The British Blacktrepreneur Podcast
Welcome to 'The British Blacktrepreneur' My name is Jason Lazarus
This podcast aims to promote black businesses, in the UK, educate entrepreneurs on all things business, and inspire you on your entrepreneurial journey. Growing up, business was just foreign to me, I knew nothing about it, I was taught that being a consumer and working a job was the only way to really succeed in life. My West African would preach ‘Education, Education, Education’ which I hated at the time but have grown to appreciate how invaluable knowledge is. My goal is to curate conversations with Black Entrepreneurs in the UK to find what their ‘WHY’ is. Furthermore, I’m on a mission to get black entrepreneurs podcasting! I’ll be dropping in my expertise about podcasting whilst bringing on inspiring guests to keep you going on your entrepreneurial journey.
The British Blacktrepreneur Podcast
Navigating the Confluence of Fashion and Function in Interior Design (Ft. Bee Janaye)
As we peeled back the layers of interior design with the visionary Bee Janaye, a fascinating narrative unfolded, bridging fashion's flair with the science of neuroaesthetics. Bee, an emblem of innovative thought in the design world, sat down with me, Jason Lazarus, to unravel her transformative journey from fashion to the creation of deeply resonant living spaces. Our dialogue traversed the intricate process of tailoring environments that go beyond aesthetics to touch upon the essence of personal lifestyles, forging an intimate bond between the spaces we inhabit and the lives we lead.
Embarking on an entrepreneurial voyage can feel like navigating through a storm; I've been there, steering my way through the turbulent waves of a global lockdown. Reflecting on the inception of my design business during such times, I recount the adversity faced and the victories won. Bea and I explore the delicate dance of maintaining supplier relationships while upholding a business model that promises excellence and full-service design solutions. This episode is a true testament to the resilience required to flourish in the high-stakes world of interior design entrepreneurship.
Through the looking glass of the UK's vibrant entrepreneur landscape, this episode paints a portrait of the power of connection. I delve into the importance of community, our pivot to social media amidst the pandemic, and the value of giving back, highlighting my dedication to social responsibility through supporting homeless charities. The conversation with Bea, an inspiring beacon in the design industry, serves as a reminder of the intricate tapestry we weave when we combine professional aspirations with personal well-being and social consciousness. Join us for a profound exploration of the spaces we create and the impact they have on the world we share.
And the reason that I'm doing it is to transform spaces to positively impact people's lives. That's why we very much focus on lifestyle by design, giving people control over the spaces that they live.
Speaker 2:This podcast exists to promote black businesses in the uk to educate black entrepreneurs on all things business and to inspire you on your entrepreneurial journey. Here is your host, Jason Lazarus.
Speaker 3:Hope you enjoyed that little segment or snippet from today's show. I interviewed the wonderful and the lovely Bee Janay. Now she stands at the intersection of creativity and functionality. Decade of profound experience in the luxury residential interior architecture market as the founder of AJ, a South London-based interior design studio which focuses on neuroaesthetics while curating bespoke spaces, Bea has not only redefined the landscape for interior design, but has also ventured into projects that fuel community engagement and cultural initiatives. She's passionate about creating considerate environments. That embodies the essence of good mind, good life, life and good taste.
Speaker 3:Yeah, this was a real good convo, so good. We spoke about her business. I was even vulnerable today and spoke about some of the issues that I've had in my own personal life and podcasting journey. We spoke for like half an hour even after the show. We had a few issues with recording in the beginning, but we've got them all solved. She's wonderful, she's great. Here she is. It's Bee Janay of AJ in the beginning, but we've got them all sold. She's wonderful, she's great. Here she is. It's Bee Janay of AJ. Bee Janay of Atelier Janay welcome to the British Blacktrepreneur.
Speaker 3:How are you today? I'm very well, thank you. How are you? Really good. We've had a few microphone issues, but it's all good and hopefully now we're going to have a sailing, smooth podcast interview and conversation. So, firstly, what I'd really love to know is and my audience as well a bit about yourself, brief synopsis maybe, and what made you get into the interior design space that I'm sure we'll dig into in this conversation.
