Creating products to support causes you care about – with Elizabeth Rees – Eliza Eliza

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Welcome to the Bring Your Product Ideas to Life podcast, practical advice and inspiration to help you create and sell your own physical products. Here's your host, Vicki Weinberg.

Vicki Weinberg: 00:00:21

Hi. So today I'm speaking with Elizabeth Rees, the founder of Eliza Eliza. Eliza Eliza is a bag and accessories brand based in Cardiff, Wales, aiming to empower you to start conversations about the causes you care about. And the hashtag Elizabeth uses for her business is Carry your Cause. So we spoke a lot about the causes that Elizabeth supports through her business, um, how she does that, how she's formed partnerships, um, as well as of course all the details about how she designs and creates her products. I thought this was interesting. A fascinating conversation as they all are um, Elizabeth is probably the guest that I've spoken to the most about the causes she supports and how she does that. Um, and I found it all super interesting and I really hope you do to. So I would love now to introduce you to Elizabeth. Well, hi, thank you so much for being here.

Elizabeth Rees: 00:01:09

Hi Vicki.

Vicki Weinberg: 00:01:11

So could we start by you please giving an introduction to yourself, your business, and what you sell.

Elizabeth Rees: 00:01:16

Thank you so much for inviting me on the podcast. So I'm Elizabeth Rees and I'm founder and, um, owner of Eliza Eliza. Um, and I make sustainably conscious bags and accessories that aim to start conversations about the causes that we all care about. Um, so that's anything from dermatological cancer to gender equality and endangered turtles, many more.

Vicki Weinberg: 00:01:44

Thank you and I'm, I'm right in thinking aren't I that you make your bags?

Elizabeth Rees: 00:01:48

I do. Yes. Um, so I, I've, I've always started, um, made bags myself, um, and I I, um, I started making them when I was on maternity leave. Um, and I needed a, I wanted something to keep my nappies and wet wipes and bits and pieces in when I was out and about, rather than taking a massive, changing bag. So I, I'd done a bit of sewing in the past, um, and decided to make a, a small pouch with some fabric that I found, um, and just used it to, to carry the nappies in between my change bags and, and put an or put under the, the buggy just to have little bit less to carry out and about. Yeah, but I make them all myself.

Vicki Weinberg: 00:02:40

That makes, that makes total sense because those big change, I think the big changing bags just kind of, there's something about them that just makes you want to fill them because they're, they're so big. It all works the other way, doesn't it? You put so much in there because you can.

Elizabeth Rees: 00:02:53

Oh, absolutely. And if I've got a bag, I mean, my mum, she, I think we, it's a joke in our family that I always had a bag with me when I was younger, and however big it is, I will always fill it. And I think when, especially when you're a first time mum, you, you just fill your changing bag with everything you might just need. Um, and you'll put an extra couple of nappies in there even though you'll never need them really. And muslins galore and, um, but yeah. I, Um, yeah, it was just really useful to, um, have this little pouch, um, that I could carry around with me. And I, uh, a lot of people started commenting on how useful they were and so I'd make, make some of them maybe. Um, and it just started from there.

Vicki Weinberg: 00:03:38

Yeah. So that leads me really nicely. So what inspired you to start Eliza, Eliza? Because obviously it sounds like, first of all, you were making bags for yourself and maybe for friends. So what inspired you to actually start a business?

Elizabeth Rees: 00:03:50

So going right back before I, I had children, I actually, um, came in a background of, um, teaching. I, um, I'm trained as a secondary geography teacher, and when I went on my maternity leave, I. I, um, I wanted something a bit extra to do just to keep myself busy. And my friends had told me about this Roald Dahl fabric and it, it is a beautiful print and I started making these cushions and selling them online, sell, selling them through Etsy and they were, they were cushions with pockets in them. You put the books in, um, and it snowballed and started growing. Um, because I'd done that, um, sewing, I'd made these bags and, um, because I realized that the pocket cushions couldn't really grow into a business long term. Um, and, um, to a scale that I would like to, because I didn't really want to go back to teaching. I, I. Understood that it wasn't a passion that I wanted, I had, um, and wanted to do for the rest of my life. Um, so yeah, so I started, I'd been selling these cushions online and through Etsy in marketplaces. Um, and I, sorry, I lost my train of thought. Um, found this hole in area world online that I never really knew existed. Um, Started making the bags and wanted to, um, go down another business route. Sorry, I've really lost my train of thought here.

