Your questions, answered!

What do cellars and 'that space under the stairs' have in common? Both are places that Alice Rivers-Cripps developed her incredible brand, Posh Totty Designs, before the company found its home in Brighton! Alice's journey into the world of jewellery started in Mexico, when she found a passion, and developed further when she started stamping silver in a way that hadn't been seen before. Although traditional silversmiths thought she was crazy using stamps on precious metals, not only did people 'get' it, they loved it to the point that the business has been able to scale and now employs around 50 members of staff - how incredible is that! Alice is a huge inspiration- passionate, talented, and adoring of her customers, her creations, and her team. On this episode, she also shares where she got the brand's name from, an incredible collaboration, and so much more.

Over the last few weeks, I've received some lovely emails saying that I've been nominated for awards. Brilliant, you might think- and you're right- but two of them had a sting in the tail. If I filled in the entry form and pressed 'submit', I HAD to agree that if I made it to shortlist phase, I would definitely pay to attend the awards. And some awards have very long shortlists. The tickets plus transport and hotel ran to hundreds of pounds, and I'd have to go back on projects committed to in order to enter. Which didn't seem right to me.  Don't get my wrong, I know it costs money to run awards. And I know that award dinners cost money, but this pay to play concept feels odd to me. Especially when it's a sneaky pay to play. And that's what I talk about in today's podcast. I love being able to say I'm multi award winning, and there are some incredible awards out there (huge shout out to Digital Women and Enterprise Nation!), but some have hidden costs that run into many hundreds. And then you have to ask yourself... is it worth it? Is the potential accolade worth the cost in time and money? I'd love your thoughts... here are mine on paying to enter awards, and hidden costs too...

It feels like forever since we chatted, but this week, after the AMAZING interviews I've shared as part of the You've Got This book launch, I'm back- just me! To ease me back into 'normal' podcasts again, I took the suggestion of a fab follower (thank you Ceandice aka Main Tax Co!) and threw open the question box on Instagram. And now, I'm answering your burning questions. How did I get the publishing deal? What's next? How did I get into this line of work? Where did it start? Did I go to university?! I answer all the questions - there's no gatekeeping. If you've listened for a while, you'll know there never is! Anyway- I hope you enjoy it- it feels weird to be chatting to everyone again like the pre book times, doesn't it?! I hope you love it. It's great to be back!

Siobhan Miller, founder of The Positive Birth Company, found herself supporting women all over the world after her own traumatic birth experience led her to hypnobirthing, and changed her professional direction too! Siobhan worked in marketing before her second child came along. She'd already decided she wanted to change career and had gone back to university to study for a Masters in Psychology. But it was the birth experience with her first child, and the desire to have a completely different experience second time around, that caused her to find hypnobirthing and everything that followed. So profound was its impact that she became a hypnobirthing teacher, supporting parents to be around London. She saw the impact and wanted to help more people beyond London, and so the online side of the business and The Positive Birth Company was, well, born! This is the last special episode of the podcast, sharing the stories of the fabulous founders who let me interview them for my latest book, You've Got This. I hope you really enjoy this...

When you have three small children and no entrepreneurial background, what do you do? Well, if you're Janine Allis, you found Boost Juice and become one of Australia's most respected businesswomen. And I still can't believe Janine agreed to let me interview her for my book, You've Got This! Janine left school at 16, worked in advertising, went travelling, sold timeshares in Spain and Portugal, and worked on a yacht in the South of France hanging out with rockstars and royalty! Then, at 27, she found herself back in Australia with a two year old child. When she started working again, she met her now husband, Jeff, and it was after the birth of her third child that her entrepreneurial side came out! Now, Janine has over 800 Boost Juice Bars all over the world, is an author, founder of The Business Academy, was one of Lord Sugar's advisers on The Celebrity Apprentice Australia, was a business mentor on Australian Shark Tank, and SO much more too! Listen to find out more about Janine, her journey, and the incredible lessons she's learnt along the way. This one is jam packed with brilliant advice. I think you'll love it.