Speaker 1:My name is Bea, I'm an interior designer and I predominantly work on residential spaces, although we do work on some commercial spaces. My journey really began with creative spaces such as fashion design. I worked for an editorial fashion magazine. Working in the fashion sector, I realized that when I was doing a lot of fashion styling on shoots, I really had more of a passion for the space rather than the clothes themselves. So, after taking various routes, I decided to move into interior design intentionally.
Speaker 3:And just from looking at your Instagram and your socials, the content that you're creating really good vivid colors, very vibrant, and you've got a real way, I think, of producing things to actually attract audiences. So could you talk about maybe some of the clients that you've had and how have you been able to bring clients in? What's marketing been like for you?
Speaker 1:So at the beginning and still to this day, really, it's very much revolved around word of mouth referrals, and I think that's because your home is really the most personal space that we can the closest we can get to you. It's your most personal space, so clients really need to trust you and the best way to gain trust is really through client referrals. So if we've worked with a client's friend or family member, they feel much more comfortable inviting us into their home and allowing us to really shape that space. So marketing has been something so far which has been really organic. However, moving forward, I feel like we are really making a conscious effort to network and to connect with the kind of clients that we're moving towards and that we enjoy working with the most.
Speaker 3:Just from looking at your business and your content and even just our interactions prior, when you filled out the form, the pre-interview form that I have those of you that know, I have a pre-interview form that I ask guests to fill out and one of the things that came up for me was this whole lifestyle by design. What does that mean to you? If you could just expand on that for my audience to really understand a bit more about your business?
Speaker 1:Yeah, absolutely so. For us, lifestyle by design really reflects the concept that we are in control of the choices that we make and how that subsequently shapes our lifestyle, and we really believe that that starts at home. So we target clients and work with clients who feel like their home is a very central part of their lifestyle, and what I mean by that is the way that they interact with their family, with their friends, whether they are people who use their home as a private space to kind of recuperate or whether they are people who use their home as an open space to collaborate or to entertain or connect with people. And I think, depending on the client, depending on the brief, that can really vary and it's really important to understand what the client's intentions are behind needing to recreate their space and what their core values are and what kind of lifestyle they want to create and they want that their home to be a part of.
Speaker 3:You've got the different types of spaces, the size of the spaces, the different residential or commercial property. So how do you go about, let's say, pricing or charging for your services? Is it based upon size, space? Do you negotiate with the client? How does one go through your funnel and find the best fit for them as a client?
Speaker 1:We've kind of experimented with different pricing structures but what we found to work best is to really just show understanding that each project is really unique and so our cost structures do reflect that. What we tend to do is we start off with a discovery call. We do this to really delve into the client's needs, to understand them, their family, their network and what they want their life to be like as a result of the way that we reshape their home. Once we really understand that, we can curate a bespoke package which reflects what they need from us. So for some clients, that really might just be visualizing the concept, so at the dreaming side of the project, which is just extracting their needs and their desires and creating something visual and tangible from that into a design package which can be reflected into their space through the build and through the renovation.
Speaker 1:And for other clients, they really need support on site and I think that's a really unique part of our business and how we work. We offer something called project partnership and what we find is that a lot of our clients are busy, successful people. They need to feel like they have somebody on site who is on their side, who really sees the vision and the dream at the end of the renovation? Who is going to guide them through the day-to-day steps and the problems and the conflicts and the miscommunications that inevitably happen on a building site and make sure that they get there on time and within budget?
Speaker 3:How does that all work? It kind of leads me into what I was going to ask you next. Are you dealing with contractors, a site manager? How does all this come together? Because obviously you're an entrepreneur, you're not doing everything from the ground up, but obviously you've got a massive say in what does happen as a business owner and a business leader. So how does it all kind of come together and form something for the client that they'd really like?
