S5 Ep106: Ginny Seymour - CEO & Founder of British Fashion Brand ALIGNE On The Tricky Season That Gave Her Clarity

Welcome back to the Big Move podcast. I'm your host M. I'm a content creator, podcast producer, and a mother. And as I thought about a new season of the podcast, I went back to my roots and what made me start this show to begin with. At its core, it's this idea of connection, relatability, and motivating each other through the impactful conversations we're having as women. I'll be talking to the same powerhouse caliber of female guests that I know we're gonna light you up, but we're getting real on how they've redefined themselves and entirely new seasons and phases of life. We're honing in on what fuels us, what brings us back to ourselves, and ultimately what keeps us moving. So with that, let's get into new episodes. This week's episode marks a particularly special moment for the show. This was actually recorded during New York Fashion Week a couple weeks ago. I sat down at the iconic hotel Chelsea in person with Ginny Seymour, the founder and CEO of Align. Hands down might favorite British fashion brand. You may hear the New York City sirens and horns in the backdrop, and honestly, it's very fitting for this episode. If you've followed me for a while, you've probably heard me mention this brand before. I discovered Align while living in London, and I became an instant fan. Their pieces are so chic, they have that European British cool girl style that I have now adopted forever. So bringing our two worlds together for this episode felt like such a cool full circle moment. I think what I love most about this conversation is Ginny's realness. She's so sharp, honest, and open around so many themes that are important for ambitious moms to hear. We talk about not losing your sense of ambition alongside motherhood, choosing collaboration, championing women over comparison, and leaning into all the tricky seasons in life and motherhood that ultimately give us clarity. After our conversation, we headed downtown to this really chic restaurant called Borgo in NYC for a community lunch with 22 incredible women, fashion creators, other founders, authors, past podcast guests, the energy in that room truly was electric and just so much fun. These types of moments are what the big move is all about. Having these honest conversations, sharing the highs and the lows, and connecting, lamenting, and honestly celebrating each other. I hope this episode has you all walking away, feeling a little more connected, motivated, and a little pep in your step. To take on whatever season you may happen to be in. Ginny, hi. Welcome to the big move podcast. Thank you for having me excited to be here. I'm so excited we're here. We're at the beautiful hotel Chelsea. It's New York Fashion Week. I feel like nothing can be better. We've been talking about this for a long time, so I'm just excited that we're finally here. I know. I can't believe it's September already. September already, you're here for a quick short stint for New York Fashion Week. You guys had a press event yesterday here, and then today we're having our conversation in our community lunch, which we'll chat more on that a little bit later. Yeah, it's exciting. It's so exciting. Okay, amazing. Ginny, for those that may not already know you and follow you, what are you all about? Tell us a little bit about a line. Yeah, so a line is a contemporary women's fashion brand, based in East London, really trying to create pieces that fit an accessible price point, where design led, not trend led, pieces that you feel confident in, that you can wear throughout your day, nine to nine, and just really honing in on that, you know, what was contemporary fashion, 20 years ago. Has it been a bit of an nostalgia to New York, but also has a very East London sensibility to it? Yeah, absolutely. I know I'm a little biased, but I've loved your brand for so many years. Flashback to when I lived in London for six years, got to know you guys. I feel like I've been wearing your pieces forever, and I just, I always just feel so buttoned up, but so chic, and you've got that European British side to it too. So I have all the fashion questions for you later, but staying the course, I love to set the stage with all of my guests and get the lay of the land with you. What is your big move? Do you feel like there's been the pivotal turning point in your career that has really shaped your journey and your story up until this point? I guess the big move for me is when I moved to New York when I was 21 years old, that I didn't grow up thinking I'd be in fashion. I didn't really think about how product got to stores, but, you know, I thought I'd be a lawyer. I studied political science at school, and I graduated a year earlier than my classmates, and I was trying to figure out what I would do for a year, and I found saxophab and you had a training program, and I thought that'd be fun, you know, what 21 year doesn't want to live in New York City. I would go to New York for 18 months, do this program, and then I would go back to Toronto, Canada, and you know, figure out what I wanted to do in life. And from the first day I walked into that program, I was obsessed. I loved the industry, I loved being obsessed with customers, I loved the data that was coming in, and as much as I, you know, as far to be a lawyer, I probably was more going down that to be defiant as a teenager and not going to business, but deep down loved Excel and loved numbers, and that moved really pivoted that this was what my dream was, and I've loved it ever since, and, you know, once I was 21, all I wanted to be was a fashion CEO. I love that. You caught the bug early, both fashion and New York, which I can relate to that so, so much. I personally moved here after college, and I did add tech, and I started my blog on my Instagram here too, and I just remember equally catching that very same bug. What do you feel like New York has ingrained in you from that time onward? Having now obviously moved back to London, I think this is a work ethic that comes with New York. Many people