In this interview series, we invited people to reflect on their life while looking back on their shopping history with Rakuten. This interview features Ms. Akane Iwashina, who runs four companies including Myu, an apparel store with a wide range of loyal female customers. While she says she used to be "just a stay-at-home mom," we were intrigued by her philosophy and the connections she made with various people that helped her achieve so much.
It started with a personal blog about fashion.
The concept was "what I want to wear" and "what I enjoy".
Rakuten: This year marks the 25th anniversary of Rakuten: What were you doing 25 years ago?
Akane Iwashina: I had just entered junior high school, and I dreamed of being an office worker in Marunouchi, Tokyo, wearing beautiful clothes and going out for lunch, like the ones I’d seen in TV dramas. I never thought I would manage my own business.
Rakuten: And now you are currently running four companies.
Akane Iwashina: The first company I started was Mchic Inc., which operates Myu. The second company was an OEM (original equipment manufacturer) and trading company. I created it because one of my business partners said he wanted to work with me. After that, I was approached by another business partner and created a larger trading company. The last company I launched was an eyelash extension salon. I bought a store run by a high school classmate of mine, four years ago. It was almost as if people from all walks of life came together by chance, and the company grew all at once over the past five or six years.
Rakuten: How did you decide to start your first company, Mchic Inc.?
Akane Iwashina: I started the company in 2011, but I was a stay-at-home mom at the time. I was raising a child and couldn’t get out much, so I started a blog. I was posting about my favorite fashion trends and when my affiliate income exceeded 10 million yen, I thought that if I opened a store, it would probably attract some interest.
Rakuten: So your starting point was your blog introducing the clothes that you liked. How was the response after Myu's opening?
Akane Iwashina: I had been posting about the process of opening the store on my blog, so thankfully, my readers became my customers, and sales were okay. They were happy to see the opening of the store and we watched the store grow together. Some of those customers still continue to buy from the store.
Rakuten: What do you think is the appeal of Myu's products that has contributed to such a strong following?
Akane Iwashina:
The products are based on the concept of "grown-up cute" and are clothes that people will want to wear forever. In addition to design, I also came up with ways to consider customer comfort and body shape in a cute way. The thinking behind our product development is very simple. It is not "what do I think might sell," but "what do I want to wear".
What I value more than profit or loss in my business is character. I believe that I have been able to make connections with people because I try to keep a focus on the fun side of things.
A hit product born from a series of mistakes...
That was the chance to create a system to deliver good products at a reasonable price.
Rakuten: Since you opened a store on Rakuten, have you made any changes to your own site?
Akane Iwashina: I opened the "Myu Rakuten Ichiba” store in 2013, two years after the launch of the Myu site because I wanted more people to know about the products. The level of customer access was completely different. Until then, it was mainly blog readers who bought from me, but then people who had never heard of my store started visiting the site as well. I realized that I was now seen as more of a "professional store," and in that respect, the complaints I received were a good learning experience. Sales have since increased 1.5 to 2 times year on year as we identified areas for improvement on the site.
Rakuten: Are there any products that were particularly memorable?
Akane Iwashina:
The "Sleeve and Back Ruffle T-shirt". Actually, this was a product that was created through a series of mistakes.
An OEM company we were doing business with at the time made a mistake in the wholesale price and shipped the product to us at a price with almost no profit. Then, somehow, I also made a mistake in the retail price and sold the product at an almost unprofitable price. (laughs).
It was a big hit, and although it’s an incredibly simple idea, I realized that if you make good products at a low price, your customers will be happy with them. It takes a lot of money for a big company to sell good products at a low price, but I thought - using the internet, I might be able to do it. This is the product that led me to signing a contract with a factory and establishing my own OEM company.
Rakuten: How have your customers reacted?
Akane Iwashina: I often receive feedback via direct message on my personal Instagram account. Customers have sent me comments such as, "I had a bad day, but I will do my best today wearing Myu's clothes," "My husband is happy when I wear Myu," and "My closet is full of Myu."
Rakuten: It must be wonderful to make people happy with clothes.
Akane Iwashina: It really makes me happy. We have many repeat customers, and about 60% of them buy regularly. Customers such as homemakers perhaps have limited money to spend on clothes, so I set prices to be affordable for those who want to enjoy different clothes all the time.
I want to create a system that allows everyone including homemakers to flourish.
Rakuten: Now that you are managing four companies, what challenges do you want to take on in the future?
Akane Iwashina: It is still an idea, but I would like to support homemakers and working mothers to start their own businesses. Thanks to Rakuten, I went from being a homemaker to taking on these amazing challenges. However, the reality is that there are people who cannot realize their dreams because they lack the know-how. I would like to create a system that can help those people who want to do something but don't know how to, or who give up because they are homemakers or working mothers and don't have the time or money.
Rakuten: How have you managed to come this far without a role model?
Akane Iwashina: I think of life as a "collection of fun memories". When I get older and it becomes difficult to move around, what will I be able to remember and laugh about? If I don't have any happy experiences, or stories of success and failure, I may just be staring at the ceiling. That’s why I think it is better to try and lead an interesting life – it gives me the impetus to act.
Rakuten: Do you have any expectations for Rakuten for when you take on new challenges in the future?
Akane Iwashina: I am the type of person who wants to try many different things, but it is difficult for anyone to make their dreams come true alone. I can’t do things in half-measures, and so I hope Rakuten will help me realize my next goals, especially with aspects such as providing the platform and systems.
Akane Iwashina, born in Shizuoka prefecture in 1983. Representative Director of Mchic Inc. After dropping out of high school, she worked as an apparel store clerk and store manager in Tokyo and Shizuoka, before leaving at the age of 23 to get married. At the age of 27, while raising two children, she started her own business manufacturing and selling apparel. In 2013, she opened a store on Rakuten and in 2015 established Mchic Inc. as its representative director. She is the author of "The More Greedy You Are, the More You Will Achieve Everything: How to Earn 200 Million Yen and Make Your Life the Brightest It Can Be" (Diamond Inc.).
Myu is known for its frilly clothes. The product that started this was the "Back Ruffle Dress", which started getting noticed on Rakuten. Akane says she has good memories of other stores copying the dress, and it became Myu's first flagship product.
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