Ep 56: Rochelle Humes: My Unfiltered Journey Of Business

0:18A bit of a different one today, it's just me. You've been asking for this for so long and I haven't been ignoring, I was just sort of, I wanted to feel when the right time would be. to take a solo episode. So there's no guest, no interview, just us having a little chat about the podcast, about business, what I've learned and what's coming next for 2026. I wanted to do this starting the new year because I think I've sort of been reflecting on this whole journey, not just the podcast, but everything I've learned from every single incredible woman that I've had the pleasure of talking to over this past year and I'm honestly learning so much about myself about business and everything in between while sort of being on this journey particularly about entrepreneurship so grab a cup of tea I'm actually having a glass of champagne so maybe do that too we are taping this on the day that we're going out for our team Christmas dinner so for me it's a glass of shampers get comfy let's have a proper little catch-up so I often get asked why I started this podcast and to be completely transparent I suppose it was a little bit self-indulgent I've been in the world of business now I mean some would say since I was a little girl because I've been sort of in and out of this entertainment industry but I started working on my little Coco seven years ago and then we launched back in 2020 and I honestly had no idea of what to expect I had no idea about anything other than what I'd done before so kind of the world of branding and kind of the media side of it and everything that was kind of outward facing it was my first real sort of venture into the world of product and retail and everything in between and I suppose everything that comes with it I found it so overwhelming to get my head around and I remember going into different rooms and hearing sort of people talking this lingo and the acronyms and first of all being a little bit too proud to ask and pretending that I knew or that I had the first clue of what they were going on about which I completely did not but I then started to get really comfortable with asking questions and actually sort of I suppose it was a bit of a baptism of fire really because I had no idea of what to expect but I was kind of I found myself in those rooms that I needed to have those conversations and I suppose be able to uphold them.

3:12A lot of people don't know but I actually started by partnering with my manufacturers and it's not really a traditional route, it's not really a traditional structure of business. I didn't start in the traditional way when it comes to my little Coco but you know traditionally throughout my life I left school at 12, I was then homeschooled and then I didn't go to any sort of college or uni I you know didn't do a business course so I've kind of like every step of the way I've really learned my craft and stuck with it and then I've decided to pivot into other things but that's sort of really been my background and my little cocoa is no exception so I essentially partnered with my manufacturers which I think is quite an interesting route now it's something that's becoming really common but at the time there wasn't really a sort of business plan per se for a setup like that now you see like different brands like Sephora doing like the incubator scheme which is essentially what we did together so the manufacturer that I'm a business with they their sort of backbone of their business for many years has been supplying like own brand toiletries to lots of mahoosive retailers and this was kind of a really different business proposition for both of us so they had never done sort of their own brand or sort of really tell that branding story before and they'd been doing it for sort of mass and big retailers I had never done the back end of a business I've always been everything shiny and front facing so I needed the ability to be able to fulfill all of these big retailers and have that kind of scope so I met with them I'd previously worked with them for a body care range that I had that was a licensing deal called High Glow and I loved it it was all about body glow it was a bit ahead of its time actually um and I really really liked working with them it was just it was a great fit but it wasn't mine I didn't own High Glow I put my name on the tin loved it was passionate about it but it was a licensing proposition that's what I had got advised to do when it came to my little cocoa so the management company that I was with at the time were really sort of I suppose risk adverse which is good advice when you're a management company because you don't want your clients to sort of take any risk and this was really doing that because it was a really different setup but I kind of just had that feeling that I knew it was bigger than sticking my name on something and I really wanted to create the product that didn't exist and the range that didn't exist and I hadn't actually thought much ahead of that so we launched with seven SKUs we'd sort of figured out this setup at the time it's then evolved since and continues to evolve um I'm still majority shareholder I own the IP it's in my bones my DNA it's my baby but yeah it's kind of it's it's something that's evolved over time because the business proposition really had to I kind of knew the products I wanted to launch with and I genuinely hadn't thought any further ahead I was just so delighted that I was able to bring this range to the market that I kind of did it without the support and you know of a team behind me as in like my own team and very little knowledge so I was just delighted with this whole thing and then when it sold well and we kept getting those repeat purchases and it grew and then the retailer wanted more we were like okay we need to look at this structure again because at the time the way that I'd set up the business was that we were in it together but I could do anything that wasn't toiletries with anybody else so if I was wanting to do children's clothing or I could then find another supplier and then do that with them because obviously the IP sat with me and then it was really working well together so we went all in and changed our again and it kind of has kept evolving since and I just feel really lucky that I was able and I understand that that comes with the privilege of having the career that I've had before it where I'd learned people along met people along the way and and I think one thing that they knew about me was that they really trusted my ideas and my passion and my work ethic and I sort of made a pact and a promise to them that everything else I'll figure out on the way and wow the way has been quite the journey as I said the trademarking is sat with me so everything that falls under that trademarking is my responsibility nobody else can sort of come under fire when it comes to that and a couple of years ago we did really come under fire where trademarking was concerned which was a really scary time and I think really the first time that I felt really out of my depth because we're in a situation where there'd been a trademarking error on our part and it's kind of something sort of fell through the neck and we were using our trademark on pack incorrectly.

