In 1805, a young Madame Clicquot took the reins of the family business after the untimely death of her husband, son of the founder of the Maison Veuve Clicquot, and led the business into the global brand we know and love today.
We can learn so many lessons today from the grit, focus and unbridled passion for business that she possessed.
The women awarded the international Veuve Clicquot Bold Awards 2021 share many of the qualities of Madame Clicquot – they are bold, empowered, risktakers and visionaries.
Here are 7 lessons from Madame Clicquot that still resonate for entrepreneurship among the bold women of today:
1. Be Bold
It’s worth reminding ourselves that if Madame Clicquot could be bold in her ambitions against the obvious challenges of the era, we can certainly follow her example and be bold with our business goals today.
Kristy Chong, founder of Modibodi and Veuve Clicquot Bold Woman Award Winner 2021 says, “Starting this business was definitely a bold decision, with a product that I didn't know that was going to be accepted in an area that has been very silenced around unmentionables, so I think that's pretty bold.”
Gorgi Coghlan, Veuve Clicquot ambassador, reflects, “I think I'm able to approach (life) boldly because of a sense of self that is strong. I understand who I am. And I'm not afraid to be vulnerable, and that gives me power. I feel that vulnerability is courage, and courage gives you the strength to be bold.”
2. Take Risks
Madame Clicquot risked so much to emerge as ‘The Grande Dame of Champagne’ and it’s a reminder to us today that it’s almost imperative, especially as an entrepreneur, to take business risks.
“I generally tend to be more open to taking risks”, says Manuri Gunawardena, founder and CEO of HealthMatch, and Veuve Clicquot Bold Future Award Winner 2021, “I'm open to opportunity and knowing that taking risks is how you really unlock impact and opportunity.”
3. Don’t Fear Failure
Did Madame Clicquot ever contemplate failure? If she did, it certainly didn’t hold her back. As Mikaela Jade, founder of Indigital and Veuve Clicquot New Generation Award Winner 2021 puts it, “All the failures taught me different things about how to create something exceptional. And it's hard in the moment to see that potential and possibility when you're feeling terrible about being rejected, but in the end, they're giving you a gift.”
Kristy Chong concurs, saying “there’s nothing like a good rejection to get me motivated”, while Gorgi Coghlan says, “I'm okay if I fail. I really don't mind. Failing is often the greatest gift we can get. So, I'm not afraid of failure. And that also gives me a superpower.”
4. Innovation Can Be Reinvention
Innovation isn’t always creating something entirely new. Madame Clicquot took the business started by her father-in- law and drilled down on quality and global expansion. Mikaela Jade reflects “To me, innovation is taking different knowledge systems and mashing them together to create something that wasn't there before. I think there's this myth of innovation always having to start from scratch and build something entirely new.”
5. Reframe The ‘No’s
We can only imagine the number of ‘no’s that Madame Clicquot came up against in her extraordinary journey to success. Reframing rejection into understanding your business at a deeper level means that a no can be a gift of learning.
Mikaela Jade frames it this way - “I think being able to get back up from the no's and really turn the no's around into, ‘what can I learn from that no? This person has said no to me, but they have a reason for saying no, and I need to unpack what I can do differently to turn that no into a yes next time’.”
6. Think Big, Think Global
Madame Clicquot has been quoted to say, "I want my brand to rank first, from New York to Saint Petersburg". This early vision into global domination is a lesson for us all to thing big, to dare to dream and bring our team along with our vision. Even if the business model doesn’t necessarily warrant the global view, the lesson is to think big, then scale when modelling the strategy.
7. Remember the ‘Why’
As Simon Sinek says, we should always start in business with the ‘Why?’ We wonder what Madame Clicquot thought was the why of the business 200 years ago, but we are almost certain she had a strong belief in her ambition for the Maison and its links to family and legacy.
Mikaela Jade recalls, “One of the saving graces that I had in my life was my daughter. I was in the car, and I was bawling my eyes out from all the stress. And I said, "That's it. I'm shutting the company." And my daughter turned and said, "No, mum. You can't, because I want to work in that company when I finish school." She really got to me in that moment.”