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Girl Bosses of Great Britain

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One of the greatest joys that #TeamCoco get out of interviewing great business women is the motivation that you don’t have to have it all planned out and that following your interests and getting your hustle on can get you to amazing – and unexpected – places.

Today’s interviewee Alwynne Gwilt started out listening in to police scanners for scoops at a national newspaper in Toronto and is currently a brand ambassador for Balvenie whisky based in London. Along the way she shifted her aversion to whisky from the spirit that gave her terrible hangovers from drinking on the beach at uni (!) to a love of the beautiful, nuanced and exciting spirit she knows it is today….

HOC: Hey Alwynne! We especially love speaking with businesswomen with interesting and varied backgrounds and yours certainly is – what brought you to the UK from Canada?

Alwynne: So my background is very different to what I do today… I started working in broadcast journalism in my home country of Canada when I was 16 and then went off to study broadcast journalist. I had the full intention to sticking around the journalism industry for the rest of my career and started working for national newspapers in Toronto and then moved to the UK in 2007 with the intention of staying for just a year. I’d moved over on a freelance contract and, at that time, being paid in Canadian dollars but living in London wasn’t the smartest way to do business!

I promptly got a job in financial journalism which is not my background at all. I ended up at an Insurance Magazine just before the crash and it was crazy and lavish – it was like ‘let’s go to Paris for lunch!’ very strange and such a different journalism world to Canada where that’s DEFINITELY not allowed…

HOC: Sounds pretty crazy! And where does the whisky come in?

Alwynne: Long story short, in this insurance company, I ended up going along to a whisky tasting in Soho as so many people in the financial world drink whisky. I was very anti-whisky and thought it was this horrible, disgusting liquid and I really didn’t want anything to do with it.

At this event I was totally blown away! It’s so great to look back and remember that moment when I was really taken aback – it doesn’t happen that often in life! I left the tasting and decided I wanted to get a bottle and it kind of went from there with friends buying me interesting whiskies for my birthday, I really got into it.

A couple of years later, I decided I’d had it with the investment world and decided to go freelance. I remember going to a food blogging workshop, and this was back in 2011 when nobody really had a clue what a blog was. I didn’t want to become a blogger – I was a journalist! – but when I got chatting to a food editor at The Guardian he recommended that that I needed to start a blog, so that I could start pitching articles about whisky. So I started a test blog called ‘Gwilty Pleasures’ – a riff on my surname – all about food, drink and travel just to try it out. I took a break from work and headed to Costa Rica for a few months and while I was there I formalised this idea I’d had in my head to blog specifically about whisky. When I came back, I started Miss Whisky (MissWhisky.com) and that’s really where it all kicked off!

HOC: Is the whisky industry the boys club I’d imagine that it is?

Alwynne: Not really! When I started my blog there weren’t any females writing specifically about whisky in the UK market but there have always been females involved in the creation of whisky. Industry people always ask me if it was intimidating getting involved as a younger female and do you know what, I always found the industry so welcoming. The only reason I ended up learning so much, so quickly was because I’d meet people at a show and when I followed up with them they said ‘yeh, sure why don’t you come and visit?’ . I never felt that I wasn’t part of the club and no-one wanted to talk to me. I think, from my journalism work, I have a brain that’s interested in so many things and I love to ask questions, I think that was appreciated!

HOC: Before we go any further – I have to admit – while I enjoy a whisky cocktail from time to time – I have no idea what is the difference between a whiskey with an ‘e’ – and one without!

Alwynne: I help you with that! With an E is generally Irish and American and pretty much everybody else doesn’t use an E and there’s various debates about why that came about. One story is that, back when Dublin used to produce more whisky than Scotland, they decided to put their stamp on the spirit and add an E – clearly marking which whiskey was the spirit of Dublin.

HOC: Ah that wasn’t as complicated as I thought! What’s happening in the whisky / whiskey industry at the moment and what should we look out for?

Alwynne: We’re seeing a proliferation of start ups, like we’ve seen in gin. Now when you go to a bar you see the gin list and have no idea where to begin – I don’t even bother trying to keep up with it! But the reality is that whisky takes a lot longer than gin so it’ll take a few years for things to really change.

There’s more and more whisky companies coming through which is interesting and we’re seeing lots more family owned businesses. There’s also some great things happening in world whiskies. Like a few years ago when people got really excited about Japanese whiskies, there are loads of places to look out for. Tasmania and Tawain and India and Africa…. it could easily get a bit overwhelming!

HOC: What a dream – combining travel and interesting whiskies! Where’s the most amazing place you’ve visited in the search for great whisky?

Alwynne: It’s funny but one of the first distilleries I visited was Balvenie in Speyside when the then brand ambassador brought some bloggers to see it! It was such a memorable visit, in the heartland of the Scottish whisky industry – there’s around 50 distilleries in that area. I really fell in love with Scotland through my blog when I’d pootle around the west coast to visit distilleries. I never got to drink anything on site though, as I was driving but I’d be taking my little bottles to get samples to drink in my hotel! Scotland reminds me of Canada, it’s very open and people are super friendly – really welcoming and the landscape is incredible.

The Mackmyra distillery in Sweden is so fascinating. It’s in the woods and is gravity fed which means that no energy is used. The whisky is matured in war time bunkers underground! You drive into the distillery and there’s all these signs almost warning you about a nuclear disaster. It a former bomb creating space and now they use it to store their whisky?! They’ve also got a female master distiller – Angela D’Orazio. They are really cool.

I’m dying to go to Tasmania, there are 8 distilleries there which you wouldn’t expect and it’s like a mini Scotland in the way the land sits – lots of mountains and water… There are so many beautiful stories. For the people who work at these places, this is their way of life and they don’t always realise the impact that their work has down the line, often on a far flung country. It’s fascinating when you think about all this spirit that has been maturing in warehouses goes all around the world and all the time and history and knowledge that goes into it. It’s really quite beautiful.

HOC: I always remember that Parks & Recreation episode where Ron gets to visit the remote Lagavulin distillery on the isle of Islay and gets super emotional…

Alwynne: YES! I was so excited when I saw that episode. I’m a big fan, I bought my other half a t-shirt that said ‘This is LITERALLY the best t-shirt’! Haha!

HOC: If someone fancied themselves a Ron Swanson (!) and wanted to try getting into whisky, what advice would you have for them? I’ve found it’s too often passed off as a ‘man’s drink’, whatever that means and it can seem intimidating for women?

