Zara Street, founder of positive lifestyle brand Keep it Bright, delivered an inspiring talk to the pupils of Levenshulme High School for Girls on International Women’s Day, organised by State Talking.

Keep it Bright sells a range of clothing and products with positive inspirational messages. Famous fans of the brand include Ariana Grande, Miley Cyrus and Ed Sheeran, all of whom have been snapped in Zara’s creations.

Zara started Keep it Bright from her bedroom in 2007 when she was just 16. “Positive thinking saved my life and changed my life,” she said. “Since then, I’ve been on a mission to uplift, encourage and empower through my creations and to help you live on the bright side.”

And Zara certainly inspired the year nine students who had asked for a talk about a career in fashion. The students explained that they “admired how honest and humble Zara’s journey was,” how she’d “stayed loyal to the brand’s purpose to empower and uplift,” and were impressed by her start at such a young age.

One girl said: “Something useful that I learnt was to be patient. Zara grew her business over 15 years,, which takes a lot of endurance. This has inspired me as it’s very easy to give up when you don’t succeed straight away.”

And, as well as being impressed by her focus, the girls were inspired by Zara’s non-traditional route to success. “Today’s session was useful in broadening career paths and the fact that you don’t have to follow the traditional “college to uni” route to be successful,” said one.