My Small Business & Me

#042 - Coach, writer and speaker Mandy Lehto shares her small business journey. Starting in investment banking, she changed career and trained to be a coach. And she now coaches perfectionists, people-pleasers and overachievers.

After completing a PhD at Cambridge University, she worked in investment banking, travelling all over the world with her job. But she realised that she was a creative at heart. So she left her position, and hired a coach who felt that Mandy could also be a great coach.  

So she retrained as a coach and also set herself up as an image consultant. Business flourished, she pushed herself, but it led to her becoming unwell. 

Mandy hired coaches and mentors to help her to identify her core values and zone of genius. She also went on womens' retreats, read books and met with healers. She shares lessons she learned from the experience. 

She also discusses being a people-pleaser and overachiever, and how these behaviours can originate in childhood.  Plus she talks about how to manage perfectionism tendencies. 

She shares valuable advice on charging your worth, plus showing up online, being authentic and vulnerable. She talks about her podcast which is called 'Enough, The Podcast' and the type of content she features in interviews and some solo episodes too. 

Listening to this episode, you'll hear how passionate Mandy is about overcoming perfectionism and people-pleasing.  I'm sure you'll get so much value from this podcast episode!

Show notes and more are available on the My Small Business & Me website: https://mysmallbusinessandme.com/episode42

#041 - Florist and flower grower India Hurst from Vervain shares her small business journey. Coming from a family of growers, she set up her floristry business in 2014. And she now creates wedding and event flowers in her 'orchestrated chaos' floral style.

Both India's parents are horticulturalists. Her dad developed a growing medium and her great grandfather started Alton Greenhouses. So it was expected that she would work with flowers and plants. But she was against it having as a teenager spent many a summer holiday at flower shows. 

After initially studying graphic design at university, she worked in London in various art galleries. She knew that she didn’t want to be stuck behind a desk. And she decided to start a blog about plants with an art focus. 

The blog got her more and more hooked on the area she'd promised she wasn’t going to get involved with. She started going to the flower shows again and saw the flowers and plants with fresh eyes. 

When she and her partner moved down to Bath in May 2014, she attended a Taster Day at The Tallulah Rose Flower Show. She immediately signed up for their 4-week career course. Then, as soon as she left, she set up her floristry business Vervain. 

India knew what she wanted to create and the image she wanted to portray. So she organised a 3-day photoshoot, made all the content that she wanted to showcase on her website and arranged for her designs to be photographed. 

In the interview, she discusses the services she now offers including weddings and events such as birthday parties, dinner parties and engagements parties. She also talks about how she describes her distinctive floral style. 

Currently, she uses around 75% British flowers in her wedding work, some of which are grown by her and some are sourced from local growers. She's aiming by 2023 to be using 100% British flowers. 

India is very passionate about sustainability, grows her flowers organically and peat free, and  composts everything that is waste from her weddings. She’s also obsessed with bearded irises and has grown her collection to over 500 plants in 160 different varieties.

She shares the story of how she came to create the wedding flowers for Lydia Pang, the global editorial design director at Nike HQ , and designer Roo Williams, a  wedding which was featured in Vogue magazine. The impact of the pandemic on her business, her photography journey, her why and plans for future are also covered. 

Listening to this episode, you'll hear how passionate India is about British flowers, her bearded iris collection and the importance of practising creating floral designs. At the end of the podcast, you'll discover her practical tips, which I'm sure you'll find very inspiring. 

Show notes are available on the My Small Business & Me website: https://mysmallbusinessandme.com/episode41

#040 - Founding Editor and Publisher of 91 Magazine Caroline Rowland shares her small business story. After working as a Picture Editor at the Financial Times, she decided to set up an independent interiors and lifestyle magazine. 

Growing up in Northern Ireland, after going to art college in Belfast, she moved to London. Initially, she studied fashion photography and styling, before changing to a photographic arts degree.  She really enjoyed curating images and decided to pursue a career in magazines. 

