What major lessons have you learned since first started Ultimo back in 1996?

As an entrepreneur you need to learn how to multi-task and plan. You have so much going on, so setting out a plan is the best way to start the day. I used to wake up in the morning without one and think: ‘There are a hundred things going on, what am I going to do?’

Now I won’t go to bed without writing a plan the night before. I get four hours of sleep a night, so I have to be completely on it when I wake up.

I’ve also learned it’s important to be fit and healthy. For 10 years I was eight and a half stone overweight and it really affected my business. Now I train for two hours when I wake up, which I absolutely love.

Being unhealthy used to affect my mood. Sometimes I was down about my weight. It was depressing when I couldn’t fit into a business suit. And my mood had a negative effect on my staff; although for a while I didn’t understand that. Then one day a member of my team said: “Michelle, you don’t realise how much of an impact you have on your people. You walk up the stairs and if you’re miserable, they [your team] are miserable.’’ I thought “Oh my God!”

I was down for two years throughout my divorce. But now I’m the happiest I’ve ever been, as are my team. And they’re doing some incredible things. So it just shows you that as a leader you affect your people.

Also, I’d say always do due diligence: spend an extra couple of weeks researching potential partners and it could save you from a potential disaster. Take your time to make decisions but don’t lose your entrepreneurial spirit.

What are the biggest challenges you’ve faced in business?

Having young kids alongside the business was tough. I went back to work within a few days of giving birth to my youngest daughter, Bethany. Ultimo almost went out of business in the early stages, when a distributor in America ran off with £1.8m of my money and I experienced relationship issues when I went into business with my husband. [Mone co-founded Ultimo with her ex-husband Michael Mone, who she divorced in 2013.] I learned a lot from that.

Now, when I speak to a married couple who have a business together I tell them they need to have date nights and that they shouldn’t speak about business when they go home.

What’s helped you to overcome the challenges you’ve faced?

Growing up in the east end of Glasgow could have helped. We didn’t have a lot of money and it was really hard for my mum and dad. My brother died [of spina bifida] when I was 10, and my dad had to start using a wheelchair when I was 15 [after being paralysed by a spinal tumour]. All of that gave me a fighting spirit.

I can’t stand people who say you must be a graduate to succeed. I think it’s fantastic if you are a graduate because it gives you the ability to learn, but it doesn’t give you common sense. In business it doesn’t matter whether or not you’re from a wealthy background or how good your education was. I just love it that if you’ve got drive, determination and a can-do attitude you can achieve anything you want as an entrepreneur.

What are your plans for the future?

I’ve been offered a position on 24 boards. I’ve not accepted any yet. I’m in a fortunate position in that I can only do things I really want to and I only want to grow the companies that I’m passionate about. I will not do products that I don’t believe in.

I’ve got UTan [a tanning products brand], which is stocked in 500 Boots and QVC stores, and I still own 20% of Ultimo. And I’ve also got book and TV deals.

Plus, I’ve recently started a mentoring business and I cannot tell you the feeling that I get when I’m mentoring people in a group or one to one, just making that slight difference. Top executives and entrepreneurs come to my home, where I mentor them for two days on things like marketing, PR and branding.

For every place booked for me to mentor a business person, I’m giving either a mentoring place away to the Prince’s Trust or providing a scholarship to help people who are starting up.

What’s been your proudest moment so far?

Probably all the inventions I’ve created [such as the Ultimo bra and UTan]. I helped the prime minister with the [Scottish independence] referendum and in keeping the union together. That was tough, but it had the most rewarding results. Also, receiving my OBE from the Queen. I never, ever thought I would get anything like that. But, at the moment, I’m having the best time of my life.

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