Alwynne: So strange, I mean why is a certain flavour thought of as ‘manly’, whatever that means?! In fact, flavours are the key to finding a whisky you like. I got two of my best friends into whisky and I had it in my head that they’d only like the lighter ones as they’d never really tried whisky before. But, after some experimenting, it was the peaty, punchy ones they loved. They’d always prefer savoury food over sweet and loved smokey flavours – why wouldn’t that be the drinks they’d prefer as well? There’s so many ways to enjoy whisky – some great cocktails out there and some great options to try at home, which is becoming more popular.

HOC: Whisky can be seen as an expensive thing to get into, do you have any tips for House of Coco readers?

Alwynne: That can be true but there’s a lot of time and work that goes into whisky as opposed to other spirits and you’re not likely to get through a bottle too quickly! Generally, independent bottlers like That Boutique-y Whisky Company will be great value and really high quality – they release great bottles with really funky cartoony artwork. In all, there’s a growing trend to drink less but drink better and people are spending a bit more on spirits.

It’s always worth keeping an eye out at Christmas on places like Aldi! Every year, they bring out old whiskies insanely cheaply. Last year, for the first time, they’d bottled an old Irish whisky… I’m usually so late to the party on new releases but, for the first time ever, I read the article on the day this whisky became available. I discovered it was available online so snapped up two bottles I was dubious as it was so reasonable priced and it was so good. Two days later I came back home, after few cocktails, and bought two more bottles online before it sold out!

HOC: It must be so strange for you, looking back on your career and where you’ve got to…?

Alwynne: Definitely! I mean, I’ve now been a full-time employee of Balvenie for a year and a half and before that spent time working across the William Grant brands. I still have my blog, Miss Whisky, which is so important to me as it’s my roots!

It’s been a very different career path than I expected. My dad has been very happy, he’s got a lot of whisky over the years! One of the best things was when I did the opening tasting at the Victoria Whisky Festival in Canadawhich is right by where my Dad lives so he got to come along. It was one of those moments of thinking – ‘this is the most random thing!’ When I left home at 17 for journalism school, this is not where I thought I was going but it was so nice to almost bring it home….see, it all makes sense now! I totally knew what I was doing the whole time!

With that inspirational thought, we went off on a tangent about in-the-know bars in Seoul in South Korea and how Netflix could commission a series like ‘Nailed It’ based on making cocktails. But it would likely be a bit too messy!

To find out more about Alwynne’s work head to her blog MissWhisky.com

Another theme we hear amongst our tribe of #GirlBosses is the importance of building your networks. This #TeamCoco writer was at a Start Up event on Monday in a room full of 20 other entrepreneurs from totally different industries and came away with a potential mentor, an American food truck to collaborate with and the intel on a new dessert-only bar coming soon.

As the speaker at that event said the “loose connections” you make (the people that aren’t your friends or in your usual circles) are often the best; you can open yourself up to completely new circles and new opportunities!

In this week’s workout we share five of our favourite places to grow your networks. We challenge you to try out one of the below, make some connections and give us some feedback on twitter through @House_Of_Coco .

  • EventbriteOkay so this isn’t a place but we challenge you to spend an hour (do it on the bus, now!) delving into the treasure trove that is Eventbrite searching for events that speak to you. Search ‘Start Up’ if you are a budding entrepreneur, ‘Fashion’ if you just want to hear more about the industry. You get the gist, right? Then do the same with Meet Ups.
  • Flock Flock is a “global marketplace built on collaboration” run by total #GirlBoss Emma Sexton. Check out their site and social channels for events in London and an incredible group of entrepreneuers are travelling to New York next month for global networking. How amazing is that?
  • Social media So this might sound weird but online is a fantastic place to make professional friends. Think of all the amazing small brands out there who are being run by one amazing soul. That amazing soul will, most likely, be doing all the marketing themselves. Follow their channels and interact, who knows where it might lead. As a starter for ten we recommend following the brilliant Escape the City.
  • Ask AroundCheck our local and industry specific events by simply googling or ask the people you meet through steps 1 and 3 where they go for inspo. You can never go to too many events or meet too many new people! For instance, this #TeamCoco writer is based in London but wanted to offer some shout outs to groups outside of London and asked the rest of the crew for their recommendations and found out about Forward Ladies .
  • Don’t forget about the boys! Yes we are #GirlBosses and feminists but let’s not be narrow minded, okay? Make sure you don’t just stick to women only events, you are excluding the amazing people that exist in the other half of the population! And from one Girl Boss to another, a male entrepreneur really enjoys talking to a badass female one. An easy place to find mixed events is to look at the shared working spaces near you and see what they’ve got going on. Quite often people like Virgin Start Ups and Enteprise Nation will run events in spaces like these, often with wine…

Now we’ve shared our trade networking secrets, tell us yours! Sharing is caring…

In our recent FOOD volume we spoke to some incredible Girl Bosses in one of the most exciting industries out there: the drinks industry. If you’ve not snagged a print copy of Vol 13 – grab one now for our top 5 Girl Boss drinks brands and wise words from some amazing women. If you have already and you are looking for some more wisdom, you’ve come to the right place.

Here’s our interview with EmmaLi Stenhouse, badass brand ambassador for Sailor Jerry!

HOC: Hey EmmaLi, tell us a little about yourself and what your role as a Sailor Jerry’s Brand Ambassador entails?

EmmaLi: I consider myself really lucky to get to work on a brand I’m so passionate about. I get to travel all around the UK, and sometimes beyond, talking to interesting people about Norman Sailor Jerry Collins, tattoos and rum. I mainly focus on education, trade, events and brand partnership. Every day is different. One day I might be teaching a team of young bartenders how to mix drinks, the next I might be sponsoring an art exhibition in a local tattoo shop. It definitely keeps me on my toes.

HOC: What drew you into working in spirits?

EmmaLi: My friend worked in a local bar and we were having a drink before her shift started, and the next thing I knew I’d somehow been roped into covering someone after they’d phoned in sick. They had a small cocktail bar that I ended up helping out on, and as soon as I got a taste for it, that was it really. I loved experimenting with flavours and learning new skills. The more I researched and learned, the more fascinating I found it. The hospitality industry can be an amazing family to be a part of, and that kind of just draws you in too!

HOC: What is it about Sailor Jerry’s that you can’t get enough of?

EmmaLi: Sailor Jerry was a real character and an absolute badass. I get the honour of telling his story to people, and sharing a little piece of history and inspiration. He was a legendary tattoo artist who still inspires artists and fans all over the world, and I get to introduce people to that and inspire others. I genuinely love the brand, so it’s pretty easy. Our rum is at the heart of it, but there are so many other facets to the brand I get to be involved in, such as art, tattoos, music and motorcycles – there’s always something cool happening.

