48: Foot Health, Franchising and Building a Business That Fits with Sam Chetwood

48: Foot Health, Franchising and Building a Business That Fits with Sam Chetwood

Sam Chetwood is the founder of CeCe & Me, a mobile children's shoe fitting service transforming the way parents shop for their little ones' feet. Her journey began not in business but in frustration - as a mum who struggled to feel confident buying shoes for her toddlers and couldn't find a service that truly put foot health first. What began as a personal mission has since grown into a franchise network, supporting other mothers to build flexible, rewarding businesses around family life. In this episode, we explore the story behind CeCe & Me, the surprising science of children's foot health and what it really takes to build a franchise from scratch — a conversation about solving a problem you know intimately and why the shoes on your child's feet matter far more than most of us realise. "Shoes aren't just a necessity of life there to keep the rain off. They have a vital role to play in our wider physical and neurological health and wellbeing." — Sam Chetwood In this conversation, we explore: ✨ How Sam's experience as a frustrated mum navigating busy chain shoe stores became the catalyst for building an entirely new kind of children's shoe fitting service ✨ The challenges of getting children's shoes right and why the standard high street experience so often leaves parents feeling uncertain and overwhelmed ✨ How the CeCe & Me mobile model works and why bringing the fitting service directly to families changes the experience for both parents and children entirely ✨ The importance of building genuine relationships with families over time and why that continuity of care sets CeCe & Me apart from a transactional shoe shop visit ✨ The journey into franchising, how Sam developed her CPD-accredited training programme and what she looks for in the mothers who join the network ✨ The science behind shoe fitting and why getting it right in early childhood has significant implications for long term physical and neurological development ✨ How feet act as sensory organs and the surprising role they play in a child's wider health and wellbeing beyond simply keeping the rain out ✨ The tension between fashion and function in children's footwear and the practical guidance Sam gives parents who are trying to navigate both ✨ Why creating positive, memorable experiences around shoe fitting in childhood can shape a child's relationship with their own foot health for life ✨ The vision for CeCe & Me and where Sam hopes to take the business and its mission next About the Guest: Sam Chetwood is the founder of CeCe & Me, a mobile children's shoe fitting service and growing franchise network dedicated to promoting long term foot health in children. Having identified a genuine gap in the market as a frustrated mum, she built a business that combines expert fitting, parent education and a warm, unhurried experience that puts families first. Her CPD-accredited training programme supports franchisees across the country to deliver that same standard of care in their own communities. Sam is a mother on a mission to change the way we think about children's shoes, one fitting at a time. You can connect with Sam via Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/ceceandmehq], LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/sam-chetwood-the-shoe-lady-43099a10/] or the CeCe & Me website [https://www.ceceandme.co.uk/]. About The Host: I’m Victoria Phipps – a Mum of two, analogue family photographer [https://victoriaphipps.com/], personal brand photographer, educator, charity co-founder, marketer and now podcaster! 🎙️ I was raised by a nurturing Mother and an entrepreneurial Father and have inherited traits from both, so the tension between ambition and motherhood is one I grapple with on a daily basis! I’m fascinated to hear the stories of other women on a similar path, who are striving to build thriving businesses whilst being present for their children. It's a tough juggle, but I hope the conversations shared on this podcast help Mums in business feel less alone and inspired to keep going in pursuit of their dreams. Head to the Mum Means Business Podcast website [https://mummeansbusinesspodcast.com/ruthashton] for full show notes. I would love to hear your thoughts on the topics discussed in this conversation, so please do let me know on Instagram where I'm @victoriaphippsmbe [https://www.instagram.com/@victoriaphippsmbe/] or @mummeansbusinesspodcast [https://www.instagram.com/mummeansbusinesspodcast/]. If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a 5* rating and review!

47: Branding, Boundaries and Building Sustainably in Motherhood with Charlotte Vincent

