Babyboo Argylica Conditsis: Founder shares her road to success

In just over a decade, Argylica Conditsis has gone from selling shoes in her bedroom to being the co-founder of a $60million dollar fashion empire. 

At 17 she launched Babyboo from the comfort of her parent’s home in Baulkham Hills, NSW, with a $1,000 investment she’d saved from her job at Pizza Hut – and from humble beginnings it all started with a ‘crazy idea’. 

‘Having just finished high school I was looking for heels that made a statement but couldn’t find any. So I started embellishing shoes for myself,’ Ms Conditsis told FEMAIL. 

‘Once I started seeing the great response from others, I thought to try sell them on Facebook – and it went viral instantly.’ 

The shoes would take hours to create and Ms Conditsis, now 29, had hundreds of orders on end from customers, which she struggled keeping up with. 

Then her brother William, now 27, suggested introducing clothing into the mix – and watched the brand take off to reach new heights ever since. 

Today Babyboo has grown to become an Australian ecommerce juggernaut that boats 1.5million Instagram followers and is sold in 145 countries.

Over 12 years Babyboo has grown to become an Australian ecommerce juggernaut that boats 1.5million Instagram followers and is sold in 145 countries

Ms Conditsis launched the brand alongside her brother William, now 27, (left) and they both dropped out of university to pursue the idea (pictured in 2012)

Ms Conditsis had to drop out of her Visual Communications university degree to keep up with demand – a decision her parents tried talking her out of. 

‘It was never meant to be the business it was today – it was literally just a crazy idea for a hobby, but it got a lot of attention and virality,’ she said. 

Not only did she not have any business experience, she also didn’t have any funding, mentoring or assistance. 

‘Being so young when we first started out, we were in this naïve, delusional state of mind. I was hungry to do something new and had no idea where it would take me,’ she said. 

‘If you told me back then everything we’ve achieved now I would’ve laughed. The goal was never to build a successful business, but just a goal to do more.’  

Ms Conditsis turned to a planned, sensible approach when it comes to growing the business which helped reach global success. 

‘We spent out money wisely, but also weren’t scared to fail. And if we did we learnt from it quickly then pivoted and quickly moved on,’ she said.  

‘We kept reinvesting everything we made back into the business to develop it further.’

Not only did the siblings not have any business experience, they also didn’t have any funding, mentoring or assistance (pictured today) 

‘If you told me back then everything we’ve achieved now I would’ve laughed. The goal was never to build a successful business, but just a goal to do more,’ she said

Uniquely positioned in the fashion e-commerce space, each Babyboo collection takes between six to eight months to create, from the first sketch to the final stitch

Today Babyboo is one of Australia’s fastest growing tech companies with three global teams. 

Uniquely positioned in the fashion e-commerce space, each Babyboo collection takes between six to eight months to create, from the first sketch to the final stitch. 

Designed in Australia with an extensive range of women’s clothing and accessories that resonates with a global audience, Babyboo has cemented itself as a millennial and Gen-Y phenomenon with cult-like appeal.

Ms Conditsis says the products are high quality and the designs are unmatched. 

‘You won’t find the styles anywhere else. We think long and hard about each collection,’ she said. 

Since the beginning the co-founders have used social media to their advantage to market the products to their target audience. 

‘We learnt very quickly how to make social media work for us – and I think that’s one reason why we’ve had so much success,’ she said. 

Today the business has customers all around the world, predominantly in Australia, the US and UK.

Since the beginning the co-founders have used social media to their advantage to market the products to their target audience

Not only that, Ms Conditsis considers herself to be a customer and using her own instinct to understand what other women want

Ms Conditsis considers herself to be a customer and uses her own intuition to understand what other women want. 

‘I have this instinct that’s become very natural. We also follow trends and are aware our customers today are not the same customers we had 12 years ago – we’ve all evolved,’ she said. 

This attention to detail has been another driving force that’s sent the brand to new heights. 

‘We know our product won’t change the world, but you will when you wear it,’ she said.  

‘We know our product won’t change the world, but you will when you wear it,’ she said

Ms Conditsis said one questions she’s asked the most is ‘how did you start?’, and she reassured there’s ‘no secret when it comes to business’. 

‘Everything has been trial and error since day one. All the business knowledge I’ve gained has been from this experience,’ she said. 

‘Everyday we’re making mistakes and not getting it right, but we’re learning from those experiences and we pivot really quickly.

And when asked what advice she’d give to others starting out, she said to don’t fear failure and don’t rush the process. 

‘Don’t force it, push it, or cut any corners because you’ll end up backtracking,’ she said. 

‘Allow yourself to flow through it, and evolve along the way. ‘

She also said to never compare yourself to the journey of others.  

‘I remember was always so harsh on myself in the beginning and I feel like a lot of women in business really beat themselves up by comparing themselves,’ she said. 

‘I always say that comparison is the theft of joy, and you should never compare your chapter one to someone’s chapter six. You’ll get there eventually, you just need to be consistent.’