while I’m keeping the wheels turning,” says Heidi. Lou adds, “My strengths are her weaknesses and her strengths are my weaknesses.”

Over the past decade, the business has continued to grow as the brand established its website and social media presence. While there’s a tendency for business owners to try to grow as quickly as they can, Heidi and Lou took their time and focused on building an authentic brand that their customers are really invested in. “You don’t have to score 10 goals in the first game. It’s a journey,” says Heidi.

“I’ve learned that brand is everything,” Lou explains. “You need to establish a brand aesthetic and a brand story that captures people. They want to see us and they want to see our staff and they want to be a part of it.”

Heidi and Lou credit that authentic brand and culture, along with each other’s tenacity and persistence, as the reason they are still around when they’ve seen so many competitors come and go over the past 18 years. “The reason we’re still sitting in here today is because we stayed in it,” Lou says.

“The people who win are the people who are the most tenacious,” Heidi adds. “I’m not very good at being told no; I’ll have another crack and another crack.”

Heidi has now transitioned into designing the bags full time, while Lou makes sure they stay on brand. With an ever-changing market Lou, unsurprisingly, is thinking about how the brand can continue to grow.

Speaking of growing, with their daughters now on the cusp of adulthood, we wondered what advice these successful mothers would be passing on.

“Get on the journey and make a decision and don’t be paralysed by thinking something is forever,” Heidi says. “I did pharmacy at Sydney University, I got the degree, I went overseas, I worked in hospitals, I came back. It wasn’t right for me, so I changed my mind and explored other avenues. They were all stepping stones towards finding my why and my purpose.

“So, make a decision and have a crack and if it doesn’t turn out, just take a step to the right or a step to the left.”

Lou’s advice is also down-to-earth. “The advice I give to my daughter every day is just to be a good person: be nice, say hello to people. And in the bad times, remember: this will pass.”

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