9:08So what is weird, it was genuinely the most stressful time of my life because it was my fault. But equally, there were so many learnings. And I do feel like if I'd had a slightly different mindset, it would have felt like a straight up failure because it was a really costly exercise to change, to sell through stock, to make sure things were looking correct but actually sometimes when something goes wrong and there's no way of sort of skirting around that it definitely went wrong it does hold a bit of a for want of a better phrase gun to your head because actually it made me do a kind of five-year take stock if we were going to rebrand slightly tomorrow what would we do and of course I had pressure behind me to do that to sell through stock to make sure we hit deadlines but actually it really gave me time to say look we haven't looked at the full picture of the range from a consistent point of view since we launched we launched your seven products at that point we were up to like 90 skews because we've we have different drops we've tried weaning we go into you know we kind of we are our bread and butter for his toiletry but we sort of dip into that lifestyle and those lifestyle moments as a brand so it really gave me a chance to take stock and pull apart and pick apart my little cocoa from every avenue and really streamline what we do so I'm a I'm always a glass glass I'm always a glass half full kind of girl and I genuinely don't think if we hadn't have had that situation where I kind of let something sort of pass through the net I don't think we would have ever rebranded and streamlined everything now when you go into store and you see the shelf it's exactly like why didn't we do this two years before is literally what I say to the team and I do feel now like it's come such a long way so what I would say is through every failure because we can admit when things fail there's always a lesson at the end which really genuinely helps you to sort of propel and grow.

11:35I think with My Little Coco too on the outside because we do sort of supply to these huge retailers people think that the business is incredibly large where it's sort of a game of two halves because our team is actually incredibly small and I've always been a fan of that personal touch but we really do depend on sort of the back end of a bigger business so it's almost like a business within a business if that makes any sense a little bit like an umbrella company so we get to pull on logistics and the shipping and kind of the warehousing and fulfillment and everything else in between so I do when I talk to like my peers and talk to people on this podcast guests and incredible women that I've spoken to they are like the kind of setup that you have managed to carve out is actually so priceless in the terms of having I've never sort of had the stress of don't get me wrong I have the stress because I'm like okay the shipment isn't landing and this isn't going to arrive and now we need to call a certain retailer and say that we're going to probably deliver three weeks late like I get all that stress trust me that's like my heavy stuff to carry but what it does mean is I've not sort of had to be so hands-on with that side of the business because my partners are and what's great for them is they don't have to be hands-on with the PR side and the marketing and the aesthetic because that's all me so it's a marriage that is kind of I say marriage because that's exactly what it is when you get into partnership with whoever that is and however it looks it really is a marriage and don't get me wrong we've had times where you know like in any marriage there would be like heated points and times where I want to push for something and they don't want it and and vice versa but really I think we are incredibly lucky with the partnership we have and it's changed along the way and it's continuing to change now we're now doing another little sort of agreement and changing how how we do business but I feel very very lucky that we found each other and we're actually really on that journey together all the highs and all the lows for me what's been really interesting as I talk I'd go to dinners and I'd go to events and talk to other women and say well this is exactly this is how our setup is and this is and they'd be like oh my god that's great this isn't so great and I always genuinely had so many burning questions and that is exactly why I started this podcast because I was kind of really wanting to hear from and pull bits of advice from so many different people but particularly women my my team are female but my business partners are male they've been in this for you know donkey's years and I always it's so ironic because we are so close now but I always and I say to them you know I thought would be silly to ask you this and ask you that so I always really lent on the women in the team and sort of ask their advice so then fast forward to kind of all these years later there are still so many questions that I have now as I move into different chapters of the business so that's exactly where Ladies Who Launch was born and I just I was listening to different podcasts but I wasn't actually being loyal to a particular series because I would just listen when I wanted to hear from that certain guest or this person's on that podcast I'll just listen to that episode.