want to come to New York and start their careers there, and you know, there was a sense of being replaceable at any given time, but if you didn't want to put the work, and if you didn't put the work into yourself, there was someone else wanting to do it. So there was a, you know, an incredible work drive that was drilled into me at a very, you know, pivotal starting point in my career that I think, you know, now post-COVID, and work from home, like that wasn't the culture I grew up with in this industry, and I think it gave you a hustle. So I think I'm often, people ask me questions like, no, I work life balance, or, you know, what do I do for time off? Like, I think New York ingrained in you that like, you can work 24/7, and it's like, if you're passionate about it and you love it, it's all fine. Yeah, absolutely. You're also not the first guest that has said this to me, you know, in their early 20s, moving to New York, never looking back, taking that jump in that risk. Do you feel like when we're younger, we're taking more risk, and how do you kind of, how do you look at risk now that you're a little bit more seasoned? You're obviously a mom now. I think that I think we'll get into it a little bit. I think I still take risk. I think that, I think that's part of growing and challenging yourself. I think that I'm continually wanting to grow and to grow a line, and that comes with taking risk all the time. It's obviously different when you're 21 years old, you have nothing to lose. If I hadn't liked it, I would have had 18 months of experience and gone back to Toronto and moved on to something else. I just happen to love what I did instantly, and I'm so grateful for that, because I coach a lot of people throughout my 25 year career who you see they don't love their first job, but they feel stuck in it. They're scared to pivot from it. I never had to feel that because I was so in love from the get go. Yeah, I love that. And so it's like the taking of the risks, like it's still there, it just sort of takes a different shape, maybe. There's more people that are on my journey with me now. My husband, my children, it's not just my risk to take. Yeah, absolutely. I think you have to continue to take risk if you want to grow. Yeah, absolutely. I love that. So segueing into arguably your biggest career chapter yet, your CEO and founder of a line, take us back a little bit. How and when did you get involved with the brand? I got involved with the brand in 2022 when it was part of a bigger company. And I joined it really to go on this journey of, you know, what that brand could be. And eight months into that journey, there was a restructure of the company and I got the opportunity to pitch for what a new version of a line could be. So really we founded the brand in February 2023. And it's been a while right. I can't believe we just turned three, you know, even though the transition happened in February, our financial year is from August 1st. And we really use that August first date as like our first birthday of the new chapter. And it's been, you know, the craziest part of this journey. But I love it. So take us back a little bit to the pitch, the rebrand, the pitch, what gave you the confidence to just go in there and share what your vision was going to be, what did that kind of look like for you? I think that buyer in me, that every buyer or there's an expression that a lot of buyers want to be designer, that be going to show rooms, you're seeing other designers' collections and you're picking from them what you want and building your own assortment from that. And you're, you know, what colors you want, what shapes you want. And I think what I learned at SACS was to be the customer obsessing to look at the data. And I felt this nostalgic millennial draw to there being nothing left in this accessible contemporary price point that when fast fashion came up, every brand that when I was, you know, in the early 20s buying theory and vint, everyone rebranded themselves premium or advanced contemporary. But what happened to contemporary fashion? What happened to a really good quality blazer under 300 or an outer of a piece under $400? It felt like it didn't exist in a design-led way. So that's really what the pitch was, something for, you know, the millennial who wanted to have quality materials and accessible price point and have pieces that were design-led, not trend-led that could be in your wardrobe for a long time. So what role were you in just before stepping into the CEO role at the company? I was in the brand director role. I was there on like the journey of what the previous brand was, which was more of a affordable price point brand, had floral dresses, it was definitely a different handwriting. But that was someone else's vision. And I was, you know, I joined it with the intent to follow their vision. When you get the opportunity, I wasn't interested in carrying out someone else's vision. Sure, I had to feel it was passionate to me and I was given the opportunity to rethink what There was a brand name, but there wasn't a lot of revenue attached to it, so what could it possibly be? And we took that kind of six-month hiatus to really rethink what that could be, and come out with something that was a bit different. Any moments of, oh my gosh, can I do this? Apprehension and podcast syndrome? Every day. Okay. I think it's natural. I've been trying to build something and grow, and it's hard out there. There's lots of brands all trying to do the same stuff. You have to be really confident in what we're doing, and I think that's the one thing I love a bit of lying when I look at our assortments. We just try to be us, you know, but people don't wear one brand head to Tony anymore. We don't need to be everything to everybody. We just need to be really clear on who we are. But every day you have those moments of, like, can I do this? Will the brand break through? What does it look like when it breaks through? Sure. It's been a lot of times thinking about, like, when will I feel like it's made it? Like, what is that moment? Right. Right. You know, I struggle with what