The New Kind

It didn’t take long for Lucy to realise that there was much more out there for her than the corporate agency life. After being consistently told to stay late and miss birthdays, and important life events, Lucy took that leap to take back control of her own life.

Initially she went to work part-time for renowned food blogger, Madeleine Shaw and added to her already established digital skill set whilst building the foundations of her own venture, Sassy Digital.

Lucy set out to shake the negative connotations of a digital agency and completely flip it on its head. Creating a completely personal, quality, and unique digital marketing service that became an extension of her clients team. At its core, Lucy wanted to ensure everyone had the chance to access the digital marketing services they needed, from a bespoke package, to free guidance on her blog “Sassy Bites”. She would keep her internal team small, and then outsource work to hand-selected freelancers that would perfectly match the services her clients need.

Lucy soon attracted clients, from personal branding projects to social media management. But, as Lucy is very open to admit, it wasn’t all smooth sailing. There were hard times when start-up cash-flow was tight, retainer clients (long-term clients that offer a regular payment) were lost, and Lucy considered on many occasions to give up in those early and go back to a stable career that would be “easier” (and would bring in a lot more money in those early days!).

But, Lucy (and her family) had said she would stick it out for 5 years to see where it could go. AND THANK GOD SHE DID. Lucy turned a massive corner as she onboarded some huge clients, that has lead to Lucy leading the way in the marketing of emerging fashion brands. She is the go-to person for stand out fashion branding and e-commerce that has combined Lucy’s two loves and carved her dream career path. Of course, Sassy Digital works across other various sectors, but surely it seemed so fitting that a sassy businesses ended up in fashion!

What does she put this success down to? Well, people. Lucy lets us in on why face-to-face human connection, friends (special shoutout to her best mate & fellow Founder Natalie of Stay Wild Swim), and moving close to those networks has been the ultimate game changer for her. Proving that although she specialises in digital marketing, growing a business is ALL about human connection.

Lucy is SO open about the ups and downs of starting and successfully growing a business, and my god, it’s so refreshing. We will all have those days where we want an easier ride, but with determination, a strong work ethic, and hangouts in Soho House* (*this may not apply to all) you’ll power through and eventually carve a dream career.

Oh, and if you’ve seen Lucy’s work with brands such as Stay Wild Swim, but haven’t quite got the budget for the full Sassy service yet - well Lucy has your back. She’s launched the ultimate range of guides, templates and bespoke logos so everyone can access a bit of the Sassy magic.

**Please note - we recorded this episode in a quiet meeting room in London. But, we didn’t counter in that it would be the home of the world’s largest and noisiest aircon machine. What ever we tried to quiet the beast it just got angrier! SO please acceot our apologies for the hum in the background.

If you are anything like me, when you graduated from University, you were pretty young, naive and not 100% on where to turn next.

This certainly was not the case for this week’s podcast guest. After a very brief stint with a travel and fashion magazine, Angelica knew she needed to follow her desire for creative freedom and pursue a career as an entrepreneur.

Quickly spotting a gap in the market, in March 2014, Angelica took the leap and launched About Time Magazine. That digital site that offered everything it was “about time” you did in London. Personal, well-curated, and to the point the site soon took off as Angelica and her team of writers offered the very best unique options for Londoners and tourists alike.

As Angelica details in the podcast, it was not easy feet. She navigated her way through the challenges many businesses owners face, such as; building a team, making some initial mistakes when approaching brands, and finding her place as a Founder.

Well, overcoming those challenges paid off. About Time magazine has built a loyal audience and has a monthly readership of 85,000, alongside over 100,000 followers on social media. Taking the decision work out of what to do in your free time, it has become the go to site for time-poor Londoners.

By March 2019, as About Time Magazine grew in followers and writers (with over 90 now contributing), Angelica looked to other projects. After witnessing the demand for more offline interactions, Angelica launched the About Time Academy. The Academy would be a curation of live panel events, masterclasses and talks by leading experts, entrepreneurs and leaders.

After a successful series of events, Angelica has now evolved the Academy to include her passion for supporting fellow female entrepreneurs. September 2019 saw the first #shestarteditlive festival which was a one-day festival dedicated to the future of women in work.

Angelica’s incredible work has not gone unnoticed, as she’s featured in major publications such as Forbes, Elle Magazine and Real Business to name a few.

We obviously HAD to chat with Angelica and not only find out how she managed to become such a multi-business powerhouse, but also discover the realities behind starting a business fresh from University. Angelica offers incredible insight into the lessons she has learnt along the way (including how to be a Manager when you really just want to be mates with everyone!) and gives an insight on more incredible business ventures she has planned for the future.