Following an internship at Marie Claire magazine in New York, she began working for photographic agency, Getty Images. Her next career move was to the Financial Times newspaper, where she became the Picture Editor on the House & Home supplement for FT weekend. That's where she learned everything about putting a publication together. 

Whilst she was at the FT, Caroline started a blog called Patchwork Harmony and also set up an online shop. Around 2011, whilst still working full-time, she set up 91 Magazine, which was initially free to read online.

In 2013, she took voluntary redundancy. A book deal followed. Her book,  The Shopkeeper's Home, was published in 2015. She considered how she could make a living out of the magazine. And in 2016, she decided to print the magazine twice a year, which she continues to do. 

In the magazine, she features creative interiors including homes, shops, studios and cafes. In-person workshops, online  Creative Sessions and consultancy work are also part of her offering. 

Listening to this episode, you'll hear how passionate Caroline is about championing independent small businesses. At the end of the podcast, you'll discover her practical tips, which I'm sure you'll find very inspiring. 

Show notes are available on the My Small Business & Me website: https://mysmallbusinessandme.com/episode40

#039 - Florist Pearl Watt shares her small business story. After an extensive career working in the fashion industry, just prior to the pandemic she set up her floristry business, Millefleur.  She creates floral designs for weddings and events, together with running workshops. 

From a very early age, she realised that she was creative. When she went to school, it was discovered that she had dyslexia. She was good at art and comes from a very artistic family, with both her parents being painters. 

On leaving school, she went to the Royal College of Art and studied Fashion & Textiles. She went on to have a 30 year career in the fashion industry working as an Artistic Director with luxury brands such as Givenchy and Max Mara.

In 2019 she decided to leave her job. She had a love for nature and had always arranged flowers at home. Attending a five day course at The Good Florist in Devon set her on her way. And in January 2020, she started her floristry business from home in the Cotswolds. 

Then along came the pandemic and she used this time as an opportunity to practise. Now she feels she is 'riding on a flower wave' as things are getting busier.  She discusses her floristry style together with the thought process behind her distinctive photography aesthetic and choice of props.

She talks about how she uses Instagram as a marketing tool and how she intentionally curates her Grid.  Pearl also discusses the inspiration behind her floral installation for the recent Strawberry Hill Flower Festival. 

Listening to this episode, you'll hear how passionate Pearl is about honing your style, standing out from the crowd and not being afraid of taking leaps of faith. At the end of the podcast, you'll discover her practical tips, which I'm sure you'll find very inspiring. 

Show notes are available on the My Small Business & Me website: https://mysmallbusinessandme.com/episode39

#038 - Textile designer Fiona Douglas shares her small business journey, from studying at Glasgow Art School to setting up her business Bluebellgray in 2009. She now offers a full range of homeware including fabric, bedding, wallpaper, rugs and tableware, all in her signature colourful, handpainted, watercolour style.

From an early age, Fiona was creative and obsessed by flowers. At secondary school, her art teacher saw something in her and encouraged her creativity. Aged 17, she decided to go to Florence for a month to take life drawing lessons. And on returning to Scotland, she realised that she definitely wanted to pursue art as a career. 

She applied to Glasgow Art School and was accepted into the Fine Art Department. However, she later discovered her love for print and changed to studying textiles. She went on to work for a textile company. Then in 2009, encouraged by her husband, she decided to set up Bluebellgray. 

She began with six floral cushions and started to attend shows. In addition to the floral designs, she also experimented with abstract designs. And she started creating fabric, bedding, rugs, wall art, ceramics, wallpaper and bags. Collaborations with Ercol, Dualit and MT Masking Tape have also taken place. 

Fiona talks through the process of creating her designs from painting the flowers using liquid watercolours to the design appearing on her textiles. Opening her shop in Glasgow in 2018 was a dream come true. 

She discusses the impact of the pandemic on her business and on-going issues. Plans for the coming months include a rebrand, releasing her Christmas design Fa La La,  and a children's collection. 