Speaker 1:So we start off really getting to know the client. So a large part of what we do is know our clients best, and I really do pride myself on knowing my clients better than anybody else on the building site. That's my job. It's my job to know whether a client is going to like something or not like something, and sometimes it's about seeing past just what they say, because the whole reason that they are hiring an interior designer is that they can't necessarily fully articulate or visualize what they want, and so it's my job to extract that from them. The process of getting to know them is a really organic one, so it might be that we take them to dinner, we have coffees with them, we spend time in the home seeing how they actually operate in the space. If it's a building site, we'll walk through floor plans and really just discuss different spaces that they enjoy being in, whether that's restaurants or their workplace or friends' homes, to really understand the bigger picture of what we're trying to create here, not just aesthetically, but how it's supposed to feel, which will make them happy, which will feed into the lifestyle that they desire. And then we kind of move forward into the practical design phases, which off with spatial design. So spatial design is, I believe, one of the most important parts of the interior design process and maybe not the most glamorous, because this is before the beautiful 3D renders. It's before the fabric choices, the paint colors. We look at the space from a 2D, black and white perspective and we play around with different furniture placements. We play around with how people will move through the space. So the ergonomic quality of the space, making sure that it really fits how they need it to function, that's key and it is non-negotiable for us. At the same time as doing this, we also work on the lighting design. It's another area which I think is undervalued, or it can also be an oversight in interior design to really design a lighting scheme that is going to help the space be utilized best.
Speaker 1:And when we do that, we next move on to a concept design. So concept is where we start to look at pretty pictures, we start to pull on Pinterest boards. All the kind of average, general things that you'd imagine an interior designer would do is what we start to do in concept development phase. So we're looking at what the client wants the space to look like. We look at all their kind of predetermined aesthetic ideas and what they may think their aesthetic or their style is, and we start to break that down. We very much have an anti-trend ethos, so we try to encourage our clients to not just stick within one category of design, one aesthetic category, and instead to break down what it is that they like about that picture they're showing us or that space that they're taking us to, and then what we can do is piece those elements back together to create something that's entirely unique for them.
Speaker 1:Once we've really got a great idea of how the space is going to work ergonomically and feel aesthetically, we start to move on to detailed design phases. Those would consist of things like joinery design. If we're having any particular tile layout or there's any design details within the space that need to be fully thought out, fully specified, for the builder to be able to procure that space, we will put it in 2D format. We will draw elevations and floor plans to illustrate that. Finally, we move on to the specification. So this can go one of two ways. Some clients just want guidance as to what they should be buying, which might be an overarching concept or a shopping list, but most of our clients require a full turnkey service, which means that we actually go and manage the budget for them. We source from our black book of great suppliers and artisans and we bring the space to life.
Speaker 3:Powerful, really good. This is so interesting. I'm learning loads about interior design. This is incredible. So you mentioned there. It was one of my questions actually about this kind of neuro-aesthetic way of looking at interior design. I know you did touch on it. If you mentioned it already, do you mind maybe expanding on it or talking about that a bit further in terms of why that's so important to you as an interior designer?
Speaker 1:Yeah, absolutely so. Neuro-aesthetics is a relatively new study. It really looks at the way that we respond to art. So that is really the fundamental idea behind neuroaesthetics. Thinking about the this particular topic, art has been refined and restricted to traditional forms such as painting, sculpture, sketch, etc. So much of the study in neuroaesthetics is around these forms of art. So our argument is really that space is art is art, and I think that as we kind of expand in the interior design industry and we really play around with how space can interact with people and how people can interact with space, we are being able to prove that that is the case. In light of that, we really look on neuroaesthetics to influence our design choices. We want to make sure that people are being impacted by space and that spaces are being designed with our minds, and so we just want to make sure that we are designing healthy, responsible, considerate spaces for our clients what do your friends and family and your support network think of what you're doing?
Speaker 3:how has that been in terms of when you talk to them about it, or if you do, or what kind of opinion they have on some of the work that you do?
Speaker 1:so I think it's interesting because interior design is often condensed down to the final product. I think everybody loves a before and after. We live in a society that loves instant gratification, so I think when I'm able to show my friends and family, my network and clients what we've done with a space from right at the very beginning to the end result, it's always an impressive turnaround. But I think that a lot of people don't have the knowledge or understanding about the process of interior design, and that reflects not only with my network and my family and friends, but also when we meet clients. They don't necessarily understand what it would even involve to work with an interior designer.
Speaker 3:That's fascinating. Just thought about that because obviously you're right, even for me. I'm asking so many questions because it's a learning opportunity for myself, so I'm just like, yeah, I mean, I knew I had a friend whose mother did it and you can see all the things on the table. She's doing this, doing that. I'm like what on earth is going on? But no, they're really, really incredible. What you do be so this is is this is good In terms of the cost to get the business going initially. When you first started, what resources did you have? Did you have to raise money? Did you have to? Or, if you're not much sharing, or how did you get it all together to you know, get your business to where it is today.
