James Reed

Right.

Welcome to All About Business with me, James Reid, the podcast that covers everything about business, management, and leadership.

Every episode, I sit down with different guests who have bootstrapped companies, masterminded investment models, or built a business empire.

They're leaders in their field, and they're here to give you top insights and actionable advice so that you can apply their ideas to your own career or business venture.

What does it really take to build a premium brand without outside investment, fast growth, or shortcuts?

Today on All About Business, I'm joined by Penelope Chilvers, founder of the footwear brand that bears her name.

Over the past 25 years, Penelope has built a business rooted in craftsmanship, ethical production, and long-term relationships with artisans in Spain, all while staying deeply hands-on as a designer and creative leader.

we'll explore what sustainable growth really looks like, the realities of slow fashion, and how to turn craft into a lasting business.

Today on All About Business, I'm really delighted to welcome Penelope Chilvers.

Penelope is an English footwear designer and founder of the eponymous brand Penelope Chilvers.

She makes wonderful shoes and boots, and she's expanding into other lines, which we'll talk about later.

She originally trained as a painter in London before moving into design work in Spain.

and her business is in a sense a fusion of British and Spanish style but Penelope is going to tell me more about that in a moment so thank you for coming in today Penelope and I'd really like you to begin at the beginning tell us a little bit about how this wonderful business journey of yours which started 25 years ago began.

Sounds very civilized.

Yeah.

So had you told him exactly sort of what you wanted?

Absolutely, yes.

So you knew what you wanted for yourself.

And then other people said, I'd like some.

Yes, yeah.