that is. It feels like it was really organic for you, and I don't want to put words in your mouth plus the mix of that passion for fashion, obviously. And it sounds like you wanted ownership, and that really sort of drove you. Do you feel like the confidence just kind of came along and kicked in, or what is that looking like? I think part of being a CEO is that you have to exude confidence for my team constantly. They have to believe that I believe that doesn't mean behind closed doors, you know, the last 12 months have been incredibly rewarding as well as challenging, and there were lots of tears. But, you know, those tears have to be reserved for yourself, and you need to keep everyone else engaged that you believe in the vision. Sure. I think what's, you know, kept me going these three years and what's given me the confidence is we've had so many females really want to champion us, and organically and authentically want to champion us. Yeah. And they're seeing what we're doing, you know, even you mentioned a press day yesterday. We had 50 people come in, and their feedback is just, it's the encouragement you need when you think, you know, is this working? Are people like to show what I'm doing? And it's an authenticity that you can't fake, and that gives me the confidence that, you know, we have something special here, and to be kinder to myself, like, you know, we're only three years old, and we're comparing ourselves to brands that are 10 years, 15, you know, this morning I woke up and saw as, you know, it's a British brand, but so whistles to celebrate it's 50th anniversary, it's 50 years old. Wow. Wow. I didn't realize that. That's crazy. But then I have to give myself perspective for three. Absolutely. You know, you're so right. That long trajectory you guys have done so much in such a short amount of time. It's also making me think of Matthew McConaughey wrote this book called Green Lights, and these like little pushes along the way, those little signs and those green lights. And to me, that's kind of what you're saying a little bit, like yesterday's press event. Absolutely. Going amazingly, you're here for New York Fashion Week. I'm a year ago wrote an article and they said, "Aligned the brand on everyone's lips and I mean everyone I mean everyone." Oh my God. I've done that. There's a PowerPoint presentation where I don't have that quote on a slide by itself. Sure. Because just even, you know, which little girl who wants to have a brand doesn't dream at vote, we're going to give them the recognition that, you know, aligns doing something special. Wow. Okay. Talk about a green light if you ask me. Okay. So talking about your confidence journey as it's sort of linked into motherhood, and I feel like I have a million questions for you here when you think about your motherhood journey. And for reference, your kids are 10 and 11 now. Okay. So how have those two things sort of collided for you and sort of coexisted? I mean, I think I'm here today because I had children. I had to pivot my career and not everyone has to, but prior to my children, I was on the buying side. And there's a lot of travel involved on that side of the business. And I made the conscious decision after I had my first child to move to the brand side, which is still equally as hectic. But a little less travel, you know, your personal for one brand versus hundreds of brands. And that really, that was the first kind of step that moved me onto this side of the business. I mean, my kids are everything to me, but I try not to define myself as one thing, you know, I'm a CEO, I'm a wife, I'm a mother, I'm a sister, you know, I'm many, many things of friends. So the kids are part of it, but they're the ones that flip me to this side of the business. Yeah, absolutely. And I love that you call that out, by the way, that I think it's just such an important reminder for moms is that, you know, we're not just moms, there's so many different facets to us. I had to take a step back, though, you know, for me at least, the way that I work for the first three years after I had my children, I moved into rules that I like, not loved. I needed that, you know, I think everything's a season, you need to give yourself permission to feel those seasons. Sure. And I needed three years where, you know, my kids are 15 months apart. I didn't know what sleep was for those three years. And I just needed a job that made me happy, you know, I'd been the breadwinner at that point in my career that I needed to financially have stability for my family, but I couldn't be in a job that I loved. And once my youngest turned three and I felt like myself again, then I was like, okay, I can go back into rules that really drive me and push me and I could find that balance again. But it's all about riding the seasons. Totally. And I'd love to sit there for a second because I feel this deep in my bones. My kids are six and four right now. I'm curious on your motherhood journey when you felt you came back into that new version of yourself that you were satisfied and content with. Because we know those early, early years, they're so heavy. They're both physical, mental, all of the above. So you're saying around when your youngest was three, was when you sort of feel like you settled into things, talk to us a little bit more about that. So I think it's really helpful for listeners to hear. Yeah. So he was 18 months. I moved back into our role. I love. But even those first 18 months, you know, they're still challenging years. I mean, it's always challenging, and now it's kind of an 11th challenging, I think being a parent's challenge. But I physically didn't feel like myself. You know, there's the whole gaining weight during childbirth and that whole process and being in fashion and feeling that confidence, especially in a women's wear business. It took me three years to really kind of feel like myself mentally, physically, and really ready to take on new challenges. And that's probably around the time we decided when Henry was three that we were going to move to the UK. When Henry was four, but it was then when I got my confidence