HOC: When you started out in your career, where did you want it to go? And how does that compare to where you are now?

EmmaLi: I never really thought it could be a career. Like a lot of bartenders I started out when I was 18, just having fun and earning some cash while I tried to work out what I wanted to be when I grew up. I loved it, and I turned out to be pretty good at it. After a few years I got to a point where I wanted a new challenge, but I’d already fallen in love with the bar industry, so when the Sailor Jerry Ambassador role came up, and I had the opportunity to combine my love of rum and my love of Sailor Jerry tattoos, obviously I went for it. I didn’t really have much of a clue as to what a Brand Ambassador was, or what I was getting myself into at the time. So, I guess I had no real expectations of where it might go, which is maybe why I’m so grateful for where I’ve managed to get to so far. I have the coolest job in the world, and I genuinely love what I do, and not a lot of people can say that.

HOC: What does a typical day look like working with Sailor Jerry’s?

EmmaLi: Like most people I’ll get up and check my never ending flow of emails! Then I’ll probably get ready to head to a training session which involves grabbing some bar kit and jumping on a train or plane to talk to some bartenders about Sailor Jerry and make drinks. It’s always fun when you’re in a different city and get to spend some time checking out new places and seeing old friends, that is unless I have to rush back to pour some Sailor Jerry cocktails at a new tattoo shop or at clothing store having a private party. I might then have an early start again in the morning to go and present to some of our key customers at a flashy head office, or meet with an artist about a new project. It’s kind of all over the place!

HOC: What’s it like, being a woman in what we imagine is a male dominated industry?

EmmaLi: There are so many incredible women absolutely slaying it in our industry right now. I am hugely inspired by so many of them, and it’s great to see their talent being celebrated, which makes me feel pretty proud.

It’s generally always been a male dominated industry and I probably had to put up with a bit more crap than some of the guys out there but nothing too bad. I am pretty feisty, and I think that probably helped, more so when I was managing bars than in my role now, because sometimes it feels like you’ve got to work that little bit harder to earn the same respect. When you look at lot of the successful women and Brand Ambassadors in the drinks industry right now, we are usually pretty similar in that sense I think – strong, fiery, and fearless. That said, I’ve pretty much always I felt that it was merit and talent, not gender, that had the biggest impact on where I am today. I’m not sure if that’s just me being lucky, but I’ve always felt supported and respected by both the men and the women in this industry.

HOC: Your job must take you on the road a lot ; where’s your favourite place for a rum cocktail (hopefully Tiki!) in the UK?

EmmaLi: That’s a tough one! I love a good dive bar, where you can get an ice cold beer and a Sailor Jerry daiquiri, with decent tunes on the juke box. Bunny Jackson’s Juke Joint in Manchester is one of the best, so is Slim Jim’s Liquor store in Islington, London. But if you want something Tiki you cant go wrong in Smugglers Cove in Liverpool, tasty as hell!

HOC: Which women are doing great things in the food and drink industry at the moment?

EmmaLi: Rosey Mitchell recently won the Global Compass Box Whisky competition and is absolutely killing it in Three Sheets at the moment. Sasha Filimonov has taken over as the UK Hendrick’s Gin ambassador and is slaying it, and The Balvenie have just announced Kelsey McKechnie is beginning a prestigious Malt Master apprenticeship under David Stewart MBE. There’s too many more to mention!

HOC: What ambitions do you have for your future and Sailor Jerry’s – what’s coming up in the near future?

EmmaLi: This year we’ve been pretty busy already. We launched Jerry’s Open House for a month-long event in Glasgow, where we launched a new bottle design and have had a busy summer of events and going out to festivals to sample cocktails. We’ve still got more coming up, but as our festival season is winding down its time to start planning for next year. We’ve got some exciting stuff lined up!

HOC: Can you tell us about a recent ‘Girl Boss Moment’ you had in your work? i.e. an experience where you felt proud that you’d totally nailed it.

EmmaLi: This is trivial but for years I always wished I could open a beer without a bottle opener. Like when someone uses a lighter or a jigger or a spoon or really any flat solid object. I was super jealous when other people could do it.

Someone finally showed me how to do it, and now every single time I open a beer I feel like a boss. Especially when it surprises a guy. Especially if that guy had just offered to open my beer for me.

HOC: What’s your favourite drink with Sailor Jerry’s and can we have a cheeky recipe?

EmmaLi: I am a purist when it comes to my rum – so I love a well-balanced spiced daiquiri. Mix 2 shots of Sailor Jerry with 1 shot of lime juice and 1 shot of sugar syrup. Shake it with ice until it’s nice and chilled. Pour it into a martini glass, or serve it on the rocks if you like. You can add raspberries or flavoured syrups if you’re less of a purist! It couldn’t be simpler. Or a Jerry Loves Ginger is dead simple but tastes great. Mix 1 part Sailor Jerry with 3 parts ginger beer, squeeze in a lime wedge or two and top it up with ice. The ginger beer brings out the spices in the rum like vanilla and cinnamon, and the lime adds some zesty balance.

HOC: How can people follow what you are up to? Instagram / Twitter?

EmmaLi: @EmmaliStenhouse is where you’ll find all my shenanigans. And if you “like” the Sailor Jerry UK Facebook page you’ll see what we’re up to and how to get involved.

House of Coco had more gin (always gin, what’s with the gin?!) with the gorgeous Emma Soulsby of Ladybird Flowers , talking about flowers, making up origin stories and finding your passion. FYI, Gypsophila smells like wee #justsaying.

HOC: So it’s your first year doing flowers full time…tell us how this came about?

ES: Nearly 4 years ago, I turned the big 3-0 and was working in Finance, feeling that something wasn’t quite right. So, after a lot of soul searching I volunteered at my local florist, Phillo Flowers, every Saturday for about 5 months and set up a business Facebook page. At that moment in time it was just a creative outlet, which kept my brain and heart stimulated in a different way than my 9 to 5. Being behind a desk can be soul destroying for me, I feel a bit like a caged animal, which in turn was making me restless and unhappy.

Then I attended a week intense course with Tallulah Rose, from there I received more and more orders and set up my Instagram Account. I started to get orders and followers that weren’t my friends or my family. I used to call them ‘Real Brides’ not a friend of a friend of a friend. A real person!
Last year was my first full year doing weddings and I was working full time, it was pretty full on! I decided to drop a day (at work) then, at the end of last year, I took 5 weeks out and went to South Africa. I came back to hit this brand new year, full time Ladybird Flowers!

