Meet Megan Mummery, designer of the sustainable womenswear label OhSevenDays.

Megan Mummery is the founder and designer of the contemporary womenswear label OhSevenDays. Originally from Canada, Megan spent time studying in Australia and moved to London in 2012 to work in fashion. After time spent working in London, Megan relocated to Istanbul, and after noticing an untapped resource of deadstock fabric in the city, she launched OhSevenDays in 2016. The label aims to be a staple, go-to brand for ethical and style-conscious consumers that want wardrobe staples that are elevated by unique details. Learn more about Megan below.

My first job ever was… working as an ice cream server at Cold Rock! I was fired because I stood up to the misogynistic boss. 

Before I was a business owner, I was… I started my career in marketing and worked for various not-for-profit charities in their marketing department. Although I enjoyed the NFP environment, I wasn’t a fan of the rigid 9-to-5 working constrictions. 

I founded OhSevenDays because… I always had a dream of running my own business, but it wasn’t exactly tangible until I moved to Istanbul and found a concept I could get behind. I discovered a huge untapped resource of deadstock fabrics that I realized would be a great basis for a sustainable brand. 

One of the most important things I learned about myself in my time as an entrepreneur is… that I have thicker skin than I imagined, or perhaps I grew thicker skin throughout the process. Entrepreneurship comes with a whole lot of rejections, unmet expectations, and seemingly soul crushing failures. The key learning throughout the process for me was to stay persistent throughout these failings and just wake up the next day and try something new. 

My proudest accomplishment is… the business and work environment I’ve created. I love that we have a thriving all-woman team working hard together to make a sustainable business succeed. 

My biggest setback was… outsourcing too early, and trusting aspects of the business to consultants who didn’t have our best interest in mind. 

“Entrepreneurship comes with a whole lot of rejections, unmet expectations, and seemingly soul crushing failures. The key learning throughout the process for me was to stay persistent throughout these failings and just wake up the next day and try something new.”

I overcame it by… bringing core elements of the business back in-house and ensuring that before we outsource, we all knew how to do everything ourselves, giving us greater control and the ability to make more educated choices on who we work with. 

My advice for aspiring entrepreneurs is… choose something niche and perfect it rather than trying to do it all. If I could go back, I’d probably have reduced my product range. 

The one piece of advice I give that I have trouble following myself is… something I’ve always struggled with is the ability to celebrate the successes as much as I writhe the failures. Making a conscious effort to add each success to my artillery of confidence, and retrieve them in times of doubt is an ongoing exercise as an entrepreneur. 

If I had an extra hour in the day, I would… read more, especially non-fiction books that might help my personal growth as a boss. 

The thing I love most about what I do is… how varied every day can be. I really love dipping my toes in every aspect of the business, from design to finance. 

The one thing I wish I knew when starting OhSevenDays is… a bit more about PnLs and finance! 

If you googled me, you still wouldn’t know… I was a national level swimmer most of my adolescence. 

I stay inspired by… mostly my travels and just people watching. My husband and I are avid travelers, and I find people watching around the world is the ultimate inspiration. 

The future excites me because… you never know what’s around the corner! Because we’re always confronted with exciting new collaborations and opportunities, it’s truly never boring.

My next step is… we’re hoping to open a flagship store of some sort. The location is still unknown, but we’d ultimately love to turn this digital baby into a bricks and mortar toddler.