What is it they say?
“Don’t judge someone else until you’ve walked a mile in their shoes?”
It’s such an old saying that it tends to get overlooked, but the oldies are often the goodies and this one has really stood the test of time, but we rarely remind ourselves of it when we need to.
Especially when we’re watching someone from afar and assuming that everything comes to them so easily, in a way that it never does for ourselves.
As part of what I do, I chat to lots of people and I can honestly tell you that many people I speak to suffer this affliction and it usually sounds something like this.
“They’re doing so well, their instagram has so many views and they’re booking so many clients/selling so many products – and I’m not!”
Then the imposter syndrome kicks in, often followed by more doom-laden prophecies about not being good enough.
But when we actually sit and look at the other person, they very often aren’t finding it as easy as we thought on first glance.
In this multi-tasking world of ours, it’s almost impossible to be playing our A-Game into many different roles, so even if they are genuinely booking clients – they’re often feeling dreadful or nervous about something else.
Sometimes, the “success” is all a big front and behind the scenes, they too are scrabbling around for business.
So it was great to go to the Hustle networking event run by Amelia Johnson at the gorgeous Hinton Workspace last week and listen to two of my favourite women chatting about all things business, with a strong dash of reality.
Alice Prichard set up World Secrets in 2012, marrying her love of travelling and her ability to find lovely things to bring back and sell in her Mother’s gift shop, sharing her ‘best kept secrets’ with customers in the UK.
The business soon grew, and Alice, who along the way had also been searching for beautiful and comfortable shoes, began designing and sampling shoes.
She’d found her passion and the product lines kept coming! Now, Alice designs from her office near Exeter and has a talented manufacturing team making for her in Turkey.
Her customers adore the bright and innovative products and her instagram reflects the crazy humour that keeps Alice and her team giggling as they work.
So World Secrets could well be one of those brands that you watch from afar, thinking “If only…”
Alice shared the story of how World Secrets came about in the first place and then became part of the Show Circuit appearing at Cheltenham Races and Badminton and Burghley Horse Trials.
Alice’s style is colourful and inspiring and her instagram often features the madcap adventures of her and her team as they journey through the year.
But Alice was also completely candid in her chat with Alice Fox Pitt and as well as the highlights, like exhibiting at Chelsea Flower Show, she told of the lowlights of extremely long days, increasing costs and managing growth in a way that is sustainable.
It was so refreshing to hear as I’m also a firm believer that we should all share the stories of the tenacity required to run a business, as well as the glamorous moments because being an entrepreneur is definitely not always an easy path!
Alice Fox-Pitt agreed with Alice and spoke about the issues in developing an old building and launching a new concept of a remote workspace in a rural area. With Hinton Workspace being a start-up she’s having to constantly look for new members, as well as listen to the feedback of existing members and make tweaks to the model – and be a Mum, a wife and TV Presenter!
But ultimately, they both absolutely love what they do, which shone out when they were speaking about their beloved businesses.
Given that the event attendees were mainly business owners, everyone listening was inspired and took heart from Alice’s recounting of her journey. Running a business can be lonely, so getting together somewhere like Hinton Workspace and sharing experience and advice is invaluable support, that’s just not there when you’re sitting at home and staring at the dining room table!
If you’re interested in learning more about Hinton Workspace, take a listen here to the podcast we recorded with Alice, chatting about why and how she set it all up.
You can find the people and places mentioned above on instagram – links below to their profiles.