15:23I wasn't coming back week on week to sort of hear from like-minded people so I mean they say the best things are born out of something self-indulgent this has literally been a self-indulgent self-funded proposition and I think in doing that I have found that so many people although that it started off as something that I'm like I just really want to do this I want to be able to sit and chew the ears off of amazing women that I looked up look up to but in doing so I found that I'm actually really not on my own there are so many of you that want to sit down and listen to these conversations and ask those questions and in doing so something that actually felt really isolating and felt lonely but also I'm asking all these questions from a selfish perspective it's actually turned into the best community ever which I'm so thrilled about and I love seeing you all talk to each other I love seeing that like you've listened to an episode and you found it you know I love getting those messages more than anything in the world and I just the goal was to always really give real advice that doesn't feel kind of preachy or shouty or kind of like we're at school I just want to sit down and have a cup of tea and go so when you did that how much did it cost when you first you know had that idea and how much are you making now and we don't have those open conversations about money about stress about time if we pass each other sort of in the corridor of an event or a studio or however that looks it's like yeah I'm really good how are you life's busy and it's all very surface level so to really sort of get under the hood and know more about what it is that makes everyone tick and their reason and the sleepless nights and everything in between has been such such a treat so something that I want to be really super transparent with and I touched on it a little earlier but this podcast is completely self-funded I'm yet to make a penny I really it was really really important to me to start a space that was super authentic I didn't want you to be interrupted by adverts I didn't want you to feel like it was kind of an unapproachable sort of inauthentic space I wanted you to be able to jump on chat to each other ask questions listen and be along the ride with me because that is essentially what this is I'm asking these questions but actually you guys want to know the answers too so yeah we have I mean people call me crazy because I've really added a whole other job into what we do and I actually didn't know that at the start.

18:18The initial plan was that we tape eight episodes. And I remember it, we were in our old office, take eight episodes. I'll message a couple of people, see if they mind. I would like sending messages that were like, Hey babe, how are you? I'm doing this thing. And I wanted to know if you were free and I've always been interested. We never got to speak about X, Y, and Z. Do you mind coming to my office and sitting down with me? And that's exactly what we did and the team is so small it is literally my team that work with me across everything and we have really added a whole other job in because on I think episode two I remember us getting an email from Apple and they were like we want to just catch up with you this is new like no we didn't work with a production company we didn't sort of alert anyone that this podcast was coming we signed up to Acast and we dropped it on New Year's Day as we'd planned to and basically Apple got in touch and they said that the best thing like this is gaining real traction the best thing you can do is stay on and we were like yeah yeah we are we've got eight episodes and we're going to break and then we'll do another series probably at the end of the year or in the summer and they were like no no no that's not the strategy is you now just do an episode every single week and since that moment we have taped an episode every week to give you an episode every single Wednesday and it's been such a joy but I just really I'm changing my strategy now because we've done a year this has been a full year of bringing you these episodes and I'm changing my strategy slightly because I really feel like it's time to sort of look at sponsorship, see how, recoup my investment because we're all in business here and what I will say is I always knew that I was going to take on sponsorship but nothing has actually felt right, it needed to be the right sponsor.

20:24I don't want you to listen to a podcast that gets interrupted by, I don't know, someone selling floor stain, like this is, it can't be a flashy logo on a billboard somewhere like this is a really considered space and I always want it to remain in that vein and if we're doing that it genuinely is to better your experience as the listener and also as that small business founder like I'm hoping that we can really add value to you and and also I'm really keen to take on sponsorship to better what we are bringing to you and I can't say too much about that but this year I think will be really really exciting because the goal is that we are able to create opportunity for small businesses to get off the ground more of that to come I'm probably saying too much already but that will be for me the ultimate win and that will make all of this kind of worth it I mean it's been worth it for me alone because I've learned so much this podcast has given me so much confidence to make better decisions you know at work across my businesses to know when to pull something to know when to really push something so yeah I kind of it's genuinely and I'm not being cliche here and it will probably sound it but it's genuinely changed my life what have I learned in 2025 wow it has been an amazing year it really really has but oh like not easy not easy but it's been amazing and I think I'll elaborate on that because there's lots of different reasons it's been an incredible year for the podcast I cannot believe we are celebrating today our first birthday I cannot believe how far we have come that we even went past those first eight episodes that we recorded and I've genuinely learned so much from doing this from talking to other women made friendships too like I've made real you know people that I've kind of met at the odd event or not even you know met until they were sat in this seat I have made an incredible sort of this kind of pool of women that I actually now say do you know who I'm going to ask about that so and so or I'm going to get her on the phone and it's really made me have this incredible little black book of people or just like good ears to that will listen because they've either been through it or they're about to or however that looks so for me I've just really enjoyed it I cannot believe we're about to host our first ever live event which you guys sold the tickets out in two hours um that was just we didn't even tell you what we were doing um honestly I can't we thought we'd had this little plan and we said okay if we haven't shifted like a quarter of the tickets by this date we'll announce who might be there and if we haven't done And this will, we had this little plan of how to keep momentum up to sell through the tickets.

