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

On Monday 17th August, we held our first CWG Community Zoom, and the following Thursday evening we landed in your inbox with a brief insight into just what our Membership Community could offer you. On today’s Podcast and through this article, we’re exploring the membership even further. Diving deeper into its offerings, and shining a light on the discussions we had during our call.
Monday was simply an opportunity for those who have been following along with Countrywoman’s Guide to hear more about what we’re creating through our newly launched membership and, perhaps most importantly, a chance for us to discover what you would like the Countrywoman’s Guide Community to become.
It was a rich conversation full of discussions about business, but also about finding your people, wanting somewhere to ask questions without feeling silly, and the simple value of having people around you who understand.
It was the kind of conversation we see at the heart of CWG time and time again, and demonstrated exactly what we want to encapsulate in our community.
Finding your people
Running or working within a rural business can be brilliant, but it can also be complicated, lonely, exhausting, and at times, completely overwhelming. The response to our article last Friday and discussions had on Monday really cemented this for us. There’s often many decisions to be made, things you’re unsure of how to manage, and days when you wonder if any of your ideas are actually going to work. Whilst our friends and family can be wonderfully supportive during these times, there’s something refreshing about being able to ask a group of people “Has anyone else dealt with this? How did you tackle it?” and do so knowing that someone in the group probably has, and will be able to help.
On Monday, Elaine talked to us about wanting a wider circle of people to call on across all the different parts of country life, from business questions all the way through to canine and equine ones.
Jess spoke about how moving away from home has meant she’s needed to build a new network around her, and how valuable it has been to be surrounded by people who have “been there, done it and understand you.”
It’s that last bit that’s really important to us.
Our membership isn’t trying to create a community where everyone is at the same stage, doing the same thing or even has the same ambitions. Quite the opposite. Instead, it’s a place for different ages, experiences, businesses and lives to gather and share. You’ll be amazed how talking to someone who understands your way of life can offer you a different perspective on the question that’s been keeping you awake. Often, you’ll already have the answer but just need a little confidence boost, sometimes it may lie in someone further along their journey, or perhaps you just need a younger fresh set of eyes to see it from a different angle.
As Emma put it during our conversation,“Your obvious might be someone else’s amazing” and that feels like a rather good principle for a community. One we want to honour.
Monthly Monday Masterclasses
The Membership community isn’t just about having people to talk to, we also want to give you some dedicated time to step away from working in your business, to work on it instead.
On the first Monday of every month we will gather online with our paid members for a one-hour Business Masterclass with Emma and invited guests.
They will be practical, useful sessions covering a range of topics from business values to seasonal living. One thing we can assure you is that these masterclasses won’t become just another addition to that list of things you should be doing. We’ll be taking your lead on the subjects most useful to you, making sure each one offers you maximum knowledge value. So please do let us know what would be useful for you - pop us an email at team@countrywomansguide.co.uk or send us a DM on Instagram.
Our first six sessions are already in the making and will be covering the following topics:
September: Time HacksLet’s start as we mean to go on and find you some extra time.
October: ValuesYou’ll be amazed at how useful understanding your values can be as a decision making tool - regularly saving you time and worry.
November: Non-Hustle Business GrowthLet’s talk about how we can harness seasonal thinking so that running your business becomes a little more effective and a lot less pressured.
December: Christmas Wrapping and ChattingA gentler session for an already busy time of year. A chance to get the bulk of your wrapping done while sharing any last minute gift ideas, seasonal tips and delicious festive recipes. Let’s come together and share ways to make Christmas a little easier on ourselves.
January: VisionIt’s an oldie but a goodie. A clear vision of where you’re going can make moving forwards so much easier. As part of January’s Vision theme, we will be running a paid in person Vision Workshop Day, (see below for the full details). Ten spaces will be available, with our members getting early access to tickets and 10% off the price.
February: FocusWith January being spent dreaming up and pinning down the vision, February will be spent turning this dream into an action plan. We do this because the actual doing is where the revenue is - dreams without actions stay in the clouds.
March: Member ShareWe will be reaching the six-month mark for our CWG Membership Masterclasses, and we want to use it as an opportunity to learn more about you and the community we have built in that time. You will have the chance to share your wisdom, and we’d love for two of our members to lead part of this session.
Our monthly Masterclasses will be recorded for anyone who can’t make the live call, but being there gives you the chance to ask questions, contribute to the conversation and get to know the other members so we’ll always encourage you to join them if possible.
Gathering around the table - for real!