HOC: How did your family and colleagues react to this complete change?

ES: I’ve been extremely lucky. My friends and family have been unbelievably amazing and loving, but the people I was spending the most time with at that time were my colleagues. My boss was so supportive. She knew that I wouldn’t disrespect my job but she knew I needed this creative outlet to concentrate on my work. The others at work were great, this one guy introduced me to Appear Here and I had a week long pop up in Old Street station, because of this guy going “you need to see this, this is great!”

HOC: Did you do other creative things in your career, did you always have an outlet?

ES: Not really, I knew I wanted and needed to do something but had no idea what it was. It was torture trying to find it. It’s been amazing to find something that I actually want to do, I’ve never had that before. When I got it I just grabbed hold of it and I haven’t let it go. There are times when I have doubts, like anyone, but I’ve worked so hard to get here I know it’s going to work.

HOC: How did you decide to start working with flowers?

ES: I’ve always loved the outdoors and growing things. I was getting more and more drawn to florist shops. ‘Why not?!’ , I thought , ‘it sounds lovely, let’s try it out’. That’s why I volunteered at Phillo Flowers as I do have the tendency to try something and find it’s not immediately for me. Luckily both the ‘I can do this’ and the ‘I love this’ boxes were ticked.

If it hadn’t had worked I would have tried something else as I was becoming unhappy in my life as it was. I realise now that this is what it was – I needed a creative outlet. It was something I needed to do!
When I first started I wanted a shop, my focus wasn’t on the bridal world…now I’m not interested in getting a shop and I’m fully focused on weddings! The thing I love about it is the freedom I get meeting different people and working in some amazing venues and spaces. Although having a shop would be wonderful I’m still not ready to have that commitment.

HOC: How do your customers feel about your lean business approach?

ES: Being in the bridal world you create wonderful relationships with the couples, from the start of their journey, right to the end. The journey could be years long or just a week! Normally it’s about 6-12 months. Within the service I provide on the day I also set out any additional items, such as candles, to save the couples having any unnecessary stresses. It’s wonderful knowing what the couple’s vision is and doing all I can to help on the day.

HOC: That sounds great, is this a common thing that florists do?

ES: Because I’ve taken so long to find something that makes my heart sing, I put so much love into it. I’m not taking over the wedding planner, I’m just overseeing the couple’s vision and making sure that everything is exactly as they envisioned. I just make sure my service is at the highest level and unique to every couple.

I think you can always learn from other creatives and it’s good to know who your competitors are. That said, I don’t see other florists as a competition, I see people I aspire to. In floristry there are so many unique suppliers, it’s their style the couples choose and it’s creative collaboration.
In terms of my style, I think that Mother Nature is beautiful and I don’t think we should mess with her too much. My aesthetic is like when you run through a field and skip up all the flowers – except it takes a lot of work to create that look! I like my flowers to look rustic and natural. I also like playing with textures and clashing colours, I like things to be different.

HOC: So, finally how does it feel running Ladybird Flowers full-time?

ES: It can be quite scary at times, it’s the first time I haven’t had a regular wage, It’s just me! But something I’ve learnt is I have to do something that makes my heart sing and this is it! I love my job so much, I can’t even call it a job, it’s my creative life! It’s a big ball of love!

We then continue to ramble about lilies smelling like death, swap alt fragrance tips (Bella Freud FTW!) and drool over the idea of succulents as wedding flowers. Check this lady out for all your nature loving decor!

We’ve all seen the excellent truth meme ‘ Behind every successful woman is a group text hyping her up’, well I’d like to add that there’s likely a Victoria from VJW Communications (vjwcommunications.co.uk), there too.

Entrepreneurship is a hard road and one that not everyone is cut out for. At the early stages of your business you’ll likely be bootstrapping (funding your business by yourself) and unable to take on members of staff to help you with anything from accounting, securing premises right to PR and personal branding. This is where Victoria steps in, working with female founders, from launch to set powerful foundations and set them up for success…

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bg4uLQOnc1D/?hl=en&taken-by=britandco

HOC: Hey Victoria, tell us a bit about your company and what you do?

Victoria: My company is VJW Communications which I set up in 2014 and Ispecialise in working with women in business and female founders who are about to launch a business or are in the early/mid launch phase. I support them on their journey from start up to success through one on one consultancy sessions in PR and personal branding.

My aim is to provide a powerful service which allows them to access and up-level their knowledge in these areas in an accessible way. After our time together, they walk away with clarity, insight and actionable steps which they can take in their business right away.

HOC: Sounds amazing and so needed as it really is a minefield when you start out! How do you tend to work with your clients?

Victoria: Having previously worked as a traditional publicist I found that as the start-up scene was changing and the number of female founders rising, that there was a need to support these women with consultancy and mentoring which really focused on a one on one bespoke service. Every business is different and every founder has a different story to tell so I think it’s important to work with someone who can really hone in on that and show you how to communicate it effectively.

The female founders that I have worked with come to me because they know that PR and personal branding is effective but they are seeking the knowledge so they can implement the basics themselves. PR for example is still seen as a bit of a dark art and I show clients how to put the building blocks in place themselves in order to achieve great results without outsourcing to an agency which isn’t always financially viable. I think a consultancy service works especially well for founders and start-ups because they need to be able to be at the forefront of their business and understand how to promote and communicate what they do. It also helps to have that knowledge of communications in preparation for business growth

I offer 60-90 minute Ignite sessions and then my signature programme called Brand You which shows you how to create and build a successful personal brand.

HOC: Why is supporting female founders so important for you?

Victoria: I think having made the move myself to self-employment and having a first-hand experience of the challenges and struggles of setting up a business, I wanted to be able to support women who were also making the leap. This has always been and continues to be my motivation. It’s rewarding to see the difference you can make not only to their business but also to their mind-set and confidence and how they view themselves as a founder. I work with many women who struggle with being visible in their business even though they want to be, they just don’t feel comfortable with the exposure.

I do believe that male and female business owners think and behave differently but I also think that we go into business for different reasons and this in turn affects how we “do” business. We also face different obstacles from the world itself and women for example are still fighting for their place in many industries which are traditionally very male dominated.

This said, I think the UK is a great place to be a female entrepreneur and the sands are shifting in terms of the resources available to support women in business, even if it is still tough to get funding. Certainly, in the bigger cities like London and Manchester there has been a huge growth in events, networks and co working clubs and spaces geared specifically towards women who are on the entrepreneurial journey.

