How To Start Up by FF&M

In this episode we hear from Rae, Founder of her eponymous brand Rae Feather, a personalised luxury accessories, homeware and versatile resort wear brand. Having founded her company in 2013 following a career in luxury travel marketing, Rae’s brand draws extensively on her passion for travel however it was the monogrammed straw basket with which the brand was propelled to notoriety on Instagram.

Named in 2018 as one of the Walpole ‘Brands of Tomorrow’, Rae places great emphasis on sustainability and ethical production and works with many Fair Trade and social enterprise companies to make a positive impact around the world.

Rae shares with us why you shouldn’t be put off starting a second career no matter what age you are and that really knowing your business through and through stands you in good stead when it comes to growth.

Rae’s advice:

• Being older gives you confidence; it doesn’t mean you have to be invisible or frumpy
• It’s useful to try to see things from the point of view of younger people, however
• When marketing, take care not to be aggressive; take the time to build a following with patience
• It’s helpful if you are creative and flexible
• Make sure you enjoy working with a team; be present for them
• Don’t try to do things too fast; take it slowly and know your limitations
• Don’t employ anyone you wouldn’t want to have dinner with
• Don’t overthink things and take one day at a time
• Surround yourself with positive people and people you can trust; listen to them

If you’d like to contact Rae you can reach her via Instagram.

Head over to Speakpipe to leave your voice note for future guests too.

• LastPass the password-keeping site that syncs between devices.
• Google Workspace is brilliant for small businesses
• Buzzsprout podcast 'how to' & hosting directory
• Canva has proved invaluable for creating all the social media assets and audio bites.
• For contracts check out Law Depot.

Recorded, edited & published by Juliet Fallowfield, 2021 founder of PR for startups advisory Fallow, Field & Mason. Edited by Renale Mathurin. MUSIC CREDIT Funk Game Loop by Kevin MacLeod. Link & Licence

Text us your questions for future founders. Plus we'd love to get your feedback, text in via Fan Mail

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Building a direct-to-consumer (DTC) brand offers an incredible opportunity to connect with customers and foster long-term brand loyalty. But while the rewards can be significant, so too are the challenges and barriers to entry. That’s why I wanted to speak with someone who has successfully navigated this journey for our season focus on sales.

From modest beginnings in a Shoreditch coffee shop in 2011, David Abrahamovitch has built Grind into one of the UK’s leading DTC coffee brands. Having built a hugely loyal customer base, it’s estimated a Grind coffee is enjoyed every 2.8 seconds in the UK. David’s business has also grown through partnerships with the likes of British Airways & Soho House.

Keep listening to hear David’s advice on how to build a DTC brand & how to leverage community-building to generate sales.

David’s advice:

1. Accept that everything is sales; sell to yourself constantly
2. With every small sale you are building a following and a brand
3. Pitching your product should not worry you; you know more than anyone else about it, so you have nothing to fear
4. Always know your numbers; but also tell the story of the history of the brand, and your plans for its future
5. Be optimistic - but not delusional!
6. DTC is more work in that you have to have a website / attract people to that website / and deal with the packaging and the posting
7. Whereas selling through a retailer you only need to advertise the product
8. BUT DTC gives you access to customers’ data and allows you to build a relationship with them
9. So selling through both the above is perhaps optimal
10. Advertising is essential for DTC selling - Facebook / Instagram / email / tube car panels are all useful; expect to spend up to 30% of revenue on marketing which will be a constant burden
11. Retaining customers is everything; the product must be a good one
12. If customers unsubscribe, find out why so that you can fix the problem
13. Use AI to help with small repetitive edits, not to replace people, just to speed up what they do
14. In order to attract young talent, create a culture that they will understand and like; always be thoughtful with your team and make sure they understand their job, their position and the company mission

FF&M enables you to own your own PR & produces podcasts.
Recorded, edited & published by Juliet Fallowfield, 2024 MD & Founder of PR & Communications consultancy for startups Fallow, Field & Mason. Email us at [email protected] or DM us on instagram @fallowfieldmason.
FF&M recommends:

• Buzzsprout podcast 'how to' & hosting directory
• Canva has proved invaluable for creating all the social media assets and audio bites.

MUSIC CREDIT Funk Game Loop by Kevin MacLeod. Link & Licence

Text us your questions for future founders. Plus we'd love to get your feedback, text in via Fan Mail

Support the show

Text us your questions for future founders. Plus we'd love to get your feedback, text in via Fan Mail

Support the show

With Statista reporting there are 35 million Instagram users in the UK, social media platforms are a powerful tool to build brand awareness and convert followers into loyal customers.

Given this season is a focus on all things branding I was keen to speak to an expert content creator.

In this episode, I hear from Estée Lalonde, CEO and founder of bodycare brand MIRROR WATER. The brand champions mirror work and self-care, inspired by Estée’s quest to find effective relaxation tools during the pandemic. Estée has enjoyed a long career working within social media building a following of over 677k before founding her brand in 2021 which has already amassed a following of 35k.

She shares her advice on how to build your brand through social media, why doing the initial creative work on your brand is crucial for success and how DM’ing one of your idols (in this case Bobbi Brown) can be the motivation you need to keep going.

Estée’s advice:

• Always start with a good business plan
• Branding so important; to start with, concentrate on aspirational visuals that can then inform further work
• Don’t rush this stage:
• Create mood boards
• Take care of yourself and go with your intuition
• Get to the essence of what you want
• Settle on a name, which will take you in the right direction
• Look for a designer to support you and ensure you click with them, build that relationship to a point of trust
• Be strategic on social; post regularly and expect this to be a slow build
• Social media can help you launch, it is a big time commitment however it will pay dividends
• Brand instagramming is harder than being a social media influencer (owned content v earned, DM FF&M to find out more on this)
• Posting every day becomes a burden so look at process and systems to help you on this
• You can’t do it all so be clear on what success looks like and work backwards
• Keep it lean - less is more in all things in business, focus on one thing and do it well rather than trying to post on multiple platforms all the time
• Take time to reflect on what you’re doing and enjoy it
• Expect to be overwhelmed at times; but hang on it there!

