Meghan says best entrepreneurs are ‘not afraid to get their hands dirty’

The Duchess of Sussex has said the best entrepreneurs are “not afraid to get their hands dirty”.

Meghan, who launched her own As Ever brand, spoke about the need to get “messy” and the pressures of starting her business, and admitted: “I don’t have time to cook every day.”

The duchess, in the latest episode of her Confessions Of A Female Founder podcast, chatted to Heather Hasson, who set up the billion-dollar firm FIGS which sells stylish medical scrubs.

Meghan described her busy life establishing her own company: “As I’ve been building As Ever, oh let me tell you, it is just a constant state of recalibration.

“There’s joy in that but we are always in motion. If you’re a founder yourself, you know exactly what I mean, because we’re moving at work speed, problem solving, filling gaps in real time, scratching a million tiny, tiny things off of your to do list, but not in that fun way like a lotto ticket.”

She recounted having to switch gears to think about the bigger picture, adding: “But I guess that’s where the magic is, right? Because it can get messy, and the best founders are not afraid to get their hands dirty.

“And I don’t mean play dirty. I mean when it’s ‘clean up on aisle five time’, you are the first person there with a mop.”

Meghan, who demonstrated how to plate up Chinese takeaway food “beautifully” as well as making spaghetti, honey cake and salt-baked fish on her Netflix show With Love, Meghan, described not having time to cook each day.

She told Hasson: “I see vegetables and I see takeout because I don’t have time to cook every day.

“And I go, all right, but how do I still make this flattering and beautiful and present well, and something that people… find appetising?”

The duchess compared her gesture to Hasson, who was inspired to transform uncomfortable and unflattering healthcare clothes, and whose firm became the first company co-founded by a female duo to begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange in 2021.

Meghan said: “And, for you, you go, hold on this is something that you’re doing every day, you’re wearing this uniform every day, you’re eating every day.

“How do we elevate that in a way that you feel really good about what you’re doing, and you feel proud about what you’re wearing, and you’re able to have some functionality with it? In some ways they’re actually a different version of the same thing.”

Hasson replied: “No, I totally agree. I think when you take something that’s so simple in your everyday life and you elevate it, and you make it elegant, I think that’s what makes it so special.”

Meghan also sympathised with Hasson, who described facing a “terrible, terrible lawsuit”.

The duchess replied “Oh gosh”.

Meghan’s husband the Duke of Sussex has become known for his numerous legal battles, with Harry most recently losing a Court of Appeal challenge against the Home Office over his security when in the UK.

Hasson recalled being “personally sued” by a “Goliath” company who was also taking action against her firm, adding: “It was like ‘are you gonna lose everything?’ And you can, yes, you can.”

Meghan questioned whether Hasson felt “more resilient” after winning the case and suggested every entrepreneur faced “battles or criticism or scrutiny or legal”.

“Do you feel more resilient after having gone through that? Because I will say, you won. You fought that fight and you won,” the duchess said.

“So, in some ways coming out of that, because I think every entrepreneur, in ways big or small, are going to deal with things that feel like battles or criticism or scrutiny or legal or what have you, and how do you stay the course through that?”

The duchess previously won her own High Court case in a privacy and copyright claim against Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL) over articles that reproduced parts of a “personal and private” letter she wrote to her father Thomas Markle.