I think it’s an exciting time to be a founder and if I can play a part and contribute even in small way to someone else’s success, then that’s amazing!

HOC: An incredible mission! Where did this all start for you, have you always worked in this field?

Victoria: Not at all! I started out in fashion retail in Leeds working for Russell and Bromley as I had always loved fashion and love the buzz of the shop floor and working with customers but I wanted to do something more business focused so this led me to a degree in International Fashion Marketing at Manchester Metropolitan University.

During my degree, I realised that it was more the communications side of the industry that I enjoyed so I worked hard on doing lots of placements in local agencies in Manchester to build up my experience. After I graduated I was fortunate to land a Marketing & PR Manager role with an up and coming celebrity chef in the city and I was involved in the early days of launching his career which included promoting his first cook book, restaurant and cookery school.

With my love of food and also travel I then went to work for a travel PR agency and was leading on a number of accounts for some beautiful properties in the UK and Europe hosting press trips and working on strategy and implementation. Following this a game changing opportunity arose for me to go and work in house to head up the marketing at a golf & spa resort in Cheshire which was about to go through a multi-million-pound redevelopment and rebrand with the opening of a luxury hotel. I was part of the pre-opening team and we won two marketing awards during my time there.

After three years in the role I decided that freelance life was for me and began working with local start-ups in the bridal, food and event before I launched myself as a full-time consultant and mentor!

HOC: It’s so refreshing to hear about your journey so far, there always seems to be so much pressure on knowing what you want from the word go but it’s so often an evolution! You work a lot on personal brand, why is this so important to you?

Victoria: Whatever sector you are in, the business world is competitive and we are all looking to gain visibility in a crowded marketplace. Throw in the noise of the digital world, where most marketing now takes place, the rise of the influencer and massive growth of social media and you have to really think smart about how you can make yourself stand out and be memorable. We all know that people buy people so you have to be confident in what you stand for and be able to articulate your expertise. Reputation is everything!

Focusing on your personal brand as a founder and putting in the time to build it in an authentic and consistent way I think gives you a distinct advantage. I think it is actually a bit of a secret weapon in that if you approach it in the right way you can really create so many organic opportunities for you and your business. The theory behind personal branding isn’t new but most people still focus on their business brand first and their personal brand sort of runs along in the background without much thought.

I actually think it should be the other way around. If you already have a strong personal brand before you launch your business you have built the foundations and network to support you in the all-important early days of your business launch. Once you start building it you have commit to growing it, tweaking it and shaping it as your business journey develops.

HOC: Super interesting, we have seen a real shift in the way small businesses we champion at House of Coco market themselves – talking more in the first person, less smoke-and-mirrors around what they are doing…

Victoria: I think it depends on the type of business you are running. It is a lot easier to make a shift from the royal ‘we’ to being honest that it’s just you if you are a single service provider like a coach or a nutritionist for example because you ARE your business so there is no “we” as such. You have to be happy to be visible in order to sell your service, plus there isn’t a bigger company brand to hide behind.

I think as founder, irrelevant of the business type, you need to get to a point where you feel comfortable in creating visibility around yourself and your story. Working through a personal branding process can help you to do that because you get really clear on who you are, what your USP’s are and what you bring to your business and to the audience you are trying to connect with.

You have to dig deep to define all these things and that passion alone will support you in stepping up. The biggest problem I see female founders facing is lack of confidence. Whether that is around getting an initial idea off the ground, giving a talk or workshop of promoting themselves in the media.

One of my favourite quotes is by Eleanor Roosevelt and I think it is sound advice for anyone running a business. “Do one thing every day that scares you.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/BRsvuWHhmrp/?epik=0a2HJEvIWX2Fx

Find out more about Victoria’s work over vjwcommunications.co.uk

This week House of Coco caught up with inspirational multi-potentialite Louise Chunn who is the creator of Welldoing.org , a marketplace for therapists that is opening up access to wellbeing support. We talked becoming an entrepreneur later in life, Palo Alto and removing the stigma around therapy.

HOC: Wonderful to speak with you Louise. You are a ‘Girl Boss’ working in an incredibly important space, can you tell us about Welldoing.org?

LC: Thanks for having me. Welldoing.org in a nutshell is a marketplace for therapists. It matches people looking for therapy with the right therapist. We do this through first diagnosing what is going on with a conversational questionnaire rather than something clinical and medical. Essentially, if you are seeking a counsellor or a therapist, you should be able to find the right person for you on the platform. Looking for a therapist can be very overwhelming; there are 100s of different styles of counselling and often when people are looking for a counsellor they are in some form of extreme situation.

The platform is simple to use; at the end of the day no-one should have to understand every last thing about the counselling process. You go to therapists for help and finding the right one shouldn’t be a traumatic experience! Too often people are put off by the jargon and huge array of therapists. We break it down by focusing on the main problem through asking the right questions to understand the immediate situation rather than make things confusing.

HOC: It’s such an amazing platform. What inspired you to create it?

LC: I have had my own experiences with looking for a therapist and finding the whole thing very stressful. At the time [that I thought about creating this platform] I was editing Psychologies magazine and I was looking for the next step. While I hadn’t worked in tech I had been overseeing website development at Good Housekeeping and Psychologies but it’s not a movement I’ve grown up with so I had to learn!

HOC: Do you identify with the ‘tech entrepreneur’ label?

LC: I definitely identify with it now. In fact, I was lucky enough to be invited into a course at Google on a pilot scheme for entrepreneurs at Campus, London for Founders Over 50. There were about 9 of us and that was the first step for me into that type of community. I remember fearing that I would feel out of place but we were all welcomed and supported each other. From there I dived into the tech world and I won the only British place at an event in Palo Alto called BlackBox where I heard the most amazing and inspiring people speak!

HOC: Palo Alto seems such an intriguing place. What was your experience of your time there, did being a woman or older than other entrepreneurs impact on your experience?

LC: They do have a real drive on female entrepreneurs but there were 19 of us in our group and only 3 were female. What characterised the majority of the group is that they were male and also young, with no family responsibilities. They could live their lives completely immersed in their business. I still have one child living at home, the other ladies had 3 and 4, respectively. In our situations, just going to the course was a more complex arrangement!

I would say there are advantages to becoming an entrepreneur when you are older. You understand what motivates people and how they behave. You also understand the world better and know what is likely to go wrong. I find that you are less willing to risk things; let’s be honest you have fewer rolls of the dice left! You think long and hard about what you are going to do; it’s never a casually whipped up idea.

