Know a great sole trader in South London?

Do you know an amazing sole trader in South London?

One that you know will be there any time of the day, or help you out beyond their means, who everyone recommends and you would too?

Are they thinking about expanding their business and taking on their first employee but need some funds to help them do so? Maybe they have been turned down a loan by the bank or just don't want to end up getting into more debt.

I'm running a pilot project to help 10 South London small business owners or sole traders raise funds to grow their business and create new jobs.

KNOW SOMEONE WHO FITS THE DESCRIPTION?

Mention them here, or get them to email saraha@participle.net for more info.

PLEASE SHARE!

Russell Simmons on Yoga and Business

Say it Loud!

The start of the year and the period over Xmas and New Year is always a funny one. A period of quiet time over xmas allows us to reflect on the past year. What has worked, what hasn't, what did I do, what didn't I do.. why? This period of reflection often then brings about a sense of anxiety and a need for change, a need for goal setting and action. Standardly, this happened to me this year, same as it does every year. Instead of reflecting on what worked, I held myself against all of the things I hadn't achieved. Now, this may sound negative, but what I realised has actually helped me to set about how I will start this year and what I will focus on.

My main realisation is that I had been so distracted with my home and personal life (new job, being pregnant, buying a house and having my first baby) that I had been far too content with the slow moving pace of my business. Now don't get me wrong, business has been good. For starters, we have continually had repeat business and a growing customer base, which in a recession, is no easy feat. We also won our first award within just 12 months of trading. Not bad right? But if you know me, which perhaps by reading this blog you will in some way or another, you will know that for me this wasn't enough. Money problems had disappeared, my family life was great, business was plodding along. Ahhh, the perfect ingredients for the recipe of contentment.

Then something dawned on me. I probably only have till I'm 40 to put into place all of the things that I have ever hoped and dreamed of. I know everyone says you shouldn't get too caught up in timelines and doing things by an age but I don't live by that. I think you need milestones in order to get shit happening! So.. I have till I'm 40, as let's face it, if you haven't put into place your major moves by the time you're 40, your chances of doing it after that will significantly decrease. I won't go into the reasons why as I'm sure you can visualise this yourselves - by then you have a family, you are less active physically, people and business (sadly) see you as being 'past it' or too old to come up with fresh ideas... you get the picture. We all know this is probably bullshit, but it still happens. Reality: I have 13 years to make all the moves I need to achieve all the things I had ever said I want. Holiday homes, big house, private schooling for my child, travel the world, make a million... the list is endless! The thought that I might life a life in which those things might not happen suddenly dawned on me, and it felt like crrrrap.

Firstly, I made a point of writing down all of these things. I've said and written them down tens of times in the past, but this was a fresh reminder. Everything I ever want to have achieved / owned / had in life. Next, I realised I had some harsh realities to wake myself up to business wise. I mean, there's no point in turning small profits and taking 20 years to actually start making money. Not to me anyway. I THINK BIG. Cue a chat with my business partner, who it turns out, had been feeling exactly the same way. We both knew we had gotten complacent. You know why? FEAR!

The hardest thing of all was to look at what the fears were holding us back from going out and pitching big. Risking big. Winning big. For me, it was being fearful of going out and pitching our business to big clients. Why? God knows! I know we have a great business with amazing potential. Once I had said out loud what I was scared of (cold calls being a primary one) I realised how stupid it sounded. I, was scared, of a person who I'd never met on a phone. I was scared of pitching to businesses or individuals that I considered to be of more value / worth / importance than me. I said this all out loud. I sounded stupid.

But you know what? Once I said it, I almost felt like laughing. How could I be so silly?! It seemed to change it's hold over me once I said it out loud. So often we know what's holding us back, what we are fearful of, scared of. We know it in the back of our minds but we find excuses or justifications daily to not have to face those fears. We never say it to anyone, we probably haven't even made it into a thought, so no-one knows, and no-one holds us to change or the challenge.

So, at the end of this somewhat winding post, I challenge you this young padawans.

1. Write down all of the things you want to do / own / achieve by the time you are 40.

2. Identify what's holding you back, not 'I don't have the money, time' etc... what is holding you back in YOUR mind?

3. Find a friend to do this challenge with, and tell them your fear, out loud.

4. Laugh at how stupid it sounds

5. Challenge yourself and each other to do the one very thing that is scaring you.

I'm working on those cold calls. I'm gearing up to start going out and pitching our business to people I consider more 'important' than me. Cos at the end of the day, they are just people. We are all the same, we all breathe the same air, and as someone recently so elegantly put it, 'we all shit out of our bumholes'.