Charlotte Vincent is a branding designer and founder of Rose Studio, a creative studio based in Auckland, New Zealand that helps female-led businesses create premium, strategy-backed brands that attract their dream clients. What began as early morning design sessions stolen between the demands of family life has grown into a full-scale creative business, built intentionally around motherhood rather than in spite of it. A mother of three navigating the particular joys and challenges of raising a child with a disability, Charlotte brings both creative expertise and hard-won personal insight to everything she builds. In this episode, we explore her journey from those first quiet hours at the desk to founding Rose Studio, and what it truly means to design a business that supports your life rather than consuming it. 💡 "Once I designed my business to support my life, everything became more sustainable. Motherhood sharpened my decision-making, boundaries and focus. I waste less time and trust myself more." - Charlotte Vincent In this conversation, we explore: ✨ How Charlotte's business began with early morning design sessions as a busy mother and the slow, intentional journey from those first hours to founding Rose Studio ✨ The decision to start a business and what motherhood clarified about the kind of work she wanted to do and the life she wanted to build around it ✨ Life as a family in Thailand and how that chapter shaped her perspective on flexibility, identity and what it means to build a life outside the familiar ✨ The impact of the pandemic on family dynamics and how navigating that period of upheaval accelerated her transition into entrepreneurship ✨ The honest challenges of returning to work after maternity leave and adjusting to shifting roles between partners as life and business evolve ✨ Why investing in a business coach was a turning point and what that outside perspective unlocked for her clarity, confidence and direction ✨ How caring for a child with a disability has sharpened her decision-making, deepened her boundaries and reshaped her understanding of what really matters in business and in life ✨ The shift from measuring success by external markers to redefining it in her own terms, season by season, as a mother and as a founder ✨ Why giving herself permission to build slowly and sustainably was not a compromise but the foundation everything else was built on ✨ What she would say to any mother at the beginning of her entrepreneurial journey who is wondering whether the timing will ever feel right About the Guest: Charlotte Vincent is a branding designer and the founder of Rose Studio, a creative studio based in Auckland, New Zealand. She works with female-led businesses to create premium, strategy-backed brands that are built to attract dream clients and support long term growth. A mother of three, Charlotte has built her business slowly and intentionally around family life, including the particular joys and challenges of raising a child with a disability. Her story is one of patience, clarity and the quiet power of building something sustainable. You can connect with Charlotte via Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/rosestudio.co.nz/] or the Rose Studio website [https://www.rosestudio.co.nz/]. About The Host: I’m Victoria Phipps – a Mum of two, analogue family photographer [https://victoriaphipps.com/], personal brand photographer, educator, charity co-founder, marketer and now podcaster! 🎙️ I was raised by a nurturing Mother and an entrepreneurial Father and have inherited traits from both, so the tension between ambition and motherhood is one I grapple with on a daily basis! I’m fascinated to hear the stories of other women on a similar path, who are striving to build thriving businesses whilst being present for their children. It's a tough juggle, but I hope the conversations shared on this podcast help Mums in business feel less alone and inspired to keep going in pursuit of their dreams. Head to the Mum Means Business Podcast website [https://mummeansbusinesspodcast.com/ruthashton] for full show notes. I would love to hear your thoughts on the topics discussed in this conversation, so please do let me know on Instagram where I'm @victoriaphippsmbe [https://www.instagram.com/@victoriaphippsmbe/] or @mummeansbusinesspodcast [https://www.instagram.com/mummeansbusinesspodcast/]. If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a 5* rating and review!

46: Finding Your Place; Identity, Belonging and Ambition After Children with Fiorenza Rossini

Fiorenza Rossini is a coach, founder of INNOW and host of The Belonging Project podcast [https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-belonging-project-podcast/id1582774163]. Having begun building her coaching practice in 2016 alongside a career in investment banking, the birth of her first child brought the clarity she needed to make a change. Today she supports driven professional women who find themselves at a similar pivot point in early motherhood — helping them navigate change, redefine ambition and make sense of a season of life in which their capacity looks genuinely different. In this episode, we explore the identity shift that motherhood brings, the quiet but powerful feeling of no longer belonging in the world you once inhabited and what it takes to find your place again. It is a conversation about coaching, community and the transformative power of putting yourself in rooms with people who truly understand. 💡 "There is no shame in asking for help. Put yourself in rooms with other people who have travelled or are travelling the same path as you." - Fiorenza Rossini In this conversation, we explore: ✨ Fiorenza's journey from investment banking to coaching and the moment the birth of her first child made the path forward undeniable ✨ The identity shift of early motherhood and the disorienting sense that the world is carrying on without you while you nest at home with your baby ✨ How belonging — or the absence of it — shapes the experience of new motherhood and why so many women feel lost at this particular pivot point ✨ The pandemic as a catalyst for change and how it accelerated Fiorenza's clarity about the work she was meant to do and the women she was meant to support ✨ Finding her niche in coaching parents through the transition between early parenthood and returning to work and why that specific season matters so much ✨ What coaching actually is, why it is so often misunderstood and the very real value it can add when you are trying to get clear on what you want and what comes next ✨ The challenges faced by new mothers returning to work and how systems that were not designed with them in mind make an already complex transition even harder ✨ The Belonging Project podcast and why Fiorenza felt called to explore identity and belonging in life and work through long form conversation ✨ Why asking for help and putting yourself in rooms with people who truly understand your experience is one of the most powerful things you can do in this season ✨ Reflections on childhood, curiosity and what revisiting our earliest selves can reveal about who we are and what we are here to do About the Guest: Fiorenza Rossini is the founder of INNOW and a coach for driven professional women navigating the identity shifts and ambition recalibration that come with early motherhood. With a background in investment banking and almost a decade of coaching experience, she brings both personal insight and professional expertise to her work supporting parents as they find their place between the worlds of family and work. She is also the host of The Belonging Project podcast, which explores identity and what it means to belong in life and work. Fiorenza is a mother of two, raising her children in a cross-cultural family. You can connect with Fiorenza via the INNOW website, [https://www.growinnow.com/]on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/fiorenza_rossini] or Linkedin [https://www.linkedin.com/in/fiorenza-rossini/]. About The Host: I’m Victoria Phipps – a Mum of two, analogue family photographer [https://victoriaphipps.com/], personal brand photographer, educator, charity co-founder, marketer and now podcaster! 🎙️ I was raised by a nurturing Mother and an entrepreneurial Father and have inherited traits from both, so the tension between ambition and motherhood is one I grapple with on a daily basis! I’m fascinated to hear the stories of other women on a similar path, who are striving to build thriving businesses whilst being present for their children. It's a tough juggle, but I hope the conversations shared on this podcast help Mums in business feel less alone and inspired to keep going in pursuit of their dreams. Head to the Mum Means Business Podcast website [https://mummeansbusinesspodcast.com/ruthashton] for full show notes. I would love to hear your thoughts on the topics discussed in this conversation, so please do let me know on Instagram where I'm @victoriaphippsmbe [https://www.instagram.com/@victoriaphippsmbe/] or @mummeansbusinesspodcast [https://www.instagram.com/mummeansbusinesspodcast/]. If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a 5* rating and review!

