Conversations of Inspiration

This week on Conversations of Inspiration, Holly speaks to jeweller Alex Monroe at his ‘buzzing’ headquarters boutique in London. With 30 successful years in the business, Alex’s insight and attitude will provide a huge source of inspiration and advice for creative small businesses looking to combine creativity with commerciality. With fans such as Emma Watson, Sienna Miller and a regular in Vogue - Alex Monroe is a masterclass in growing your brand whilst maintaining your integrity and creativity. In this enlightening episode, Holly & Alex discuss his journey so far, the process for anyone who wants to create products that lasts a lifetime and how he's kept true to his brand after 30 years. His letter to self is an incredibly touching and special conclusion to the podcast this week. Enjoying listening to these unfiltered chats? It's worth following Holly Tucker MBE and Holly & Co on Instagram, and subscribing to our weekly newsletter on our website, where Holly downloads her thoughts, and exclusively shares small business finds and topical, 'ungoogleable' business advice.

In this episode, Holly meets the legendary Sir John Hegarty, founder of BBH advertising agency and The Garage Soho. With a phenomenal creative career, John was the first ever person to be Knighted for his services to the advertising and creative industries and his BBH agency has been named Agency of the Year more than six times. John started out in the advertising world in the 60’s, moving up the ranks quickly and helping to set up agencies TBWA and the infamous Saatchi and Saatchi. Then founding his own business in the mid 80’s, John started to become famed for his groundbreaking work, securing clients such as Audi and Levis within months. A conversation filled with inspiration, knowledge, wisdom - this episode will leave you empowered with a new perspective on brand, and a clear mission to find the creative twist in everything. Enjoying listening to these unfiltered chats? It's worth following Holly Tucker MBE and Holly & Co on Instagram, and subscribing to our weekly newsletter on our website, where Holly downloads her thoughts, and exclusively shares small business finds and topical, 'ungoogleable' business advice.

This week Holly talks to the incredible Sahar Hashemi OBE, founder of Coffee Republic.Launched in 1995, Sahar co-founded Coffee Republic alongside her brother Bobby, becoming the UK's first coffee bar. Scaling her business up to 110 coffee shops within 5 years, Sahar’s success was astounding.After struggling to get investment because the bank managers stated that Britain was a nation of tea drinkers, Sahar's determination paid off and saw Coffee Republic at the forefront of coffee culture, changing the way Britain’s consume forever. In this enlightening founder to founder conversation, Sahar shares her experiences of scaling a business, her battles with the imposter syndrome, and how selling her business was the most heartbreaking, painful moment of her life. Enjoying listening to these unfiltered chats? It's worth following Holly Tucker MBE and Holly & Co on Instagram, and subscribing to our weekly newsletter on our website, where Holly downloads her thoughts, and exclusively shares small business finds and topical, 'ungoogleable' business advice.

This week's episode was recorded in front of a live audience of 300 people in central London for the first ever Conversations of Inspiration Live event.Thomasina Miers OBE is best known as co-founder of restaurant chain Wahaca and winner of Masterchef. Thomasina’s journey has not been easy, with a ten-year spell of depression, it was a chance meeting that set her on her path to happiness, founding a business doing exactly what she loves. It was whilst traveling around Mexico, her love affair with food really took shape and she discovered a cuisine she’d never tasted back home in the UK and it was at that moment she decides to bring authentic Mexican cuisine to London.So ensued a steep learning curve with a continued passion and vision to put sustainability and affordability at the very heart of her business. Seven cookbooks later, a columnist and a 25 strong chain of restaurants, Thomasina shares her words of wisdom and incredibly honest account of her journey with our live audience.Enjoying listening to these unfiltered chats? It's worth following Holly Tucker MBE and Holly & Co on Instagram, and subscribing to our weekly newsletter on our website, where Holly downloads her thoughts, and exclusively shares small business finds and topical, 'ungoogleable' business advice.

This week on Conversations of Inspiration, Holly speaks to Eleanor Tattersfield, founder of Marby and Elm. A fellow stationary addict, Holly joined Eleanor in her east London emporium like shop to hear her journey from student and waitress to Liberty stockist and business founder.  This episode covers everything from where Eleanor finds her inspiration, to running a high street space, customer experience in retail and the importance of community. So open, funny and self-deprecating - Eleanor offers such useful tips and advice on how to approach some of the biggest retailers like Liberty, as well as thoughts on setting up a retail space and what it means to run a family business.Born to entrepreneurial parents, the seed of running her own business was planted from an early age, but it was only after having her children and a chance google for some personalised stationery and a spontaneous purchase of a letterpress off eBay - that Eleanor found her true calling.Enjoying listening to these unfiltered chats? It's worth following Holly Tucker MBE and Holly & Co on Instagram, and subscribing to our weekly newsletter on our website, where Holly downloads her thoughts, and exclusively shares small business finds and topical, 'ungoogleable' business advice.

This week, Holly meets Asma Khan, founder of the restaurant Darjeeling Express.An episode filled with spectacular advice and insight, Asma shares her early life experiences in India and how they shaped her journey to this point. Born a second daughter in India, Asma felt the intense impact of feeling unwanted which she now sees underpins her belief in using her business as a force for good and helping other women feel valued. Asma has had an extraordinary journey, starting in India with an arranged marriage which subsequently saw her relocate to England, where she studied law and gained a phd. Despite academic success, Asma felt empty, lost and lacking her purpose in life, and so, she began cooking. Here began the next chapter of her journey - from hosting supper clubs in her house and building a small female community around her, she garnered a huge following of loyal fans and was soon offered her own pop up in Soho. She employed the women in her close circle, to work there, where they soon quit their nannying, cleaning jobs to be chefs in her kitchen!Today, Asma's restaurant's mission remains that of empowering women and taking a chance on women who are not trained chefs and giving them an opportunity in life to shine.Enjoying listening to these unfiltered chats? It's worth following Holly Tucker MBE and Holly & Co on Instagram, and subscribing to our weekly newsletter on our website, where Holly downloads her thoughts, and exclusively shares small business finds and topical, 'ungoogleable' business advice.

