Right now you're probably here
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You've got the idea, with a Pinterest board full of inspiration, you might even have designs, but you've been researching for months and you still can't figure out what the actual first step is. But somewhere between where you are now and where you want to be, there's a gap, and Google isn't closing it.
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Maybe you're being ignored by factories or you've spoken to one thats asked for tech packs you don't yet have. Or you've spent money on the samples sitting on your kitchen table that came back wrong, and you're not sure if it's the factory or you.
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Perhaps your products are (almost) ready but you've no idea how to build an audience, plan a launch or market your brand.
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Whatever stage you're at, the thing that's missing isn't more information. It's having someone who knows this industry inside out, working with you on your brand, answering your specific questions, and keeping you moving forward instead of going in circles.
THAT'S WHAT THESE THREE MONTHS ARE FOR.
Wherever you are on your clothing brand journey,
this is built for you
MOST FASHION BRAND FOUNDERS WHO COME TO ME FOR THREE-MONTH MENTORING ARE AT ONE OF THESE THREE STAGES:
PLAN
CREATE
LAUNCH
WHICH ONE SOUNDS MOST LIKE YOU?
PLAN PHASE
I have the idea but I don't know where to start
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You know you want to launch a clothing brand but you're stuck in research mode, going round in circles, collecting information that isn't moving you forward. You need help defining your brand, understanding your customer, planning your collection, choosing the right fabrics, and getting your designs ready before you go anywhere near a manufacturer.
EXAMPLE OUTCOME
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Your brand foundations are locked in, you have a clear collection plan, and you're confident enough to move into sampling and production knowing you've done it properly.
CREATE PHASE
I'm ready to work with manufacturers but I need guidance
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Your designs and tech packs are (almost) done and now you're facing the part that worries most founders the most: finding the right manufacturer. You need help understanding pricing, navigating MOQs, managing the sampling process, handling sample audits, and making sure your products come back the way you imagined them. This is where having someone who's done this hundreds of times makes the biggest difference.
EXAMPLE OUTCOME
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You have a manufacturing partner, refined samples you're happy with, and a clear path to production.
LAUNCH PHASE
My products are (almost) ready but I don't know how to market
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You've got your collection sorted, your samples are approved, and production is underway or about to start. But the thought of actually launching, building an audience, pricing your products, planning your route to market, and putting your brand out there for people to see feels like a whole new mountain to climb. You need a strategy, not another to-do list.
EXAMPLE OUTCOME
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You have a marketing plan, a launch strategy, and the confidence to put your brand in front of the right customers.
Not sure which stage you're at? That's completely normal. We'll figure it out together in your first session.
ONE OF THE BIGGEST BENEFITS OF 1:1 MENTORING IS THAT EVERYTHING IS TAILORED TO WHERE YOU ARE RIGHT NOW, WHERE YOU WANT TO GET TO, AND THE GAP IN BETWEEN.
EVERY CLOTHING BRAND FOUNDER STARTS FROM A DIFFERENT PLACE, WITH DIFFERENT GOALS AND
DIFFERENT CIRCUMSTANCES.
THE STAGES ABOVE ARE HERE TO HELP YOU SEE YOURSELF IN THE FASHION FOUNDER JOURNEY, BUT YOUR
THREE MONTHS WILL BE SHAPED
ENTIRELY AROUND YOU.
WHAT'S INCLUDED
Six fortnightly 1:1 calls
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One hour each, every other week, on Google Meet. Each session is shaped around what you need right now, whether that's answering questions, reviewing your work, solving a specific problem, or just getting you unstuck when the overwhelm hits. Every call is recorded so you can go back to it whenever you need to.
Accountability & action plan
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At the end of every session, you'll leave with a clear action plan so you always know what to focus on next.
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We'll also figure out how you like to be mentored. Do you want to be pushed with me checking in between sessions? Or do you prefer to go away, get on with it, and bring it all to the next call? However you work best is how we will approach things.
Support between sessions
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You don't have to wait two weeks to get an answer on something small.
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For quick questions, sense checks, "is this right?", "what do you think of this?" moments, you can WhatsApp me, email me or send me a voice note.
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Larger questions that require some deeper work will be kept for the fortnightly sessions.
Session recordings & notes
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Every session is recorded, and you'll get access to these to keep and dowload along with meeting notes so you have a clear reference of what we discussed and what your next steps are.