Speaker 1:Honestly, I don't think that you, most of the time, need to raise money to start a service-based business. Obviously, that's not every occasion. I was working for a company, so I've been in the industry for about 10 years now. I've worked in independent studios. I started off in kitchen design and just before lockdown I was working for a soft furnishing manufacturer, running the office and running the production. So my role primarily was trade to trade. I was working full time in this role, despite wanting to move into some of my entrepreneurial ideas or intranations, because I wanted to get a mortgage and I knew that the stability around that was far stronger. And then lockdown happened and I was made redundant. So I had just bought my property, I'd begun my renovation and I had COVID and the world shut down.
Speaker 3:So I lost my job and I realised that it was an opportunity to either work really hard and try to build the business from the ground up, or to go back to work and look for something else, and that was kind of my crossroads at that point Must be an incredible challenge, especially during lockdown, buying a house, speaking of that and going through those challenges, what other fact, what other challenges has your business faced or that you face personally, if you don't mind sharing that have shaped you as an entrepreneur and as an individual?
Speaker 1:I think some of the biggest challenges that we've faced have been around managing the supplier relationship as well as the delivery of the project. When you're in the interior design industry, there are two ways that you can work with clients. One way is where you are just making recommendations of suppliers and items that they should be bringing into their space. So this method carries far less liability for the designer, because what it means is the designer is never actually managing the client's money or the project budget. They are making recommendations and shopping lists and passing this on to the client, and the client, in good faith, is then making the purchases. So consequently, they are liable for those purchases and those items on the hand.
Speaker 1:I decided to go a slightly different route with AJ, and the reason that we are our client supplier is because that full service element of our business is really important to my clients.
Speaker 1:My clients tend to be busy, successful trailblazers who are often not even living in the area that the property is in potentially not in the country that the property is in and they need somebody to really take it from zero to a hundred and they need to come home and it needs to be styled and finished and the dust has to be gone.
Speaker 1:So, with that in mind, the business model that I chose for AJ was one which required a lot of liability from us. So we are our client supplier for everything the majority of the time. The only point at which the client tends to make direct payments is when it comes to the build, because that requires different insurances and different liabilities. However, with everything else, every bespoke item that we create for the client, every furniture piece that we source, we take on the responsibility of supplying that product. And if our supplier goes into insolvency or there is any issues along the line of the production, that's something that we have to take on, and there have been a couple of occasions on my journey in this business where that has happened and we have had to navigate that and just try to protect ourselves as much as possible there's so many layers, like I mentioned earlier to this and what you've done obviously, is really really incredible.
Speaker 3:So congratulations to you and well done for your hard work. And you know, what you've built is obviously amazing. It just sounds incredible in terms of the makeup of your company, is it just you? Do you have a team? What's that like in regards to the business structure as it is now?
Speaker 1:so I have a small team. Something that I have always wanted to and intend to continue maintaining is the fact that I am the face of my business. I think I learned over the last three years how important that is, because when dealing with somebody's home, people want to know that they can trust you, and I think that there is something really special about having an individual person to reach out to, to text, to what that to call when things go wrong or when you're concerned, and I like to maintain that for my clients. I have a small team of designers who support me to procure the projects, so covering various elements of the project, from the technical design to the lighting design and the project management, but when it comes to my client facing work, that is always for me to do okay oh, pretty good, brilliant.
Speaker 3:This is so interesting now in terms of you don't have to share numbers off if you don't want to, but in terms of the size of your company, in terms of maybe, what you turn over, would you say it's sizable. Do you want to see more growth? However you want to answer, this question is down to you not trying to pry too much, but I just find it interesting to see where entrepreneurs are on their journey in terms of you know what they're bringing in and how things are going yeah, absolutely so.
