The CEO of Showpo, aka ‘The Lazy CEO’ on Finding Her Confidence & Building Networks

It took Jane three times to find the confidence to scale up her business 😲

Despite being the CEO of a multi-million-dollar company (aka Showpo), when Jane Lu joined Student Edge for a chat she was sitting in a familiar spot – her wardrobe.

Fans might recognise it as the cosy backdrop to many of her TikToks, whether she’s filming a ‘day in the life’, getting ready, or showing off the latest Showpo drop.

From TikToks filmed among shelves of clothes to business tips dished out with a side of humour, Jane’s presence online is as powerful as her presence in the boardroom.

That same energy carried through in our chat, where she spoke to Student Edge about her own journey as a student, finding confidence as an entrepreneur, building networks and the future of women in business - and why she’s so passionate about backing the next generation of female founders.

From using her degree…to not using her degree.

Before she started Showpo, she worked as an accountant – a stark difference from the fashion world.

And it was an exchange she did in Sweden which changed her mind set and made her realise she didn’t want to work in a regular 9 to 5 forever.

“It does sound like a cliche, I went and travelled and found myself,” she told Student Edge.

“I think slowly, it kind of shifted my mindset to being like, wow, this isn't the be all and end all, like having this degree, having this job.

“When I came back from being on exchange, I kind of saw things differently. I looked at my job not as financial security. I looked at it more as a prison sentence, and I knew I didn't want to do 40 years of hard time in accounting.”

Thankfully for her, she came to this sudden realisation after starting her first wave of entrepreneurship when she hit Australia. This helped her begin the foundations of Showpo.

On building her confidence as a female founder.

For anyone reading this wondering how they could ever start a business like Showpo, having that style-savvy business confidence is not something Jane always had.

She admits she lacked the confidence with two other businesses before she went “all in” with Showpo.

The first time was when she and her high school bestie came up with an idea one day to sell tea at Paddington Markets.

While Jane went home and put together a business plan, the next day her friend was not as keen in turning it into a real business. 

The second time was when she and another friend had pop-up stores inside bars. They set up a market store and Jane even built an online store. However, her business partner wasn’t so keen. They wanted to go back to the corporate world and they didn’t think anyone would shop online 👀

“I did not have the confidence to run this business by myself, so we closed it down and the business failed,” Jane admitted.

“So I completely understand what it’s like to not have that confidence.

“But even my Showpo business partner after a year and half, decided she didn’t want to do it anymore and that was when I was like, you know what, I’m all in I’m going to do it by myself.”

Showpo’s Future Female Founders Program.

Her latest venture is a national initiative, designed to give back and empower uni students who are passionate about entrepreneurship and eCommerce.

The lucky winner (who has already been selected!) has received $5000 in funding and a hands-on internship at Showpo HQ in Sydney.

Jane said while it’s scary to enter the “big, bad business world” she hopes being chosen will give the lucky winner the validation.

“I actually think when they see what we’re doing, it’s like okay it’s just problem solving, it’s ultimately problem solving we’re just doing it on a larger scale,” she said.

“And it also has all started from essentially what they're doing right now.

“And you know, the problems that you've got later in business, you'll work your way up to them, it's all a stepping stone from one place to another.”