back that I could see clearly, I could think clearly. And more importantly, my husband and I found the balance in there. So it's not instantaneous that you and your partner know how to find the right balance. You both have careers, have aspirations. It took us three years to figure out what our balance was going to be. Absolutely. You just, like you said, you just need to go through that, that hard early season and you'll come up to the other side. But as you said, your kids are 10 and 11 and you're still having seasons. Yes. So I guess the question for you is after having your kids, how have your expectations sort of shifted or maybe changed from that 21-year-old just getting to New York to now? I think I'm really lucky that I found a partner that allows me to dream big and he allows me to not see an end to what my dreams are. So I don't, I've never had to filter my aspirations because I became a mother, which I feel really grateful for. I think what shifted is my patience and what I tolerate and what I give energy to. There's only so much energy to go around and I think post children, there's certain things I don't stress anymore. There's certain things that, you know, the things that matter to me that I will continue to push through my team and there's other things that I just really don't have the energy because I need to go home and also be a mother and a wife and I can't be stressing about things that really fundamentally aren't going to move the needle. My children gave me that perspective where everything is in life or death. Absolutely. Are there a couple one to two things that come to mind that you're letting go of, that you're saying, I don't have capacity for right now, don't have the bandwidth, it's the little stuff that I think we were speaking about the other day, like, you know, when we're doing an event later today, we tend to like to have blue water, you know, because our color is blue. But if the water bottle is clear, like, it's not going to make or break the lunch. Like, there's just little things like some of the details, I'm a detailed, orientated person, but when it comes to flowers, I don't want to go because I love flowers. It's like, I pick my things, you know, we're doing stuff or the things that matter to me that will make me happy, bring me joy in this process and the things that, if the butter doesn't say a line on it or the water isn't blue, I can live with. Okay. I love that. So you're staying true to the things that matter to you prioritizing in that way down to the details. Yeah. That makes so much sense to me. So navigating motherhood alongside so many of your big moves, my God, from London to New York City and back, all of the things, take us back to your big move. You moved to New York City with your family, kids in tow, to help get a line off the ground in the US market. Why did you guys make that move? What was clear that that was what you guys needed to do at that time? So it was 2025. So it was a year ago. We had organic growth in the US and the US, I would say, was a challenging market at that time. A lot was changing politically in terms of tariffs and duties and everything else. And we had decided pretty all those changes that we were going to make the US, like our focus for last fiscal year. And then all of a sudden, everything around that became unknown and uncertain. And we really felt we needed hands on the ground in the US to navigate what that year would look like. We had just taken orders from Nordstrom and revolve and we were really launching wholesale as a growth strategy to sit alongside our DGC business. And it just felt like how are we going to do this from London and navigate all the changes? So we decided that my husband and I and the kids would come out for the year and we would start to build a US office to navigate that to the UK office where we do our design and our creative and run our UK business and still focus on that business and not be distracted. So we moved out here as you know, we've also moved back and quickly realized that as much as my kids were really transportable when they were four and five to move from Toronto to London, we really met nine and ten, wasn't as easy. They were in their own season. in their life. They had opinions. They had friends. They had sports that they played. They had their own little lives that they were building. And it didn't go to plan. They did not like New York City. So we quickly had to realize and recognize that they're little pre-teen children. They have feelings. And those feelings didn't feel good in New York. And for reference, we moved to London for six years. We had our kids there. And we moved back to the Connecticut suburbs in New York area three years ago. But in contrast to you, my kids were two and a half and four months at that time. So I've been thinking about you. And I'm like, wow, they're little people, right? Like you said, they have their friends. My four-year-olds are already having opinions. So I can only imagine. So tell me a little bit about like day to day, what were their challenges? And also how are you sort of keeping the peace and figuring it out as a family unit? So I was lucky that my husband quit his job for rest to move to the U.S. So he was staying at home with them. So he could be really hands-on during that moment. But the biggest transition was sport. And I really had underestimated the biggest one for sport in school. Sure. And I had really underestimated that at 10 and 11 or 9 and 10 at the time. And that would have been a challenge. But they played English sports. They played cricket and rugby. They had maybe maybe got them into soccer. That maybe would have translated more. But they played like very English sports. It didn't exist here. So we thought we could move rugby to American football. And watching 9 and 10 year olds wear 50 pounds of equipment running around Chelsea peers with tears streaming through their, you know, helmet saying like, "Mom, get this helmet off." Like it wasn't the same thing. Even just coaching style. It's a much more aggressive in the U.S. than it is in the U.K. So there was lots