Speaker 1:We are in a phase of growth. We are a six-figure business and I really see a bright future for the studio. I think that the type of clients that we are working with now in comparison to where we started. When I started, I had to begin my portfolio from scratch, despite being in the industry for seven years. I wasn't able to bring my portfolio with me from some of the independent design firms that I worked with, which meant that I started with anything that I could get my hands on, from a kitchen to a bedroom, and now we are up to detached three four-story properties on land in private estates. We do work with some high-end clients who give our complete freedom on their homes, and that's a huge privilege that we've kind of worked really, really hard to gain.
Speaker 3:So I have really high hopes for the next phase of the business as we grow brilliant and you said there mentioned that you weren't able to acquire or move on from the clients that you had previously, that you worked in those companies. Your knew your own company. Was that down to contractually or was that just an ethical, moral decision that you made for yourself?
Speaker 1:a lot of the time in the interior design industry. That is how it goes, is how the cookie crumbles. I think if you're working for another designer or you're working for a design firm, you do not own the work that you produce, and that's something I would definitely warn young new designers about, because when you do, if you do decide to go off by yourself at any point in the industry, you are not always able to take your portfolio with you, which means starting from scratch and getting somebody to trust you with their home when you have nothing to show is a very difficult thing to do, and you will end up relying on your network to get you that first project could you expand on that a bit more?
Speaker 3:actually, talking about network and people that you knew in industry, you've got so much experience as well on a body of work that you couldn't take over, but yet you found a way of doing that and you mentioned their network. So can you maybe give an example or two of people that you knew or worked with where you thought this person's I've worked with, they're a colleague or they may have been a manager of mine or a subordinate, how, how you've been able to collaborate with them and think this is going to enable me to get my business off the ground some of their knowledge, but obviously your hard work would have done the job as well.
Speaker 1:So actually, right at the beginning, I couldn't collaborate with my colleagues. I often worked for small companies and I didn't have a big team of designers I was working with. So when I left, when I was made redundant and I left, I really was starting from scratch. When I say my network, I actually built my network up from scratch during COVID, so that was one of the first main issues in me launching this that I identified was that I didn't have the network around me to boost me up and to give me those opportunities. So I used COVID as a really great opportunity to build that.
Speaker 1:You probably remember, covid was a very strange time, one which I hope we never experience again, but there was a lot of positivity that came out of that time with regards to community, and so I found social media was buzzing. Everybody wanted to connect. I was literally at home by myself. I just moved into my apartment and I made a conscious effort to connect with people. So I was doing Instagram lives at the time with people in my industry and the property space and in the design space people in my industry, in the property space and in the design space. I also built up a community of Black women in interior design and that, I think, is one of the main things that helped me get my first few projects, because I was able to show connectivity within the industry and within the space. I made some really, really great friends in creative spaces who subsequently would refer me for projects and I would be first and top of mind when an opportunity did arise.
Speaker 3:That's phenomenal, I think. You're really there demonstrating the power of relationships, hard work, good work, ethic and obviously, taking advantage of an opportunity like a pandemic Not to say they come along every minute, but you use that to your advantage. So that is that's really good. That's fascinating. And in terms of now moving forward, in terms of your business, and where do you think you would like it to go, what are some of the things that you would like to see happen in your company? Whether that's obviously, I suppose, more revenue goes without saying, but what's some of the aspects or things that you think? If we could do this as a company, this would take our company to a whole nother level.
Speaker 1:Well, maybe a slightly unconventional answer, but something that's really important to me is giving back, because there is a real moral conflict in what I do.
Speaker 1:I adore interior design, I love beautiful spaces and expensive fixtures, and my clients will tell you I'll be the first to source something expensive.
Speaker 1:But sometimes there is a moral conflict when you are sourcing a toilet seat that could home somebody for a year, could house somebody for a year, and so I've kind of made it a personal goal of mine to work with homeless charities and shelters wherever possible.
Speaker 1:For me, that is something that's really important to give back, because there are people who do not have a roof over their head and there's a huge moral conflict with what I do which could borderline on materialism, with what I do which could borderline on materialism. So there are a few charities that I try to work with and I think for me I would feel like we've made huge leaps and bounds and reached a level of success if I had all capacity to give back, to do pro bono work. We're doing some small pro bono initiatives at the moment with Saint Mungo's charity, and I personally try to work with crisis charity, but I would love to have more capacity and be able to actually give more back in terms of transforming spaces for people that cannot afford to hire an interior designer and potentially cannot afford to put a roof over their own heads.