Happy new year,

S x

Stylist Networking Event: How to build a world famous business

Last week I shuffled along after work to the Stylist Magazine networking evening at the May Fair hotel. I was going alone as despite me telling a few career driven women like myself, the tickets sold out in super fast time and I was the only one able to get in on the action. I'm starting to become a bit of a dab hand at these networking events, but how would this one fair up being predominantly women, and most of them being in the same or similar industry to me? My competitive streak was itching to get out, but I was pleasantly surprised..

After a really easy check in, I took my glass of OJ and started to have a wander around. For the first half an hour there was a networking session, so learning from my past mistakes (standing in a corner until someone spoke to me) I decided to put my best foot forward and go in for the kill. First two girls I see. Me: 'Hey ladies, I'm Sarah, guess we are here to network so here I am! Did you guys come together?'

Easy peasy. Conversation flowed. The trick with networking is to keep it light, make sure you find out what they do, what you do, if there is any mutual interest, and be completely honest about moving on to the next person to chat. Everyone is there for the same reason after all! I find it actually helped to be on my own as it would have been far too easy to stand and chat with the person you came with rather than socialise, which would seem like a huge wasted opportunity. If you do end up going with a friend - force yourselves to split and work the room from opposite sides.

After 30 mins and lots of business card handing out / collecting, we were ushered downstairs to the main room for the panel / Q&A session. Each panellist gave an introduction and short presentation. Most of this event focused around PR / building your networks and making publications and customers aware of your business.. in the RIGHT way! This included Twitter tips, how to pitch to a magazine like Stylist, Dos and Don'ts when approaching journalists etc. Overall, quite insightful and I really appreciated that they had kept it along one theme as far too often these events try to cover everything, without really telling you much in depth info. The panel was opened out to questions from the room, and surprisingly there were no attention seekers or silly questions!

Straight after, there was more networking and the chance to attend 10 minute workshops with Jo Malone, Vikki Chowney, pitching to Stylist magazine for their 'style list' and a few more. I was lucky enough to grab a seat on Jo Malone's table and I asked her about expanding The Glam Collective into new cities around the UK. She advised that I do research, research, research. Visiting and staying in the areas. Getting to know the culture. Find out out who the 10 trendsetters or tastemakers were in that area and getting them on board. All things that we will definitely be following up. Jo was lovely and was genuinely interested in all of our business questions, although a little rushed!

I then attended a very short but extremely informative Press Release writing workshops with Vikki Chowney, which I will be writing about separately soon as I picked up a LOT of useful info, some very controversial!

I would highly recommend attending the next Stylist networking event if you're a female entrepreneur, especially if your business is within health, beauty, fashion etc.

S x

When Sarah met Charles

Last week, I got a phone call whilst at my desk at the somewhereto_ HQ. It was Temi, the community manager at Matthews Yard, the new co-working space in Croydon that I had recently become a member of. She had ten minutes to find out if I was free to meet PRINCE CHARLES AND CAMILLA the next morning. WTF?!

I was baffled. How? Why? Who had put me forward? Why had I been accepted?! Have they been doing some weird background check on me over the last 48 hours? HAD I WRITTEN ANYTHING OBSCENE ON MY TWITTER?!

Turns out, Saif, the owner of Matthews Yard and local entrepreneur had put me forward as a fellow Matthews Yard resident and local business owner. Ahhhhh, it all made sense now. Of course, I obliged. There wasn't any way was going to pass up on that opportunity. I kindly told work that I would do some mingling with The Princes Trust to make it worthwhile for somewhereto_, and I was allowed the next morning to schmooze with royalty.

Hair curled, a nice dress on and a bit of glamorous makeup, I made my way to Matthews Yard. I arrived not really knowing what I was there to do. Apparently we would be meeting the Prince, but to talk about what I had no idea. After some lovely 'getting to know you' chats with the other local entrepreneurs who use Matthews Yard, plus a few cups of tea and some pastries, we were ushered in for instructions. Looking and sounding like a real life Malcolm Tucker (minus the obscenities and offensive behaviour) John from Hillcrest PR gave us all the instructions. We must curtsey (shit - someone starts googling 'how to curtsey'), we must address the Prince the first time as 'His Royal Highness' then after that he can be referred to as 'sir (shit, will definitely forget that), and Camilla must be addressed as 'mam' to rhyme with jam, not 'ma'am'. Every step of their journey was planned. They would be entering through the front doors, walking the length of the bar, stopping by the sofas for about a minute, turning left into the lounge...
ahhh if only I had someone planning this kind of stuff out for me. I did ask if I could ask Charles to rub my baby bump but that didn't seem to go down too well.

