From lawyer to handbag designer!

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Hi, I'm Jackie and I am the Creative Director for Belen Echandia, a luxury bag company. I design bags which I then sell all over the world. Belen Echandia is actually a Spanish girl's name; much more interesting than Jackie. I chose it to reflect the company's Spanish roots and inspirations. Running the company is a far cry from my old job as a lawyer, that's for certain.

I trained as a lawyer at Newcastle University. Even while I was at university I didn't really know if that was my chosen path. After university in 2000 I decided I'd had enough of law for a while and I went to Madrid to learn Spanish and work in a law firm. While I was living in Madrid there were loads of handbag shops, but one shop in particular caught my eye. At that time in Spain and Italy, most handbags were either really traditional in boring colours or they were designer bags like Gucci. But this shop really stood out because their bags were really modern and in lots of bright colours. I had never seen anything like it - not even in London where the cult of the handbag hadn't really started yet.

I had an idea. I try to follow my ideas, no matter how silly they may seem, especially when there's nothing to lose. I went into the shop and offered to distribute them in England. They said no, but they had 3 different shops so I went into the other ones and asked the same question. Eventually I went into the right one and the owner Carlos said he might be interested, but after that nothing happened.

Back in London I started my new job in a law firm. I talked about my bag idea with friends but not much else really happened. Then, about a year later I got an email from one of the partners of the shop asking if I was still interested in working with them. But by this point I had worked out that producing my own designs was the way forward, rather than just distributing someone else's.

My job contract ended and it was time to make a decision. I was tempted to stay in law for the security and of course the money, but the idea of working ridiculously long hours doing something I wasn't passionate about was a turn off. I didn't have an established business at that point, but I didn't want to give up on the idea either. My family were great, they didn't put pressure on me, but they asked me what I was doing with my life, and I didn't really know. It took me months to decide.

Once I'd taken the plunge and decided to focus full time on the company it was full steam ahead. I started off by creating the Belen Echandia brand, having a website built and setting up the online shop. I was really lucky to have my fiancé Magnus helping me. He's the technical one and has contrasting skills to me. He built our website - something I would never have been able to do.

Magnus knows loads of designers and they kindly helped us out and a friend of mine does the photography on our site. I love collaborating and working with people who are passionate about what we are doing.

For the first two years I lived in a shared house and ran the business from under the stairs. In summer it was hot and sweaty and in the winter it was absolutely freezing! I wouldn‘t say I was lonely because I quite enjoy working by myself. I think I would find working in a shared office too distracting. The lack of human contact was a bit lonely sometimes; especially if you're not feeling 100% you might want someone else to feel 100% for you. Sometimes it would be nice for someone else to be the strength, but working alone means you always have to have your own strength. You can't afford to have days when you say that you can't get out of bed. Now I have a home office and an assistant but there is still a lot of self-discipline involved.

At first I was taking the factory's designs and adapting them but I always knew that I wanted to do my own designs. I worked hard to learn everything I needed to know and now I'm a fully fledged fashion designer. Not bad, considering I have no design training.

I don't think of what I do as work; it's fun. I think you have to have that kind of mindset and a high level of commitment. People don't understand why you would want to work hard on a Friday night instead of going out. My business can keep me busy all weekend but I can also take any day off if I need to. I love the flexibility.

Having said that, I have sacrificed a lot. I gave up going out for a while and I don't spend as much as I would like on clothes. I didn't see much of my friends or go on holidays. My friends have started to earn up to £100,000 and go to lots of 5 star hotels. We've been doing nothing of the kind. My friends have been amazing, they buy me coffee and take me out for dinner. We do reward ourselves but not necessarily by spending money - sometimes simply having a lie in and breakfast in bed on a Sunday is a real luxury; when you have so much work to do that taking a bit of time out becomes a luxury.

We have funded the business by reinvesting the profits and for a long time I didn't pay myself anything. If you look at what I earned and the hours I worked, it was even less than minimum wage. But lack of resources makes you more creative and makes you watch every penny. It also impresses financiers and your bank manager if you have a good grip on your cash flow.

Every time I've thought about giving up it's only lasted only a couple of hours, but then I'll get a really big order or a really positive email and I remember that I love what I'm doing and I really believe in it. Everyone has wobbles, it's normal. I believe that people who succeed do so because they are determined. If you have a good idea and you are determined to do it you will. It sounds so clichéd but it really is true.

When I moved to London I only knew 2 people and I didn't have a network. But, I'm the sort of person though who starts conversations with people on the bus! I even met one of my best friends on the bus. It's all about making your own opportunities. I read a book recently called the Luck Factor - you can buy it here - by a psychologist who studied thousand of people and found that there is no such thing as luck - some people seize opportunities while others don't.

Sometimes you have to take a risk and try something you wouldn't normally do; again, it's about seizing opportunities. A couple of years ago I went past a lovely shop called Austique that had just opened and noticed that they didn't have any handbags - so I just went in and asked if they would be interested in stocking my bags. I had to run home to get them; they loved them, put them in the shop and started selling loads. They put me in touch with someone running an exclusive gift fair which I ended up exhibiting at, and featuring on the front cover of their brochure. And she in turn put me in touch with a magazine which I now write for. It just shows you how one person can lead to another.

I gradually got the confidence to ring up journalists. I realised it wasn't that hard, if you have a good story. I was put in touch with someone who knew the editor of Vogue online, she wrote a really amazing piece about me and we ended up having calls from all over the world. It crashed our site - we had 15,000 hits in one day! It gave me the confidence to call up other journalists. I think we all have a tendency to put some people on a pedestal but journalists often love speaking with entrepreneurs and it is great to have your story written about for the world to see.

Visit Belen Echandia to see what an amazing job Jackie has done and maybe even treat yourself to one of her designs!

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