45: Growing Your Business While You Sleep; Meta Ads Demystified with Kristin Longacre

Kristin Longacre is a Meta Ads Expert and Facebook Blueprint Certified strategist with over 15 years of experience in digital marketing, the last decade of which has been laser-focused on Facebook and Instagram advertising. Having managed six figure ad budgets for everyone from Fortune 500 companies to small business owners running their very first campaigns, she knows just about everything there is to know inside Ads Manager. But it was the small business owners getting lost in the shuffle that ultimately changed the direction of her work. In this episode, Kristin shares her journey from corporate digital marketing to small business coaching and makes a compelling case for why Meta ads are far more accessible than most people think and why growing your email list while you are on the school run is not just possible, it is entirely within reach. 💡 "We can always make more money, but we cannot make more time with our kids!" - Kristin Longacre Sign up for Kristin's next https://www.nofussads.com/victoria-bootcamp/Facebook Ad Basics: The Beginner Bootcamp [https://www.nofussads.com/victoria-bootcamp/]! In this conversation, we explore: ✨ How Kristin made the shift from managing large corporate ad budgets to working with female small business owners and what that transition revealed about where the real need lay ✨ Why Meta ads are far more accessible and cost effective for small businesses than most people realise and what holds so many owners back from giving them a try ✨ The tech overwhelm that stops small business owners in their tracks and how Kristin's Power Hour approach demystifies the process step by step ✨ How automation through Meta ads supports busy mothers in business by generating leads and growing email lists without requiring constant hands-on time and energy ✨ Using the data from paid ads to inform and sharpen your organic content strategy and why the two work better together than most people think ✨ The importance of consistent ad spend for giving Meta's algorithm enough information to learn, optimise and deliver better results over time ✨ Why testing different creatives and hooks matters and the surprising discovery that simple, unpolished ads often outperform highly produced ones ✨ The pivoting point of running a gluten-free business and what that unexpected chapter taught Kristin about trusting her gut and knowing when to change direction ✨ How pausing and reflecting in business - rather than constantly pushing forward - can be the most clarifying and productive move you make ✨ Kristin's practical advice for small business owners who are curious about Meta ads but have no idea where to begin About the Guest: Kristin Longacre is a Meta Ads Expert and Facebook Blueprint Certified strategist with over 15 years of experience in digital marketing. Through her Meta Ads Power Hour programme, she works with female small business owners in the UK to help them run simple, effective ad campaigns without needing a large budget or a technical background. A mum of two, Kristin is passionate about helping women grow their businesses in a way that works around their lives rather than consuming them. You can connect with Kristin via the No Fuss Ads website [https://www.nofussads.com/] or on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/nofussads]. Sign up for Kristin's next https://www.nofussads.com/victoria-bootcamp/Facebook Ad Basics: The Beginner Bootcamp [https://www.nofussads.com/victoria-bootcamp/]! About The Host: I’m Victoria Phipps – a Mum of two, analogue family photographer [https://victoriaphipps.com/], personal brand photographer, educator, charity co-founder, marketer and now podcaster! 🎙️ I was raised by a nurturing Mother and an entrepreneurial Father and have inherited traits from both, so the tension between ambition and motherhood is one I grapple with on a daily basis! I’m fascinated to hear the stories of other women on a similar path, who are striving to build thriving businesses whilst being present for their children. It's a tough juggle, but I hope the conversations shared on this podcast help Mums in business feel less alone and inspired to keep going in pursuit of their dreams. Head to the Mum Means Business Podcast website [https://mummeansbusinesspodcast.com/ruthashton] for full show notes. I would love to hear your thoughts on the topics discussed in this conversation, so please do let me know on Instagram where I'm @victoriaphippsmbe [https://www.instagram.com/@victoriaphippsmbe/] or @mummeansbusinesspodcast [https://www.instagram.com/mummeansbusinesspodcast/]. If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a 5* rating and review!