After a bit of waiting around, feeling like the headmaster of school was coming around so had to pretend to work (I had only brought the iPad, tried to write an email on it, took forever) suddenly a swarm of flashbulbs and cameras were thrown into the room and the Prince and Camilla arrived a few seconds after. We were introduced and shook hands. I did what can only be described as a bop (my attempt at a curtsey) and said hello! The Prince asked a few questions about working life at Matthews Yard, as did Camilla. They showed genuine interested and were warm, friendly and even relaxing to be around. Charles had a really fun personality, he even made a joke about knowing that we had all been placed there for the day to pretend to work! HE DOESN'T MISS A THING DOES HE! ;)

Thoughts on meeting royalty:

Prince Charles has very large hands and a very firm handshake.

Camilla had brilliant makeup.

Why didn't I get someone to take a picture.

On a serious note, Charles and Camilla were in Croydon a year on after the riots to see what progression had been made. There have been a lot of negative stories surrounding where and whom they visited, but I think we need to think positive about the kind of press attention this brings to Croydon. Ok - it may have skirted around the real issues at hand, but there is still great coverage and ultimately attention drawing to the issues that events and appearances like this can bring. Secondly, it made me realise I need to do more in supporting my local community. I met other great entrepreneurs and we all got chatting about what we could be doing to push for more council attention to the issues at hand. Croydon has great, great potential for entrepreneurship, culture, independent retailers and more, it's just a shame these ideas don't ever seem to go very far or get past the bureaucracy within the council and beyond. Hopefully I can be part of a movement that tries to do something about that!

After scouring the net, this is the best photo I found. That's me. Well, the back of me. And Charles. Yay!

Guest Post: Are you too focused?

For a couple of years now, I've had a fabulous assistant by the name of Rachel Keane. Rachel first came to me wanting to help out with my independent record label and assist on some music events I was organising. We've got on brilliantly ever since, with us both helping each other out at various 'pondering' points in our lives. Career changes, money woes and all the rest. Rachel has written a guest blog post for my blog which I think you will find really interesting, all about being 'too focused'... yep, it happens!

S x

Are You Too Focused?

Rachel Keane

Last week Sarah and I met up for a long overdue catch up and got to talking about all manner of things. One topic that stood out to me was progression - evolution if you like. When I first starting working with Sarah a few years back now, I helped her out with her music projects. She was trying to make a stable income from music and so was I, just in different ways. Now, a couple of years on, we are both in very different places, and it’s that journey that gave me inspiration for this blog post.

If you are looking to make changes in your life, pursue dreams or start a new career, you are never far away from books and advice that tell you to work hard, persist and to keep focused. Whilst I totally agree with this, it doesn't leave much room for compromise. Let me explain...

When you realise what it is you want to do with your life (and for a lot of us that is the BIG battle) you then need to make plans in which to actualize your goals and then go about making them. If like myself, your goals mean you have to make choices that will affect your life, that will mean big changes need to happen in order to make your plans viable - hence taking you off the course of societies idea of success and progression. It can be scary! Your mates are getting married, getting promotions, having kids and you're starting from scratch?! The lucky few will find this liberating, but most of us will be nervous at the very least!

This nervousness leads us to become totally driven to our set plans, to set clear goal posts and work towards them. You put your heart and soul, blood, sweat and tears into your project all of which are good things, but we can become too focused. Yep, too focused! This has begun to dawn on me since Sarah and I were chatting last week. Firmly fixing your blinkers on isn't always such a good thing after all. She made a great point that there is a lot to be said for also taking a step back and letting some things happen naturally!

This ethos used scared the crap out of me, simply because from my teens to early twenties I naively and lazily thought that passion would be enough to help me succeed. So many years were spent dreaming of what’s to come and how much love I have for creativity and basically, it will all be ok because I have got so much passion. Suffice it to say that was not to the case and has meant a lot more needed to be done to get me up to speed, and it’s in that I got lost.

If you want something so much you can end up seeing any sidestep as a failure. Life can end up taking you down roads that you hadn't planned on going down and this can then leave you feeling your not achieving these goals and your hard work isn’t paying off and that really, you are not good enough.

Refreshingly, I began to see that actually things were progressing in a way that wasn't planned, but that's OK. That it’s OK to breathe for a minute, step back and take a look at what has been achieved along the way and how I’ve bettered myself without even realising it. Moving the the finish lines and goalposts along the way isn't failure at all, when in actual fact it could well be preparing you for a more tangible end result.