23:47And genuinely, we all like shed a little happy tear and toasted with some champagne. Obviously, it seems a bit of a theme here in the office because we couldn't believe it. So we're so thankful for the community that we're building. And in terms of the podcast, 2025 has been an incredible year. I would say in terms of My Little Coco, I have been really, really behind the scenes preparing for 2026. 2026 is an incredible year for us because we have so much MPD. The new product is just is been like fine tuned and is incredible. We've got lots of new launches. We've got new retailers, new accounts that we're taking on board.

24:36We have had a complete team reshuffle. We are, as I touched on before, restructuring how the deal looks again with my business partners, all in a positive vein. um and what I'll say is I think there's been so many lessons for me professionally personally that I've learned along the way this year and they haven't all been positive and I think this is if you're listening to this right now and you're like I had this thing and I can't move forward I've really had had some sort of life affirming life changing sort of relationship dynamics I suppose change in terms of the business and it has been really hard not easy it's caused you know there's been a lot of kind of upset and everything in between but really you just can't hold on to anything in life and I realise that like as women by nature we are emotional creatures and we feel here as much as we feel here I certainly do and if you're listening to this not watching I'm saying heart and head like we really do feel them in equal measure and it can be really hard to separate the two and the idea that you have to in business I really always try to lead with heart because I do think for me it's necessary but when things happen and things disappoint you and you know things cause upset I think you really need to sort of get into your head and out of your heart because actually you pull the plug on something and you make a decision it's because you felt it in your gut and nine times out of ten you probably had that niggling feeling two three however many years however many months beforehand so I think you can tap into that and I I look back and I think I should have trusted that gut but listen we are where we are so my point is if you're listening to this today and you think god I should have done this and I want to feel this way in 2026 and I want to take all of this into the new year no matter at what point you're listening to this episode you can literally pivot today you can make that move you can pull the plug you can cut the cord you can put the brakes on or you can put your foot pedal to the metal on the gas you can do whatever it is that you want to do trust your gut and don't be sort of blinded by previous emotion or anything else in between and you can make decisions that are for the better for you and your business but still do that with heart the advice I'm taking into 2026 I think I'm embarking on lots of new ventures this year which I'm really really excited about but one thing I've really learned from from Ladies Who Launch actually is to build the right team early and I've had the experience from other ventures but what I've really learned with Ladies Who Launch is actually it goes back to my gut again I listened I trusted I didn't want to be do this whole production song and dance I really knew that I've got incredible people around me that understand the vision that I really trust so it wasn't about making the team large it wasn't it was really about knowing our capacity and we've definitely stretched it at times because this is now a full beast but really sort of I suppose leaning into our strengths and

28:43expanding when the time felt right like we are now talking to other people and you know we've expanded the team in terms we're looking at trailers and this that and the other and the team is slowly growing and we're looking at sort of somebody to come in and booking talent like I've just done that myself and reached out to people and then by this you know third episode we were getting big PR companies saying, can we recommend our client to come on the podcast? Because we think it's great and we'd love them to be able to talk on this platform. So it definitely evolved and it's really been that sort of organic journey.

29:19But we're now building out when the time feels right. And that is, for us, that's been over a year of really being in this together and not jumping too soon. So I would say really look at your team early and how that looks. And things are tough at the start, but there are lots of people around you that you can always lean on. So if you are looking to launch something without having the cash flow and the funds to do so, you might have that friend that you're like, she's great at this. I'm going to pull that bit of advice from her or I wonder if I've got a cousin that she said that she has got free time at the weekends and you know this might appeal to her.