44: Money, Motherhood and the Mission to Close the Wealth Gap with Rebecca Taylor

Rebecca Taylor is the co-founder of Mums Who Build [https://www.mumswhobuild.com/], a growing community on a mission to close the gender wealth gap that widens even further in motherhood. Known affectionately as the MOB, the community helps ambitious mothers take charge of their finances, grow their wealth and design a life that allows them to mother exactly as they choose. Together with her co-founder Georgie, Bex brings her own story to the movement they are building - one shaped by the moments that made clear just how important financial independence is for women and for mothers in particular. In this episode, we explore what motivated Bex to co-found the MOB, the reality of navigating identity, ambition and money anxiety in motherhood and why getting in the arena - even with just £5 a week - might be the most powerful move a mother in business can make. 💡 "Motherhood is the time to own your ambition, invest in your growth, thrive in your business and design a life that means you can parent as you want to." In this conversation, we explore: ✨ The story behind Mums Who Build, what motivated Bex and Georgie to create the MOB and the gap in the market they were determined to fill ✨ How motherhood reshapes identity, ambition and relationship with work, and why navigating those shifts in isolation makes them so much harder ✨ Why community and peer support are not nice-to-haves but genuine accelerators for mothers figuring out their next move in business and in life ✨ The gender wealth gap and why it widens specifically in motherhood, and what women can do to start closing it for themselves ✨ Moving from a time for money model to building sustainable income and the mindset shifts required to make that transition ✨ The gender investment gap, the barriers that keep women on the sidelines of investing and why starting small — even just £5 a week — is enough to begin building financial confidence ✨ How societal expectations and the politics of parenting quietly shape the financial decisions mothers make and the ambitions they allow themselves to hold ✨ Why financial independence matters more than ever when you are a mother and what it makes possible beyond the bank balance ✨ Rediscovering self-worth after the identity upheaval of motherhood and how the MOB creates space for that process to unfold in community ✨ The advice Bex would give her younger self and what it reveals about money, ambition and the importance of getting in the arena sooner About the Guest: Rebecca Taylor is the co-founder of Mums Who Build, a community and movement dedicated to closing the gender wealth gap in motherhood. Known as the MOB, the community connects ambitious mothers with the tools, resources and peer support they need to take charge of their finances and grow their wealth. Alongside her co-founder Georgie, Bex is building a space where mothers can align their work, their wellbeing and their money in a way that truly supports the life they want to live. The MOB App launched earlier this year, bringing that mission directly to the women who need it most. You can find Bex and the Mums Who Build community via their website [http://mumswhobuild.com/] and Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/mumswhobuild/] or connect with her on Linkedin [https://www.linkedin.com/in/rebeccacoxshall/]. About The Host: I’m Victoria Phipps – a Mum of two, analogue family photographer [https://victoriaphipps.com/], personal brand photographer, educator, charity co-founder, marketer and now podcaster! 🎙️ I was raised by a nurturing Mother and an entrepreneurial Father and have inherited traits from both, so the tension between ambition and motherhood is one I grapple with on a daily basis! I’m fascinated to hear the stories of other women on a similar path, who are striving to build thriving businesses whilst being present for their children. It's a tough juggle, but I hope the conversations shared on this podcast help Mums in business feel less alone and inspired to keep going in pursuit of their dreams. Head to the Mum Means Business Podcast website [https://mummeansbusinesspodcast.com/ruthashton] for full show notes. I would love to hear your thoughts on the topics discussed in this conversation, so please do let me know on Instagram where I'm @victoriaphippsmbe [https://www.instagram.com/@victoriaphippsmbe/] or @mummeansbusinesspodcast [https://www.instagram.com/mummeansbusinesspodcast/]. If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a 5* rating and review!