of tears at football, so that didn't translate. And rugby or cricket to baseball, the motion is also very different. And then when you come on that with school, I didn't realize, and that's, you know, my mistake, I didn't realize that secondary or middle school here starts in grade 6 or year 6. We're in the U.K. it's year 7. So I assumed the two boys would be in the same school together. And we quickly learned that one was going to elementary school and one was going to middle school. And I think them not being together. And the older one going into middle school where there were 300 kids for a year group. And he went from being a county cricket player in the U.K. known as a sports kid at a school. And I went thinking he's a little sports kid. To now going to a school of 300 people where no one recognizes his sports. And he can't make a basketball team. And he can't make a football team. He lost his identity overnight. Wow. And then didn't have his brother there with him. So I think the little one would have been a bit better at holding on, you know, elementary to elementary, very similar class sizes structure. Like he had a great elementary school, but the older one. You know, and knowing we were always going back, it was such a pivotal time that you could see that he would lose his confidence. And everything about what I'm doing and what I'm building is around confidence. I couldn't watch him. At 10, lose his confidence and go back to the U.K. and spend all of high school trying to regain it. So my husband took them home at Christmas. I continued in the US until around Easter. And then we all kind of moved back to the U.K. through the back half of the year. But it was very obvious that you know, we need to go home. So it was quite clear. It seems like your kids were literally a physical gauge, right? Of what was kind of going on for your family emotionally? What was going on for you? I imagine you have so much on your plate. You're trying to drive the business. What are you feeling? Equally for a line. We were only two at the time. And I think the expectation, the London office struggled as well. You know, as a founder of that business, I'm in so many conversations. And even though you have half the day together, having half the day not in the office and a young team was more of a challenge than I anticipated. But I stopped sleeping. I stopped getting up at 3 AM because I knew my U.K. office was open and that the messages were coming through and that they needed me. So my kids needed me. My London office needed me. I felt torn between, you know, everyone needing more than I had to give. So the days became long and the needs became long. And I then I started flying back every month to London, which wasn't the original plan. And it just kind of it showed us that, you know, that we were only two and that we were just a bit too early in our journey to do those changes. And also we realized that we didn't need to be here. That what makes us special is that we're a London brand and that what our wholesale customers wanted, what from a marketing standpoint wanted, they wanted the London version of a line. They didn't want a different version of a line in the US. So this need to have a second office. We quickly learned that we didn't actually need Trump tariff settled down. So then you could predict them. So then we didn't, you know, didn't necessarily need to have a US warehouse for some components of the business. And all the stuff that we didn't know at a moment in time, we were reacting as a small brand to uncertainty. And uncertainty makes you make, you know, certain decisions. But once they became clarity, the clarity was that our home is London, a line's home is London, my team is in London, and we'd be much better if we were just all in London. You know, the US is still a huge part of our strategy, but we can come and visit and export that London to the US. We don't need to be here for that. Totally. Talk about a tricky season. Yes. When you sort of zoom out, and obviously this is, you know, in your rear view mirror in a way, what's the biggest lesson learned kind of across the board for you? I think you have to tricky season to get clarity. I think if we hadn't done it, it'd always be the question of should we have gone. And it would have, you know, whether we did it last year, whether we're doing it this year, we always would have felt that need to try, whether we need a US office. There's no roadmap to building a global brand. You know, you don't know what your needs are until you try them. I'm lucky that we, you know, I am not stubborn. So I didn't dig my feet in and pretend that it was okay. I very quickly realized that like we don't need this. We need to, you know, change our thought process versus I think if I've stuck my heels in and said no, like we're staying for the year, we're going to push through this. I think the London office and the brand would be in a very different place it is today versus being able to recognize like it was a good idea. You have to try things know if they're right or wrong, but you also have to admit when things are wrong and not let your ego get in the way and come, come, come calling back because, you know, that was the right thing to do. Yeah, totally. So for anyone sort of going through a big move of their own, a big season of change in transition, my god, I feel like that's fall in September and in nut shell for especially for moms. What would you tell them? Is there a mantra or something that sort of helped pull you through that time period? I think you have to trust your gut. I think, you know, the motherhood in a line, in moves and seasons and change. When you have a bad feeling in your gut, you just need to trust it and you need to not be afraid even if it feels hard and if it feels like you're backing down on certain decisions or you're changing things. If it's in your gut, it's never going to go away. You just have to trust it. Follow that voice, listen to it. Yeah, don't try to combat it. And just, you know, I was going to have opinions and you can, but your opinions are what matters the most. So you have