The Countrywoman’s Guide to Work, Life & You…

• Episode 12 : Meet Harriet Willis of Flora Percival, UK knitwear business founder

  Harriet Willis runs Flora Percival, a Somerset-based, UK made, knitwear brand, established in 2023.Interviewing Harriet was such an archetypal Countrywoman’s Guide interview that I’ll describe where we were as we chatted. We were sitting at Harriet’s kitchen table, in her country cottage with a mug of tea poured from a teapot and a pile of gorgeous jumpers in front of us.As I talked to Harriet about her business journey, I could tell that Flora Percival has been very much created based on her values and a strong need to be making a product that is sustainable and supporting British agriculture. At one point she says, “a good knitted jumper will last your whole adult life,” and when you combine that statement with her timeless classic designs, you can see the sense in what Harriet’s saying.With a supportive husband and two young children, as well as a full-time job, we also discussed how Harriet fits it all in - like many people it’s a juggle, but where there’s a will, there’s a way and her determination to create a business that matters, making things that she loves shines through everything she says.As always, please do like and share and help us to shine a light onto these amazing country businesses, it really does make a difference - thank you!Podcast Timeline:0.00 Introductions and start-up story.6.00 Thrifting and passing clothes around within the family and how that inspired Harriet’s business values.9.00 Natural fibres and wearing them every day, UK made.12.30 Deciding on your market and what they want, the customer feedback loop.15.00 Farming and the countryside.17.30 Starting out on the Show circuit.20.00 Harriet’s business journey and the need to be seasonal.24.00 Business and family - how they co-exist, managing time.30.00 2025 plans and Harriet’s advice for others.You can find Harriet’s gorgeous jumpers on her Flora Percival website here and on Instagram here.Thank you for reading Countrywoman’s Guide. Subscribe for free to receive new posts. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit countrywomansguide.substack.com

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• Episode 11 : Meet Hannah King of King & Carr, maker of stylish wardrobe classics for women.

  Spotting a gap in the market is always a good place for a business idea to germinate and for Hannah King, attending the Game Fair in 2018, revealed one of those elusive white spaces.As she wandered around, she gradually realised that, despite there being many clothing stands, there wasn’t actually much on offer that was specifically made for women living a country lifestyle. Most of the offerings available were an altered version of a men’s item of clothing.Hannah set out then and there to design a capsule collection of stylish, comfortable and pretty country wear pieces under The Finer Horse Brand name and the business flourished.Then, along came lockdown and Hannah, along with many other businesses very reluctantly came to the decision that she couldn’t continue under the regime of lockdown uncertainty.But, roll forward to 2023, and that entrepreneurial bug just wouldn’t go away! So Hannah launched King & Carr with a vision to bring intentionally designed classic pieces with a twist to her customers, providing UK made, beautiful and practical clothing.It was such a treat to chat to Hannah - her enthusiasm for her business and her customers is infectious and it’s obvious that their feedback and needs are always front of mind as she develops her business.Podcast Timeline0.00 Introductions2.45 Inspiration and manufacturing ethos8.00 Start-up marketing10.00 Finding Customers15.00 Sustainable fashion20.00 The realities of the entrepreneurial journey30.00 The importance of the countryside35.00 Hannah’s favourite piece of advice37.50 EndsYou can find King & Carr here and on instagram hereAs always, thank you for listening. Please do like and share, it genuinely is a great way to help your favourite businesses along on their journey. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit countrywomansguide.substack.com

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• Episode 10 : We turn the tables! Meet our Founder, Emma Warren.

