Trinny Woodall reveals her secrets to success as makeup line launches at Brown Thomas

Trinny Woodall has revealed some of the secrets to her success as her popular makeup line launches at Brown Thomas. 

The former 'What Not To Wear' presenter and businesswoman spoke to Joe Lynam on Newstalk Breakfast this morning (April 22) following the successful launch of Trinny London at the flagship store on Grafton Street. 

Woodall - who sold her house and many of her possessions to fund Trinny London - spoke to Lynam about starting the business while in debt and being unafraid to fail. 

She said, "You never start something when you really want to do it at the time, when it's best in life aesthetically, when you have lots of money in the bank. 

"Many entrepreneurs don't start in that position. I started in debt, and I couldn't afford to have debt and focus on the business at the same time, so I rented out my house, sold clothes, I worked in fashion for years. 

"There was a point where I really needed to think about things I felt I wanted that were so materialistic to me and then they were just material possessions. 

"Once you make the decision to part with it, you just part with it. You see the future of what it will bring you." 

"It's okay to fail," she added. 

Woodall has spearheaded businesses since she was a teenager, and has learned a lot along the way from both her failures and successes. 

She said, "I've learned so much, I've learned what I will not do." 

Woodall advises against making too much money too early, and believes an idea and product should be rock solid before bringing on too many people who could influence her vision. 

She said, "You need enough time by yourself and a few people to cement the idea, to make it so strong and possible, then at the right stage you bring in people with more experience for details of e-commerce and CMOs, all the bits they will know more about than you. 

"We're now at a stage where we have 1.2 million customers in 180 countries." 

Woodall is keen to be a steady captain for her ship, and regularly consults with an expert on managing a business of Trinny London's size. 

She said, "[He says] you're the dragon's head on Chinese New Year, all your team are in the whole body of the dragon." 

She describes the head moving every which way and the people at the back "only just catching up to wherever you're going" afterwards. 

"You have to bring people on the journey and look behind and check they're on board. Every time I speak to him, which is once a month at the moment, [we discuss] what I'm doing right and what I need to improve on. 

"We're never fully formed, we're always learning stuff." 

According to Woodall, choosing to buy skincare and cosmetics is part of a choice to take care of ourselves and to make us feel better. 

She said, "It's a measured choice to buy something just for you, [something] frivolous. 

"It makes you feel good about yourself so for people who need you in their life, you feel good, you care about yourself so you impart the best part of you. 

"It's not superficial consumerism, it's an element of what we choose to buy to make our life feel better." 

Woodall appeared on the Late Late Show with Patrick Kielty on Friday night (April 19), where she spoke about her business and navigating life as a woman in her 60s.