to kind of block them out. The haters are always going to be haters. Like, just trust your gut. It's your life. You only live your life once. Absolutely. I love that so much. So you're so many things. You're a CEO, a founder, a wife, a mom of two, a friend, literally all the things. You have so much on your plate on the days where you're waking up in a little bit of a funk or a slump or you just need to get yourself back up. What do you do to pull yourself out and get you motivated? I start every day with a venti Starbucks last day with an exceptional amount of sweetener. And I feel like if I don't have that, it's like a bad day for me. Like, that's the one thing that the minute I have my first sip of that coffee, I can put a smile on and I can like, shape myself out of whatever energy that I'm having. Like, it is the thing that can flip the switch to me. So as much as be a coffee maker in the office and everything else, like, it's part of my routine ingrained in me from New York at 21 years old. I've had the same drink. I have every Starbucks app on my phone because in different countries, you have different ones. But it's like, it's the constant in my life. I will always seek out a Starbucks. Okay. Just shift the energy. I love that. It's like a little NYC nostalgia reset for you. Yeah. It has to be vintage. It's got me about the size. It's my thing. I love that. So one of the things I love so much about Align, the brand ethos, really everything that USCEO and the brand represent is championing other women. But actually putting it into practice, right? I think you guys really practice what you preach. And I know one of those things is supporting women's sport, which I love. Why has that become such a huge part of Align's mission? It's funny. It was one of the first decisions I made when I was rewriting the brand book that a lot of female brands use the word confidence and how they describe their collection. But they're like brand values on paper have always meant very little to me. I've been a lot of big companies and I've had a lot of big brand books and that, you know, no one on the team can actually recite what the values are. They're just things that are used as buzzwords. I was watching the Lionesses play Australia and the semifinals of the World Cup from my office. And I was watching Lucy Bronze run up and down the pitch and just being like just like she was amazing. She never quit. She was resilient. She was tough. Like she was getting knocked down and getting back up again. And then I was thinking about the cultural shift after the Lionesses won the euros and how there was this moment in the UK where women in sport was really starting to break that glass ceiling and that association that sport just belonged to boys. But you weren't seeing that shift from a fashion standpoint where when men are at the top of their sport, they're the covers of magazines. They're the epitome of sexuality and attractiveness and their posters of them. But these women were making this big fundamental change. But you weren't seeing that represented as role models, as people that little girls should look up to. And here I was making a fashion brand. And I thought in that moment, I was like Lucy Bronze. It's going to be the face of my first campaign. So it wasn't, I didn't intend for it to become what it has become. It was really the way that I could articulate what I meant when a line was confident and it's a confident decision. I was gonna make that she was my face of the first campaign. - Yeah. - And that was something that was gonna be unexpected and that was also the breaking boundaries and not sandboxing women into sandbox and letting women live life on their own terms. It was all the things I wanted a line to stand for. - It's turned into something much bigger than that. It's turned into assembling that unites my office. It's covering that we are all so passionate about. It has come across to the US where the style partners have got them F.C. And we did the largest women's ever sporting event at Met Stadium for the Queen's Classic in July. We have universities calling us to be their sponsors. It's just transcended so many things, but it started from an authentic decision to want to champion the change that's happened culturally and stand beside women who are breaking boundaries. Which is what aligns about. - Yeah, absolutely. And so Lucy Bronzes and iconic UK footballer of her time right now. You guys reposted actually a quote from her from, I think, "Stylus." And I love the quote so much. So I want to share it here. She said, "I want girls to think it's ace to be determined, competitive, and fierce." And I was just like, "Damn." That's what I want my daughter to hear. Like that kind of sentiment. - Nice as human being. And that's what I talk about how I want to be described. I want to be described as confident, determined, strong fears. I wouldn't want to be described as delicate, polite, soft. Like, the adjectives I want to associate with. And I think female athletes, and she's just the best. And like, I mean, I saw a note about her, but her male name is actually tough. And like, just like, she is, the fact that her name is like Lucy Tef Bronze. Like, she is just the nicest person and we love her. - So cool. No, I love that. And I love that about your guys' mission. And it comes out so naturally. Again, I think everything you guys have done is natural, it's organic. And after this conversation, and really a part of this collaboration in our work together, we're co-hosting a lunch. I'm excited. It's gonna be such an incredible room full of women across fashion, entrepreneurship, other authors and thought leaders in the New York City ether. Women that already love a line. And women that I think really stand for this podcast and what I'm trying to build through these conversations and community. I'm curious for you. You guys have obviously built an amazing community around a line. Who are your champions? Who do you lean on in those moments? Who do you lean on? Like you said, people from different industries, I think it's all about creating this authentic community. We