On the other hand, you see a lot of the opposite with young men in tech – they are perfectly prepared to walk away. When you talk to some people in Silicon Valley, especially slightly older people, you understand that success will take some time. During BlackBox one of the speakers addressed this asking whether we were all prepared to give five years of our life, five years of our youth to our businesses. It can also be financially hard for younger entrepreneurs; when you are young and you are not earning money, that’s tough. When you are older you may have some savings behind you and you have far more contacts.

HOC: It’s great to hear that as I think many people think that they have ‘missed the boat’ if they didn’t set up their businesses in their early twenties! You are very right to flag up the stresses of being an entrepreneur…

LC: I’ve actually been reading about mental health and entrepreneurs and a high proportion [of entrepreneurs] do have mental health issues like Aspergers, ADHD, learning problems, depression and anxiety. In fact, these experiences can make them into good entrepreneurs. A more average person would look at the long hours and think ‘I’ll just go and get a job’! I think it’s a little dangerous that being an entrepreneur is trendy at the moment; it’s not for everyone and you have to really want it to have a chance to succeed.

HOC: We couldn’t agree more. Where do you go for support?

LC: I have a few mentors; one is Suzanne Nobel, a woman I met at the Founders over 50 course. She’s further along on her entrepreneurial journey and suggests new opportunities and things I can try out.

Other than mentors I find the events at Campus London and General Assembly to be of great help. I also read a lot which helps me keep my energy up between events. I heard about this House of Coco series through Ada’s List which is an online networking group for women in tech. I feel it’s a lot like the ‘Women in Journalism’ group that I co-founded when I worked in journalism when there weren’t enough senior women in publications or enough representation of women. Ada’s List is really interactive and great for getting you up to speed with events or advice for recruiting new team members. My impression is that’s it’s really international and youthful. While it’s a tech network many of the women are like me and ‘non-tech’ as we are not developers and don’t code; it’s great to see the conversations and feel part of it all.

HOC: How do you run Welldoing.org; do you have a team around you?

LC: To start with it was just me and I’ve recently brought on a business development co-founder, and he’s made a big difference. We also have a full-time assistant and part-time developer. At the moment we work from my home in North West London. We had been working one day a week in the Google cafe where we were surrounded by other entrepreneurs but it got to a point that we were inspired enough and needed our own space!

We’ve been going for just over two years and we’re one of only two directories who are linked to from the NHS Choices website, which was a giant step for us! Sourcing the therapists for the directory was difficult and, as we didn’t have budget for outsourcing, we had to build it ourselves.

HOC: Having that seal of approval from the NHS must be amazing. What’s next for Welldoing.org?

LC: As your business builds you realise that your level of responsibility grows too, which is very exciting. Even though I’ve run 5 magazines this is all new to me! For me it’s really important that we’re public facing and we’re helping access to therapy; everything we do is around that.

We would like the platform to be able to look after booking and payment, we’re all about giving you much quicker access to seeing a therapist. We could also broaden the directory into other similar areas like life coaching and other mind and body support. The platform is a way to normalise the process of therapy and also get more therapists to use tech to support their businesses. Technology benefits both the therapists and users of the platform as both sides can easily manage payments and bookings.

It would be great if the NHS could cope with everything that people needed for mental health but we’re a way off that. The ideal would be if therapy was normalised so it was like paying a gym membership or going out for a regular Nando’s. A preconception with therapy is that it’s something you need to do for years and years. Seeing someone for even a short time can help and your life can be improved without huge expense. What many people don’t know is that 90% of our therapists offer concessions to people with lower incomes and benefits to people who can pay upfront – there are all kinds of things available. We all need to learn to speak up and say what we want ; if we find the therapist we are seeing isn’t working for us we need to be comfortable enough to say so and make a change. It’s a special relationship and is important to get right. With Welldoing.org I would like to be focused on improving access to therapy as much as expanding the platform itself.

HOC: It has been amazing to speak with you, Louise and we’re big fans of your mission to open up access to therapy and general wellbeing support.

LC: Thanks, it has been great to share our story. At the crux of it we want people to know that there are people who have benefited greatly from speaking with therapists, without being in extreme circumstances. Many people find great help in speaking with someone about how empty life can feel, work pressures or relationships. Therapy can benefit many people; it’s not necessarily just for deep rooted problems or needed for a long time.

Here at House of Coco we’re on a mission to not only inspire but also support our readers to achieve everything that their heart desires. If you would like to find out more about overcoming wellbeing challenges that you or a loved one might be facing and to access the free of charge directory please visit www.welldoing.org .

Co-founded by best friends, Shireen Juma and Lee-Anne Solomons, The Heraia (The Her-ai-yah)is an activewear brand made by women for women. The name ‘Heraia’ was inspired by the first ever recorded women’s athletic competition, held back in 6th century B.C. The competition was made up of sixteen fierce female athletes, and held in honour of the goddess Hera.

Today, this powerful inspiration translates into The Heraia. Successfully launched last November, their sleek monochromatic activewear exudes the same quiet strength and confidence that those early Olympians represented, but for the modern woman. We catch up with Shireen Juma and Lee-Anne Solomons and talk about their journey into becoming full fledged Girl Bosses, and how their friendship has lifted them up along the way.

Tell us a little bit about yourself and your background, what inspired you to start THE HERAIA?

We have been best friends since we were little and have grown up with similar interests and values. I (Shireen) have built a long career in HR within financial services and have a more of a business background, while Lee-Anne’s focus and vast experience has been in Fashion andBuying. About 3 years ago I was made redundant which lead us to reflect on our life choices. Lee-Anne and I were having a tea and natter in bed one day (as best friends do lol) when we started discussing what we would do instead of our ‘traditional’ careers. We decided we both would love to try and start our own project and ‘The Heraia’ was born. We chose activewear as we both enjoy taking time to focus on our fitness and wellbeing.

Lee-Anne actually got made redundant a short while after that and so we had some time to put some of the wheels in motion before we both went back to work. We pumped our redundancy money into the business and we haven’t had any outside investment as of yet. 

We have worked so hard (while working full time jobs, because the bills keep coming even when you are trying to build an empire lol) to try and build a brand and finally launched last November. So we run The Heraia evenings and weekends and have tough day jobs too.

Lee-Anne and I do everything; from design, fabric and trim selection and development, to working with the factories to produce the garments, to finances and marketing, and also managing social media. We do it all —just the 2 of us. Although we are lucky to be surrounded by an amazing group of friends and family that have supported us from day one.