If you'd like to contact Estée you can reach her via @esteelalonde on Instagram
FF&M enables you to own your own PR. Recorded, edited & published by Juliet Fallowfield, 2023 MD & Founder of PR & Communications consultancy for startups Fallow, Field & Mason.
Email: [email protected] or
DM us on instagram @fallowfieldmason
Host Juliet Fallowfield LinkedIn

Let us know how your start up journey is going or if you have any questions you would like us to discuss in future episodes.

FF&M recommends:

• LastPass the password-keeping site that syncs between devices.
• Google Workspace is brilliant for small businesses
• Buzzsprout podcast 'how to' & hosting directory
• Canva has proved invaluable for creating all the social media assets and audio bites.

MUSIC CREDIT Funk Game Loop by Kevin MacLeod. Link &

When a founder is starting a business, they know that at some point they're going to have to tell other people what they’re doing and why, in order to reach their prospective clients and customers. Word of mouth is key. However, to reach further afield, marketing and communications will strengthen the launch, brand building and SEO. As part of the marketing mix, I find that PR is often considered but rarely embraced to its full potential - and often left to the last minute when it is too late.

I started Fallow, Field & Mason in order to combat the wariness that founders have of PR, coach them to own the function in-house and help them to understand what value it can bring to their search result rankings. As this mini-series is a more practical ‘how to’ it felt like the right place to speak about my day job, so I invited a fellow PR professional to discuss the topic.

In this episode I chat to Katya Zemtsova who runs her own marketing, media relations and project management company, Elephant, who set up and develop businesses in Russia, the CIS and the UK. She shares insights on why storytelling is so important and how it can support SEO, as well as common mistakes and misunderstandings business owners are guilty of when it comes to PR.
Katya’s advice:

• PR, or public relations, already exists in all of your communications, it is simply spreading public awareness, so your word of mouth is also considered as PR
• Words matter, they feed search engines (SEO)
• Securing editorial content can not only build brand awareness but feed your search rankings
• When starting out, use a professional copywriter to deliver high quality text as the written word is key
• Remember to take into account lead times for the press, and think ahead with a three month lead time as a minimum
• Public Relations is the means to secure editorial (not advertising!) in publications, however it is also speaker opportunities, awards, newsletters etc. too
• Founders are always the best storytellers where their own brand is concerned so it is best to embrace this and conquer your fear of speaking to the press
• Ensure you know how best to approach the press, when and with the right messaging
• Be strategic in your approach with the media, make sure the publications are of high quality so when you’re searched, you’re affiliated with the right environment for your business
• Be patient; it takes time to build relationships plus the press need time to research, write and pitch to their editors too

You can reach Katya via [email protected]

Head over to Speakpipe to leave your voice note for future guests too.
LastPass the password-keeping site that syncs between devices.
Google Workspace is brilliant for small businesses
Buzzsprout podcast 'how to' & hosting directory
Canva has proved invaluable for creating all the social media assets and audio bites.
For contracts check out Law Depot.

Recorded, edited & published by Juliet Fallowfield, 2021 founder of PR for startups advisory Fallow, Field

Text us your questions for future founders. Plus we'd love to get your feedback, text in via Fan Mail

Support the show

In this episode I chat to two entrepreneurs in the hospitality space, Duncan Stirling and Charlie Gilkes who founded Inception Group back in 2009. The company operates a group of unique bar, restaurant and club concepts in South West and central London. As a long-standing fan of Maggie’s (as who doesn’t love a solid 80s soundtrack), I was really interested to learn how they’ve quickly built a multi-brand business but also how they weathered the unforeseen pandemic that potentially could have wiped out 12 years of hard work.

The good news is they are continuing to grow, Maggie’s is still as popular as ever and they are both adamant now is as good a time as any to start up.

Charlie and Duncan’s advice:

• When you take the leap into self-employment it’s hard at first but stick at it and it will be worthwhile
• Having a partner and fellow founder means you have consistent support
• Remember cash is king: try to put enough money aside for a rainy day
• Charlie believes in learning on the job, and says that being thrown in the deep end is the best way to learn practical skills; Duncan, however, has found that working elsewhere has helped him hone his management skills
• Take time to build your business as it will be more sustainable in the long run
• Enjoy the work, grow slowly and steadily; and don’t over plan but keep an open mind as you can’t forecast how things will develop
• “Don’t be a busy fool” and spend time at the start on things like business cards, concentrate on clients and revenue
• Enjoy your autonomy and freedom starting your own business affords you
• When recruiting, spend time with people before you hire them and recruit for the right attitude as skill sets can be taught
• Always know who your customers are going to be. Spend time getting to really know your audience
• Right now is always a good time to start a business, especially after a national crisis

If you'd like to contact Duncan or Charlie you can via [email protected] or [email protected].

Head over to Speakpipe to leave your voice note for future guests too.

• LastPass the password-keeping site that syncs between devices.
• Google Workspace is brilliant for small businesses
• Buzzsprout podcast 'how to' & hosting directory
• Canva has proved invaluable for creating all the social media assets and audio bites.
• For contracts check out Law Depot.

Recorded, edited & published by Juliet Fallowfield, 2021 founder of PR for startups advisory Fallow, Field & Mason. MUSIC CREDIT Funk Game Loop by Kevin MacLeod. Link & Licence

Text us your questions for future founders. Plus we'd love to get your feedback, text in via Fan Mail

Support the show