How I started my own lingerie company

Ange Crosbie, 35, set up a business with a friend making glamorous lingerie for nursing mothers four years ago. Their Bay of Plenty company is now a global leader.

"Very rarely do I step back like this and appreciate what my business partner Lisa Ebbing and I have accomplished. I feel quite overwhelmed about what we have achieved, to the point of welling up when I think about it!

"When we started HOTmilk we were just two unassuming women from the South Island but we had total belief in ourselves, the concept and the absolute need for fashionable nursing lingerie on a global scale. I don’t believe there is anything exceptional about me as a businessperson; I just actioned a brilliant idea. Everyone has brainwaves but an idea doesn’t become reality until it’s put into action. Anything is achievable if you believe in it.

"Lisa and I have made many sacrifices to get where we are now. I often joke that if we had known how hard it was going to be we might never have started. Being naive is bliss! It’s important to have a balanced family and work life and to give yourself time. It’s extremely challenging to develop a business on this scale so you really do need to have the support of loved ones around you. The role has certainly made me a stronger person but sometimes a lot less tolerant than I used to be – that’s probably not a good thing, is it?

"One of the highlights of my day is to walk into the office where I see a team of positive, bright and cheerful people for whom I have a great deal of respect. I also love the design aspect: the developmental stages; the inspiration and creativity that lead to the sexy, sophisticated and glamorous lingerie we are creating for nursing mothers around the world.
Another very rewarding moment in my life has been our Knickers for Africa project. When we discovered that undergarments elevated the prestige of Zimbabwean women, making them less likely to be sexually assaulted, we immediately donated close to 12,000 HOTmilk items and organized stockists across the globe to gather quality second-hand bras and unworn underwear to ship to Africa.

"HOTmilk also donates nursing lingerie to our local Women’s Refuge. Our support may be just in the form of a lingerie garment, but even if this provides a moment of comfort and distraction from the fear and violence mothers and women have been enduring within their homes, we are thrilled to provide it.

"My advice for women: have the belief to realize your dreams and ambitions and to reach your goals, but also to accept the challenges that are presented along the way by being solution focused. Just be you and revel in it!"

Interview by Rosalind Le Bas Walker.