Emma Fraser Co-Founder of Not Another Agency & Inspirational Female Entrepreneur

April 4, 2017 – Fashion, People

Interview by: Kaitlyn Burke

With the opening of two new Nine Crows stores and the birth of Not Another Agency, you have been a very busy bee over the last year! Can you tell us a little bit about how that’s going so far?

Last year was such a big year for us, this year we want to focus on the details and on growing and developing our team. We have 2 beautiful stores and an office with heating (finally) so it is a great time for us to really focus on our team and our customers.

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With so much going on, do you have any tips or tricks when it comes to keeping everything balanced?

I try to switch off at least once a week, I walk my dog or work on my new allotment. I find meditation really helps me to focus and to maintain calm when everything else gets a bit hectic.

Your modelling and creative agency NotAnother is really paving the way for the future of Irish fashion. Could you give us an insight as to what motivated you to create it? What was your mission from the outset?

Our motivation came from the frustration with the industry here, we couldn’t find the faces we were looking for when we casting for our photoshoots so we always ended up street casting. Ireland is full of diverse amazing faces and we didn’t feel like that was being represented. Not Another is just a home for the faces we have been seeing for years. I also think that access to a wider range of models pushes the rest of the industry to diversify which is so important.

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Since the birth of both Nine Crows and Not Another, is there anything that you would do differently, knowing what you know now?

I don’t think so. Of course we have made mistakes but I think our companies are the way they are because of this. We can only get better by learning from what we have done before.

Could you share any advice or words of wisdom you may have for any budding entrepreneurs?

Just start, use the fear and just go for it. Businesses aren’t grown from sitting around and planning. Learn on your journey and listen to your customers.

Both Nine Crows stores and NotAnother took part in the Strike4Repeal on International Women’s day. Do you think it’s important for Irish businesses to take a stance on political views?

Yes i think it is really important. Being passive on this issue is not a option for me. We have a community of followers and customers and I think they need to hear our opinions on political matters. It affects all of us and being silent is the same as consenting to things staying the same and I’m not ok with that.

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You have been pretty active in the Repeal Campaign since the beginning, what is it that inspires you to strive for change in Ireland in 2017?

I believe if we shout loud enough and work hard enough that we can actively change the way this country is run. We did it with the marriage referendum and we can do it with repeal the 8th, we are the majority. I want us to leave behind a better place than we were born into and I think it is definitely possible.

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