Where did the inspiration for the name THE HERAIA came from?

We actually spent a long time thinking of our brand name and we originally landed on different name. Then Lee-Anne came across a really cool article about what was essentially the first women’s Olympic event — it was held in honor of the goddess Hera and the event was thus called ‘The Heraia’.

The Heraia was the first recorded women’s athletic competition held at Olympia in the sixth Century BC. 16 amazing women ran races in honour of the goddess Hera. The winners were crowned with olive branches and legend says they were then blessed with strength from the goddess herself — this is the vision that we want to express through our brand.

Where do you get the inspiration for your designs?

We want create activewear to last, for women, by women. We are not about fast fashion and instead are more focused on quality, the best construction, and finishing. We handpicked the finest fabric, created bespoke luxury trims, and tried to create a chic and modern collection that will make women feel amazing. We have tried to be super thoughtful about shape, support, and silhouette and tried to consider every detail. (Even down to the gusset to eliminate the dreaded camel toe!)

Our style is simple yet stylish and we went for a monochrome palette. We made sure the black stay black no matter how much you wash them. So we really have tried to think of everything and create a product women can love and wear over and over again.

We also tried to create product that you’d be happy and comfortable to wear in life and not just at the gym. So you can mix and match or dress certain things up or get them super sweaty in a workout.We also chose to support local and manufacture in the UK.

What advice do you have for women who would like to become a GirlBoss like yourself?

SJ: We are still growing and learning all the time and our business is still very small, but we have certainly learned some important lessons along the way. My advice would be to start building your brand early, even before you have a finished product. As soon as we decided on our brand name we started to think about what we stood for and what our brand ethos and aesthetic would be. We started to build our following from day 1,so that people could buy in and begin to understand what we were about as quickly as possible. I think we now have a clear brand identity and that we are unapologetically us. We are all about girls supporting girls and honouring other women just as they are — whether you go smash workouts everyday or drink wine and eat pizza in your undies. We understand the importance of balance and created a collection with that in mind too. Something for everyone.

LS: My advice would be to try and stay positive even when things don’t seem to be going your way. People will inevitably let you down (sometimes in a major way) but try and stay focused on what you are trying to build and why you are doing what you do. Take a moment to feel the feelings (its ok to be upset or angry or frustrated) but always learn from it and keep going. We are friends first and foremost, so we always try and be kind to each other and remember that everything comes from a good place. When you are as close as sisters, its easy to lose patience with each other, or when you’re tired and over worked you can read a short email or text message the wrong way. On top of The Heraia, we naturally each have our own personal stress from high pressured day jobs or just life. So we actually need to just sit down and remind each other that we are ALWAYS on each others’ sides. When in doubt, we always try to remember the best in each other and assume the most positive intention.

What has been the biggest challenge you have faced as an entrepreneur so far?

We have honestly come up against every possible challenge and speed bump in existence. It’s been tough. People who over-promise and under-deliver, end up completely setting our process back. Creating so much extra work as well as wasting so much time and money. We didn’t have a lot to begin with so small loses/let downs actually feel like a big blow. We have persevered though and we see it as a learning curve.

We’ve had wobbles and tears, but of course we’ve had wins. Ultimately we are so proud of what we have been able to achieve on our own and that we have been able to launch product that we’re proud of this past November. Small business, Big dreams!

WWW.THEHERAIA.COM

As we move towards the end of 2018, the world is a strange place but there are glimmers of real hope and activism, especially concerned with environmental issues. This festive season everyone we know is increasingly aware of the waste created from unwanted presents, fast fashion and that evergreen-evil plastic but, if you are gifting jewellery this year, have you thought about how ethical it is?

We caught up with Arabel Lebrusan, founder of the eponymous ethical jewellery brand arabellebrusan.com to learn more about ethical jewellery, creativity and new year’s resolutions.

HOC: Tell us about your journey to creating your brand, Arabel?

AL: My background is in fashion jewellery and accessories and I have worked for many years between the Philippines, Hong Kong and Europe. These experiences have allowed me to explore trends, cultural heritage and local techniques, but at the same time to learn from the fast paced commercial aspects of fashion jewellery. It wasn’t all a bed of roses, as this opportunity of travelling and visiting jewellery factories also showed me some of the darker sides of the jewellery industry and its practices. When I made the jump to fine jewellery, I wanted to have a more ethical jewellery approach, which lead to me focusing on making the jewellery world in itself, more ethical.

HOC: What is ‘ethical jewellery’ and what do we need to know about it?

AL: Ethical jewellery is jewellery that has been created respecting the earth and everyone on it. It is a simple concept but with incredible life changing repercussions. For me, the first step is always to know from start to finish, the whole “life” of that jewel.From the very beginning, where those materials come from, to how it was made and how it gets sold.

Ethical jewellery is made with materials that have been mined under sustainable standards (like Fairtrade and Fairmined Gold) and everyone and everything involved in their production has been treated respectfully – including the earth – as well as being paid a fair wage. Ethical jewellery is then manufactured sustainably, where the craftsmen and craftswoman responsible for creating the jewellery have been treated fairly and are proud of their creations.

To finish, ethical jewels are sold under a responsible brand that is fully transparent and communicates accurately this wonderful story to their customers. A jewellery brand, such as ours, who is leading the way on how to do things better in jewellery, how to source responsibly, and how to tell the story only using the truth. We don’t use ethics as the latest branding tool, or the latest fashion, but we use ethics because we care and we want to make the world a better place.

All in all, ethical jewellery is the most beautiful jewellery inside and out.

HOC: How did you come to doing a TED talk on this subject?

AL: I have been campaigning about ethics in the jewellery world for more than 10 years, and I was approached by TEDx Bedford, where I lived at that time, to talk about it. I was incredibly honoured to be asked, and I thought it would be a great opportunity to spread the word about the things that needed changing within this industry. Consumers don’t tend to know that there is even a problem with jewellery production, and the TED talk format allowed me to create a direct but thoughtful presentation to expose the issues in a gentle way.

HOC: Did you train as a jeweller?

AL: Yes, I was trained as a jeweller in Spain. After I finished my Gemmology degree at the university in Madrid, I thought it would be great to complement it with some jewellery training, so I went on to do a 3-year jewellery course. It was a very old-fashioned training program, taught by retired jewellers that had a wealth of knowledge. I spent 3 years at the bench, 6 hours a day, 5 days a week. We learnt from the very basic skills of cutting and soldering to advance mechanism for clasps and even how to make articulated diamond tennis bracelets by hand. Then, after working in the industry for 8 years, I went on to do my Masters at Central Saint Martins, in London, which really reinforced my jewellery design skills and style.