This week Holly speaks to investor Tom Teichman, the founder of Spark Ventures & The Garage Soho. Known as ‘Britain’s most-successful digital start-up backer’ Tom has invested in companies such as LastMinute.com, Moshi Monsters and Made.com. He also played a key role in Holly's business journey, when he invested in Notonthehighstreet. Together they recount the serendipitous way in which Tom and Holly met, and the incredible journey they embarked on.Now Tom runs his latest venture from his Soho townhouse incubator office with his co-founder, the advertising guru Sir John Hegarty. Investing and mentoring small businesses with a focus on technology-enabled consumer brands.  In this conversation, Holly and Tom discuss his incredible journey from arriving in England as a refugee, taking inspiration from his entrepreneurial parents, to becoming one of the most well known and respected venture capitalist investors in Britain. A highly personal interview, Holly and Tom discuss the importance of intuition and emotion in business, how finding the ying to your yang in a business partner makes for a stronger business, and the key points he looks for when investing in a business. Enjoying listening to these unfiltered chats? It's worth following Holly Tucker MBE and Holly & Co on Instagram, and subscribing to our weekly newsletter on our website, where Holly downloads her thoughts, and exclusively shares small business finds and topical, 'ungoogleable' business advice.

This week on Conversations of Inspiration, Holly meets Alice Gabb - a self taught calligrapher who now creates commissions for some of the UK biggest brands. In this conversation, Alice shares lessons from her journey so far, the power of knowing your numbers, as well as the need for communities in this digital age. Alice's letter to her younger self is particularly powerful - and a must listen for any teenage girls in your life.Alice started her small business selling hand printed fine stationery at Broadway Market, where she was voted ‘London’s Coolest Stall Holder’ which propelled her business forward.One of the first to specialise in modern calligraphy in the UK , Alice’s expertise has grown and with her desire to pass on her skills and knowledge to others, now teaches workshops all over London and Europe, delivering in store experiences for brands such as Ted Baker and Boden. Her recent trip to America discovered a passion for activism and social change, creating beautiful flags to spread hopeful messages, and is now shining through in all her work. Enjoying listening to these unfiltered chats? It's worth following Holly Tucker MBE and Holly & Co on Instagram, and subscribing to our weekly newsletter on our website, where Holly downloads her thoughts, and exclusively shares small business finds and topical, 'ungoogleable' business advice.

This week on Conversations of Inspiration, Holly meets Keith Abel, founder of Abel & Cole.A successful and well loved entrepreneur, Keith started his entrepreneurial journey as a salesman selling potatoes door to door, where a chance encounter led him to discovering organic vegetables. At a time when everything grown was covered in chemicals, Keith quickly realised people would pay more for organic, chemical-free produce and so Abel and Cole was born, over 30 years ago. Leading the way in subscription models, Keith shares his business lessons, recounting his highs and lows with a huge dose of humour and charm. But shining throughout, is Keith's passion for nurturing and supporting talent, as well as his commitment and belief that in order to build a successful company, you must also build a strong, passionate team around you.Enjoying listening to these unfiltered chats? It's worth following Holly Tucker MBE and Holly & Co on Instagram, and subscribing to our weekly newsletter on our website, where Holly downloads her thoughts, and exclusively shares small business finds and topical, 'ungoogleable' business advice. Show Notes  Jim Carrey's Commencement Address at the 2014 MUM Graduation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V80-gPkpH6M  Conversations of Inspiration episode 19 with Freddie's Flowers https://holly.co/podcast/freddie-garland-freddies-flowers/  In five years’ time…Royal Mail’s subscription box report unveils key trends for success in the market https://www.royalmailgroup.com/en/press-centre/press-releases/royal-mail/in-five-years-time-royal-mail-s-subscription-box-report-unveils-key-trends-for-success-in-the-market/  Keith mentions the laundry subscription service SMOL https://smolproducts.com/  He also mentions houseware brand Joseph Joseph https://www.josephjoseph.com/en-gb/about-us

This week on Conversations of Inspiration Holly meets the ‘Queen of Brand’ Rita Clifton CBE. Rita is the ultimate expert in brand and offers such an expert and unique insight that will be invaluable to all small business for this aspect of their business. In this conversation, Holly and Rita discuss what it takes to build a powerful and long last brand, she shares her tips for small business and ways they can implement her decades of industry knowledge into their own businesses, as well as her experiences as a female in a male dominated world. A Cambridge graduate, Rita started her career in advertising, becoming Vice Chairman at Saatchi & Saatchi, then London CEO and Chairman for over 15 years at the global brand consultancy Interbrand. In 2013, she co-founded BrandCap, which has performed amongst the 1% most successful business start-ups in the UK. It is safe to say, she knows what she is talking about! She has worked on the most famous ad campaigns including the iconic British airways 'Face' advert, and actually helped to create the concept that ‘brand’ is a valuable asset in business - in fact it can be the most valuable asset! Enjoying listening to these unfiltered chats? It's worth following Holly Tucker MBE and Holly & Co on Instagram, and subscribing to our weekly newsletter on our website, where Holly downloads her thoughts, and exclusively shares small business finds and topical, 'ungoogleable' business advice.