From Lattes to Lingerie: A Delicate Transition
By Eric Krell
When former Katzenbach Partners engagement partner Claire Chambers' learning curve began to level off, she started thinking about lingerie. After cultivating her thoughts during a sabbatical, Chambers received extraordinary support from her firm in fleshing out an entrepreneurial business plan. The encouragement helped her launch Journelle, a multi-brand lifestyle lingerie retail offering based in New York and online at www.journelle.com .
Chambers began working for Katzenbach Partners in 2002 after completing her undergraduate degree and an investment banking internship. She was attracted to the autonomy the firm offered. Once Chambers began working, she quickly became involved in organizational redesign and brand-building projects with major retail clients, including Starbucks. Her early consulting experience "felt like the rug was always being pulled out from under me," Chambers recalls. "I was always being challenged by doing something that I hadn't done before." She delighted in the challenge. Yet, once the learning curve began to lessen, Chambers says she "started thinking about other ideas and challenges."
A particularly sexy idea was hatched when Chambers examined a case study on Sephora that a colleague had developed for another client. Sephora's innovative approach to multi-brand cosmetic retailing resonated with younger, trend-setting shoppers who were eager to buy cosmetics somewhere besides high-end department stores with stuffy, commission-focused salespeople. "Sephora pretty much ate department store [cosmetics'] lunch within four years of entering the U.S. market," Chambers notes. "Why couldn't a similar model be applied to lingerie?"
To analyze that question, Chambers took a three-month sabbatical shortly after her promotion to engagement partner. "I know quite a few people who, after putting in a fair amount of time at the firm, have had the flexibility and support to pursue something they want to pursue," she reports. "And I feel lucky to have had that opportunity. Had I been at another consulting firm, I'm not sure I would have been able to just say, 'Hey, can I take the summer off?'"
Nor might other firms have provided the support her more senior Katzenbach colleagues delivered after Chambers, business plan in hand, announced that she was considering launching an entrepreneurial venture.
"My mentors at the firm were good sounding boards as I talked about leaving and starting an entrepreneurial venture," Chambers recalls. She also tapped her professional network to learn more about retail and the process of financing start-ups. Additionally, Katzenbach co-founder and managing partner Niko Canner suggested that Chambers create an entrepreneur peer group to serve as a resource for current and former Katzenbach consultants
interested in making the transition to entrepreneur.
Chambers spent six more months with the firm following her sabbatical. Once she received her first round of funding in late 2007, she launched Journelle. Like other former consultants, she describes her previous career as extremely valuable in helping her cope with a wide array of challenges.
"As a consultant in a generalist firm like Katzenbach, you're always doing something new and you have to get up to speed incredibly quickly and be able to speak to clients about their business," Chambers says. "For me, that sort of experience has been essential because right now I do everything at my company except for sales."
Chambers' to-do list is growing; she plans to open Journelle stores in Miami and Los Angeles in the coming year.
If you know a former consultant pursuing a passion or unique endeavor, please e-mail your suggestion to customercare@alm.com.
© Arc, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to TMSalesOperations@arc-network.com. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.