**Please note, we recorded this in March knowing that the episode would go out after the March She Started It Live Festival. Unfortunately, due to the COVID-19 outbreak, Angelica had to postpone the festival for the safety of everyone involved. So, there is some talk about the upcoming festivals. I hope you can understand that we have kept it in as there will be many more festivals in the future, and we are very much behind this innovative concept!*

Sophie’s story is one packed with underlying personal purpose. Purpose that eventually become her ultimate identity as a brand and what made her stand out from the rest.

We first got in contact with Sophie to see if she’d be keen to design the artwork for this podcast. Thankfully, she agreed! She was the ultimate dream to work with, and by scrolling through her work and seeing all the massive brands Sophie is now linked to, we knew we had to find out how she did it.

Again, we were pretty thankful when Sophie agreed again! But, she made it pretty clear that she wanted to share the reality behind where she is now. Although she has over 28k follower on IG, she has only just taken the leap to be completely full-time as an illustrator.

Sophie’s story is SO inspiration, and one that so many people can benefit from. With many creatives supporting their growth with part-time roles, Sophie describes how having part-time work is nothing to be embarrassed of, it’s essential to keep your creative career going, and can actually be beneficial to keeping you on track. A secure, stable income from creative business can take time, and in order to make it, you have to support it.

From her degree in Fashion (taken from people pushing her towards more “career-focused industries at the time), Sophie always had a passion for promoting feminism and breaking many taboos. Little did she know, that those early University projects would be what defined her design style in years to come and see her build a career from a creative passion that, in those early days, she thought was massively out of sight.

Fast-forward to now, and Sophie has worked with huge companies such as SkinnyDip London, Misguided and Durex, to name just a few. Her style is now well and truly cemented in the modern feminist movement, with her designs defining a new generation of thinking. Sophie is now being snapped up by major brands for live event illustrations, so we’re excited to see who she works with next as she evolves her business in this direction.

We had an awesome time catching up with Sophie to find out how she has gone from a fashion degree to taking the leap to move to London to follow her passion for design; and how she supported the growth of her business in those early days.

Sophie shares some real insights as to what she’s learnt from being self-employed; from the need to make friends in the industry, to learning how to price her work.

Thanks again Sophie, we’ll be hitting you up soon for some more design work!

Snacking. Here at the Create Co. office we are not in the slightest bit sorry to say it’s our favourite hobby/habit/lifestyle choice. Snacking is for life.

There is nothing better than grazing all day. But, usually the options on offer are pretty unhealthy unnatural junk food; or not really hitting that crave.

Well, let’s all hail Sara and Maria as they have changed all of this. They too would grab a bag of crisps on a Sunday evening and find themselves working their way through the packet before even realising. Gaining that satisfying comfort from enjoying a snack you know and love; followed rather quickly by the ever so slight guilt that it’s not really doing your body any good. They realised there must be another option. Why should you have to change the way you snack completely and miss out of that comforting feeling, when you could surely just make the current choices a little healthier.

You guessed it, that's when Well & Truly was born. Sara and her now sister-in-law, Maria, got to work on evolving the humble crisp. Create something delicious that wasn’t naughty, but, well, “naughtyish”.

Fast forward to today and you will find packets of Well & Truly crisps in leading retailers across the UK, and beyond. Including hge names such as Ocado, Sainsburys and Wholefoods.

Of course, designing, developing, and bringing a product to market is not in the slightest bit the easy task, let alone disrupting a saturated market with an innovative product. In this episode, Sara takes us behind the scenes of what it was really like to get to where they are now. Letting us on on the massive amount they both had to learn, and still do, and the lessons they learnt along the way.

We would like to say a massive thank you to Sara from joining us at the London studio (Maria, we will meet you next time!) and a bigger thank you for allowing the snacks to continue to flow in the office, without the guilt!

Message on love and support  for all, especially the creative community at this time

Updates include: 

News on The Hangout support group, a place for creatives to unite, support and find positivity in the time of need.

We will continue to share new episodes of Creator Journals to offer a place of escapism and optimism. We may, or may not, talk about the outbreak in future intros, to ensure you have a place to come and escape from the outside world.

Please be assured all future episodes were pre-recorded. All special episodes within the outbreak will be recorded remotely.

Just a few short years ago, Anna and Nicola were in corporate roles discussion how awkward, and frankly disappointing, office celebrations can be. From that last minute panic when you realise it’s someones birthday, so you make the dash to the closest shop and grab a pretty sorry looking sponge; to important office meetings that offer a drab looking selection of sweet goods. Why, when there was SUCH an incredible offering of independent artisan bakeries and cake shops in London were offices opting for the most drab options.

Fast-forward to now, and Anna and Nicola have completely transformed the office cake culture. They have created the solution that, inhindsight, was screaming out. These incredible artisan bakeries needed to become convenient, easy and accessible to fast-paced offices. Cue, Cake Drop London.

