A Day in London with Nubian Skin Founder & Director Ade Hassan
Welcome to our newest feature CITIES whereby PROTOChic invites an industry insider to share a day in the life in their respective city -- meet Nubian Skin Founder & Director Ade Hassan.
Adding MBE is no small feat, but the honor from Queen Elizabeth II is just another day in the life of Nubian Skin Founder and Director Ade Hassan. The three-year-old brand seeks to solve the issue of exclusion in the lingerie, hosiery, and now footwear market by offering shades that embody "a more inclusive definition of the term 'nude.'" Nubian Skin is sold internationally in 9 countries on 4 continents, including major retail players Nordstrom and Fenwick of Bond Street, and their underpinnings literally supported Beyoncé and her talented dancers on-stage during the global FORMATION tour. We spoke with Ade to catch a glimpse of her Tuesday in London, United Kingdom.
Current City: London, UK
EARLY RISER I wake up probably around 6:00am or 6:30am. I am religious, so I will meditate and pray as I wake up. I get on my gym kit and go for a run in Hampstead Heath, which is close to my home and I run for 30 minutes twice a week. I come back home and usually I will make breakfast. I tend to eat two breakfasts as I'm constantly hungry, but today, I didn't as we have a new team member Miriam, who is joining and we will have a team outing to welcome her. I get ready and drive to the office. I generally travel by tube in London, but with our current office, it is more convenient to drive the 25 minutes into work.
TEAM BONDING I drive to Ottolenghi and have a super yummy breakfast with the whole team and we all head back to the office together. Miriam, who will help with our customer service, is really lovely.
TIME MANAGEMENT Being an entrepreneur can be tricky when it comes to managing your schedule. I break my day into half-hour increments, so that I don’t get into a dreaded panic. The morning begins with having a look at my emails, plotting out my day and mapping out where I will spend my time. I am checking emails and reviewing invoices to pay. Right now, we are in the process of a new collection launch, so I am looking at samples and speaking with our key stakeholders on the product rollout. I am constantly messaging my manufacturer back and forth on WhatsApp.
LEFTOVERS After my first wave of emails and calls, lunch is typically leftovers from whatever I ate the night before. One, it saves money and two, I don’t have to worry about what I'm going to eat. Otherwise, I end up ordering delivery from UberEats.
DOWN TIME In a down moment, I am exploring new projects outside of Nubian Skin and focusing on my new role as co-chair for the Duke University London Women's Forum as I am an alum of Duke. It is a fairly new thing, so I am coming to terms with that and what initiatives we might pursue.
BACK TO THE GRIND We are moving our warehousing in the US, so my team and I have some discussions on that. We are also identifying charity partners that we can donate left over items from the move and actively preparing for our pop-up shop next month in New York.
HOMEWARD BOUND I stop by the grocery store and start cooking when I get home. I end up eating a little bit of dinner while watching TV. I catch up on some admin and start to wind down the day. I always always always want to go to bed by 10:00pm, but I end up falling asleep somewhere between 11:00pm and midnight.