30:04I would really lean on people at the start that you know you can trust but the most important thing is they understand the vision and I would also if someone offers you help take it. Like it doesn't have to be anything other than help, but I would, when you are starting something new, it's really easy to be quite proud and wear this badge of honour to say, I did that and that was me by myself. But I've definitely been that person at times, but actually if somebody is offering to help you and you think that would lighten the load, which would help you be more creative or would give you more time to be better at logistics, I would take it.

30:46The next thing I would say is protecting our vision is so important. But at the same time, we have to stay super open to feedback, particularly if you are working on something that is customer facing and it's all about experience. And that information is going to be really crucial into bettering a product or a service or however that looks. I think your vision is clear your why has to be really strong and concrete but also you've got to be open to taking that constructive criticism and we've spoke about a pizza boardroom on here that again was one of Jo Malone's nuggets of advice we've all got people around us that we trust their opinion or you know it might be the person that you're like what do you think about this and you might ask them in a kind of really relaxed capacity about what you're wearing on Saturday night well if it's that person that you trust why don't you run your small business ideas past them if you were going to shop here how would you do it or so on and so forth invite your friends over and get some honest feedback because at the start it's really hard to be able to have that boardroom because you've maybe not got the kind of investment or the funds there to have the privilege of having a board that can really sort of steer you in the right direction but I think it's really really important to be open to feedback but at the same time if your gut is saying override that and you you know you are that passionate about it it's so important to protect that creativity that vision that passion with a little bit of wiggle room compromise I suppose it's like life sometimes you're like I'm really strong about this but if you think that and you know that that person has the skill set to advise you that's the other thing sometimes we take on noise for people that we actually don't want to emulate what they do or we don't want to or they haven't done or they haven't been on the journey where we think it is we want to go So I think within reason, but if you've got people that you trust and you trust their intentions, I think definitely be open to it.

33:05A big one for me is setting clear boundaries and protecting your energy. I'm so passionate about this. I think that boundaries are a funny thing because they really make people feel uncomfortable. And nine times out of ten, it isn't the person that's setting the boundary that feels uncomfortable. It's the person that's on the receiving end of that boundary being set. which I find really interesting I actually found it quite difficult first of all when it came to saying no I would feel like it would honestly I would like build myself up to saying the two letter word because it just felt like such a big deal it felt like okay what's what is going to be the outcome of me saying no what could go I saw the negatives over the positive so I would do it just in case that someone might never work with me again or just in case they pick somebody else to take the next job because I said no to that thing or I would sort of weigh up all of the kind of possible outcomes but from a negative vein and I think if you actually break it down simply the last time someone said no to you in a considered manner as in for example if I reach out to peers or friends or colleagues and say hi do you think I'd love to have you on the podcast to interview you about x y and z I'd love for you to be a guest and I sent them an ask and they said hey babe sorry this really doesn't work for me right now thank you so much for thinking of me I wish you all the best but this isn't just kind of the route I'm taking which by the way is a message that I have received a few times I promise you I don't feel anything other than oh my god of course not like if ever you're up for it let me know move on anyway what are you up to on x y and z date let's catch up I would never ever think why is she saying that as if that's just not my outlook so I think why do we then torment ourselves that on the other end we've kind of created all these imaginary situations that okay what does that mean for my future experience and what does that mean for you know me working going forward or however that looks so I would really really advise you to protect those boundaries be clear with them once you kind of say your first no and it can be really really like kind it can be really considered like it isn't it's like not no I'm not doing this or it doesn't have to come with any sort of malice or aggression it's just that it just doesn't work for me thank you so much for thinking of me I wish you all the best or whatever that no is the first one feels really strange and you have to put your big girl pants on but after that it is actually genuinely empowering and you then really protect yourself you set those boundaries and then it becomes everyone's norm it becomes the high oh let's not ask Rochelle to do that thing at five because we know that she'll be home with the children doing dinner but why don't we ask her if she minds doing it at 10 a.m because the kids are in school and that's when she's in the office the moment you make them clear everybody adjusts the ask and it's totally okay so I think protect those boundaries say no more in 2026 because the no's are way more important than the yeses I really agree and I think that is something that yes as years have gone on and you know I've got experience behind me and I suppose privilege and what I do for work yes I've become more comfortable with it but I actually wish that somebody told me early on because I think it really would have changed the game for me so what's next in 2026 oh my gosh I love doing this well my vision board is full to the brim but what's new you know me um I am so excited about this year we're kicking off with the live event which will be the first of many and I know that you girlies are like it went in two hours I wasn't awake don't worry there'll be more to come and I'm so so excited about the future of kind of our live offering like how exciting is that and I cannot wait to see you all in the flesh um my little cocoa has got a very big year I touched on it earlier lots of new launches new retailers new energy that's what's really really important I think the energy is really sort of shifted across everything I do and I'm I couldn't be happier about it new business there will be a new business and a new brand launching for me sort of September-ish time this year but do you know what it's still so in its infancy I've decided to take you on the journey with me so what I thought I would do is every week or like every couple of weeks when I'm in here recording episodes I might do mini updates and stitch them together and really have you involved you're my girlies now so I feel like you're part of everything I do um so that's really exciting but yeah I just hope for more of the same I really do I feel that when you've been in the world of kind of, hate the terminology showbiz, but we'll use it, for as long as I have now, I'm just always really thankful for consistency.

