Chloe Rann is the founder of Boxed Sized Hugs, the exact brand that we all need to bring a little bit of joy in to our lives. A University dropout, Chloe is the exact type of woman that we turn to here at House of Coco when we are looking for inspiration and ready to level up in life. From suffering with mental health to growing a wildly successful business from her bedroom, if Chloe Rann isn’t on your radar, you’re doing something wrong.
We spent some time with her to find out more…
Tell us about the journey that lead you to launching your brand Box Sized Hugs…
From packing boxes in my bedroom, to turning over 6 figures within the first few months, it has been one crazy journey.
I am a strong believer that everything happens for a reason, at the right time in your life for you. After dropping out of university and not knowing my purpose or plan I was scared to go against societies expectations and conformities, you know, the journey where you get good grades, go to university, get a good job, then work for 50 years just trying to get by.
I hit a real low and struggled immensely with my mental health as I knew that I had bigger dreams and expectations for myself.
It took a long time, but I finally started accepting where I was and decided to start working on my intentions and my bigger ‘purpose’. After working on myself, learning who I was and who I wanted to be, Box Sized Hugs was born from my bedroom, I had an idea and an intention to make the world a slightly happier place during Covid 19. I don’t really believe in luck, but I feel as though when I launched this business something started aligning in my life and I quickly started to believe this would be something big.
What has been the biggest learning curve since launching the business?
My biggest learning curve throughout this journey, has been to trust my own boundaries and intuition. One of the hardest things that a lot of business owners may agree with me on, is when you’re in the process of building a team, it is really hard to differentiate between being a friend and being a boss. For me, I have always thought of myself as wanting to be there for everyone and being kind, understanding.
However, I quickly learnt that some employees could take advantage of my kindness or act a certain way. This lead to me having to quickly learn how to have difficult conversations and trust that as a CEO, I have the businesses and employee’s best intentions at heart, but I would not stand for certain things.
I would always advise any business owner that they need to do the internal work on finding out who they are and what they will settle for. Once you are really clear on who you want to be and your intentions, then everything can start aligning and becoming clearer for you.
You’re very open about your personal journey with mental health and you have partnered with Mind, why was this important to you?
Everyone, at some point in their life, will struggle with their mental health. Depression and anxiety are at an all time high and we need to be able to speak out to try and crush the stigma around feeling a certain way. As I have experienced both the empty hopelessness of depression and the constant buzz of anxiety, I feel I have a responsibility to share and connect with people, to show them that I am able to come out the other side with a bang and so can they. It is still a constant battle though, I wake up and have bad days but it is learning to accept that I am feeling a certain way and moving forward. To try and make the loving voice in my head so much louder than the negative.
There are multiple mental health charities that are currently doing amazing work, trying to raise awareness and be there for people when they don’t even have the words to describe how they feel. I believe these charities and even the NHS are one of the reasons I was able to get through a dark time in my life and they should be celebrated and supported due to their constant efforts. That is why donating a proportion of my profits to these charities will always be of utmost importance to me.
Who’s involved in the brand and what roles do they play?
I have quickly been able to build a great team due to the rapid growth of Box Sized Hugs. I am extremely grateful to my wonderful boyfriend who helped start this Box Sized Hugs journey with me and helped me create a dream that I didn’t even know was possible. When it comes to business and growth we really are a team and even now when I own 100% of shares in the business, he will still go above and beyond to help us grow.
My friends and family have always been there for me, offering support, comfort and excitement, to feel this journey with me.
Again, I would not be able to do what I do without my employees, they work so hard and to such a high quality that I can really trust them in creating a strong brand. Recently, we signed a huge deal with an online retailer where they ordered 20,000 boxes from us, and my employee’s have nearly finished packing the 20,000 to such a high standard.
What advice would you offer to anyone wanting to become an entrepreneur?
My advice would be, only do it if you can commit. If you can handle everything going wrong all at once and still being able to see the light at the end of the tunnel. When something goes wrong, you cannot get upset, you must always have the mindset that there is a solution. You must constantly be working on yourself because I am a strong believer that being an entrepreneur is a mindset above anything else.
You have to be willing to grow, to fail, to make mistakes and to constantly get back up. It is hard, but it is so rewarding and exciting. There are honestly no ceilings with being an entrepreneur, the sky is the limit, you can grow to heights you never would have thought were possible.
Looking back since launching the brand, is there anything you would do differently?
I would say no, because I trust in the situations and my journey. I think everything has happened for a reason and the only reason I am who I am today is because of everything that has happened during this journey. It has all unfolded in the way it should have, to bring me to where I am now.
Talk us through an average day in your life…
Everyday is different! But I tend to get into work around 8, get everything planned out for the day, go down into the workshop and make sure my employees know what they are doing for today and targets we are aiming to hit. Then back up to the office to do all the work that goes into running a business, meetings with my accountant, brand building, forecasting, organizing pallet collections and deliveries, creating new ideas, working with other business owners and the general damage control as there will always be something going wrong!
One of the great things about having a team that you trust is I may be able to slip off for a cheeky afternoon tea as and when as well!
How much has social media played a role in the success of your brand?
HUGE! Social media has been our biggest driving force when coming to sales. The majority of our sales come through Facebook/Google Ads, as well as large retailers contacting us through different social platforms. It is also a great way to connect with many of the brands we work with and to share inspiration and ideas.
Our readers love to travel, what destination is at the top of your bucket list?
Like everyone I have been dreaming about travelling again after over a year in lockdown! My next number one destination is Barbados or Bali!
What is your go-to quote when lacking motivation?
I still feel that sense of fear that exciting buzz in my chest that knows I am constantly taking risks with my career and my life. I like to remind myself daily that:
“If your dreams don’t scare you, they’re too small”
What’s next for the business?
Since signing a deal with a large online retailer, we are looking to push the supplier side of things as well as we continue to grow and build a reputable brand. I also have a few exciting projects and businesses launching this year, that I am very excited about!
What does self care mean to you?
Self-care to me, means looking after the internal you. Yes self-care may also mean looking after your skin, hair etc. But for me it means caring for your soul, feeding your inner world each day with positivity and connecting to the greater why.
Where can people find out more?
Visit our website www.boxsizedhugs.co.uk or follow us on socials @boxsizedhugs
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