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Here, Clarkson talks to Marketing Mag about her passion for lifting women up to live their best lives, even when faced with seemingly impossible odds.
When I started designing activewear more than 35 years ago, I wasn’t thinking about building a global brand or pioneering a new fashion category – I was simply making clothes that helped women feel good while working out. At the time, there was no such thing as “activewear”, and I had no grand business plan, just a passion for movement and a desire to create something better. What I didn’t realise then was that passion, persistence and purpose would be the foundation for everything that followed.
People often ask me what the secret to Lorna Jane’s success is, but the truth is, there isn’t one. Success doesn’t happen overnight; it’s built over time with a whole lot of hard work, resilience and a relentless commitment to your vision. It’s about turning up every day, even when it’s tough and pushing forward because you believe in what you’re doing.
I won’t pretend it’s always been easy. There have been days when I’ve felt like giving up when the obstacles seemed too big or the setbacks too discouraging. But then there are the other days, the moments when you see your impact – when a customer tells you how your brand has changed their life, when your team shares the same excitement around a new idea and that makes every challenge and all the hard work absolutely worth it.
Lorna Jane is a legacy brand of 35 years and I’m still as passionate about it today as I was when I started. I get to work with my husband, Bill, every day, and alongside an incredible team who share my vision and continually push our brand to evolve. That passion is what keeps us ahead of the game, it’s what has fueled Lorna Jane’s growth and continued relevance in a highly competitive market.
When I started Lorna Jane, competition wasn’t the biggest challenge; but that I was building both a brand and an entirely new category, and the key to overcoming challenges in business isn’t to avoid them but to lean into them and learn, adapt and keep moving forward.
Over the years, I’ve learned that success isn’t about having everything perfectly mapped out – in fact, it’s the opposite. Some of the best opportunities come from unexpected challenges, meetings or moments that force you to think differently, and the key is to stay open-minded and resilient.
The brands that thrive are the ones that continuously challenge the status quo and stay true to their vision, which I believe has kept us ahead of the game. At Lorna Jane, we’ve never focused on what other brands are doing, we’ve focused instead on evolving the activewear category itself, creating something truly authentic that our customers value.
There’s a lot of talk about “purpose” in business these days, and for good reason. A brand without purpose is just another product on the shelf. For me, purpose has always been at the heart of what I do, because I didn’t set out to create a business; I set out to change the way women lived their lives. I could not have imagined how big the category would become, but I think that’s what happens with an authentic purpose-led brand – it’s fueled by a genuine passion that creates momentum around what it is doing.
The Lorna Jane brand is driven by my purpose to change the way women live when they wear activewear, and I know that’s why I still love going to work every day because I know we’re making a difference and that’s what fuels me.
It might sound a little cliché, but I love our community at Lorna Jane. They mean everything to us. You might not know this, but my business started with me making activewear for the women in my fitness classes. If it wasn’t for their belief in me and if they hadn’t worn my designs, talked about them and encouraged me to keep going, there would be no Lorna Jane and perhaps no activewear category at all.
My brand was built on community and on women supporting each other, and that is why the Lorna Jane community is still an integral part of our brand today. At Lorna Jane we’re not just selling clothes; we’re creating a movement, one where women support and uplift each other. That’s why our community continues to thrive, evolve and stay relevant after more than three decades.
My new vodcast, Never Give Up, is an extension of that commitment to inspiring and empowering women. I wanted to create a space where we could talk openly about the ups and downs of life – the good, the bad and everything in between, to inspire and empower other women. It’s a platform where women can share their stories and learn from each other.
The phrase “Never Give Up” has been part of Lorna Jane for as long as I can remember. We’ve printed it on our products, woven it into our core messaging and seen it take on a life of its own. Our customers have shared images of themselves wearing Never Give Up caps through cancer treatments, and we’ve seen Never Give Up t-shirts worn when cleaning up after floods and Never Give Up tanks to run their first marathon or learn to walk again in hospital. Never Give Up is more than just words – it’s a mindset that has helped me, my brand and so many in our community, overcome challenges and push forward.
Launching Never Give Up as a vodcast felt like a natural next step for me because I know firsthand what it feels like to face challenges and feel like giving up. I’ve faced plenty of setbacks in life and in business, and I wanted to share these moments and the moments of other women who have been through challenges so that other women will be inspired to keep going through the tougher times in their lives and never give up too.
I want to share those stories to show that there will always be challenges in life and business and that it’s often overcoming those challenges that take you to where you want to be. I wanted to create a platform that reminds us that success isn’t about avoiding failure but about learning from it and continuing to move forward.
To any woman out there facing setbacks in life, my biggest piece of advice is that challenges will come, and there will be moments when you want to give up, and that’s okay, just as long as you don’t!
In those tough moments, ask yourself, “Why am I doing this?” Your answer will remind you why you started, and trust me, reminding yourself of your vision and purpose will remove any chance of you giving up and give you the motivation to keep going.
To me, success is about creating a life you love, doing something that gives you purpose, and surrounding yourself with people who inspire you. It’s about waking up every morning excited for the day ahead.
That’s what Never Give Up is really about – not just in business, but in life. Whatever your goals, whatever your challenges, keep moving forward. The journey may not be easy, but I promise you, it’s worth it.