38:54Because it's such a funny industry where things can change, you're in, you're out, it's up, it's down. I just I'm a real consistent person so I just hope for more of the same because I do feel incredibly grateful one big priority for me this year is really as I said elevating the podcast so I can help women and not just in a way that it's takeaways and advice that we really do financially back young startups so bloody excited guys Oh, it's time for a Q &A. By the way, I just want a friend back. I like this. I'm doing this for you, but I do miss having a friend here. The studio feels weird. I'm ready to have a friend back.

39:40um right these q a's are from you i put the little box on instagram so let's start with the first one the first one is how do you approach time management especially when things get busy girl um that is a really good question i really try to make my days crystal clear so i have set days in which i do things on and they are really really super focused on the job in hand so I'm always like there are things like my little co-cate ladies who launched I'm always online for and I will get back to everyone in that day but I like to be in a different headspace on each day for different things so for example Monday is a general kind of catch-up day so that is we are in the RH group I work on lots of different brands you know that aren't mine so I'm like ambassador or you know a long-standing partners for different brands and you know it will be that over sort of under that umbrella is tv work appearances everything else in between so that's kind of a day of catching up on everything RH focused on a Tuesday my little cocoa and my little cocoa only I won't reply to anything else actually other than my little cocoa and I get to the warehouse at like nine o 'clock and I leave just before the school run so I literally leave there and get the kids from school um for about four o 'clock and I'm there all day in a meeting after meeting after meeting but what is so good is that like I said I'm always communicating constantly that never ever switches off but it's kind of like the day it keeps us accountable week on, week on, so that we set lists and we go, you know, we check in on those lists, but by Tuesday, the following Tuesday, there should be a resolve on that.

41:36So I find that's the best structure. Wednesdays are kind of open to shoots and whatever else that those brands need me for. So that'll be like a Wednesday is a little bit of a floaty day. Thursday, we tape Ladies Who Launch. Friday, we try to work from home sometimes that changes but Friday is a little sort of we get into the weekend laptops at home we're all online but we try to do that from like I don't know having a pedicure somewhere or whatever I'm not asking no questions everyone's at home so yeah I kind of really be very intentional with my time and how it's spent because I find I have spin so many different plates like we all do but I find it hard when everything blurs into one and that has really really helped me so yeah I would say get clear with your days your hours and how you spend them uh next question what is the best way to find the right partner to scale a business oh my gosh that is I think that is a hard a hard question because I think we're all learning I feel very lucky that I've partnered with my partners, partnered with my partners, and I think we've really seen different phases and we've seen them throughout together, and what is brilliant about our relationship, particularly now, in this last year our relationship has really levelled up and we've kind of had moments where it's been stressful and it's been up and down and everything in between but right now what I would say is great that we have is actually a mutual understanding almost how important is that to you this is important to me bit as I said before like a marriage whereby that you know that okay I've only got 20 % to give okay I'm gonna pull 80 and vice versa like it won't always be 50-50 even if that's the setup of your business sometimes you will feel like you're doing more sometimes they will feel like they're doing more I think it's having a real clear understanding on what you both bring to the table but also that kind of respect and confidence in letting your sort of different your different qualities shine and I think it's not kind of trying to do one thing that the other one's doing it's sort of meeting each other are middle ground and guess what at one point you might say as partners we need to bring someone else in to help us scale a little more which is where we're at the minute we're sort of going again like how do we now add value as this together and as long as you are on the same page with that and you've all got the kind of business as the end goal and the success of the business as the end goal I think you're in the right hands.

