Lisa Jordan is one of Ireland’s biggest influencers. She has brought her 275K Instagram followers along on her journey of motherhood and becoming an entrepreneur.
She has launched not one but two successful businesses – Luna by Lisa and Edit Row. Brands that have expanded outside of her followers and become firm favourite Irish brands.
Lisa, chose to share her life on social media, but her husband does not appear on her pages. And as her three children, Pearl, Bowie and AJ, get older she has removed their faces from social media. She explains to us that she started on social media before there were any thoughts of safety and she had to navigate it by herself.
Read our exclusive interview with Lisa below…
Hi Lisa! You are a busy woman. Luna by Lisa is going from strength to strength. How proud are you of it?
I am so proud of it. We’re nine years old now. I’d never expected to ever even have my own brand. I worked in cosmetics for nearly a decade before that. It’s still very overwhelming, I’m still shocked when I see a stand in the shops. I pinch myself still! We work so hard in and I love the brand. I also have Edit Row, that’s my newer baby. And that seems to be flying! I didn’t think I’d even get another brand off the ground as big as I got Luna. But it’s doing so incredibly, and I love it also. I love having a brand, I love creating products and I love seeing how happy it makes people.
Fashion and beauty are so different. What was it like to jump into the fashion industry?
It’s shocking, very shocking. With makeup, it could be two years before you get something out on a shelf. But with clothing, it is faster, I suppose. But there are so many different tasks. They are different, but there are different tasks and issues for both. What you think would be easy on one side is actually harder on the other side, so they’re very different. But ultimately when it’s finally done, it’s incredible.
With beauty, you have certain set products. But with fashion the style is very different. Is it hard to create fashion collections that reflect your style but also speak to a wide audience?
Fashion is very different because everyone is really different with it. You have to take yourself out of it. I have a different kind of style, and I understand that you have to cater to the masses. There are lots of makeup brands, and you are vying for the same position. We’re trying to get that blusher in someone’s hand. But with clothing, I think people will wear multiple different things and alternate between brands. Whereas you can get very loyal to makeup. So there is more loyalty in makeup. But I am seeing a very great community with Edit Row and I’d say 75 per cent of them are repeat buyers, which is a lovely thing as well.
Of course, the Irish are such great supporters…
It’s so extraordinary. We would often say there is competitiveness in that space between Irish brands, but we are a team together. International brands are afraid of us; we are a team, you know. It’s actually a community within the business of makeup. No one has just one brand in their makeup bag. I think that’s why we Irish girls stand together, we all support each other.
Not only are you a successful businesswoman, you’re also a mam of three. And that means back to school…
Oh, yes! School runs are back and we’re not too happy.
All three are in school now?
AJ starts school this September, so I have no more babies, even though he’ll always be the baby, even when he’s 21! [Laughs] He’s the baby of the house. And yeah, he’s got his first day this week. We’re all very excited about it, and I don’t know if he’s ready for it yet! I feel like boys are just like Mammy’s boys. They want to stay at home, but I’m sure he’ll get on absolutely great. And the girls love school. So they’re all excited with their pencils and pencil cases and school bags, all of the pieces. School is more glamorous than anything I tried to get a schoolbag for Pearl and it was a certain brand, she was like, “Oh it has to be this one!”
You decided to take the kids off social media when they went to school. How did you come to that decision?
I had to navigate social media at a very early stage. There was nothing really about the dangers at that time. We were all just going rogue, really. So I had to make some sort of decision that made sense to us. I think the school-age is a very recognisable age. And now with you’ve got the likes of AI and things being brought in, you really need to batten down and protect the kids. I still have them on social media because I want to show my life and I’m a mam, I get excited. I love to show our holidays. I don’t want to just stand there on my own. I do give my followers my life, so I think it’s only right to share. But I block out their faces, I put love heart emojis over them. I know it might annoy some people, but it’s the safest way that I know how. That’s the decision we make as a family.
