Instagram Q & A with Mochara
Thanks to everyone who sent questions in via Instagram...here are my answers, I hope you enjoy reading them.
Do you ride/do you have horses?
Yes! My horse, Muchwood Comanche (Buddy) is an 11 year old, Irish Sports horse, Chocolate Dun gelding. If you follow our social media pages I’m sure you’ll have seen lots of pictures of him as he’s quite the model and thoroughly enjoys posing for the camera during shoots! He’s a bit of a legend and together we compete in British Eventing. We competed at the Mitsubishi Motors Cup last year where he led the Dressage phase and we have also just qualified for the Pony Club Eventing Championships in August.
How old are you?
I have just turned 21.
What does Mochara mean?
The name Mochara means ‘my friend’ in Gaelic. We thought this was perfect for our brand considering my horse’s name is Buddy. The name Mochara also sounds like a mixture of Buddy’s show name (Muchwood Comanche) and my name (Tara).
What inspired you to start the brand?
In short, I needed to decide what I wanted to do when I left university… I knew I wanted to do something that would allow me to continue to my passion for horses so decided to combine it with my love for fashion…and so Mochara was born.
When did you decide to launch Mochara?
It has always been a dream of mine to start my own business but these dreams finally became a reality in December when I decided to create Mochara. It was a very long 6 months before Mochara launched as I was juggling being a full time third year University student with designing all of our products.
What is your favourite product so far?
That’s a very tricky one! Obviously I love all of our products otherwise I wouldn’t be selling them but probably the baselayers as they are so versatile…you can wear them whilst riding, on the yard, at the gym, on a run and even whilst skiing…the possibilities are endless!
Having said that, I literally wear my black half zip all day every day so that would have to be a very close second!
Will you be looking for sponsors?
At the moment we are not ready to consider any sponsors or ambassadors as our brand is still very new. However, we will be looking in the future so make sure to keep your eyes peeled.
We get hundreds of DM’s regarding sponsorship per day and whilst we try our best to reply to everyone please understand that this is sometimes difficult.
What is your favourite thing about running your own business?
Definitely being able to ride in products that have been designed by myself as well as hearing your feedback and seeing pictures of you guys riding in our clothing.
What advice would you give to anyone wanting to start their own business?
Honestly, just go for it! It’s a very lengthy process and everything takes longer than you expect but it’s so rewarding in the long run.
Where is your business based and do you sell online only?
We are based in East Sussex and yes we are an online only retailer. However, if you are local to Sussex and would prefer to visit our office we are more than happy to accommodate you, but this is strictly by appointment only.
We are also planning on travelling to all of the big UK equestrian trade shows and will also be attending the NSEA championships at Addington in October where we hope to see many of you there.
Do you have any new products lined up to launch?
Yes! Our padded jackets will be available to purchase very soon. These jackets come in a very cute little bag so are perfect to carry around with you all day in case of a sudden change in weather (which we all know is very common in England!)
We also have a couple of new products launching in Autumn so keep your eyes peeled!