Listening to this episode, you'll hear how passionate Fiona is about flowers and uplifting, modern prints adding joyful colour to your home. At the end of the podcast, you'll discover her practical tips, which I'm sure you'll find very inspiring. 

Show notes are available on the My Small Business & Me website: https://mysmallbusinessandme.com/episode38

#037 - Flower farmer Gill Hodgson shares her small business journey, from setting up Fieldhouse Flowers and starting to grow flowers in her 50s to setting up Flowers from the Farm, a UK association of British flower growers. 

Having always been a farmer growing crops, she started growing flowers when a friend who was getting married wanted 'flowers from the garden' for her wedding. As the flowers were ready earlier than needed, Gill cut them, put a table at the end of the farm drive and started selling bunches. They sold so well that she decided to grow more flowers the next year and the following year too. 

Gill started to take her flowers to sell at farmers' markets. On coming to face-to-face with members of the general public and seeing the wonderful reaction that her bouquets provoked, she had a realisation that more people needed to grow flowers. 

At the time, the farming community was being encouraged to diversify. And she felt that farmers could benefit from growing flowers on their land. So she put together a press release, which as well as being picked up by the farming press was also featured by the Yorkshire Post newspaper. 

Gill thought that it would make sense to set up a co-operative. So she sought advice from the Humberside Development Authority. And the person she met with recommended that she set up a website. 

She shares how Flowers from the Farm began, how she sought publicity, how the association grew, the nationwide structure, benefits of membership and celebrating the 10th Anniversary this year with over 1,000 members. 

One of the highlights of her flower farming career was exhibiting at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show in 2018. And she shares in detail all the planning and logistics behind the creation of the exhibit, together with appearing on the BBC and being interviewed by Mary Berry. 

Listening to this episode, you'll hear how passionate Gill is about the UK flower growing industry and the supportive community that she's created by founding Flowers from the Farm. At the end of the podcast, you'll discover her practical tips, which I'm sure you'll find very inspiring. 

Show notes are available on the My Small Business & Me website: https://mysmallbusinessandme.com/episode37

#036 - Writer, photographer and author Laura Pashby shares her small business journey. She discusses how to tell stories using words and photographs, together with the process of writing her recently published first book, 'Little Stories of Your Life'. 

Having studied English Literature, together with a Masters in Modern & Contemporary Poetry at university, she worked as a primary school teacher for several years. Then, in 2010, when she had her second of three sons she discovered blogs. 

After initially setting up a craft blog with a friend, she then started her own blog and joined Instagram. And over time her storytelling shifted from her blog to Instagram. She started creating content for brands on Instagram and writing for magazines, including 91 Magazine where she later became Deputy Editor. 

On leaving 91, she created some storytelling e-courses before deciding to take Beth Kempton's Book Proposal Masterclass.  After completing Beth's masterclass, in early 2020, she sent off her book proposal to a book agent. She signed with Quadrille and had nine months to write the book and take all the photographs. She shares her book writing process, its structure and contents. And the book was published this month - October 2021. 

Laura, who you may know on Instagram as @circleofpines, also shares her photography journey, her camera equipment and what she uses to edit her images. She discusses hints and tips about taking still life and self-portrait photographs. 

Listening to this episode, you'll hear about Laura's passion for words and images, and in particular how to use them effectively to tell an engaging story. At the end of the podcast, you'll discover her practical tips, which I'm sure you'll find very inspiring. 

Show notes are available on the My Small Business & Me website: https://mysmallbusinessandme.com/episode36

#035 - Horticulturalist and founder of The Real Flower Company Rosebie Morton shares her small business journey. Her driving ambition is to supply people all around the UK with scented flowers.  And she now sells both to trade and consumers. 

With her mother and grandmother both being horticulturally-minded, Rosebie's love and enthusiasm for scented flowers began at a very early age. Aged four years old, she remembers the scent of roses when walking around her grandmother's garden. 