44:39How do you deal with setbacks? I don't dwell and I think one thing that I've really learnt I've definitely always had this ability but I think it's kind of articulated itself better while speaking to other women on this podcast is I would say that I don't dwell on anything longer than I give myself like 10 days two weeks to be in it, like for it to be kind of like fuzzy head energy. And then I'm like, okay, and we're off. I just think anything that happens, any failures, any setbacks, I think you just have to fail fast. And it is, I think the kind of being a good entrepreneur is having the ability to be able to figure it out.

45:33I think that is genuinely half the battle. Things are going to happen. You know, things are going to be great. Things are going to be shit at some point. That is the reality of it. But you have to have the ability to be able to go, okay, we're going to go in that direction and not be too phased by it. Of course, it'll be overwhelming, but the biggest skills that you can have when you are found you know if you found a business if you run the business whatever your role is it's to be able to react and react well next question how do you juggle work commitments with family life and when did you feel ready to fully throw yourself back into work and handle the mum guilt do you know what it's really interesting I grew up with with being raised by a single mum my mum did everything herself worked every job and I never ever for a second like we didn't have anything we my mum had me we lived in a hostel my mum then got a council flat which then eventually then got a council house and she bought then worked till she bought the house off of the council and I we didn't have a lot like at all in fact I would say it's the polar opposite um it's the from a financial perspective it's a complete opposite upbringing to my children and you know what I work for to be able to give them and I've definitely know that that is a privilege because I know exactly what it was like when I was little but one thing I never ever felt that I went without was love, was experience, was kind of joy, was attention and I've always, I think particularly now I'm a mum, admired my mum and what she put into, I just thought and I think we've all got this kind of idea haven't we that our parents just know everything and our parents are going to figure it out and it really dawned on me like a couple of months ago when I heard my eldest on the phone to one of her friends and she said something she said oh I don't know my mum I just my mum will figure it out and I so remember that feeling where you're like that's what mums do they just figure it out and it's not until you're kind of in the trenches yourself that you're like oh my gosh I've got to do this I've got to do that I you know but guess what I'll figure it out and I kind of really because I think I was raised in such a female I was saying to my friend the other day that I was raised in a house where like you just got on and did it like my mum that was her approach that she figured it out there wasn't a man around to be able to help to provide so I was raised in that way so I think I genuinely think that's what makes me such a good entrepreneur is having that kind of, okay, let's go.

48:41It's got to be done. So when I think about my family life now, definitely when Alaya was young, I'd say up until her being about four, the mum guilt that I felt was quite intense. Like I was just like, oh my gosh, this is horrendous. I don't know. You know, I was young I'd had her I was pregnant with her at 23 had her at 24 and I just remember thinking like oh my gosh is am I doing the right thing should I be working not knowing but I also need to work and how you know how am I going to juggle everything but actually in the past sort of like I'd say three years I don't have mum guilt anymore I don't before we were doing this question coming I was saying to the team like and it's not that I don't it's because I don't care of course I care but I know what I'm doing is providing them with a the life that I want them to live but be the kind of scope on understanding that anything's possible and I really want them to know that their their sort of childhood is different to mine because guess what they're probably not going to want to leave home when they're like 17 18 like me to kind of try and live in this area or do this or do that because they live they live a comfortable lifestyle and you know they kind of are very lucky they go to a lovely school they live in a lovely area so on and so forth but for me I really I'm very kind of hyper focused in knowing that they understand that the reason that they get to do x y and z is because of how hard we work to provide and one day they will be able to do the same and they but guess what in that what it means that that is that every anything's possible you can go after your dreams you can work hard and the world is your oyster so I think the guilt really transformed when I understood that actually they notice how hard I work they value it they look up to it and I think that is really really important because ultimately we we are our children's first role models and I kind of always want them to know that with kind of hard work and clear goals you can achieve whatever you want in terms of feeling ready to go back to work I went before I was ready actually I didn't feel ready I had a layer and I never forget I was in the Saturdays and we had a single to promote and that particular song I sung lead vocals on and I definitely felt the pressure to go back into work I think it was more the pressure that I put on myself also you're in a group so I'm also aware that like if one of you's sick or it really does change the dynamic and it's hard work for everyone because you're trying to figure out what you now do when that person isn't around so I really did go back way too early I really I think it was I think she was four weeks old and I was on I never forget it I think I was on like Lorraine or one of those kind of early morning tv shows and we were performing and I I remember like having Spanx on up to here.