Cake Drop London is everything we love about a creative business solution, with it’s conscious ability to not only solve the initial problem, but also ensure every part of the business is creating value. Designing a business that is of ultimate value, not just for profit. Not only is Cake Drop London an eco-friendly alternative (you must check out the incredible cake bikes!), it also supports and allows other independent ventures (the bakeries and cake shops) to thrive and compete against the bigger corporation offering cut-prices cakes.

In this Journal, Anna + Nicola talk us through how they got the Cake Drop London to where it is today. Including the realities of running a crowdfunding campaign; how patience has been one of the biggest skills they have learnt along the way as they have grown the business; and how working as sisters has been really easy for them (I am sure there are many sisters out there who can’t quite believe this).

I cannot explain how incredible it was to meet these ladies. They have the most infectious good vibe, which in turn made everyone “behind the scenes” laugh a bit too much during the recording - luckily it didn’t pick up on the mics!

We are extremely excited to see where Anna + Nicola take Cake Drop London, with their combined skill set we know they will make the world a tastier place for us all! I hear the rejoice from everyone based outside London who can’t wait to push aside the supermarket cakes

This journal started in one of our all time favourite ways. No, not from an engagement (although it’s a pretty good way start to any business), but from a pure creative innovator seeing a unique gap in a very big and competitive market, and filling it with something we all can’t believe wasn’t there before.

After Kat got engaged back in 2008 she started to plan her wedding, but after a very short amount of time became jaded by what was out there. Kat quickly realised that the wedding industry at the time focused on a particular type of bride and only really seem to offer more “traditional” inspiration. She saw the massive gap in the market for couples looking for alternative options, inspiration and advice. So, she ran with it, and Rock n Roll Bride was born.

Kat has gone from balancing a full-time job whilst launching and growing the Rock n Roll bride blog; to taking the leap and now working full-time from home running a hugely successful global company with her Husband. A company that has grown from its origins of a globally successful wedding blog to a hugely popular alternative wedding magazine; an Amazon list-topping book; and now an innovative live wedding event.

Kat has not only grown a company but a strong community of brides seeking more from their wedding day. As of February 2020 Kat has grown a community of….

97.4k Instagram followers

241,363 Facebook followers

14,805 Facebook group members

Not bad, huh.

We chat to Kat and find out just how she went from sharing her own alternative wedding plans to running a global company with her husband (and, of course, her cats!).

Kat gives valuable insight into her success, putting it down to a number of factors, including, but not limited to; growing her ideas and business in a slow, steady and consistent manner; finding your business niche and being very specific about your message and who you are talking to; and listening to your gut when outside influence tries to take your business in a slight different way to what you feel is right, even if it means taking a huge gamble. Oh, and having a business partner as your Husband, who can not only bring another element to the business, but also offer that important personal support.

This is not just one for those in the wedding industry. Far from it. Kat’s journey and insights can be reflected across many creative industries, with valuable advice for anyone looking to grow their creative concept from an initial passion idea.

We adore Kat. Her honesty about running a business, her hard-working ethos (but without the need to tell everyone), and her passion for building a business that really helps people.

A huge thanks to Kat for joining us - we’re so excited to see Kat’s future plans. Everything she puts her name to always ends up to be epic!

[P.s. You can find more info and grab tickets to Rock n Roll Live here. If you’re reading this before the Rock n Roll Bride Live event - be sure to check our Instagram for a special Create Co. discount code!]

Angela is one of the lucky ones and has always been in a creative career, having landed a job straight out of studying as an Artist in Residence at a Nursery (we know right, if you didn’t run a business this would be the next best thing).

In this podcast we hear about how Angela left this job in 2012 to carve her own path, and hasn’t looked back since. Well, as you’ll hear, a massive lesson learnt very early on could have ended the dream for most people. But, as you’ll soon learn, Angela has this exceptional inner strength, self proclaimed stubbornness, and we think, natural ability to succeed which meant she overcame a hurdle that would have crumbled most, and offers valuable advice to those starting out so they can avoid it!

Angela has seen huge success with her designs - if you check them out, you’ll see why. You’ll see her designs stocked across the globe in cool independent shops, high end retailers (such as Selfridges(!)), and licensed designs on huge online retailers such as Moonpig and Scribbler. With significant growth seen year on year since leaving her job just 7 years ago, not bad at all ay. As you can imagine, there was quite a lot for us to chat about!

Beyond the success, we mostly adore the reason and purpose behind all of Angela’s hard work. To make people happy. Providing illustrations that hopefully help bring a smile in all the situations that life throws at us.

