A Dragons’ Den entrepreneur has described how she “crumbled” during her emotional presentation as she opened up about her sad family tragedy.
Charlotte Clemence, an artist, broke down in tears in front of Peter Jones and Steven Bartlett as she spoke about how her daughter’s death inspired her to start her company.
She went to the Den with her husband Grant in the hopes of securing a £50,000 investment for 25% of their firm, which offers UV and weatherproof outdoor art.
Speaking about creating the business, she said: ‘I originally started my career in HR, I gave that up to have a family.
‘My life changed a little bit after children. We lost our twin daughter, so my life and outlook changed.
‘And I wanted to go back and do something that I loved, which was art. And it was a real tonic for me.’
Fighting back tears, she went on: ‘So I started doing my own art and I started selling my own art.’
Her pieces were dubbed ‘fabulous’ by Sara Davies, while Touker Suleyman thanked her for sharing her story, adding: ‘I’m sorry for your loss.’
After hearing more about their business model, Peter said: ‘I would like to say that I have a huge level of deep admiration for you Charlotte, to create something out of a beyond nobody could ever understand sad moment.
‘I think that says a lot about who you are. So I’m giving you massive hugs for that because I think that not many people can do that.’
However, he failed to give the couple an offer, saying: ‘I genuinely would much prefer you actually in all honesty to have much more of your business and actually not be part of that journey, and just read about you later on in life.
‘For that reason, I’m going to say that I’m out. But big ups to you.’
Charlotte and Grant did however walk away from the Den with a joint partnership from Sara and Steven, saying: ‘We actually couldn’t ask for a better offer and we’d love to accept it.’
She then left the Den breaking down in tears in the lift, before telling cameras: ‘Having children and then you lose one, it’s tough. It’s about how we’ve moved on from that.
‘I want my daughters to be proud of what I’ve done and achieved.’
‘And they are, we all are,’ Grant added.
Charlotte, whose twin daughter Fleur died a week after birth owing to a rare heart ailment known as hypoplastic left heart syndrome, remembers ‘crumbling’ during the Dragons’ Den presentation.
She said: ‘I said to my husband before, “I hope I can keep it together.” And you go in there quite strong. But the moment I started opening my mouth, I felt myself go you know, when you just crumble.’
‘I’ve suffered quite badly I think probably obviously grief and postnatal depression after giving birth to twins, but it was kind of my way out whatever you call it. But we have her sister who turned 13 last week, so, yeah. But you can see on the episode I do cry,’ she added to The Express.
Dragons’ Den is available to watch on BBC iPlayer.
