Oops – I accidentally started a business!
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“In that first week, I genuinely wasn’t intending for it to be a business. I just thought why not, I’m relaxing, I’m letting my mind being creative while I rest, before I can actually get back to some proper work and if I sell what I make, then that’s a bonus. And in that first week, I made back the costs that I spent and I made a profit!”

Amy Box, Box Designs

 

 

When vocal coach, Amy Box, decided to buy some polymer clay to relax in the evenings, she didn’t think it would lead to launching a new business!

In less than 2 months she’s already had 100 sales and is building a team. Faye Dicker finds out her secret to success.

Struggling to work out what clothes suit you? Tips on giving yourself a style makeover.

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In the spare room wardrobe were things that I once loved, things that were quite big investment pieces at the time, things that were sentimental. Things that I was keeping hold of, in case my currently 9 year old daughter might love vintage, then one day perhaps when she’s 18 end up loving! Reasons that helped me part with them, I am so passionate now about these environmental causes and doing what we can. Actually, by keeping those clothes being unloved, under valued and unworn, they were not realising their true purpose. Me keeping them and not doing anything with them, is encouraging people to go out and buy them from you. So I just felt by releasing them and going to some one who would want it and use it and value it, that’s good for the planet.

Becky Barnes, Style Consultant

Feel like your clothes hate you? Want help finding your style? Join Stylist Becky Barnes, she has Faye Dicker and Laura Rawlings rummaging through their wardrobes!

 

Ward off the winter cold!
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We do get a lot of colds and it’s actually not good for us, not to be exposed to these viruses. As kids have gone back to school… it’s not a case of not getting as many, as how we react to them and how you can overcome them.

Anna Mapson, Goodness Me Nutrition

 

In this weeks podcast, Faye Dicker and Laura Rawlings, speak to Anna Mapson from Goodness Me Nutrition. She shares how we can stay healthy this winter and if it’s possible to keep colds at bay!

 

 

A lesson in resilience

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The best advice that I could offer is to try and keep the communication open, all the way through – even when it’s quite tricky, when they’re teenagers. Enabling them to be able to talk and be able to tell you anything, is really very important.

Headteacher, Mrs Lisa Brown, Redmaids’ High Junior School

In this weeks podcast, Faye Dicker and Laura Rawlings speak to Redmaids’ High Junior School, Headteacher – Mrs Lisa Brown. They talked about how we can teach our children to deal with set backs and the importance of resilience.

Survival Skills for Freelancers

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“There are so many reasons why you need to say no – and I’m a very strong believer in ‘fit.’  Learning to say no and to trust your instinct, I believe are very closely linked…. I think this is a universal truth and I say this in the book, but the clients that quibble over cost…. Those clients end up being the absolute worse clients to work for.”

Sarah Townsend, Survival Skills for Freelancers

 

As we start a new term, Faye Dicker and Laura Rawlings are joined by Sarah Townsend, author of Survival Skills for Freelancers. She shares some of her experience of and know-how when it comes to freelancing – so you can ace self-employment without the burnout!

 

 

Escape to Book Island!
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“My most important criteria is ‘Is this book meaningful and beautiful at the same time?’.  There are a lot of titles that don’t pass that test. There are lot of beautiful books out there, with stories that just don’t go anywhere. Then you can lots of beautiful stories with really bad illustrations. This criteria is really important and really helps me find the right books”.

Greet Pauwelijn, Book Island

In this weeks podcast, Faye Dicker and Laura Rawlings escape to Book Island! They find out from local publisher, Greet Pauwelijn, what makes a ‘Book Island book’ – as she handpicking award-winning picture books from around the world.

Back in business – carry on glamping!

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“There’s so much guidance on line for so many businesses, no one specifically mentioned glamping, they talked about camping, they talked about caravans and hotels, but not glamping. We’re cleaning fully between guests, we don’t have to allow 72 hours between guests, or we would have had to have cancelled half our guests – every one still needs their holiday”.

Vicki Ivins-Jones, Tractors & Cream Glamping

 

Faye Dicker and Laura Rawlings, speak to Vicki Ivins-Jones from Tractors & Cream after they joyfully reopen their glamping site! Vicki spoke, from the midst of her open field, to share her experience on reopening for happy glampers!

Lord-Lieutenant Peaches Golding, on lockdown and BLM

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“So I set out the next day, to write a message to the people of the city and I set out that some people think Colston is a saint, some people think he’s the devil incarnate. Because Bristol is interesting, we have me – the Queen’s representative as a black woman, you have an elected mayor as a black man, we have the most diverse group of magistrates in the UK, here in Bristol. We have black professional networks, we have all sorts of very interesting groups of people, but we also have poverty among black communities, which is greater than the white population. It’s not to say the white population doesn’t have problems, but it’s the layer, upon layer, of disadvantage that we have an opportunity to address”.

The Lord-Lieutenant of the City and County of Bristol, Mrs Peaches Golding OBE, Her Majesty’s representative in the City and County.

Faye Dicker and Laura Rawlings, speak to Lord-Lieutenant Peaches Golding, on the impact of Edward Colston’s statue coming down and how small businesses can make a difference to when it comes to BLM.

Mindset matters, lockdown business success
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“It came about organically really, like many – right at the beginning, I thought ‘what can I do to help?’. So I set up a weekly on line relaxation for people, just so they could enjoy those relaxations once a week. And then I had this brainwave, of lets try and set a 5 Day Challenge and that allowed me to put together lots of content to help people”.

Abi Rogers, Mindset Solutions

In the latest Freelance Mum podcast, Faye Dicker and Laura Rawlings are joined by Abi Rogers, who shares her lockdown business success story. From wanting to ‘just help’ people, to discovering a new business offering, Abi shares the organic growth of her relaxation group.

 

Surviving and thriving in lockdown
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“Five years ago, I converted an ice cream van, took all the fridges and freezers out and put in a stainless steel kitchen. So I now do Mexican street food, so the name ‘I Scream Tacos’, is just a play on words. I’ve got the ‘Mexican hat dance’ playing from the van when I arrive”.

Mark, I Scream Tacos

 

On the Freelance Mum podcast, Faye Dicker and Laura Rawlings, talk tacos, tortillas and trading with Mark @iscreamtacos. He’s the man inside the converted icecream van bringing Mexic food to a driveway near you.