Introducing Nancy Zeffman, Co- Founder of Cucumber Clothing
Lucy Crowther
Meet Nancy, co-founder of London based sustainable clothing company ‘Cucumber Clothing’.
Cucumber Clothing recognises the need for stylish, sustainable sleepwear and loungewear using cutting edge fabric technology to help maintain even body temperature and keep the wearer cool day and night. Cucumber is 100% British made and is a brand designed by women, for women.
Here Nancy shares her tips and insights on juggling motherhood and launching a second career, working with your friend, what money wisdom she has passed down to her children and what advice she has for new founders.
Website: Cucumber Clothing
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“My background is in advertising. I worked at Saatchi & Saatchi just after the heyday of the mid 80s. I decided to take a career break when I had my first child. Although I fully intended to go back to work sooner, life took over and one day I realised that three children and one dog later, I was still at home. I think I was typical of my generation of women who didn’t know where to start to get back into the workplace. Cucumber came at an opportune moment when my children were starting to flee the nest. When my Co-Founder Eileen Willett and I decided to dip our toe into the world of start-ups, we had no idea where it would lead us. We were both mums in our early 50s. Between us we had two dogs, six children, a strong friendship and what we thought was a damn good idea.”
Cucumber Clothing
What inspired you to work in fashion and how did you get to where you are now?
I can’t say that I set out to work in fashion. The idea for Cucumber Clothing came about as we saw the need for a capsule collection of elevated essentials – beautiful sleepwear and loungewear using the best sustainable performance fabrics that look as good as they feel. Each piece has been carefully considered in its design to offer wardrobe solutions for busy women that will give them confidence and help them feel good. These are clothes to travel in, work in an live in.
What was the process to develop your concept?
It took about two years from having the idea to reaching market. The two years were spent researching the market, materials, making up samples (and testing them), fine tuning our designs, photography and setting up our website, plus so much more, in time for our first capsule collection that launched in September 2017.
Cucumber Clothing
What does a typical ‘day in the life’ look like for you?
Is there such a thing? There are two of us in this business, so every day is truly different. It can involve answering emails; the glamour of picking and packing orders and queuing at the post office; meetings with press and current and potential spas that stock us; overseeing new collections. Covid has clearly changed the way we work, which how involves many zoom meetings and webinars to stay in touch; mask making with offcuts for non-essential workers; and trying to get our new collections manufactured!
Do you have a routine or rituals that help keep you grounded?
I try to find at least an hour every morning to walk my dog. I love this hour of my day, even if I’m saying it through gritted teeth in a freezing hailstorm. If I have the time, walking with a friend and stopping for an Earl Grey tea make this the perfect start to the day.
How do you maintain a work-life balance?
It is very hard to switch off when you run a business. Every day is a finely tuned balancing act - work life and home life tend to merge into one.
Exercise is very important to me. I try to diarise it otherwise it just wouldn’t happen.
On a day to day basis, I am a big fan of an evening soak in the bath with a lovely bath oil or maybe some magnesium flakes. Are there some grey hairs and wrinkles emerging? Yes, but early morning and late-night meetings no longer pose a childcare crisis.
Cucumber Clothing
What would you say is the biggest lesson you’ve learnt since starting your own fashion company?
Be kind! One of the best things about starting a business has been all the amazing people we have met along the way. We’ve found from day one of our Cucumber journey that almost everyone, male or female, have been encouraging and full of ideas to help us. We’ve tried to do the same for others. Kindness is the best.
What advice would you give to new entrants to the industry?
Just go for it - don’t over think it.
Ignorance can be your best friend at times.
What do you feel are the differences between the way you run your personal and your professional finances?
Having a business partner means that all financial decisions are taken together. Small start-ups have to account for every penny spent and every expense is carefully planned for. Personally, I am at a point in my life where my kids are off my hands and for the first time in a long time, there are fewer big expenses.
Cucumber Clothing
What’s your relationship like with money and personal finance?
Although I seem to have taken on the accounting responsibility for Cucumber, I can’t really say it’s my forte.
In my personal life, I have had a joint account for a very long time now and we make most of the big spending decisions together.
Our children have all left home and university now, so our big expenses have greatly reduced.
What does financial independence mean to you?
In a personal capacity, it means not having to justify every penny. Of course, launching a new start-up, that’s exactly what we have to do! We have to make every penny we spend work extra hard.
How would you define wealth?
Wealth is really when you have your health and happiness. Anything else is a bonus. Of course, money is important, and life can be expensive, but without the first two, it means nothing.
What is the best financial decision you have ever made?
Investing in London property – my house.
What do you wish you had known about finance and money when you were growing up?
My parents were quite strict with pocket money when I was growing up, so I never really had much disposable income. I had my first Saturday jobs as a teenager and there is nothing like earning your fist pay packet.
I learnt early on that spending is far easier than saving. I don’t take what I have for granted.
Cucumber Clothing
What are some of your expansion plans for the company?
We had been expanding into luxury spas and were stocked in Four Seasons in Hampshire and at Beaverbrook Hotel and Spa plus we had been involved in pop-up events at the Sequoia spa at the Grove. Sadly, these are all on hold now, as well as the other spas that were planning on stocking us. We hope to be able to resume these post Covid, but for the moment, we are only available on line - own website, plus The Women’s Chapter https://womenschapter.com FFFLCO https://fffl.co/project/cucumber-clothing/ and a French website called Amenovia https://amenovia.com There are a few more in the pipeline, not finalised as yet.
Have you thought about life after your career?
I haven’t really thought this far ahead. I am now in my early 50s and have just launched my second career. I’m not thinking of retiring any time soon. As one half of a couple, retirement will come I think when we both decide to slow down and spend time doing other things. Most of my finances are tied up in my house. I guess at some point I will downsize which will release some capital. Or maybe I won’t retire for a while… 50 is the new 30 and I’m not ready to slow down any time soon.
What are your top financial tips?
The one thing I have tried to instill in my children is stick to a budget – always pay off your credit card bill every month so that you don’t pay ridiculous interest.
In other words, only spend what you can afford.
Make sure that you are paid what you are worth. I think many women in particular are not good at standing up for themselves and money can be a difficult issue to discuss.
Eileen & Nancy
Who is your role model and why?
It would have to be my maternal grandmother. She was the business brains behind a successful tailoring business at a time when most women didn’t work, and super stylish too.
If you could invite 3 artists to dinner, dead or alive, who would you choose and why?
Cindy Sherman : She invents fictitious characters by photographing herself in imaginary situations. I think she would have to be on my list just to find out who she would be at my dinner party.
Hans Holbein, the younger. At the other extreme, I’m sure he would have some fascinating stories to tell of his time at court with Henry VIII, a period of history that I find fascinating.
Vivienne Westwood: Running a fashion brand, I think I should pick a designer as my final guest and if I had to pick one, it would be . Not only would she turn up dressed like no other guest, but I’m sure she would have many tales to tell, from the punk era to the many famous women she has dressed over the years and we could discuss modern day sustainability issues facing the fashion industry – something that she is trying to address and is close to Cucumber’s heart.
Can you recommend a book and a podcast for us?
Books: ‘A Fine Balance’ by Rohinton Mistry: It is a compulsive read that tells the stories of four characters that are linked by circumstance during India’s state of emergency in the mid 70s. Beautifully written.
‘How to Fail’ by Elizabeth Day: We all need to learn that failure is part of life and it’s ok to make mistakes.
Podcast: The Times Redbox :I will get told off for saying this, but my favourite podcast has to be this podcast as one of my sons (a Times journalist), is a regular contributor to it. I just won’t tell him I’ve admitted that in print.