Lolita Hannud: “For those who assume profitable entrepreneurship is getting cash, you began mistaken”

Lolita Hannud didn’t plan on working in fashion, but her creative streak didn’t let her go. She grew up in her mother’s knitting factory, businesswoman Rosana Zurita, and soon found herself creating the clothes that she herself would like to wear. Namely: knits made with a glimpse of contemporary desires, made from a technical plurality that disassociated the material from its old cliché. The year was 2008 – and the look was new, hot. It was the moment.

Today, celebrating 15 years with a presence in more than a dozen countries around the globe, the Lolitta label consolidates its success in the luxury market with a formula that brings the lifestyle from the stylist to her creations: “I make the clothes I would like to wear; everything becomes truer when it’s something you believe in,” she explains.

Waiting for her second daughter, the stylist reconciles her own brand, motherhood and collabs that are part of its universe: the newest of them, a collection of home decor with Celina Dias called “Secret Garden”, it promises to mix the signature of the brand’s children’s line with today’s desires. Next, Lolitta answers the “Successful Woman” questionnaire.

What does success mean to you today?

Success is about finding balance: doing what you love, what’s true for you – but in a way that works and pays off. The entrepreneur spends more time thinking about her business than with her family, but there is also personal growth in this.

Which person, for you, translates the idea of ​​success today?

Amazingly, my brother. He is calm, enterprising, works with innovation, technology. He knows how to balance his personal and professional life well – in that sense, I admire him.

A quality that all successful women have in common, in your opinion?

Resilience and creativity. Creativity to deal with people and adversity; and resilience because if you’re intolerant and inflexible, you won’t survive. Oh: and there’s also the multitasking!

What’s the best personal or professional advice you’ve ever heard?

“Perseverance and persistence”, something my father says.

What’s in your field of vision every day when you sit at your desk?

My work environment is nomadic, it’s 70% my cell phone – I have groups [de WhatsApp] from all areas. I barely stay at my desk! I love being inside the fitting room with the client, at the fittings, talking to the salesgirls. I’m always making strategic decisions.

One thing you would change about your profession?

I strongly believe in non-perishable fashion. I don’t make seasonal clothes, I make timeless clothes – which comes from my mother. With 15 years of Lolitta, this proved successful.

When was the last time you had a “eureka” moment?

Yesterday [risos]! I went to the store with a model to show her how to wear certain pieces in five different ways. There were five pieces, but we created 25 different looks!

What was the biggest challenge of your professional career?

Recently, reconciling Covid 19 with motherhood. I would love to have some stability to get pregnant and, with 5 months of pregnancy, I came across the pandemic – I had to understand that things would not go as I would like.

But I remember another important challenge: after five years of branding, I had to choose between a large turnover in a commercial company or the control of creativity. I ended up opting for something smaller, but in which I could create.

How to deal when plans fail?

It’s a matter of perspective. If you start a business thinking that success is just making money, you’ve already started wrong. Success is the challenge. Making mistakes is a way of learning.

What have you given up in your personal life, in the name of professional success?

At the age of 20 I had already decided: I gave up living certain things – on the other hand, I killed the desires of things that I thought I would conquer much older.

What will you never give up in the name of success?

To be true to what I believe. I can only sell if I believe, use, consume. For my business to succeed, I need to be true to my own belief building.

Source: Forbes