What happens when a Stanford University project catches the eye of a venture capitalist? Well, in one world, you carry on as before. In another, and if you're Jenny Lefcourt, you explore the idea, raise $1 million and go on to co-found WeddingChannel.com! Today, that would be some feat, but Jenny and her cofounder did this when internet shopping wasn't really a thing- Amazon had only just started selling books! And yet, with grit, determination and a lot of work, WeddingChannel.com thrived and was eventually sold.  Now, Jenny is a General Partner at early stage venture capital firm, Freestyle, which invests in early stage tech companies. She's also co-founder of All Raise, a non-profit to support diversity in tech, and has angel invested in a range of businesses including Minted, Discord, and Main Street Hub. Jenny is an incredible lady with so much knowledge to share. She does this here, on this special episode of the Small & Supercharged Podcast and, of course, in my latest book, You've Got This.

Ever think that the odds are stacked against you?  Jo Franco arrived in America with her mother when she was five, only able to speak Portuguese, the language of Rio de Janeiro, where she was born. She helped her mum clean at weekends to make ends meet, but also started to develop a passion that would shape her whole life, a love of languages. She learnt English to help her mum and other immigrants understand the language, to translate documents, and interpret everyday life. Although she couldn't physically travel, the idea of travel and language excited her, and so she expanded her world through learning French and Italian too. Jo's world expanded when she moved to Manhattan for university before studying abroad in Paris (when she started a YouTube channel) and then moving to Los Angeles before being offered a job in New York, which she didn't take despited the $65k of student debt. And then, one day in LA, Jo's life changed again when she was pitched to front her own travel show. From this point on, Jo's career has continued to skyrocket in many different ways, including a travel show on Netflix and the development of her own online communities and platforms that support journalling and languages. Prepare to be seriously inspired. And to find out more about Jo, read her story and advice in You've Got This, the book!

If you love Emma Bridgewater the brand, you're going to adore this latest episode of the podcast with founder and all round legend, THE Emma Bridgewater! Emma started her company when she couldn't find the perfect gift for her own mother. Through starting small, trying and testing, asking for help, developing and carefully growing, her eponymous business grew to the one we see today with a factory in her beloved Stoke-on-Trent (which produces around 1.9 million pieces of pottery a year!) as well as HQ in London. Emma was a complete delight to talk to. Her journey is inspiring, her manner so warm, and her advice so on the money. So pour yourself a cuppa- ideally in an Emma Bridgewater mug, and have a listen. 

Astrid & Miyu is an incredible jewellery brand that now has stores all over the world - it's come a long way since founder, Connie Nam, started the business in 2012, in her London flat. Connie created the brand after identifying a gap in the market for jewellery that sat in the 'affordable luxury' area, paired with the warm shopping experience she'd enjoyed when browsing boutiques in Seoul, Korea, where she was born. After spotting this gap, Connie got to work, building up the brand before she wanted to take the next step and get a physical store. For this, investment was needed, which was incredibly hard to come by, but she did and opened four stores pre-pandemic. Since, she has continued to open jewellery shops, piercing and tattoo studios all over the world. What started off as a career in investment banking following an MBA has now morphed into more than the founder of a global brand. Not only is Astrid & Miyu known for its jewellery, it's also known for its eco credentials, giving to charity, and supporting many other small business leaders too. To find out more about Connie and Astrid & Miyu, grab your copy of my new book, You've Got This!  

Kasia Bromley's career started at Alexander McQueen in haute couture after she came over from Poland to study fashion in Edinburgh. Soon after her graduation, she started designing clothing, but it wasn't until 2016 that the brand we know today as ACAI officially launched. Kasia and her husband, Joe, co-founded the brand when they were expecting their first child. Kasia had previously identified a gap in the market for outdoor clothes for women that allowed them to confidently explore the outdoors- something she'd really wanted as she always had an affinity with spending time in nature and knew of the positive impact this could have. Utilising her fashion background and her extensive knowledge of technical fabrics, ACAI was born, but it took a long time to build it to the brand that's so well known and loved today. At one point, financial issues led to the couple having to move out of the family home and live apart in different countries to make ends meet, but this only served as fuel for Kasia and ACAI. A change in strategy saw ACAI launch online in 2017 and the business has grown at an incredible rate since then. I was delighted to speak to Kasia for my latest book, You've Got This, and it's a joy to share this interview with you here today. Don't forget, you can grab your copy of You've Got This through Amazon, Bloomsbury direct and all good bookshops.