From rainy days in a beach house to a booming million-dollar brand

We live in a time where equality and female entrepreneurship are widely discussed

There is much talk about how to increase female representation in leadership roles and boardrooms, something I’d like to contribute to in my own way.

I’ve worked with many amazing women and follow countless inspiring ones who, besides my wonderful mother, deserve a huge high five.

Among them are Nanna Bergman, now at Google in London, whom I met while consulting for ARLA; Malou Aamund, Country Director at Google Denmark; Camilla Hessellund from LIX; Aja Guldhammer, with whom I collaborated on Reshopper; and Signe Trier, a close colleague from Aarhus University, just to name a few.

Today, I’m handing the mic to two of the women I currently work closely with in business: Luise and Karina, the founders of Molly&My, a webshop selling women’s and children’s clothing.

My goal with these posts is to highlight interesting people across different industries so others may find inspiration.

I’m blown away by their Jutlandic humility, their grasp of the digital space, their willingness to try new things, and their drive to make things happen. It’s incredibly rewarding to work with people who have that kind of energy.

I hope you’ll welcome them warmly, drop a comment, or share with your network so we can help bring more amazing ideas and dream projects to life.

Welcome, you two wonderful women!

A webshop generating millions in revenue – how do you get the idea to start something like that?

We’ve always been passionate about retail and business. We both started our careers in retail years ago. Later, we both became social workers and were working in separate employment offices when we started the webshop.

In 2015, we spent a rainy two-week summer holiday on Fanø. During that trip, we talked about missing the energy of working in retail and decided to pursue buying and selling again. We chose a webshop because it was something we could manage alongside our jobs. That same day, we came up with the name, contacted and secured our first supplier, and bought a Prestashop site.

We thought we could code a website with a little help from YouTube. We quickly realized otherwise, haha.

Once we had a storefront and tried uploading products, it got too difficult. So, we switched platforms and eventually landed on Shopify. What truly drives us is the constant stream of new projects and the speed with which we can implement and improve things.

We had the idea in mid 2015 and made our first sale just seven weeks later. That pace isn’t for everyone, but it’s how we thrive—efficiently.

From day one, we had a clear vision that Molly&My would grow enough for both of us to go full-time and to create jobs for ourselves—and others.

We also get a real buzz from providing excellent customer service. It may sound cliché, but one of our goals is to make shopping at Molly&My as personal as possible. It’s such a fun process.

When things started taking off, Luise quit her job first. To avoid draining Molly&My’s finances, she did bookkeeping for other businesses on the side. Karina went full-time a year later, and at that point, we hired a full-time bookkeeper—who now runs an independent business with two full-time employees.

That accounting business handles everything for Molly&My and about 20 other local companies, from hair salons and fishmongers to construction firms.

You become self-employed because you simply can’t help it. Ever since reading The Secret, we’ve tried to live by its philosophy.

We firmly believe that everything we think and wish for is achievable. We try to instill that culture in everyone at our company. Karma is extremely important to us, and we make it a point never to speak ill of anyone—whether competitors or others in the industry.

What have been your 4-5 biggest challenges?

To be honest, we face multiple challenges every single day. We often joke that we’re like boxer Brian going up against Mike Tyson—we take a lot of hits but stay on our feet.

As a two-person company, liquidity and cash flow have always been tough. We didn’t have much money to start with, and fast growth only added to the challenge. This is something we constantly work on.

Understanding the mechanics of online retail was another hurdle. We spent countless hours on YouTube, business forums, blogs, and Google to gain basic know-how. Looking back at our early forum posts, we really started from scratch.

IT continues to be a daily struggle. Neither of us is tech-savvy, so even simple things—like moving a computer—can be a challenge. We had a spare cable and still couldn’t figure it out, though everything worked fine, haha.

We’ve learned that challenges come and go. It all depends on how you choose to face them. We give ourselves ten minutes to vent—and then it’s back in the saddle with a positive attitude.

How do you balance entrepreneurship with family life?

For us, it’s been manageable because everyone around us is invested in Molly&My. Of course, it requires many hours, and work and free time aren’t separate. But everyone has understood that Molly&My is both a passion and a job.

As the business grew—while we were both still working 37-hour jobs—our mom stepped in to help with packaging. She’s been self-employed our whole lives, so she was flexible and eager to help.

Our entire network has been incredibly supportive and interested. Family members and partners helped with packaging and product listings early on. Our husbands struggled a bit when they had to describe a glittery tulle skirt, though!

Our dad works over 60 hours a week as a master butcher, yet still comes by the warehouse after work to clean or take out cardboard. Our parents are just as invested in the company as we are. Fortunately, our husbands are more tech-savvy than we are.

Luise’s 8-year-old son Joakim often spends several days a week at the warehouse and loves it. He enjoys hanging out with the young employees and sometimes plays pranks—like when he stuck a wad of sticky tack under our bookkeeper’s shoe.

We also have the best colleagues at Molly&My, always ready to go the extra mile. None of them had experience in e-commerce or warehousing, but what mattered most to us was their personality and positivity.

The rest we figure out together.

So many people dream of starting a webshop. How do you even begin?

There’s no other way than deciding to go for it—and then just starting. We didn’t have a pile of cash or easy access to financing. It takes nerves of steel.

We didn’t start with the skills or knowledge needed for e-commerce. But we had the will. Once we commit to something, we give it 100%.

That’s why we believe anyone can do what we did. You need enough drive and must be willing to put in the countless hours it takes.

We launch new initiatives at about 70–80% completeness—then adjust later. If we waited until everything was perfect, we’d never get anything off the ground.

What does the future hold for two driven souls like you?

We feel like we’re just getting started with Molly&My. There are so many development opportunities and so much potential. Our advisors even say they fear sending us on vacation together, wondering what wild new ideas we’ll bring home.

Right now, we still have thousands of ideas for Molly&My and several side projects we’re planning to develop over the next few years.

One day, we may bring more people on board, but only in a setup where we’re still actively involved.

We both thrive on the energy of creating new things. Luckily, that aligns perfectly with continuing to build Molly&My.

It’s only in 2019 that we began looking at redesigning our website. It’s been mostly homemade since we picked a theme in 2015, and we’ve handled most technical maintenance and SEO ourselves.

But now it’s time to bring in some real expertise.

There are so many exciting things on the horizon.

Do you have any tips for fellow passionate entrepreneurs, men or women?

It’s all about the will to achieve the goals you set for yourself. And about daring to take the leap. What’s the worst that can happen?

From the heart, we believe that anyone who wants to start a webshop can do it. Get support from your family and be ready to seek out all the knowledge yourself. Nothing will be handed to you.

But it’s all so incredibly exciting.