HOC: What is your favourite piece and why?

AL: It has to be my latest bespoke creation, a pair of Tahitian black pearl and sapphire earrings. It has a little bit of everything I love. They are made with ethical gold and blue sapphires, it includes some filigree work, made by an expert artisan in Spain and it has 2 gorgeous Tahitian black pearls which I have personally sourced from a small pearl farm in French Polynesia. It’s a piece that combines traditional techniques, excellent quality and ethical materials; my signature style

HOC: How do you keep your creativity flowing?

AL: I make sure I spend time “in the bubble”. This is time (2-3 hours) where I forget about emails, responsibilities, interruptions, and I concentrate on my design process. I need to be alone with my inspirational images from sourcing trips, fashion catwalks, historical snapshots or whatever theme I’m busy with, and my sketchbook. This is the time to draw and dream, to make unexpected connections between images and to create the world of Arabel Lebrusan. This world is full of textures, deep colours, is very feminine and embedded with traces of history mixed with contemporary fashion.

HOC: Can you tell us about a recent ‘Girl Boss’ moment?

AL: I have just created this amazing engagement ring for a client, with a 1.5ct diamond. When I asked him how he came to choose me instead of other designers (two actually very famous ones), he said that he really had a connection with me, loved the designs that I showed him, and was inspired by the wonderful customer experience.

HOC: Do you believe in New Year’s Resolutions and – if yes, what’s yours for 2019?

AL: Yes I do! It’s always a good time to reflect on the past year (the good, the bad, and the ugly) and to things about the new one coming. For me this year will have to be ‘do less’ and ‘settle down in Brighton’. We have just moved here and we are still very busy with practical things, so I need to streamline and do what is ‘important’ instead of the ‘urgent’.

Born in Västerås Sweden, Maya Njie (pronounced ‘Maia En-jai’) moved to London in her late teens. Her background lies in surface design and photography, which she studied at the University of the Arts London. To further communicate her work, she began experimenting with the sense of smell as an added medium. Inspired by an old family photo album from the decades before her birth, Maya set out to capture, by way of scent, these moments in time, these tropes of familial life, set within their frames.

It was these stories that lead her to launch her own company, which initially started out as a company. A creative at heart, Maya has been on the journey of entrepreneurship and has been learning on the job. She now gets to enjoy the sweet smell of success and here, she chats to us more about her brand, plans for the future and more…

Maya, tell us about the journey that lead you to where you are today.

I moved to London from Sweden in the late nineties and spent a fair few years working in retail management. After having my daughter and as a mature student, I decided to study Surface Design at University of the Arts to change my career and it unexpectedly led me down the path of perfumery.

You have a Swedish and West African mix, what was life like growing up for you?

Sweden is where I grew up and spent my childhood so its where I consider home to be. Being of mixed heritage in a fairly small Swedish town during that time did make me stand out somewhat. Sweden is a multi cultural place in some aspects but it wasn’t until I moved to London that I felt like I was blending in more. Here I really got the feel for what other cultures had to offer, I still do and I love that.

Did you always know you would be entrepreneurial?

No, not really. I always knew I was creative rather than academic but I didn’t know to pursue it as a career until my late twenties. I have always felt that London has ample opportunity in that way, there is more scope to test out different paths and ‘find your calling’ if you like. Perfumery very much started as a hobby and I feel like I was pushed into it business wise. Friends (and strangers alike) would not take no for an answer when I didn’t want to share my blends – and here we are!

Where do you hope to be in 5 years time?

I think it’s fair to say that I am wearing too many hats at the moment, as many entrepreneurs do. When I look ahead I hope to have a strong team of people pushing the business forwards, this will allow me to reach further afield and expand my range. I have also recently teamed up with brands such as Charles Heidsieck and Carhartt WIP for multi sensory experiences and will continue to work collaboratively within the realms of scent. Even thou perfume slots into the world of beauty in terms of industries, it’s important for me to work artistically and cross into other territories too.

Looking back, is there anything you would do differently

It would be to not compare myself to the big brands out there on the market and to believe more in my own creative path. I have always told personal stories through my scents but sharing their actual visual starting points in forms of my family photographs took a while. We are all familiar with the classic perfume campaigns and not having access to that made me insecure at first I think. But once I started to visually align my heritage to the perfumes, it felt more natural to me, and to others too.

What has been your career highlight to date?

Since starting my business I have had my heart set on being stocked in Liberty. I have been visiting their perfume hall for the past 15 years at least. To have been asked to come on board as a ‘Liberty Exclusive’ is huge for me and a definitive highlight so far.

Tell us about a recent BossBabe moment

Recently my 11 year old daughter told me how proud she is of my business and at the same time gave me ‘props’ for being a good mother . Out of all the challenges I have come across with my business, that work / life balance is probably the hardest thing to get right. Letting other women know that they are doing a great job and giving them a push in the right direction can help more than you think – always support that.

What does 2020 look like for you

I currently do everything from designing to production and so will be scaling up my team going forward. I’ll be hosting more Bespoke Perfume Workshops and I will continue to explore other products to add to the range when the time is right. Further expansion onto the international market is in motion too.

Where can people find out more

Find out more via:

www.mayanjie.com

instagram @maya.njie.perfumes twitter @MayaNjiePerfume

Well hello ladies and gentlemen, call yourself Feminists? Well of course you do, and if you don’t, take a read of ‘How To Build A Girl’ By Caitlin Moran and realise that its not a dirty word, just a label for common sense.

As the name of this post suggests we are proud to introduce our new series Girl Bosses of Great Britain where we will be featuring girls doing it for themselves, self employed ladies and those who run their own businesses. A lot has been written (and incredibly well, see ‘Lean In’) about women in corporate roles and hitting the glass ceiling in the City but there is less to be consumed about the alternative route to personal success for women; by being a business owner.

GBOGB is taking a little from the fantastic HONY, showcasing fantastic women doing their thing and sharing a little insight into their worlds and advice on how you too could explore doing it for yourself. We will also be sharing more in-depth interviews with the fantastic spirits we meet, inspiration to keep you going and other great sources for information.

Talking about sources for inspiration you have read the bible from which we have pinched our name, right? #GirlBoss by Nasty Gal founder Sophia Amoruso? If not, grab it now, get inspired and we’ll see you for our next instalment on Monday.

For general bad-a vibes check out our social channels and the #GBOGB hashtag for more…