WERKIN With Carmen Liu On Tuning Out Negativity
Updated 7 June 2021
Carmen Liu is the Founder of GI Collection, and Carmen Liu Lingeire – the UK’s first transgender lingerie brand. Carmen spoke candidly about coming up with the idea, and the steps it took to launch the company.
Often, innovation means solving problems. It’s a difficult and essential skill for any entrepreneur. Carmen Liu’s work is innovative, but it’s also pioneering. A new idea isn’t always as radical as a pioneering idea, it takes a lot to be the first person to try, not just something new, but to try and create a whole new sector. If you can do this, often, it will have a profound impact on the lives of those who need the procut. It can even act as a cog in the wheel of social change.
Carmen Liu is a young entrepreneur who has achieved this. Having known the gap in the market on a personal level, she decided to create lingerie for transgender women. Carmen is known to have created the first trans women’s lingerie brand in the UK.
Spotting such a gap in the market usually comes from personal experience. Feeling as though you know exactly what you need, but that nobody is offering it. When Carmen transitioned four years ago, transgender underwear was the first thing she tried to search for on Google.
“I found nothing that was feminine, sexy, the only thing I came across was a transgender gaff. It’s not something that you’d want anyone to see or know that you’re wearing. After two years of frustration of not having lingerie and having other trans women talking about them not having lingerie, I just started thinking about how perhaps I could create my own lingerie that would be suitable for trans women.” She says.
Of course, having the idea is just the beginning. From there, Carmen was able to secure funding and had the determination to achieve what she set out to, but she also stresses the importance of just allowing yourself to try and do something.
“Go for it, don’t put it off. Just do it. You never know, someone else might have the same idea and they may do it before you.” She says.
Creating solutions for the community you come from is likely to make the venture more personal, and sometimes more intense. “I work around the clock,” Carmen says. However, getting the product right means you are going to be all-the-more aware of the success of the company, and how it will impact on the customer’s life.
“It’s nice to know I’m not the only one that cries when I put the lingerie on sometimes,” Carmen says. GI Collection also gets many messages from customers thanking them for the impact the lingerie has had on their life. These moments can make any business and role within the team feel incredibly rewarding.
When Hayley asked Carmen what her superpower was (beyond not needing much sleep), she said determination. This starts with a goal, “I want to be the person that does this for our community”, and manifests only with a deep commitment:
“I keep going until it’s right, I don’t care how long it takes or what it takes, I want it to be right.” She says.
Honing your determination can clearly have exponential results. Since launching GI Collection, Carmen has created Carmen Liu Lingerie as its own business for transgender lingerie, with GI Collection becoming the mother company.
To hear more from Carmen on solving problems, GI Collection, supporting your workforce and creating positive change in a community, you can listen to the interview on all good podcast platforms. You can also follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn to keep up with the latest guests and more.
You can learn more about Carmen and GI Collection via the following links: @gicollectionuk | @carmenliulingerie | CarmenLiuLingerie