As much as we love a Zoom call, there was one thing that came through very clearly on Monday - we want to meet in-person, too.
There’s something about gathering people around a table that a screen simply can’t replicate so, alongside our online community, we’ll be creating opportunities to get together throughout the year. We’ll be hosting leisurely lunches, meet-ups at events up and down the country, alongside focused business strategy days.
While these events will be open to all in the Countrywoman’s Guide Community, our members will get first access to these events, and receive 10% off the ticket price.
We’re already planning our first few events…
* Cotswold Meet Up
When: 7th of October, time TBC.
Where: Specific location TBC, near Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Details: We’re up in the Cotswolds on the 7th meeting a wonderful rural brand, we’ll be stopping for lunch afterwards (we’ll let you know a date and location nearer the time) and would love for some of you to come and join us?
* Countrywoman’s Guide Lunch
When: 10th of November, 12pm - 2pm
Where: South Somerset, near Taunton (specific location given when you buy your ticket)
Details: An opportunity for our Community to gather in person around our very own kitchen table. A long lunch full of good food, good company and authentic conversations. This event will be limited to just ten tickets, with members getting early access to purchase. If all spaces are not snapped up by our members, our free community will then have the opportunity to purchase them.
* January Vision Workshop Day
When: 14th of January, 10am-4pm
Where: South Somerset, near Taunton (specific location given when you buy your ticket)
Details: Join us for a full day around the table at Emma’s farm to create a work/life vision that will guide you throughout the year. We will be cutting, pasting, and assembling vision a board for you to take away, but more importantly we’ll be working on how to juggle those work and life priorities so you can approach things in a different way. Lashings of cake, lunch and ginger beer will obviously be consumed and you’ll be chatting away like old friends around our table before you know it!
This event will be limited to just eight tickets, with members getting early access to purchase tickets. If all spaces are not snapped up by our members, our free community will also have the opportunity to purchase them.
Work, Life & You
You’ll often hear us talk about our Three Pillars: Work, Life & You.
They really are an integral part of what we’re creating here, they underpin everything we do at Countrywoman’s Guide, and lead the content we share and curate for you. You might be growing a business whilst raising a family, running a farm, keeping a house going, trying to maintain friendships and attempting to find five minutes for yourself and often, all of the above! It’s natural for there to be months when work needs more of you, and months when life does. We’re here to help you navigate it all.
We don’t think the answer lies in pretending you can balance everything perfectly. We’re much more interested in helping you find a way of working that actually fits the life you’re living or wish to live. That’s why the conversations inside our membership won’t all be about sales, marketing and spreadsheets. Some of our most useful conversations have been about simply getting some time back, helping you make decisions you’re avoiding and even offering a space to hear that someone else has been in your position before and got through it.
Then there’s the WhatsApp group
The WhatsApp group will be the everyday part of the community, and only accessible to those in the membership.
The group will be a place for you to ask a quick question, share something you’ve discovered, get a second opinion, celebrate a win or have a little vent to people who actually understand what you’re talking about.
It isn’t meant to become another group chat that you feel obliged to keep up with. You’re very much welcome to dip in and out as you see fit. There will be different channels to allow for different topics and events to be discussed separately, so you won’t have to read conversations that aren’t relevant or of interest to you. As with everything we do, this WhatApp group is led by our community and by you - allowing you to take as much or as little as you wish.
The important thing is that you know that there’s support waiting for you in the group.
To recap…
Countrywoman’s Guide has always been a place for the knowledge and experience of the people in the countryside to be shared around our kitchen table. Our membership is simply a deeper extension of this.
Through our Monthly Masterclasses, WhatsApp Group and in-person events, the membership offers you a place to ask the questions you’ve been turning over in your head, a place to meet someone who may well become important in your business and your life, and a place where you don’t have to pretend you have it all figured out.
There will not only be the chance to learn from Emma, Rachel and Charlotte, but each other too. Already we’re home to a wide range of members spanning different ages, careers and businesses so it’s shaping up to be it’s shaping up to be just what we were hoping for.
If you’re already part of our CWG community as a free subscriber, you’ll continue to be part of what we’re building and to have access to the Sunday podcast and various articles. The membership simply creates another layer for those who want more regular support, deeper conversations, practical business help and the opportunity to build stronger connections with the people around them.
And if you’ve been wondering whether it’s for you, perhaps the easiest answer is to pull up a chair and see.
Become a Countrywoman’s Guide Paid Member
The most exciting part is that we’re only just getting started…
We’d love to see what this becomes together.
Emma, Rachel & Charlotte x
Join our growing Community of people who value building a business that fits your life, rather than a life that fits in round your business.



