July 2020 - Don't Stop Us Now

Brianne West – Running the World’s most Sustainable Cosmetics…

July 28, 2020
by Claire

Our guest on the podcast this week is Brianne West, the New Zealander serial entrepreneur and founder of global sustainable cosmetics company, Ethique.

Brianne has a bold and pioneering mission, to rid the world of single-use plastics. She started Ethique to replace all those bottled products we use in our bathrooms, from shampoos to moisturisers, with solid bars of concentrated product.

We’ve been so impressed with the degree of sustainability and ethical practices that Brianne has baked into her business, from sourcing her products directly from around the globe, to being a B Corp, to donating 20% of profits to charitable causes. It really is a business that walks the talk.

In this episode you’ll learn:

How Brianne displayed the entrepreneurial gene very early
How she’s funded Ethique with two very successful crowdfunding campaigns, as well as what it takes to crowdfund successfully
What Brianne does to manage her anxiety; and
How Huffington Post and Britney Spears changed everything for her business overnight!

We hope you come away as inspired by this conversation as we were. It’s a real demonstration of what’s possible when a business decides to make a reasonable profit whilst also caring for planet and people.

Finally, a quick request from us, if you enjoy our podcast and have yet to rate or review us on your listening platform of choice, we’d so appreciate it if you would. This is a passion project for us and it would really make a positive difference.

Interesting Links

Ethique Website

Brianne on Instagram

Future Proof Me Mini Episode

Future Proof Me – Lasting the Distance

July 21, 2020
by Claire

Do you get impacted by all the negativity in the News? Are you feeling pretty disheartened about COVID-19’s continued impact on our lives and routines?

If you’re nodding your head right now, then this week’s mini episode on ‘Lasting the Distance’ could be just what you need to shake off that cloudy feeling.

Here at Don’t Stop Us Now HQ, we both felt we needed a pick-me-up this week and so this episode is designed to help us all last the distance with whatever challenges we may be facing right now.

Hear Claire and Greta talk about how they’re feeling, stories of what they’re actions they’re taking to stay resilient, and hear three key tips to get through these tricky and uncertain times.

Remember we’re in the midst of a (COVID) marathon and not a sprint, so being sure to take time out to be kind to yourself and to build your resilience is so important. Don’t miss this episode to get some ideas to boost your mindset now.

Interview

Hayley Markham – The Unflappable Entrepreneur

July 14, 2020July 14, 2020
by Claire

Our guest this week is one of the co-founders of an international venture all about teaching the younger generation to code.

Hayley Markham is co-founder and COO of Code Camp, which to date has reached 90,000 children with their holiday and after school camps, and online programs, in Australia and also the UK.

Hayley co-founded Code Camp seven years ago and as you’ll hear this hard working pragmatist and efficiency queen got started in the business when her third child was just two weeks old! Little did she know what she was getting herself into then but there’s no doubting Hayley is an unflappable master at juggling life and building a startup.

Code Camp was named one of Smart Company’s top three, fastest growing businesses in Australia in 2018 with 510% revenue growth. It was also nominated as a Deloitte ‘Fast 50 Rising Star’ in 2019 and Hayley herself is a recent winner of Australian Mumpreneur of the Year.

In this episode you’ll hear:

How Hayley found her forte and niche in people leadership and operations after years of trial and error in different jobs not knowing what she wanted to do,
The career advice she has for others who aren’t sure what their dream role looks like,
How Code Camp overcame the challenges involved with scaling the business,
And the one thing Hayley credits with helping her juggle running a business and having a busy family life.

So if you’re looking for inspiration on how to tackle the challenges and juggles in your life, then you’ll love this episode with the unflappable and humble Hayley Markham.

Useful Links

CodeCamp website

Hayley on LinkedIn

Future Proof Me Mini Episode

Future Proof Me – How an Innovator Stays Creative

July 7, 2020
by Claire

Welcome to this week’s mini Future Proof Me episode all about how to stay creative in a busy world.

We loved the advice that serial Canadian entrepreneur and founder, Vicki Saunders shared with us when we spoke to her last year.

Vicki is CEO and Founder of SheEO. SheEO is an international network of women who support, finance and celebrate female innovators who run ventures solving important world problems.

As a serial entrepreneur and true original thinker, Vicki has learnt she needs to create space for ideas to flow. As you’ll hear in this episode, she’s very conscious of ensuring she has a routine and practices that give her that space and stimulus despite facing, as we all do, the demands of a hectic busy work life and all the usual stresses we all experience.

You’ll hear how Vicki carves out time in her schedule to consume a wide variety of different topics in order to fuel her creative thinking, and you’ll hear how she’s found meditating makes a big difference.

If you’re struggling to have fresh ideas or see old problems from new perspectives, then this mini episode is just what you need!

Links of interest

Our full interview with Vicki

SheEO website

Good move!

Brianne West – Running the World’s most Sustainable Cosmetics…

Future Proof Me – Lasting the Distance

Hayley Markham – The Unflappable Entrepreneur

Future Proof Me – How an Innovator Stays Creative