lean on interior designers. We lean on athletes, we lean on editors. Elizabeth Day is a big fan of a line. And she's just amazing. And her podcast, how to fail and is embracing that concept of failure and how you make that into a positive. We're not about one type of female. Again, I really like really think that one of the things and why people like to work in a line or people like to work with a line and to buy into a line is I don't like this concept of like a sandbox and like boxing women in it. I think we're trying to always push the boundaries of like what it means to be a female, what that life can look like and then everyone's living their life on their own term. You know, we make decisions like not doing mother's day because not every woman wants that to be their journey. Not every woman can have that be their journey. And even though we are a women's wear brand and I'm a mother, I don't want to portray that that's the only way to be feminine and to be a female. So we just make decisions to never put boundaries or restrictions over that is and we take that approach in our community where everyone is welcome to it. We just want women who want to put on a piece of clothes and feel confident and fit they can win at life. - Yeah, absolutely. I love the New York City siren coming through just feels on brand. So we're probably gonna leave it in. How about for you, Jenny, personally, who are you leaning on in your day to day? Who's really lifting you up when you're having a tough one? My husband is my number one champion. I think that he's a line's number one champion. When anyone starts at a line, especially on our social media team, I need to tell them who my husband is because he's gonna like every post quicker than anyone knows it is posted and he'll put an ugly filter on it and he will reshare it. But after my run, he's a very small audience. He's not going anywhere and he's a private profile but he is equally invested in the success of a line. We give up a lot as a family for a line to be what it is. And I feel very responsible for my team of 25 and all of their livelihoods and for them to have career growth and for them to have success, a line has to be successful. So it's not just, you can see it as this company or this thing but there's a lot of personal responsibility into the success of a line and the growth of a line and he's equally on that journey. I've just hired him in customer service. I love it. I bought him into our team but now he's even more involved in the line but he is my number one champion. He is the brand's number one champion and he's equally invested in it and I can go home and tell you know, he knows all the players so he can be that sounding board. Being a CEO is lonely, you know, especially like there's, you don't have a peer and it's especially in an all-female office. I can't have certain conversations with members of my team because like that doesn't create an environment that feels encouraging or reflecting. So I have to take those conversations home but there's a lot of self-reflection in the mirror. There's a lot of talking to myself and you know, it's a lonely journey. I'm glad you called that out 'cause I think it's not something maybe we hear that often. It's like you're in this huge leadership role and it can feel lonely. There is no one to talk to about yourself. You have to look in the mirror a lot. It's been a lot of time looking in the mirror and making sure the culture I'm creating, the brand I'm creating, the choices that I'm doing, as much as I can talk to Mark. He still doesn't fully understand it, you know, he's a sounding board. But again, you have to trust your God but there's a lot of self-reflection and a lot of self-awareness that has to come with it. And I think on that note, I think there's something so powerful about women being able to be super ambitious alongside each other. Whether we're in all these different facets of fashion or entrepreneurship or content, what do you find that we unlock from one another when we choose to come together and not be siloed, right? And collaborate versus the comparison trap, I think that can come up a lot. - Yeah, I think that women can be women's worst enemy, right? I think we want to grow together, we want to break boundaries, we can also become very competitive very quickly. And it's not that I think everyone falls into that trap and falls into the comparison trap. I think that it's, you know, I guess the majority of my mentors in my career and the majority of people who have opened doors to me have still been men. And I want to make sure that I'm not clear in that roadblock for my team, you know? I was very lucky to be a vice president 28 years old that I don't see age as a restriction for my team. I never want to be boxed in. So I tried to make sure that the people that I hire that they feel inspired to do their job and that they're trusted and that they can push through and that I'll be opening the doors for them. So it's, you have to just really make sure that the next generation doesn't feel that same restriction where, you know, the majority of the doors if it open happened then and that's okay. But it shouldn't be for the next one. - Yeah, no, I love that you called that out. I think that that's a very real nugget to share. So thinking about our lunch and coming together with this room full of incredible women, you've had such a successful career so far in business and fashion. Why do you think it's so important that we come together and have these moments and share and open up? - So I think, like I said earlier, I think the reason a line is where we are at three years into our journey is because other women really got behind the brand and wanted to champion that. And I think our responsibility is to equally champion the other people at the table. You know, my puff up might be bigger than someone else is at this moment in time. How are we working together and sharing audiences and growing audiences together because we're all trying to do the same thing? The business might be different. Maybe think about an influencer. They're still trying to build their business. It has to be mutually beneficial. These things can't be one sided. We're all trying to grow, trying to grow audiences. And the best way to do that is to authentically have relationships and conversations and see where we can all lean in to grow more. - Yeah, absolutely. I really do believe that there's room for everybody. - There is. - There really is. And having your unique peers. - We see a lot of champion. Like when we do our events in London and in New York bringing other female founders to the table 'cause all the brands coexist. Everyone buys multiple brands. So I don't need to be competitive with other female founders. I can create a space where we can be friends and we can coexist. 