Get full access to A Countrywoman’s Guide to Work and Life at countrywomansguide.substack.com/subscribe

So here we are.
I’ve switched on the Paid Membership for Countrywoman’s Guide, quietly and without a lot of fanfare, because we want you to have the space to decide if we’re the right group for you, rather than we hustle you in and you realise we’re not.
I’ve chatted in the video above about why we’re doing what we do, and how we believe that a group with a mutual aim of helping each other to move forward can help you in your day-to-day lives.
So what’s going to be included in your membership?
We’ll be having a one hour call per month where we will work on some of the things that I have been helping individual businesses with over the past few years. We’ll start off by looking at getting you committed to your vision and what you want to be doing, then we’ll do a session on focusing on getting that done. There will be zoom sessions where we work on you and how you cope with what you’re doing, as well as fun things like cooking and making time for you. We’ll also be doing some more practical business sessions on things like trademarks, legals, understanding your finances, substack skills and all sorts of other useful topics to help you run your business better.
You will also get first access to our events - we’re going to set up a schedule for lunches and joint working days - where you can literally come and pull a chair up at our table and we’ll work through things together. As a paid member you will get a discount code that you can use on these events.
That’s the bones of what’s involved - the key thing for us is building a community that is supportive, that you can learn from in a way that helps you feel less lonely as you build your business.
Once you have signed up on Substack, you can just receive everything in your emails, so don’t worry if you don’t want to do anything on Substack.
As already stated, the podcasts that we currently do will continue to be available to everyone, as it’s really important to us that everyone gets to hear the wisdom that our interviewees pass on during their interview.
The paid tier is for you if you are looking for extra business support and community or you wish to support Countrywoman’s Guide in our mission to help rural businesses.
As always, please do not hesitate to ask if you have any questions. Thank you.
Join our growing Community of people who value building a business that fits your life, rather than a life that fits in round your business.



Get full access to A Countrywoman’s Guide to Work and Life at countrywomansguide.substack.com/subscribe

Some businesses begin with a five-year plan, months of arranging, organising and every fall back plan put in place before they even begin.
Others begin with a couple of suitcases full of jackets. And that is more or less how the amazing Peshawar Jackets came about.
The business was born from a connection between Pakistan and the British countryside, when founder Bertie Alexander returned from running riding holidays in the Hindukush Mountains with beautiful Chitrali-style jackets they quickly attracted attention from everyone who saw them.
Lucy joined the business almost by accident, bringing with her 25 years of experience in the events sector. Alongside Bertie and her son Jonty, she has helped turn this initial idea into a growing business, while learning plenty along the way herself.
We talk about what it is like to build a business across generations, and the rather wonderful exchange of skills that happens when experience and enthusiasm sit around the same kitchen table.
An episode with plenty of business conversation, but also a resounding message about taking the skills you already have and being brave enough to use them somewhere new.
And perhaps most importantly, Lucy talks about why she thinks it is worth starting a business later in life - and why there is no need to rush the process of building one.
It’s a conversation about people, patience and finding out what happens when you give an idea room to grow.
Listen to the full episode of the Countrywoman’s Guide Podcast wherever you listen to your podcasts.
Join our growing Community of people who value building a business that fits your life, rather than a life that fits in round your business.