52:07I remember my boobs leaking and just thinking, oh my God, I've definitely pushed this. And I was really emotional, naturally so. Maybe it was six weeks. I remember just being like, I just had a cesarean and being like, I probably shouldn't be dancing. But yeah, and so to answer your question, I didn't feel ready. And I think if I could look back and be wiser with my decisions, because no one could tell me anything, by the way. I remember Marvin was like, my husband was not sort of, he wasn't fond of the idea. He was like, look, look after yourself. You've just had a baby. But I was so fixated on not letting anyone down and being there and doing the job.

52:53And it's fine. I'm a grafter. This is going to happen. It's going to be great. And I'll make it work. But actually, I should have listened to my body and looked after myself because it wasn't right. So I would say you will know when it's right. You will feel comfortable. And as long as you do, that's what's important. I actually wasn't the most comfortable and I pushed myself to be, you know, the girl that made sure that she did. And I definitely changed my approach with Vali and with Blake. I listened to myself and I instantly felt when it was right for me and I actually felt really creative around that time I felt like I had a kind of well you do have a new lease of life you're extremely tired but I kind of had this new purpose but I just waited until it was right for me on like you know post baby two and three because the first time I was I was rushed it was it was silly of me really and then the final question I love this one I ask every guest what their lunch order is um and mine was quite specific what is your order from the salad project well I now don't live as close well my office even isn't as close to a salad project anymore but if I'm going to a salad bar my order is so mad they're always like are you sure and what I will put in is like some sort of green base tomato sweet corn jalapeno this is really random so hold tight um avocado I would choose a protein of some sort cucumber broccoli I'm just actually trying to memorize my order I like those little crispy onions that they do they're nice for a bit of crunch oh I like a bit of parmesan like I promise you there's lots in here um I like what else goes in what else goes in there's a ingredient I'm missing I do like a little bit of onion not too much just a little um and then I like some I like balsamic but I also like a bit of soy with it olive oil look how passionate I am and maybe like a little chili flake and then I give it a good shake and that would be my salad of choice so that's it I'm gonna do more of these this was kind of like a little general catch up over the year but I'm going to do more specific episodes so please send me a message let me know what you want what to watch we hone in on what should we discuss um but it's been so nice to start my year off with you my gosh 2026 here we come the world's our stuff we've got this but I just want to say if you are listening to this episode or watching this episode right now and you've got an idea and you're thinking I'm scared and I don't know whether it's worth the risk you won't know until you take it and I understand that you know if it's like but I might leave my job tomorrow to make this work my advice would be take the risk but do it considered tailor it to you don't listen to everybody's story and think I'm going to do it in that way whether it is you keep the job that you have and then you think okay in the evenings I'm going to start this and I'm going to dedicate two hours a night to whatever this kind of seed of an idea is and I'm going to do three hours on each day of the weekend whatever it is set yourself a window and see see if you can stay consistent with the task that you've set yourself and if you can and it's bubbling over and the two hours turn into three or the three hours turn into five and you can't put this thing down I think that's when you know that you're ready to kind of put your foot down and really take that risk so you can do it you can give it a go but you don't have to kind of put yourself in a compromising situation it might get to the point where you think okay now it's time and I know and I'm going to take that leap but I would test it first and I think that will give you the sort of confidence and that will then give you that security so be smart with it but this is your year give it a go if you've been pondering it and you've been listening to this podcast for a year now and you're tuning every week and you're like do you know what I'm it's burning I'm gonna do it this is your reminder it's the first of January do it like give back give that time to yourself and if you've got that itch it's time to scratch it it's 2026 let's make this the best year honestly I think we all spend so much time kind of deliberating whether it's a good idea whether it's like something you've seen before or whether you're the person to do it if you feel passionate about it it's the first of Jan you've got 364 days left to go for it and why not and why not you I just want to say before I sign off thanks for listening thanks for being a part of this thank you for asking for a solo episode and yeah I've really loved every second of this so far and I cannot wait to see what the rest of the year brings for ladies who launch but for you listening too so let's do it let's smash it and let's launch into 2026 woo and cheers