A couple of years on, Sarah has left music behind, made a choice to step away from what she knew to follow other things. Her passion began to die for a career in music as her hard work wasn't paying off in the way she wanted and it began to make her feel negative. Through doing this, she says she feels much more content and as a result is just ending her first year of trading with her company The Glam Collective! A very different place from where she started out to end up, but a place where she feels far happier! Me, well I have found that my creative outlet lays in writing and that's where my focus now lies. The last few years of knock backs and fruitless endeavours have actually brought me to a place that's far more comfortable and on to a new road that I am excitedly in the process of going down.

So if you're reading this and you can relate, take a minute to pat yourself on the back for having the balls to make a change in the first place! Congratulate yourself for the things you have done and the knowledge that has brought you. Lastly don't berate yourself if you haven't met goals or ended up in the place you first set out to be - all of those things could well be taking you to a happier, better suited outcome. Things change, people change, we change, don't be afraid to evolve.

Good luck with whatever you're doing and keep focused, but not too focused ;)

Rachel x

Smarta 100 Event: Doing Well By Doing Good

The guys over at Smarta have celebrated this years round of Smarta 100 entries (we entered, did you?) by running a series of FREE networking and advice panel events. I've been to a few of these kind of events, and it's always surprising how much you can take away. Even if you feel like you know it already, it will always spark a few lightbulb moments and I always come away with a list of ideas to try, reminders of things to-do or actions that I must take. Normally you pay for these kind of events so it's great to see Smarta providing them for free. I attended one last week on 'The Art Of Recommendation' and it had a great line up - Will King (founder of King of Shaves) and Ben Dowd (o2 Business Director) to mention a few. Nice and intimate, they take place at One Alfred Place which is a great venue and workspace to check out if you haven't before. Oh and there's free wine (not that I could drink it) but they had sparkling water too, which in my pregnancy world is almost as exciting as wine. Craving a freezing cold and crisp San Pellegrino now. Hmmm.

The next event takes place on the 11th October and sounds like it's right on the money for social enterprise or anyone trying to 'do well by doing good'. On the panel is founder of Livity and my part-time boss Sam Coniff, aswell as Sophi Tranchell, managing director of Divine Chocolate and Stephanie Denamps, Think Big Programme Manager, O2 UK, again to name a few.

Have a sparkling water on me.

Click here for more info and to register for your free ticket.

The Secret To Startup Success

Looking For Work Whilst Pregnant

I was lucky enough to become pregnant in the spring of this year. Whilst my current contract was coming to an end, I was happily enjoying my 'don't stress about the next job too much, it will come' attitude. This was serving me well, it had always worked, and whilst I wasn't panicking about the fact that I was now nearly 3 months pregnant without any freelance contracts (eek!) it was definitely in the back of my mind. As was my impending first time buyer mortgage (eeek again). In looking for more contracts to at least see me through to my maternity leave, I got in touch with some old contacts and managed to get an interview for a really cool position. But the real question was, should I tell them I was pregnant?!

At the time of first interview, I think I'd just passed 10 weeks. A lot of my friends didn't even know, so it surely wasn't right to have to tell a complete stranger, who may not even offer me the job anyway? I decided to hold tight. Let's see if I get the second interview.

I did. Brilliant! But hmm. Becoming a problem now. Whilst I knew that they couldn't NOT offer me the job based on being pregnant, the truth is no-one would ever know whether i had got the job based on me, or whether I hadn't based on baby! Of course it was going to influence their decision somewhat. The only way I would know they had fully considered ME and not my situation, was not to mention my pregnancy until I had the job offer on a plate.

But then what? If they did offer me, then say 'oh by the way, I'm 3 months pregnant'? By this point I'd had my 3 month scan, everyone knew (well, not like a facebook version of everyone knew, but those who needed to anyway) and i was starting to show. I decided to go with my gut. HONESTY!

At the end of my second interview, after giving a really impressive pitch, I pulled the interviewer aside, took a deep breath and told her of my pregnancy. I started to go into the 'but don't worry, I'm super committed, I love this place, I want to come back after maternity leave, bla bla bla' verbal diarrhea. She stopped me. I could tell it wasn't going to be an issue. Writing this now I realise that all of the people who interviewed me on both occasions were women, but I for one know how judgmental career women can be - I used to be one of them, so I don't think that had much to do with it. A few days later, I was offered the position. It was a short term contract, but it led me nicely up to my maternity leave and after my initial suspicions on them giving me a short contract I found out that everyone on my team was also on the same, male or female, pregnant or not!

