MY LIGHT BULB MOMENT
Handbag designer Sarah Haran
Sarah haran, 52, lives near Glasgow with her husband, Fraser, who runs his family glass business. They have two sons, both at university. Sarah set up her handbag label in 2017. MY CAREER began in call centres in 1989, which was really the start of new technology being introduced into businesses.
The managing director saw the internet as an opportunity and established the UK’s first consumer broadband connection company, essentially providing customers with internet access. I was its first employee and, for a while, the only senior female on the team.
It took 20 years to build the business, but by 2000, the company had gone public and I was on the board as chief operating officer. As a result, I started travelling more and began to appreciate what a challenge it was to pack light.
I needed a handbag to take me from day to night as well as look suitable for work, plus fit in my laptop. Everything needed to be easily accessible; I didn’t want to be scrabbling around for my phone or keys in front of my colleagues.
I couldn’t find anything. Existing designs weren’t functional and I wanted to look different. That sowed the seed of an idea.
Then, in 2015, I was at a conference in San Diego when someone asked me whether I had a hobby. I realised I didn’t, really, and, as my children were older and beginning to find their own feet, I began to think I needed to get my teeth into something.
When I was younger, I’d always made clothes. I didn’t fancy doing that, but I love handbags and thought maybe I could create the right bag for the working woman.
I started playing with designs at home, then went on training courses. I also worked in a factory and spent a week with an ex-director of Mulberry, which was hugely inspiring.
Turning 50 and the increasing demands of working in IT gave me the impetus to set up my own business. I launched about a year ago and have been thrilled by the response: there are waiting lists on the Dahlia and the Iris.
All the handbags are high quality and come with plenty of pockets, an interior key chain and a clutch bag you can unclip for the evening — all the things today’s multitasking modern woman needs to make life that little bit easier.