Get full access to A Countrywoman’s Guide to Work and Life at countrywomansguide.substack.com/subscribe

There’s a lot more to Chapman than just making very good bags, as we discovered when we first met Cedric at Badminton Horse Trials in the early May of this year.
What began as simply admiring the quality and craftsmanship of the products on their stand, grew into an inspiring conversation around building a business that cares deeply about their values, materials, quality and customer experience. Not only was it a new brand that we wanted to introduce to our Countrywoman’s Guide community, but also a story we had knew we wanted to explore further and share with you.
So join us on today’s podcast as we talk to Cedric Stonex, owner of Chapman Bags.
Chapman began in 1984, and Cedric has worked his way through almost every part of the business before becoming its owner in 2019. Today, the business continues to grow, but the principles behind it remain firmly in place.
Cedric takes us through his journey in the business, the uncertainties he’s faced along the way, and shares why and how Chapman’s strong brand values inform each business decision he makes.
We also talk about the less visible but equally crucial sides of running a business, from the responsibility that comes with employing people, to having the patience to build something with true longevity and the making of decisions when the safer option isn’t necessarily the right one. It’s a listen that we know will resonate with so many of you, and offer you reassurance as you navigate your own business’s.
You can listen to the full conversation now, wherever you get your podcasts.
If would like to keep with Chapman, you can find their website here, and their Instagram here.

Photography Credits: Team Chapman & Barney Curran

Join our growing Community of people who value building a business that fits your life, rather than a life that fits in round your business.



Get full access to A Countrywoman’s Guide to Work and Life at countrywomansguide.substack.com/subscribe

So today it feels appropriate that I write you a letter, from my kitchen table to yours…
If I had your addresses, I would have written you an ‘in-real-life’ letter that would have plopped onto your doormat and delighted you as you flipped through your post and realised it wasn’t a bill and that someone had taken the time to write your name and address by hand.
Because that’s what Countrywoman’s Guide feels like to me - a reminder that considered moments are important and need to be honoured.
So, my dear reader, let’s begin…
I know that to honour the rites of “launching” a membership, we should have been jumping up and down in your inbox and reminding you constantly that it’s happening - and I do truly believe that there is a time and place for that for the right reason.
But I also believe that there’s room for us all to do things in the way that suits us, and CWG is a slow burn project. We’re very happy to start and let people see what’s happening and for people to make their way into the paid community when they’re ready. We will put some emails together explaining more of the detail, but if you have any questions before that, please do just message us and ask - please don’t be nervous to do so.
Firstly, let me start off by saying that what we are currently doing (our podcast interviews and posts) will remain free. We started CWG because we believe passionately that hearing other people’s stories is one of the best learning tools and confidence builders there is, and many people have fed back to us that a guest has inspired them to do something.
We also know that we have listeners who don’t run a business, but do enjoy hearing the founder stories from the brands they love, in fact some of our non-business readers have pledged a monthly subscription to help us continue sharing stories - which we are very grateful for.
Secondly, let’s explain why that paid community is aimed at people who are running businesses.
I (Emma) am absolutely passionate about being an entrepreneur, and over the past few years I have helped many people with advice about their business. I’m lucky enough that Rachel Collins and Charlotte Hurst who are also part of CWG are just as passionate about creating something that helps people move their business forward.
The three of us are also great believers in work/life integration - I say integration because hand on heart, none of us can say that we don’t have days when work is all-encompassing and there’s not much room for anything else.
I just mean that we don’t look at work as being something that happens in isolation - it’s part of our lives, but we make a conscious effort to ensure that it doesn’t come at the cost of our families or ourselves.
That’s why our content pillars cover Work, Life and You - because you are the one that often gets overlooked, that never has a moment - and that needs to change. You are the foundation and without you being strong, everything else feels really hard.
So within the Community we’ll be running monthly sessions which cover our three content pillars - sharing with you about how to do business better and live life well.
We’ll be showing you: how to ensure that you harvest the profits from the ideas that you have, practical sessions on legals, understanding your figures and trademarks, better ways to manage all the things you do, as well as guest speakers and time for you to spend working on, rather than in, your business. You’ll also get first access to our CWG lunches and events, because in our humble opinion getting together around a table is a great way to build a community.
But most importantly, slowly and surely you’ll get to know each other and in time you will have built a support network of your own that you can reach out to. How lovely would that be?
Thirdly, I know that some of you may not know who we are outside of CWG, so it’s probably a good idea to give you a little run through.
Rachel is a brand photographer, who loves to capture brand stories and the little details that make them special. She photographs for me for CWG, Hiho, Dimpsey, Beetham Farm and Blackdown Shepherd Huts. Her gentle and calm advice always puts her clients at ease - she is especially talented at putting people who don’t particularly like having their photo taken at ease - I speak from experience here ;-)
Charlotte graduated last year and has a huge appetite for learning, she has taken on the Marketing Manager role for Hiho, Dimpsey and CWG and loves to come up with innovative campaigns and ways of celebrating the businesses we work with. You’ll see her posts and graphics across many of the accounts, weaving words and images that capture the brands perfectly.
And me? Well, I’m 40 years into my business career and still learning. I call myself a Boundary Scout because I love to help people create paths to the future they want, and underpin that with good solid business guidance about how they can do that. I run the businesses mentioned in Charlotte and Rachel’s paragraphs above (apart from Blackdown - I’ve mentored them since they started in 2011 and now do their business development and marketing) and I’m just in the middle of helping my son launch his beef box business.
All three of us love spending time outdoors and will drop everything at the sniff of a good picnic - so baskets are most definitely our accessory of choice!
Finally, let’s cover why I titled this piece ‘Enough’…
Way back in 2018, I set up Hiho & Co and brought together a bunch of amazing ladies to help me create a day that involved getting lots of people into an inspiring space and then sharing style tips and skills like how to do flat lay photography, amongst other things.