Speaker 3:So yeah, that's. That's admirable. Wow, I didn't expect you to mention that. That was such a heartfelt answer and I really do appreciate what you're doing for people and having that heart. And where does that come from? Do you think is it from just being in the industry, or have you kind of always have had a charitable heart and a giving heart for most of your life?
Speaker 1:I mean, I think I would like to say I have.
Speaker 1:But I think being in the industry really being in any industry that deals with a lot of money, whether you make a lot of money or not, you see a lot of money.
Speaker 1:You're working in property, you are working with people's largest asset. People are pouring their life savings into this project. You see a lot of money being spent and I think when you're in that space, it makes you think about what's important and I think it really pulls on, I guess, some of your morality. It pulls on your values, and I think the only way to stay grounded in some of these spaces is to always go back to why you're doing it. And the reason that I'm doing it is to transform spaces to positively impact people's lives. That's why we very much focus on lifestyle by design, giving people control over the spaces that they live and work in, as cliche as that sounds. So if we are able to do that on a pro bono basis, if we are able to access communities that do not necessarily have the resources to facilitate that, to me that is really what it's all about do you have immediate family, maybe a spouse or brother, sister?
Speaker 3:in terms of just want to ask about how it's like managing business and family, if that is your reality and what that's actually like it's hard.
Speaker 1:I think I think I started at a good time. I don't have any children at this stage. I would love to get married and have children, have a family, but I think I found it really hard to maintain and to establish relationships. On this three-year journey of entrepreneurial I guess inclination of building this business, I definitely found it more difficult to maintain friendships, particularly and I think your circles do. Change is something that has been very impactful on this journey for me, because the reality is that if you choose a different path or you do something different from your friends and your family, they're not necessarily going to understand that and as much as they may aspire to support you, sometimes you do get secluded or excluded from certain spaces, from social events, because people automatically assume how busy you are and it almost becomes that your business is your personality and it's kind of inextricable. So I think that that is definitely a challenge. I think I have learned some tips along the way in terms of trying to maintain my relationships and still work really hard, and I think one of those things is boundaries. So if you do not set time constraints when you are building a business, you will always work, you will never stop, because it's never going to be enough and you always think you can do better and do more, or work longer hours or go to bed later or get up earlier. There is no end unless you've set one. So I've tried to do that.
Speaker 1:Something for me which is really important is going to church on a Sunday. Sundays are a no-go for me. I do not work on Sundays. My clients know that I do not work on Sundays unless it is a dire emergency, which is very, very unlikely, that it can't wait until Monday. I don't pick up my phone on a Sunday. I have a separate phone for work and for personal and I make sure to make that distinction between the two. I think it is really important to be available for my clients all the time. I think it's part of the bespoke, unique service that I offer my clients. They pay me because I am available to them and I am there to support them through their project. But it's really also important to keep your family on a pedestal and your friendships and maintain those personal ties for your own peace of mind, your own mental health and well-being, and I've definitely learned that over the last three years.
Speaker 3:For sure, that's good, and I think it's caused me to be more thoughtful and even share a bit about myself.
Speaker 3:Actually, if you don't mind, in regards to you know, when you asked me about what I do and would we just just my audience benefit B and I were having a chat and B asked me about what I do and I said, oh, I teach, also do podcasting and part of me didn't actually want to say that I teach, because it was almost like there's a need to put on a front where everything's good and oh, I do this full time really and I'm making so much money and that's just not the case at the moment.
Speaker 3:But you know, you, some of the heroes of mine are people like timothy armu, alex or mosey stephen bartlett, who I look up to as business entrepreneur guys, obviously, and they started quite young, whereas I'm kind of mid-30s, I've got a family, got a wife, and so it's like, all right, yeah, I really want to do this thing, I'm trying to do it, but I know in a few hours I've got to go to bed, I've got to go for work, tomorrow I'm gonna take care of the family, so there's responsibilities, and so what you really said is key because not everyone will understand what you're doing and you've got to pursue what you want to do.