Vicki Weinberg: 00:05:32

Oh, that's no problem at all. We were talking about, so you started off selling, so that was amazing. So that was before you even had this business. That was just you, was it just selling the cushions, um, so something completely separate to what you're doing now really? Even though it sounds like it's the start of it.

Elizabeth Rees: 00:05:47

Yes, it was. It's, it's, it's, I suppose this was 10 years ago, uh, so nine years ago with my first son, so it's been a very long journey to get into where I am now. Um, and I've had two other children since. Um, so yeah, the, the bags I, I, I've been making these pouches, um, decided I wanted, um, to grow the business. Went online to, to see what other fabrics I could use. I really wanted to find a linen fabric perhaps, um, to have something with a bit more, um, that could be used with different, um, outfits. Um, and I found this beautiful hemp that was woven in the UK and I love the idea of it being British, um, and sustainable. Um, and, and actually when, when I first saw the, the cost of the, the fabric per meter, I was like, Oh my goodness. It's It's very expensive. Um, but I. I'll just go for it, see how it turned out. And I loved it and started using them as all the, like all the time. Um, because they could go with any outfit. When you're a mother, it's, you want something that's nice and easy, so having a bag that I could just pick up and use, um, to go down to the pub with my friends or go out and about just to pop to the shops was just so useful. Um, and the, what's really good about the, the hemp as well is that it's, it's quite hard wearing as well. You can throw it around, throw it in, um, in the bag. In your bag. Um, and I could use it to organize my bag as well. Um, yeah.

Vicki Weinberg: 00:07:45

I don't know much about hemp actually. So what, um, this might be a really silly question, but what was, what other fabric would you say hemp is most like? Because I'm trying to think. I don't think I've ever seen it, other than seen it with your products online, but in real life I don't think I've seen a hemp bag. So, um, is it like a canvasing kind of material?

Elizabeth Rees: 00:08:02

It is. Yeah, you can, you, It's slightly from we. So the hemp I use is actually a mix of hemp and cotton. Um, it's, it's a lot more hemp. Hemp is a, is a very, it can be quite a rough, um, fabric, depends on how it's processed and there's lots of different types of hemp. Unfortunately hemps get a really bad, it gets really bad press because it has an association with marijuana and it's actually made from the cannabis sativa, um, plant. Um, but it's a completely different fab, um, species to the marijuana. So it contains, it doesn't contain any like psychoactive um, chemicals. It's the THC that is the, what makes you get high if, if you use marijuana, um, but hemp hasn't got those properties. Um, but the actual fabric is, you might find it a little bit rougher, um, and, and textured initially, but it does soften over time. And actually, um, it's with the, the improvement of processing of hemp, it does mean that we can use it for, um, things like shirts and um, as a more delicate or, or, um, clothing accessories that need more delicate fabrics, which is really good because hemp is just the most wonderful, um, fibre. It's, it's one of the most sustainable, um, fabrics that we've got and we know in, in, um, the world because it uses a lot less water. Um, it's, it almost grows like a weed. You can grow it almost anywhere in the world. Um, but it's just got this association with marijuana, which has meant that it's how it's been held back in how we can grow it and where we can grow it in the world.

Vicki Weinberg: 00:10:05

It sounds like the hemp grain for fabric, for example, is different. Is, is that right? It's a different plant.

Elizabeth Rees: 00:10:13

Yeah. It's, it's a different species. Um, although, um, I mean this is my very, what I've learned over time, um, which is, can be very basic, but, um, yeah, it's different to marijuana. It's, it's got different properties, I think it's something like hemp THC is, has got to be under like 0.3%. Um, anything over that is, is deemed illegal to grow. Um, and, and even hemp itself in the uk, you need to get special license from the home office to, to grow it. Um, and they're really hard to, to get hold of, really expensive. You have to, the farms have to be vetted depending on their size and the location. Um, but it is improving and I think there's more understanding on, um, on how useful hemp can be and what it can be used for and because it has so many environmental properties. Or positives. Um, it's um, it's been used and, and discovered more and more on how useful it can be.

Vicki Weinberg: 00:11:23

That's really interesting. Thank you for sharing that because I knew nothing about it, and I think it's really great that you can source it in the UK as well, because that's not always the case for fabric.

