Jane Lu

Jane Lu (born 12 June 1986) is an Australian businesswoman.^[1][2]

Lu is the founder and chief executive officer of the fashion boutique Showpo.^[3]

In March 2023, it was announced she would be joining Shark Tank on Network 10 as one of the "sharks".^[4]

Biography

Lu is the only child to Chinese-Australian parents. After leaving school, she completed an accounting cadetship with KPMG before working as an analyst for Ernst & Young. She left Ernst & Young to establish a pop-up shop with a friend. It was an unsuccessful venture which led to Lu accruing a debt and being unemployed.

This led her to start her own e-retailing business where wholesalers supplied her with products on a consignment basis.^[5] Founded in 2010, the business was initially called Show Pony, but the name was changed to Showpo after it emerged that the name was owned by an American business.^[6] The business proved to be a success and has since increased in value each year.^[7]

The business proved to be a success and has since increased in value each year. By 2012, Showpo was a million-dollar company with only four staff. In 2019 it reached $85 million and by 2022 Showpo turned over $100M in sales with over 120 employees worldwide.

Showpo has gone on to win several awards over the years including Online Retailer of the Year Australia at the Online Retail Industry Awards in 2018 In the same year, Showpo also won the Exporter of the Year at the Premier's NSW Export Awards In 2019, Showpo proudly received the Australia Post’s Online Retail Industry Award.

As part of the continued success and expansion, in 2022, Showpo introduced its second in-house label, Amelie The Label

Lu was named as the Cosmopolitan Entrepreneur of the Year in 2015.^[8] In 2016, she was listed in the Forbes Asia "30 under 30" list.^[9] She was listed in Smart Company's "Hot 30 under 30" list in both 2016 and 2017.^[10]In 2017, Lu was among the most viewed fashion professionals on LinkedIn.^[11] That same year, she debuted on The Australian Financial Review "Young Rich List".^[12]

Jane has leveraged social media to her advantage creating a loyal following of doting entrepreneurs and fashion enthusiasts. And has turned her focus onto many passion projects as she continued growing her personal brand.

In 2015, Jane co-created LMBDW (Like Minded Bitches Drinking Wine). A like-minded and supportive community of over 170,000+ individuals. The group, hosted on Facebook, is a networking opportunity for women who aspire to be entrepreneurs, or have a general interest in business.

Since the launch, Lu has hosted numerous networking events, with her largest conference being Bitchcon in October 2023, the second event of its kind, surpassing 500+ attendees. Lu brought together key industry speakers, including Sally Obermeder from Real Housewives Of Sydney, Melinda Willis from Married At First Site, Matilda Murray, Founder Of Stax as well as fellow Shark Cat Wallace.

Jane has also had an active involvement working with well-known charity, The Hunger Project She has used Showpo as a platform to actively launch 2+ collections a year since partnering with the charity in November 2017, with all proceeds going to the charity.

In October 2019, Lu got married to Showpo CFO James Waldie. The successful CEO sported a $299 Showpo wedding dress.

Jane continues to make waves in the business space, in 2019, Lu spoke at the Success Summithosted by Tony Robbins. In December 2023, Lu featured as guest speaker at the Inspire and Succeedconference hosted by Richard Branson.

In February 2023, Lu apologised after underestimating the interest of a Showpo warehouse sale after issues arose from a larger than expected attendance.^[13] There were complaints from customers about waiting in long queues in hot weather as well as the quality of the products.^[14] Lu admitted she had been initially concerned about an apparent lack of interest in the event after less than 400 people confirmed their attendance on the Facebook event page.^[15]

After some disgruntled customers complained about the issues, Lu gave an assurance that the issues would be rectified at the next event, and said there would be more stock, more changing rooms, more EFTPOS machines and more staff.^[16]

In March 2023, Lu was one of five new "sharks" announced for a new series of Shark Tank.^[17] Lu as well as Davie Fogarty, Sabri Suby and Catriona Wallace will succeed the previous cast of Janine Allis, Andrew Banks, Steve Baxter, Glen Richards and Naomi Simson when the program returns later in 2023. ^[18] American "shark" Robert Herjavec will also be joining the Australian series.^[19]

Lu decided to launch her own business course in April 2023. The course was created with the intention to empower and guide aspiring entrepreneurs with knowledge, learnings and invaluable lessons of the business world. Within the course, Jane dives deep into the complexities of starting a business whilst sharing her own experiences

In May 2023, Lu launched her first business podcast, reaching #1 on the Australia businesses podcast charts on Apple.The Lazy CEO podcast is dedicated to conversations with the entrepreneurs behind iconic brands in the Australian and USA business space to share their valuable anecdotes and experiences.Lu has taken the opportunity to share some of her own expertise and insights with a wider audience throughout her podcast.

Today, Showpo has 3.7M+ followers worldwide across several social media platforms. Lu continues to focus on driving a global expansion for Showpo, with her main focus on becoming a go-to retailer in the US.

References

1. Hassan, Ahmed (3 October 2019). "GO FOR IT - The incredible story of Showpo CEO Jane Lu". Medium. Retrieved 24 March 2023.
2. Tran, Cindy (26 February 2023). "For years Jane got a bus to a job that didn't exist. She turned her 'shame' into a $100 million idea". Seven News. Retrieved 24 March 2023.
3. Gillezeau, Natasha (12 June 2019). "'We laugh at ourselves, we accept mistakes'". The Australian Financial Review. Retrieved 24 March 2023. Jane Lu, Showpo's founder and chief executive, says that working as an accountant at EY and KPMG in her early 20s...
4. Knox, David (22 March 2023). "Meet the new Shark Tank bosses". TV Tonight. Retrieved 24 March 2023.
5. Sprague, Julie-Anne (18 October 2021). "Quitting EY made this ex-accountant a $47m fortune". The Australian Financial Review. Retrieved 24 March 2023.
6. "Meet Jane Lu". Showpo. 2017. Retrieved 9 January 2024.
7. "MEET COSMO'S 2015 ENTREPRENEUR OF THE YEAR, JANE LU!". Cosmopolitan. 19 November 2015. Archived from the original on 8 November 2016. Retrieved 24 March 2023.
8. "Forbes 30 under 30". Forbes Asia. 2016. Retrieved 24 March 2023.
9. "Hot 30 under 30". Smart Company. 2016. Retrieved 24 March 2023. 6. Jane Lu
10. "Hot 30 under 30 2017". Smart Company. 2017. Retrieved 24 March 2023. 7. Jane Lu
11. "Most viewed fashion professionals on LinkedIn Australia for 2017". LinkedIn Power Profiles. 2018. Retrieved 24 March 2023.
12. Coates, Pip (20 October 2017). "Showpo's Jane Lu debuts on Young Rich List after leaving accountancy for fashion". The Australian Financial Review. Retrieved 24 March 2023.
13. Turner-Cohen, Alex (21 February 2023). "Sydney Showpo warehouse sale slammed online, CEO Jane Lu apologises". news.com.au. Retrieved 24 March 2023.
14. Gray, Geordie (22 March 2023). "The Australian millionaires fronting Shark Tank". The Australian. Retrieved 24 March 2023.
15. "Jane Lu (CEO)". www.showpo.com. Retrieved 2024-02-19.

Citations