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We'll also set up a shared Drive folder so everything lives in one place, and I can review your work between sessions.
HOW IT WORKS
SIGN UP
Choose pay in full or monthly, and you're in. Once you've signed up, you'll get access to a short onboarding portal that walks you through how the whole process works, what to expect, and how to prepare for our first call.
FAST TRACK YOUR BRAND
Fortnightly calls, WhatsApp support, real progress. Every session is tailored to where you are and what's coming next. No generic curriculum, no pre-recorded modules, just expert guidance built around your brand.
Best Value
3 Month Mentoring Payment Plan
250
Every month
Valid for 3 months
Who you'll be working with
I'm Michelle Ramsay, and I've spent 20+ years working accross the fashion industry, from high street brands like Gymshark, ASOS, Topshop, M&S and Primark to freelance design work across womenswear, menswear, sportswear and childrenswear. I now specialise in helping female
first-time founders start a clothing brand or product-based business.
I've helped hundreds of clothing startups go from a raw idea to a launched, manufactured collection.
I know what it takes because I've lived it, and seen all aspects of the fashion industry from the inside.
When you're on a call with me, you're getting someone who's worked on real collections for real brands, not someone who read about it in a textbook. You're also accessing my expert knowledge and guidance.
The thing I hear most from founders I work with is that they wish they'd found me sooner, because having someone who actually knows how this works, walking beside you while you start your clothing brand, changes everything.
3-Month Mentoring Frequently Asked Questions...
What can I realistically expect to achieve in three months? That depends on where you're starting from, because everything is individually tailored to you. In our first session, we look at where you are right now, what you've already done, what's not working, what you're stuck on, and what you're hoping to get out of this. From there, we map out a focused plan for your three months and work towards specific goals together. To give you an idea of what that might look like: If you're just starting out, we might spend your three months planning your collection, defining your brand, understanding your customer, working out your positioning, analysing your competitors, and getting your product ideas into a place where you're ready to move into design and development. You'll walk away with clarity on what you're building and why, instead of going round in circles trying to figure it out alone. If you've already got your designs and tech packs, your focus might be around getting your products manufactured, finding the right factory, managing the sampling process, understanding pricing, and navigating production. Three months of guided support can fast track what would otherwise take much longer on your own, with far fewer costly mistakes. If your products are already in production, then our time together might focus on your pre-launch runway, how to build an audience before launch day, putting together a marketing strategy, planning your route to market, and making sure that when you do launch, you're not launching to crickets.
How does the three-month mentoring actually work? We start with a deep dive session where I find out everything about where you're at, what you've already done, any mistakes or roadblocks you've hit, what you're struggling with, and what you're hoping to achieve. That first session is about getting everything out of your head and into a plan. From there, we meet online every fortnight for a one-hour session on Google Meet. Every call is recorded and you get access to the recording and notes afterwards so you're never trying to remember what we covered. Between sessions, you've got WhatsApp support for quick questions, sense checks, and those "is this right?" moments that come up when you're in the middle of something. At the start, we'll also figure out your mentoring style. Some founders want to be pushed and held accountable. Others prefer to go away, crack on, and bring everything to the next call. However you work best, that's how we'll do it. And at the end of every session, you'll leave with a clear action plan so you always know what to focus on next.
Is this a group programme or 1:1 mentoring? It's completely 1:1. Every session is just you and me, private and confidential. You're not in a group setting, you're not sharing your time with other founders, and you're not getting generic advice that's been designed to suit everyone. You choose a session time that suits you, and every conversation is tailored specifically to your brand, your situation, and your goals. That's the whole point. The advice you get is based on what you actually need, not a one-size-fits-all model.
How is this different from the Fashion Startup Academy? The three-month mentoring is pure 1:1 support, built entirely around where you are right now. There's no set curriculum, no modules to work through, and no fixed starting point. We look at your situation, figure out what matters most, and spend three months working on exactly that. It's designed to fast track you through a specific stage of your journey with focused, expert guidance. The simplest way to think about it: if you know roughly where you are and need expert support to get through a specific stage, the three-month mentoring is built for that. If you're starting from scratch and want the full journey mapped out with structured learning alongside the 1:1 support, the Academy is the better fit. The Fashion Startup Academy is my six-month hybrid programme that combines 1:1 mentoring with a full learning curriculum and resources. It follows my LAUNCH Method and takes you through every stage from idea to launch in a structured, step-by-step way.