We ran a few events before lockdown and I know that people made connections on the days that went on to build into firm friendships that still remain today.
I also know that getting together with other people helped people feel less lonely and more confident about what they were doing - we helped them to see that they are enough.
For our last event before lockdown, I put a saying onto the back of a postcard that went into everyone’s Goody Bags…
It was,
'All you need to do, is be all you can be, for you and no-one else.
Run your own race.
Then, you are enough’
If you buy a piece of Hiho jewellery, you will see that inside every box lid, there is the phrase - Be all you can be - it’s a gentle reminder to inspire you to reach for the things you want to do.
This saying has underpinned everything that I’ve been thinking about for the CWG Membership. Sometimes we are so hard on ourselves and expect that we should be as good as - insert the current person you are obsessing about - who you feel is acing everything, when you’re - insert the current downer phrase that you use about yourself.
When in reality, you don’t need to be so hard on yourself, you really are enough. You juggle many things, sometimes too many, so actually you are already more than enough. The only bar you need to measure yourself by are the standards that you set for yourself - and remember that doesn’t mean you always have to be perfect.
Sometimes moving forward is more about what you choose not to do, rather than what you choose to do.
So if you’re feeling like you’re ready to make some changes that will help you run your business better and give you time to gain some of your life back - you may well be in exactly the right place, right now…
So I’d like to personally invite you to join us in the Membership and find out more about the ways you can start harnessing your potential, believing in yourself and moving yourself towards being all you can be.
We’re based on Substack and that allows us to create a paid tier, which means that we can send newsletters that only our paid memberships receives. All you need to do is to sign up to our Substack using the button below and choose the membership tier that suits you. We’re starting off at £15 per month for the first 50 subscribers, which gets you into our monthly zoom development circle, early release access for our events and subscriber discounts from our partner brands.
Our first session will be on Monday the 17th of August, 1:30pm. This will be an introductory chat on zoom and we’ll take you through the details of what we’ll be doing together as well as finding out from you what you would find really helpful to cover. We’ll also lay out the timetable for the next 3 sessions - which will be recorded so we can share them with you.
I’ve run product and online businesses, bought them and sold them, and I will be bringing those experiences into the room with you where you will of course, be very welcome to ask questions and share your experiences too.
You see, that’s the power of community, you will have people to turn to and together we will talk and solve the issues that are vexing you. Talking things through to solution is the way generations of people have solved things around their kitchen tables or when sitting by the fire, and it’s one we’re keen to carry forward.
You might be asking yourself what you need to bring to the table - and my answer would be curiosity and the willingness to look at changing what you’re doing - because the plain fact is that if you keep on doing what you’ve always done, you’re going to get what you’ve always got…nothing changes.
We’re great believers that sharing and supporting each other moves you and your business forward - and that’s why we’re creating this new membership.
We’d love to see you there…

Join our growing Community of people who value building a business that fits your life, rather than a life that fits in round your business.



Get full access to A Countrywoman’s Guide to Work and Life at countrywomansguide.substack.com/subscribe