Many years later, she married a farmer and decided that she wanted to bring scented garden roses back to the cut flower industry. So she started growing six different varieties in her mother-in-law's walled garden. 

In 1995, she began selling the roses at New Covent Garden Flower Market. Then after 12 months, switched and sold direct to florists. And she also started growing other types of flowers and herbs. 

Due to the limited UK growing season and her desire to make roses available all year round, she investigated growing flowers in the Southern Hemisphere. And in 1998, she travelled to Kenya and planted hundreds of rose plants. Back in the UK, four years later, she started growing her roses in polytunnels to protect them from the rain. 

In 2003, she began selling direct to consumers via the internet. And now, as well as online, The Real Flower Company sells to consumers from their two London flower shops, offering same-day delivery in the capital. 

Rosebie discusses the impact of the pandemic, the importance of effective branding and how she uses social media to promote her business. She also shares her 'why' and her thoughts on sustainability. 

Listening to this episode, you'll hear how passionate Rosebie is about the flower industry and scented roses in particular. At the end of the podcast, you'll discover her practical tips, which I'm sure you'll find very inspiring. 

Show notes are available on the My Small Business & Me website: https://mysmallbusinessandme.com/episode35

#034 - Floral decorator, garden designer and author Lucy Hunter shares her small business journey.  From initially working in the corporate world, she changed career and became a landscape designer. She now also works as a floral decorator and has written her first book, 'The Flower Hunter'. 

Growing up, she always knew she was creative and she loved to paint, which led to her studying a Fine Art degree at Liverpool University. On graduating in the late '90s, she worked at the Royal Bank of Scotland in Chester and trained to become a consumer underwriter. 

When she got married and had her son, she moved from a flat to a small cottage with a garden. And she decided to retrain as a garden designer. She absolutely loved it and became obsessed with flowers and plants. Her landscape design business grew from strength to strength. However, she became slightly burnt out and felt a little lost. 

Around 2015, her sister was getting married and she asked Lucy to create her wedding flowers. She attended some floristry courses and workshops, became captivated by Instagram and decided to start creating floral designs for weddings alongside her garden landscaping work. 

Then the pandemic struck. And because she had the time, she decided that she might write a book. In the interview, Lucy shares her book-writing process, describes the book's content and reads an extract from the book. 

She also discusses where she gets inspiration from, how she creates the images for her Instagram account and the camera equipment she uses. Plus she shares her 'why', talks about how her podcast, The Restless Creatives' came about and shares her plans for the remainder of 2021. 

Listening to this episode, you'll hear how passionate Lucy is about the creative process and capturing beautiful floral images. At the end of the podcast, you'll discover her practical tips, which I'm sure you'll find very inspiring. 

Show notes are available on the My Small Business & Me website: https://mysmallbusinessandme.com/episode34 

#033 - Astrologer Christine Chalklin shares her small business journey. As well as reading astrology charts for small business owners, her services also include tarot card reading, numerology and coaching. Her aim with her work is to help her clients reach their full potential. 

Christine's grandmother and mother were interested in astrology. And she became hooked. She decided to study astrology, which led to coaching, counseling and teaching. She's also studied Bach flower essences, learnt how to read Tarot cards and offers numerology. 

She shares how a small business owner can benefit from having their chart read. For example, when it's the best time to launch or relaunch a business. She also talks about Libran qualities and personality traits, our shared sign. 

We reminisce about how we worked together over ten years ago, when she read my chart and gave me coaching. And the result was my starting Flowerona.  Then she mentions which famous people who were into astrology, plus the types of businesses she's worked with. 

Christine shares the impact of the new moon, full moon and mercury retrograde on our lives. She also discusses biodynamic gardening, before making recommendations about astrology books and online resources. 

Listening to this episode, you'll hear how passionate Christine is about astrology and how it can be used to help her clients to fulfil their potential. . At the end of the podcast, you'll discover her practical tips, which I'm sure you'll find very inspiring. 

Show notes are available on the My Small Business & Me website: https://mysmallbusinessandme.com/episode33