Speaker 3:And you're right about the whole idea of you'll always work, because for me, sometimes I will, I could my wife's already told me, look, when you finish you'll come to bed, you go to sleep, etc. Because she knows I'll just edit tonight, get everything ready for the release of the episode, and so that's quite powerful what you said, actually, because it does shed a real light on what it actually is like when you're doing something for yourself and something to make a difference and for your family, and so, yeah, I commend you for the openness about that.
Speaker 1:So that was really, really helpful I would love to say as well.
Speaker 1:I think something that I do not take for granted is my freedom to do whatever serves me, because I do not have a family, I do not have kids, I do not have a husband.
Speaker 1:However, because that is in my plans for the near future, I'm aware that when you have those things, you have to slow down, especially as a woman, and I think this is a really important topic because there is a narrative in our society, in our generation, of hustle culture and being a boss lady and being able to do everything. But I've learned from a lot of my friends who are married, who do have children and families to take care of you can do everything, but not at the same time, and I think that that's a really key lesson that people should hold close to their hearts, because there can feel like a lot of pressure sometimes, but you cannot compare yourself to somebody who doesn't have those other responsibilities at the same time as you do because they have more hours in the day. I think that that's a really important topic that you've raised and I think a lot of people will be able to resonate with that for sure.
Speaker 3:Yeah, no, definitely it is. And the whole comparison trap thing I did a video on that before about looking at somebody else and thinking where am I? They're doing this, and I think social media has opened up. As much as it's been good and beneficial, I do feel it's opened up because now you're seeing what people actually do and they flex this way or they do that, and so, whether it be fake or not, it can cause issues, especially, I think, with young men or men who are trying to aspire, but women as well, obviously. So I think that's really key.
Speaker 3:So, yeah, no, I think it's a an issue to be raised and hopefully, when you could come on again, hopefully later down in the year or again, it would be good to maybe explore something different in terms of what we spoke about today. So, b, just before I let you go, and I really want to thank you for all your time so far today if somebody's out there and they want to start a business or they've got this thing that they want to do, they've got experience in it, they're passionate what steps would you advise them to take to pursue a venture that they really would love to do?
Speaker 1:So, on the back of that conversation that we've just had, the first thing I would say that you do is evaluate your situation, because what one person does is not going to necessarily be what you do. So one person might tell you that you need to stay in your job and make sure you have a steady income, and if you have a wife and three kids or a mortgage or other responsibilities, that may be the route. But if you have savings and you have freedom and you don't have any financial ties, then my advice might be to just go for it, because when I started in my early twenties, I had a lot less to lose. My first point of advice would be to really just sit down and evaluate your circumstances and think about what was going to serve you and what your responsibilities are, and then it's just to go for it. Really, the younger you are, the more energetic you are, the more ambitious you are. You're never going to have that moment again. You're never going to feel that way again, and you should just start as soon as possible.
Speaker 1:Try not to succumb to perfectionists and get as much experience under your belt as you can. Evaluate at every step of the way, every time you make a mistake. Every time you have a success, think about what you did well, what you could have done better, and make sure that you improve. For the next time that you have that experience or that situation, enjoy it, because life is really too short, and if that means taking Sundays off to go to church with your family, or if it means spending time with your partner, just self-care, having time by yourself and switching your phone off at six, then that's what you need to do. Your journey is not going to look the same as somebody else's and I think it's really important that we honor that as entrepreneurs that's phenomenal and a real, perfect way to conclude today's podcast.
Speaker 3:We could have spoke for hours, but I want to honor your time, honor the time for the audience as well, and it would be great to have you on again, bea. So thank you for joining me today on the British Black Entrepreneur podcast.
Speaker 1:Thank you so much.
Speaker 3:All right, folks. Well, I hope you enjoyed that conversation. We had a great time talking and this has been such an experience for me, and I just want to thank you all for following me on my journey on the British Black Book. I'm really trying to figure out what this is all about and where this is going, but it's been such a good time just connecting with people and Bea was just a phenomenal guest so good to speak to her and it's been great being on board with people. So please leave a review. If you're enjoying it, reach out to me. I'd love to chat to you as well and I hope you're enjoying the journey. As I continue to speak to owners in the uk and if you're one of them, you want to come on, reach out to me there. You can dm me, all right, I will see you all guys soon and I can't wait for you to join me again. Another episode of the british black entrepreneur. Goodbye and god bless.