Are you paying to play? Let's talk about awards, shall we?

The making of Posh Totty Designs with Alice Rivers-Cripps!

What do cellars and 'that space under the stairs' have in common? Both are places that Alice Rivers-Cripps developed her incredible brand, Posh Totty Designs, before the company found its home in Brighton! Alice's journey into the world of jewellery started in Mexico, when she found a passion, and developed further when she started stamping silver in a way that hadn't been seen before. Although traditional silversmiths thought she was crazy using stamps on precious metals, not only did people 'get' it, they loved it to the point that the business has been able to scale and now employs around 50 members of staff - how incredible is that! Alice is a huge inspiration- passionate, talented, and adoring of her customers, her creations, and her team. On this episode, she also shares where she got the brand's name from, an incredible collaboration, and so much more.

Are you paying to play? Let's talk about awards, shall we?

Over the last few weeks, I've received some lovely emails saying that I've been nominated for awards. Brilliant, you might think- and you're right- but two of them had a sting in the tail. If I filled in the entry form and pressed 'submit', I HAD to agree that if I made it to shortlist phase, I would definitely pay to attend the awards. And some awards have very long shortlists. The tickets plus transport and hotel ran to hundreds of pounds, and I'd have to go back on projects committed to in order to enter. Which didn't seem right to me. Don't get my wrong, I know it costs money to run awards. And I know that award dinners cost money, but this pay to play concept feels odd to me. Especially when it's a sneaky pay to play. And that's what I talk about in today's podcast. I love being able to say I'm multi award winning, and there are some incredible awards out there (huge shout out to Digital Women and Enterprise Nation!), but some have hidden costs that run into many hundreds. And then you have to ask yourself... is it worth it? Is the potential accolade worth the cost in time and money? I'd love your thoughts... here are mine on paying to enter awards, and hidden costs too...

Your questions, answered!

It feels like forever since we chatted, but this week, after the AMAZING interviews I've shared as part of the You've Got This book launch, I'm back- just me! To ease me back into 'normal' podcasts again, I took the suggestion of a fab follower (thank you Ceandice aka Main Tax Co!) and threw open the question box on Instagram. And now, I'm answering your burning questions. How did I get the publishing deal? What's next? How did I get into this line of work? Where did it start? Did I go to university?! I answer all the questions - there's no gatekeeping. If you've listened for a while, you'll know there never is! Anyway- I hope you enjoy it- it feels weird to be chatting to everyone again like the pre book times, doesn't it?! I hope you love it. It's great to be back!

SPECIAL EPISODE - You've Got This, Siobhan Miller- founder of The Positive Birth Company

Siobhan Miller, founder of The Positive Birth Company, found herself supporting women all over the world after her own traumatic birth experience led her to hypnobirthing, and changed her professional direction too! Siobhan worked in marketing before her second child came along. She'd already decided she wanted to change career and had gone back to university to study for a Masters in Psychology. But it was the birth experience with her first child, and the desire to have a completely different experience second time around, that caused her to find hypnobirthing and everything that followed. So profound was its impact that she became a hypnobirthing teacher, supporting parents to be around London. She saw the impact and wanted to help more people beyond London, and so the online side of the business and The Positive Birth Company was, well, born! This is the last special episode of the podcast, sharing the stories of the fabulous founders who let me interview them for my latest book, You've Got This. I hope you really enjoy this...

SPECIAL EPISODE- You've Got This, Janine Allis- founder of Boost Juice

When you have three small children and no entrepreneurial background, what do you do? Well, if you're Janine Allis, you found Boost Juice and become one of Australia's most respected businesswomen. And I still can't believe Janine agreed to let me interview her for my book, You've Got This! Janine left school at 16, worked in advertising, went travelling, sold timeshares in Spain and Portugal, and worked on a yacht in the South of France hanging out with rockstars and royalty! Then, at 27, she found herself back in Australia with a two year old child. When she started working again, she met her now husband, Jeff, and it was after the birth of her third child that her entrepreneurial side came out! Now, Janine has over 800 Boost Juice Bars all over the world, is an author, founder of The Business Academy, was one of Lord Sugar's advisers on The Celebrity Apprentice Australia, was a business mentor on Australian Shark Tank, and SO much more too! Listen to find out more about Janine, her journey, and the incredible lessons she's learnt along the way. This one is jam packed with brilliant advice. I think you'll love it.