In the episode go beyond customer happiness and touch on the extremely important topic of managing mental health as a small business owner. Something that Angela is an advocate of, and has transformed Angela’s approach to life and her business. Angela opens up on how, in 2016, she took some massive steps to manage her depression, with the help of routine, exercise and quitting alcohol. This led to Angela setting, and reaching, huge goals in 2017, and most importantly being happier, healthier and more focused. The advice Angela offers will not only help with those looking to better manage their mental health, but how assessing and making small (or sometimes big) lifestyle changes can have a huge affect on everyone’s success in business.

I would just like to add that Angela is bloody cool. I hate that word, but she really is. This was the first time I had met her, and I genuinely felt like I was leaving a pal when we finished up for the day. You all need to check out Angela and you’ll probably see a little more happiness in your life.

Enjoy guys!

This story starts off as many creators and artists stories do. From a young age, there is skill, passion and promise. But, as in most cases, society pressure to get a “proper job” kicks in so direction changes slightly. Sounds similar right?

It’s not to say to this “proper job” can’t be fulfilling in its own right, but, sometimes your original destined creative path has a way of happening in ways you couldn’t have even dreamed of.

Meet the incredible Paul, who goes under the moniker My Dog Sighs. From an early age Paul discovered his talent and love for art, but, as with most of us put that aside as a hobby to follow a pretty sensible career, in his case, teaching.

The story of his success all really started from his own morals of wanting to share his street art (that he was working on outside of work from his spare room) but not wanting to illegally paint on others peoples property (it’s not always a good look for teachers!). When leaving canvas paintings around the city became slightly expensive and really a form of littering, Paul had quite possibly the most genius idea. He realised that he reverse litter and turn discarded “trash” lying on the street into his canvas.

Drink cans that would usually be ignored on the street were now to become pieces of art. Art that stood for much more that was on the can and what was to become a movement of free art (yup, we’re talking about the infamous, Free Art Fridays).

Skip a few years and a feature by some rather tiny publications (super tiny like the BBC and Huffington Post) and Paul has now progressed into a hugely respected, internationally-known street artist. Working full-time in his studio in Southsea and putting on shows across the globe.

Paul now works on “slightly” larger and more conventional canvases with a backlog of commissions for his infamous “eye” pieces (after listening to these podcasts we’re pretty certain you’ll see these in a new light).

In this podcast, we chat about this journey and the clever steps that got Paul to where he is today. We also cover the much debated topic of knowing your worth as an artist, with Paul sharing his tips for any new artist who are starting out.

You might tell from the episode that if was SO easy to be around Paul (apologies for all my agreeing noises - I just way into his story). So friendly and so down-to-earth yet, so much to learn from his hard-working approach that he has taken from his many years as a teacher. It’s very easy to see why Paul has gone so far.

Please go check out the My Dog Sighs website to see more of his work if you haven’t come across it before. After this podcast I hope, like me, you see his work in a different light and really understand the story behind it.

As ever, if you enjoy this episode please drop us a review, it really helps us bring more stories to you.

Thanks for listening guys!

Links:

My Dog Sighs Website: http://mydogsighs.co.uk/

My Dog Sighs Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mydogsighs/

Paul's Reccomendations:

Herakut: http://www.herakut.de

The London Police: http://www.thelondonpolice.com/NewTLP/News.html

If we were looking for a poster girl for Create Co., Claudia would be it. She's the epic creator behind Island Feather, the women's sport and fitness brand specialising in surf, SUP, wake-boarding, running and yoga.

Create Co. is all about lifestyle-led creators who are developing innovative brands and products. Claudia completely embodies this value and turned her own passion for outdoor adventure into a completely innovative and conscious brand.

From it's early days of festival feathers, Claudia knew where she wanted to Island Feather to be in the future. From trading at festivals with jewellery and feathers, Claudia embraced an opportunity for voluntary redundancy, sought business mentorship, and took the leap to evolve Island Feather to the vision she had always had for the brand.

Island Feather, and the Find Your Freedom tour, is now seen at festivals and major adventure experiences across the UK, and worn by leading athletes in the water sports industry. You may have also spotted Island Feather on Love Island this year, if you paid attention to surfer Lucy (don't worry we wont make you admit that you watched it).

It was such a pleasure to meet Claudia. She's SUCH a massive inspiration, in how to launch and run a business. Her entire business is experience-led, with the customer completely at it's core. With an epic mission to ensure customers are introduced to Island Feather via unique experiences, rather than from a sale-led direction.

If you get a chance, make sure you head to one of the Find Your Freedom events in your area. It's such a good way to try out a new sport and meet like-minded individuals in the process (whilst laughing at each other wobbling on paddle-boards).

Side Note: With all of the Creator Journals, we begin by finding out the brand journey from idea to today. Then we get some little insider business advice from these epic individuals who have carved their own path and experienced the highs (and some lows).

Note 2: I had a MASSIVE cold during the recording of this episode, so please bear with the very chilled vibes (there was a lot of tea and caramel digestives involved)!

Island Feather Website

Island Feather Instagram