'Cause how great it would be if they're wearing a piece of along with a piece of another brand. I think that it's about how you're open to that and not seeking everyone as a competitor. - Yeah. - Totally, I love that. We're coming down to our last few questions but this has been so fun. I feel like we could go on and on. We've got to talk fashion before we let you go. I'm really curious, especially having my time in London and now being back in New York, but I'm a suburbs mom at the end of the day, guys. Let's just call it what it is. But I'm curious for you. You've been here a few days in New York. How do your outfits and style sort of differentiate between London and New York City? - I think I'm more playful when I'm in New York. I think that it's a walking city. So I have more fun with footwear in New York. There's much more outside walking. As much hotter here right now and autumn than it is in London. - It's about 80 degrees today. - With that in Celsius, I don't know. - 25. - Or like 28, 29, it's hot. I think London's always with the extra layer. It's about layering. It's a bit more practical in its execution where I think in New York it can be a bit more fun, a bit more playful. So I think it's a toned it down, a bit more colorful in the U.S. A bit more gray than navy in London. But London's always about the extra layer. - Yeah, that tracks for me too. Okay, can you call out a few of your cult favorite align must-haves? I always nod to the waistcoat, but I don't want to put words in your mouth and I'd love to hear from you, your POV. - So I'm a Daphne lover. So you're wearing a Daphne and I'm wearing a Daphne. So Daphne is our long sleeve waisted blazer. So you have the updated red one on. I have the high neck double breasted one. And we have a great. one that has all these little buttons on it and the classic, you know, just simple black button front one. I always think it definitely is a go-to in your closet and wear it back with jeans, you can wear it in so many different ways. George is like my go-to winter coat, like I could tell anyone to buy a coat. It's under $400 in the U.S. it is like the best wrap coat, the value for it. It's 54% wool, so it's like a really wool dense coat, seen another work last year and it went viral in the U.S. So it's coming back and this year with removable faux fur, it's behind you and grey. Those do me my go-to, like must-haves in your wardrobe. We have a new jean called Smith that's coming in, it's funny in the U.K., we're much more known as a denim brand, but the U.S. has some of your denim brands, we're not as known in the U.S. for denim, but we always have like a fashion denim silhouette that goes viral in the U.K., we're banking on Smith being our new one at launches this week. It's a more exaggerated barrel with a cuff, like those three pieces, you can make many outfits. Yeah. I love that so much. What is coming up for you? What is in Ginny's future? What is in the line's future? What are we forward thinking on right now? I mean so much. Like long-term goals, I want brick-and-mortar stores, but that's like, you know, a year and a bit out. This year, it's not my personality, but this year is about sitting on my hands a little bit and enjoying a line. I feel I need a year where I can really enjoy the journey. The last three years, they've been chasing what's next, you know, going into the next chapters, doing everything else, and then before we do retail stores, I want a year to be able to really enjoy my team, enjoy this success, and when we hit a positive milestone, not be automatically running to the next one. So this year is about a little bit of a breath and a breather before that next sprint. Okay. I love that for you. Thank you. I'm manifesting for this kind of attitude. I have to keep reminding myself that it's in my goal every time. I get an idea. Totally. Totally. I think you need that in the journey to get the energy for the next sprint. Yeah. Absolutely. That's a last question, Ginny. This has been so much fun. What is it that lights a firing you? What is it that keeps you moving? I think everything. I feel like I'm a very passionate person. I just sort of drive for it to be more. I think that I just don't see the end. I don't see the end in my personal development, my family's development, aligns development. I just always am hungry for more. And that keeps me motivated to learn more, do more, you know, my new challenge for this year is to read a book every single day. So we're on track, but I find the balance of like, easy reads versus development reads versus business reads. And that constant just drive to want to be always be more and be better. Ginny, last last question, I promise. Where can everyone follow you, find you and keep up with you. You can find us at align.co, so www.aligne.co. Our Instagram is obviously a line and our TikTok. And then I'm Ginny Seymour. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. You're open. You're such an inspiration and the highs and the lows. We appreciate you so much. So thank you for sharing. Thank you for having. Thank you so much for taking the time to listen to this episode. If there's someone you think this conversation would resonate with, please share it with a friend. Tag us on Instagram @TheBigMovePodcast and @mrobertz.m. Subscribe, follow, and leave a review and connect with us. We love to hear from you and we want to chat soon. [Music]