My words of advice are, go for the first interview. Feel it out and see if they invite you back. Second interview time is when I think it's appropriate. Of course, there are no legal obligations that you have to tell them (unless you're much further on in your pregnancy) but I think it's due courtesy. It would be way worse to start the job and then have to broach the subject in a month or so anyway, let alone if you are trying not to puke into your handbag that day. I for one would rather no-one think I 'duped' them into giving me a job. If it's a workplace you think would talk behind your back, or have problems with your pregnancy, then maybe it's not the right place for you at the moment anyway.

Keep those babies Zen! x

Wondering where I am?

I am getting really busy and so it's hard to keep this blog up to date. I've decided it's better if I put together a weekly newsletter feature, so if you want to get all the business and creatve advice like I've been giving in the past it will now be bigger and better on the newsletter!

Sign up by clicking here

Sarah x

Some Makeup Secrets I Have Picked Up Along The Way..

As most of you will know I have recently started up a new business venture with my best friend Lois, The Glam Collective. It's going really well and it has made me even more of a makeup junkie than I was before! Here are a few tips I have picked up along the way and a few products I would recommend...

EYES

When using bright or bold colour shadows, first use a Kohl or soft eyeliner stick in a matching colour to prep the lid. Use the liner all over the lid and in the shape you wish, ie: flicks or points. This creates a base for the shadow to adhere to so the colour will last longer and also gives a much more powerful colour to finish.

I love to use a bright blue shadow and liner by Mac

LIPS

I love bold colours for lips too, especially oranges! It's an obvious one, but in general the rule to follow is either eyes or lips. If you're going heavy with lips tone down the eyes and if you're going heavy on the eyes keep the lips nude or soft in colour. Unless you're a super star makeup artist, like Lois ;) then most of us will not be able to achieve the both without looking too made-up and in some cases pretty bad!

Here are is an orange I like that will suit all skin tones.

FACE

Proper foundation application is very important! It doesn't matter how good your foundation brand is if you don't apply it properly. We actually just did a blog post over on the TGC blog about the 5 foundations of foundation which explains how to get a great base before you even think about heading for the foundation. I use a MAC foundation brush and start at the centre of my face working the product outwards, blending in a circular motion. If you're more of a fingertips kind of girl then the same principle applies.

For an evening look and great lasting coverage try this Vichy foundation.

For a lighter finish try this MAC fluid. It is great when you need something lighter for the day time and when the weather is beginning to get warmer.

Hope some of these tips and recommendations help you out. For more makeup tips and backstage secrets, head over to The Glam Collective blog.

Love Sarah x

I Need These!

You can buy these at Dwell and are £24.99 each.

I love homeware stuff!

Sarah x

Why Can't We Make Music Like This Anymore?

G Frsh Feat Goldielocks - Dolla Dolla

Here's the new video for the track 'Dolla Dolla' which I produced and featured on. I am actually having a break from music but the way things take so long to actually come out means this has only just surfaced! We actually made this track probably a couple of years ago now. I first made the beat in about 2008 or even earlier, so that shows you how long you can sit on an idea before it gets out there.

Bikram Yoga

Everybody has heard of Yoga and now a lot of people practice it too. There several types of yoga but one I have come across recently and have fallen in love with it Bikram Yoga! It's a unique series of 26 Hatha Yoga postures and 2 breathing exercises that are all performed in a really heated room. It certainly takes a lot of getting used to and the fist few sessions are hard work but it's well worth sticking it out

The positions work every part of the body in the correct order. Each pose prepares the body for the next pose, and works on oxygenation and detoxification of the entire body. Like normal yoga it strengthens and improves your flexability.

Strength and flexibility are worked together to create harmony, a way of bringing vitality, health and an incredible sense of wellbeing to the body. The heat makes the positions and stretching easier and prevents injury. And as it is so hot you sweat loads which is great to detoxify the body.

I would highly recommend giving it a try, it's not for the faint hearted but you become acclimatised to the heat very quickly and soon find it easier. And with these sunnier days we are all having its making me think about summer and getting in shape for bikini weather! So this is a great thing to try to get in shape and its also great for the mind...

Give it a try and let me know how you get on ?

Sarah x

New in this week...

With pay day just behind us I thought I would have a little browse online to see what's new in this week. Here are a few of my favourites...

We all know I love a bit of Topshop :)

Something for spring or wear with chunky black heeled sandals for an evening look. Miss Selfridge

Angular wedges. Asos

Ombre pastel legginings, look great with a tee for the day time or a sleevless tunic vest for a perfect spring evening look. River Island

And lastly, one for the wish list ;) Valentino

S x

SKET Movie released on DVD

As most of you know I was the music supervisor on the film SKET, well its just been released on DVD so if you missed it at the flicks go and cop it now :)

You can buy it here.

I am now working on new projects with the same people who made SKET, so keep your eyes out for more on that :)