  How are we already on Podcast 10?!I’m very conscious that I’ve spent the last 9 episodes of the podcast and many more written interviews before that interviewing people and asking them to share their experience with you all.But some of you probably don’t know much about who I am and what makes me tick and how I got to where I am now. So it only seems fair that I put my hat into the ring as well, and my book coach, Lisa Bean, was the person who kept saying, ‘you need to be interviewed too Emma” and volunteered to interview me, so I put my big girl pants on and we recorded an interview.I know it seems odd for me to say that I had to put my big girl pants on, but I’m usually pretty good at ducking out of the focus being on me. I can honestly say that I will be squirming in my seat for the next few days knowing that you’re all listening to this…Now, I need to prewarn you, when Lisa and I get chatting, it’s hard to stop. In this interview we cover a lot of ground and Lisa has very neatly managed to extract a lot of my philosophies about work and life as we go through. But that’s taken more time than our normal podcast length, so if you don’t have just over an hour to spare, you might want to listen to it in a couple of chunks.0.00 Introduction3.00 Why Emma and Holly set up Countrywoman’s Guide8.30 Entrepreneurial traits - what’s important?10.00 How country ways make for better business and why business doesn’t always have to be a hustle20.00 The increasing need for values led businesses and customer expectations25.00 Seeing the future and holding a vision28.00. The volatility of businesses, especially farming ones and the growth in rural start-ups33.00 Emma’s businesses - Hiho Silver and Dimpsey38.00 Coping with change in your life44.00 The one thing that can help make your business more successful50.00 Does work/life balance actually exist?60.00. Future predictions65.00 Emma’s aspirations for Countrywoman’s GuideYou can find Lisa Bean on her website here and on instagram hereYou can find Emma on instagram here and her businesses are listed in her profileA huge thank you to Lisa for taking the time out to interview me.As always, a huge thank you to you for reading/listening.Thanks for reading Countrywoman’s Guide! Subscribe for free to receive new posts. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit countrywomansguide.substack.com

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• Episode 9 : Meet Mathilda Allison of Tilly Talks Podcast

  Mathilda Allison started her social media accounts as a lockdown project and it’s just snowballed from there.Based in The Angus Glens, Mathilda posts about her day-to-day life with her partner, Teifion, and her 7 month old daughter, Mabel. She’s keen to share the realities of their day-to-day life and she’s about to take that one step further with the launch of her new podcast, Tilly Talks.Her podcast is going to follow the young family as they build their business and their family life, at the same time as raising and training 19 dogs, it’s a busy life and Mathilda has aptly sub-titled the podcast - ‘Country Life and everything in between! The realities of rural living and family life!’Join us as we chat about Mathilda’s journey on social media and her thoughts on managing being in the public eye. We also talk about the constant juggle of being a Mum, a partner and a businesswoman - and lastly of course we ask Tilly about the one thing she wouldn’t be without and what one piece of advice she would hand on to all of you.We hope you enjoy our chat - please do like and share and help us build our Community.You can find Tilly on Instagram here on TikTok here and on her Tilly Talks Podcast here.Podcast Timeline :0.00 Introductions3.21 Tilly talks about her life in Scotland and her dogs9.05 Balancing work, family and parenthood17.29 Authenticity and social media27.04 Embracing opportunitiesThanks for reading Countrywoman’s Guide! Subscribe for free to receive new posts. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit countrywomansguide.substack.com

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• Episode 8 : Meet Evie Fox-Read - Founder of Fox Cub & Co Candle Company

  Evie Fox-Read is a lady on a mission to grow her interior fragrance brand and have fun doing it.Fox Cub & Co is an interior fragrance company with every product being produced by Evie and her team in Cheshire. The business launched with just six candle fragrances in March 2021 and now has a wide range of soy wax candles, diffusers, wax melts and more recently, handwash and hand lotions.Using the finest ingredients and materials from UK-based businesses to make their products, Evie loves to support other small businesses and is passionate about ensuring that Fox Cub & Co adheres to the highest of standards.Starting a business is never easy and there’s always lots to learn, much of it on the job and in a bit of a whirlwind!Emma talks to Evie about where her business idea came from, setting it all up, starting to do shows, working with her husband and just generally coping with the sheer workload involving in doing it all.You can find Evie’s website here and on instagram here.You can listen to the podcast on Substack, Apple Podcasts or Spotify Podcasts.Podcast Timeline:0.00 Welcome & Introduction4.12 Wax choices and aesthetics7.56 Adaptability and resilience12.47 Big growth & relocation18.20 Overcoming challenges25.52 Product improvements30.31 First Show33.38 Pricing39.44 Self-care47.26 EndsAs always thank you for reading and thank you for listening.Thanks for reading Countrywoman’s Guide! Subscribe for free to receive new posts. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit countrywomansguide.substack.com

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