Meet Caroline, 40, from Birmingham. She's a single mother with 2 young girls, Mimi (9) and Florence (10) and they are a huge driving force in Caroline's success.
Her business is currently dominating her home, with her spare bedroom converted in to her sewing space. She has told her daughters to "give mummy a year to sort things out" so that their home can return back to normal!
Caroline has high hopes for the future of her business; she wants to expand her business beyond Birmingham, supplying occasion wear for girls and women. She sees a gap in the market in prom and bridesmaid market and wants to develop in that area. She wants to be a well-recognised brand and hopes that "one day someone will look at one of my dresses and say that is a Caroline Bramley Dress!"
Caroline believes fashion is in her genes, both of her grandmothers were tailors and she has always been encouraged to sew. After gaining a first class honours degree in fashion design, her course allowed her to work in the industry in Canada and Dubai, as a design and production assistant, and also as an assistant buyer. She later took a sideways step into fashion recruitment but quickly felt she was losing her sense of creativity, so knew it was time to set up her very own business.
Visiting China will allow Caroline to be able to source and manufacture her dresses, and source accessories for her prom business. She wants to be hands on, rather than leaving it in the hands of a UK supplier, she wants to take control.