Elizabeth Rees: 00:11:33

Yeah, I mean the hemp I use, um, it's, it's Romanian and um, French hemp, and then they bring it over to here because there are so many problems of growing hemp in the country. Um, they bring it over and it's woven in Lancaster and, and Yorkshire. Um, and like I said, it is woven with a cotton, organic cotton as well, so that it does help keep it a bit slightly softer than if you just used hemp, but the hope is that eventually they will use hemp growing in this country. It's, it's just so, so difficult. In fact, I mean, hemp goes back, it's one of the oldest fabrics known to man, um, and women, um, it's, um, they've, they've used it for years and years. Years. I mean, I think there's, um, it's been found te, um, 8,000 years ago, I think is the oldest piece of fabric that's been found. Um, and that was hemp. Um, it, it's been used, um, in the UK very much for rope and sales as the British grew their empire. There was a huge push to grow hemp. In fact, I think it at one point there was a time where it was illegal not to grow hemp and all farmers had to produce a certain amount of hemp on, on their farming land. Um, but then, Because there'd been associations with marijuana it was all made illegal, um, in the early 19th century, the 20th century. And it wasn't legalized again until, I think it was about the 1990s. Um, but yeah, it's, it's, it's, I mean, it's, the more I find out about the, the more I love it. And it's, it's got so many, um, properties which make it, uh, great as a bag because it's so bacterial, it's an antifungal. So with anything like a bag or clothes, it's great for it. It's not, if it gets dirty, it almost cleans itself. It's self cleaning. Um, which is really useful. And then there's so many other things that can be useful. I mean, I've heard they've made, they've made bricks from hemp. It can be.

Vicki Weinberg: 00:13:56

That's amazing. It is.

Elizabeth Rees: 00:13:57

It's, um, they can, they can use it for, I mean, I suppose there's other, um, because of so many properties it has and it, in the nutrients it has, it can be ingested as well. So it can be, um, you might have seen the oil in supermarkets. Um, and so every part of the plant can be used effectively, which is another reason why it's such a useful, um, proper, um, farming, um, and agricultural. Um.

Vicki Weinberg: 00:14:31

I know what you mean. Yeah because I see what you can tell. It sounds like there's just no waste, which is fantastic because with most parts of, it's like some element of waste.

Elizabeth Rees: 00:14:38

Yeah. They can use it, the rotation crop as well, which, because it almost puts nutrients back into, I mean, I don't know, complete the science of it, but it puts nutrients back into the, to land, which is obviously fantastic and, and means that it's, it's, it's, um, as a farm, it's not an area of land that's being left to do nothing. It can be making money while it's, um, it's adding nutrients into the, the soils again. Yeah. And it's, um, the other thing is, I mean, it, it acts as a carbon sink, so it, it takes in a lot more carbondioxide, than many trees do, um, which is fantastic for the, um, reducing climate change. And, um, yeah, it's, it's a wonder, it's a wonder. The more I find out about it the better and the more I want to use it, and I, I would love to one day just use hemp. I mean, that would be the, the ideal situation. If, if, um, because at the moment, I still use cotton, um, for where my, because I have design printed onto to cotton to use on the linings of, of my bags and, and accessories. But one day it would be amazing if they were made from hemp. I, that's the ideal situation.

Vicki Weinberg: 00:16:06

Yeah, and we'll talk a bit bit more about the linings of your products later as well, because they are obviously very unique Um, and we'll talk about those and the causes that you are supporting for your products as well. So it does sound like it's an ideal product for, for making bags. Mm-hmm. Um, so once you found a fabric that you were, wanted to work with and you were excited to use, so what happened? So what happened then? Talk us through, um, you just started making bags and then you found the hemp, what happened next?