Is three months enough time to start a clothing brand? It depends on where you're starting from. Three months probably isn't enough to go from a blank page to a fully launched brand, and I'd be doing you a disservice to pretend otherwise. But three months is enough to make serious progress through a specific stage. If you're at the beginning, three months gives you the time to define your brand, plan your collection, and get everything ready so you can approach manufacturers with confidence. If you're further along, three months is plenty of time to get through sampling and production, or to build your pre-launch strategy so you're ready to launch properly. The goal isn't to rush. It's to fast track the stage you're at by having someone who's done this hundreds of times guiding you through it, instead of spending months trying to figure it out alone.
How long does it take to start a clothing brand from scratch? Every brand is different, but realistically you're looking at somewhere between nine and twelve months from idea to your first collection being available to buy, depending on how complex your products are, how quickly your manufacturer works, and how much time you can commit each week. That's not meant to scare you. It's meant to set your expectations honestly. The founders who get there fastest aren't the ones who rush. They're the ones who do things in the right order, make informed decisions, and don't have to go back and fix mistakes that could have been avoided. Three months of mentoring covers a significant chunk of that journey, and if you need continued support after your three months are up, you can easily continue month to month for as long as you need.
I've already tried to DIY this and it's not working. Can you help? Yes, and honestly this is one of the most common starting points for founders who come to me. You've tried to figure it out yourself, maybe you've had a go at making your own tech packs, or you've got samples back that don't look right, or you're struggling to choose fabrics, or something in your sampling process isn't going the way you expected. Maybe you've lost momentum and you're not sure how to get it back, or you've got fears and doubts creeping in about whether this is even going to work. What we do at the beginning is distil all of this. We look at what you've already explored, what hasn't worked, where the roadblocks are, what questions you have that you can't find answers to, and what areas you're really struggling with. Then we unpick it all and build a plan to unblock everything and move you past it. It doesn't matter what stage you're coming in at. That's exactly what this mentoring is designed for. You don't need to have got everything right up to this point, you just need someone who can help you figure out what needs fixing and what the right next steps are.
Does it matter what kind of product I'm launching? Not at all. I work with founders across womenswear, menswear, childrenswear, athletic and sportswear, and accessories. It doesn't have to be a full collection either. If you're launching a single innovative product or a small capsule range, the mentoring works just the same. What matters is that it's a product-based clothing or fashion business. If you're creating something physical that needs designing, developing, and manufacturing, I can help you fast track that process regardless of the product category.
I'm not based in the UK. Can I still work with you? Absolutely. All sessions are online via Google Meet, and I work with clothing brand founders globally. I'm on London time, but I regularly work with clients in the US, Australia, New Zealand, and across Europe. We'll find a session time that works for both of our time zones. Location has never been a barrier. The fashion industry knowledge, the processes, and the guidance I give you are relevant wherever you're building your brand and wherever your manufacturer is based.
Do I need to have my designs or tech packs ready before starting? No. Where you are is where we start. If you don't have designs or tech packs yet, that's completely fine. We might spend part of your three months working on those foundations, or I might recommend my design and tech pack services alongside the mentoring if that's what your brand needs. If you already have designs and tech packs done, great. We'll focus on whatever comes next for you, whether that's finding manufacturers, managing the sampling process, or planning your launch.
Can I combine this with your design and tech pack services? Yes, and quite a few of my clients do. The mentoring and the design work serve different purposes. The mentoring is your strategic support, the calls, the guidance, the problem-solving, the accountability. The design and tech pack work is a separate service where I'm creating the designs, technical drawings, and manufacturer-ready documents for your collection. If you need both, we can run them alongside each other. Having mentoring and design support running in parallel can seriously fast track your journey because you're getting expert guidance and professional design work at the same time, rather than trying to figure one out before starting the other.
What if I need more than three months? That's not a problem at all. Three months is designed to get you through a specific stage, but fashion doesn't always move in straight lines. Manufacturers take longer than expected, life gets in the way, or you might reach the end of one stage and want support through the next one. If you want to continue, you can extend your mentoring for as long as you need. We'll talk about it towards the end of your three months so you've got plenty of time to decide, and there's no pressure either way.
What if I need to reschedule a session? Things come up, and that's fine. Just give me at least 24 hours' notice and we'll move it to another time that works for both of us. All sessions are booked through Calendly, so rescheduling is straightforward.