Elizabeth Rees: 00:16:36

So I, um, I started selling them through Etsy again, and for a long time I, I sold them through, um, online and Etsy. And the reason I. I, the line was, um, I used patterns. I to, to be honest, I, I didn't have many plain fabrics, so I just started using what I had, and so I used the fabrics inside and I suppose maybe it was just an instinct. I wanted to be able to give back. I, I, I found this attraction towards raising a bit of money initially for a charity as part of, um, of producing the, the bags. And I discovered, uh, the first charity I started working with was, um, a charity called Unseen, and they work with survivors of Modern Day Slavery. They are based in Bristol. And I approached them and said, oh, please, can I just work with you, partner with you and, and help raise some money for you. And they, uh, were more than happy to, um, work with me. Um, and then it must have been about six months later, a year later, I, I, I said, well, well, I'd love to do is perhaps make the, the, the line and the, the design a bit more meaningful. So I, I said that I, I def I'd, um, would look for some, an artist that could perhaps put together a design that would be, would relate to what they were doing. And we, we had a lot of ideas. We discussed things that we could, um, focus on the design, but what unseen really like to do is, is promote the, the positives of what they are doing as a, a charity rather than looking back to the, the slavery point. The, I actually use butterflies as part of that um, collection. And the reason being is because they have a brilliant programme called The Butterfly Programme, and it works on, um, with Safe Houses for Women, um, and helps support women, gives them, um, help with counseling, with, um, integration back into communities. Um, it, it almost, maybe just giving them a pack of, um, of clothes or, um, um, toiletries when they come into this safe house. All the list of things we don't really tend to think about because many of these women have perhaps come over to this country if they've been trafficked over from another country and have nothing else apart from the clothes that they're wearing when they are rescued, uh, so the Safe Houses work with these women and it's called the Butterfly Programme. So that's why I've used butterflies. Um, and yeah, it's, it just went from, then I, I think the second charity was the Eve appeal, which you've probably seen, um, if you, my Eve appeal, um, collection is called the V collection and has, um, vulvas inside. And the reason being is because, Eve Appeal, um, worked to raise awareness for the five gynecological cancers, um, which I will remind because I remind everyone what they are because a lot of people don't realize there's five cancers. So there's a variant, cervical wound, vaginal and volvo. And the idea with the V collection is that it raises, um, awareness and starts conversations. A lot of people might look at the vulvas and feel like they're a bit explicit, but to me the idea is that it starts that conversation and that's the most important part of what the bags or I hope that the bags do. Um, and then on the side, they, they also raise, raise money for the charity as well.

Vicki Weinberg: 00:20:55

Those were the designs I actually, when I was looking at your products, I mean, first started speaking, those were the ones that really stood out to me because they are really unique and really eye catching. So I can see they're definitely conversations starters. I can definitely see that if you have that bag, someone might say, Oh, what does that, what's that for? What does that mean? So I think, yeah, it's def, I think it will definitely be achieving that as, as well as, as you say, raising some money as well.

Elizabeth Rees: 00:21:20

Mm-hmm. The V collection, I mean, it's certainly my most popular, um, collection because I think it is the one that stands out from the rest. Um, it's the one that's, um, in the past, it's been shared by Jillian Anderson, um, and influencers Emily Clarkson shared it um, when she, she brought it. I made these masks in, in lockdown because one of the reasons I had it inside the bag as well was I thought it would be. It's, it's almost like a, it's, it's not, it's um, oh, it's like a secret it being in the bag, but it doesn't, it's not showing off that you can show it to whoever you want and start the conversation. It doesn't have to be completely out there. Um, but then when I started doing face masks, um, a couple of years ago, post lockdown um, people would quite happily wear them on their faces. And, but I think the design isn't, I mean, even my mum thought they were, they were bugs. I think It's not obvious that they are. It's one of those 'Are they? Are they what I think they are?' And this, they're lots different designs, uh, colours. So it means um, it sort of represents everyone. Um, and it's, yeah, just starts conversations. And, uh.

Vicki Weinberg: 00:22:44

So I will make sure I put a link to your shop in the show notes. People can actually go take a look at this design because obviously we are talking about it a lot, it's actually good to go and see it now. So, did you find an artist to work with to come up with these designs for you?

Elizabeth Rees: 00:23:00

So I, I first, well, the, the, um, the, the vulva collection, when I did that, it was be, um, I'd actually found the design before I approached The Eve Appeal and the artists. I found I worked quite a lot with a fabric product, uh, producer called Spoonflower, and they print onto fabrics and you can, there's lots of different, um, fabric types you print onto. So I print onto like an organic cotton satin. You can print on to, um, I suppose like, um, polycottons or um, heavier canvases and, yeah, because it's smaller quantities. So you go into Spoonflower and you, there's all these different designs you can, you can choose from. And I, I happen to come across this vulva design and so I approached the artist and asked her, she's based, is a, a lady called Teysha and she's based in Canada. Um, which is another reason it's brilliant, because you can use people from all over the world. And what's really good about using Spoonflower is that every time I buy from Spoonflower, the artist gets a percentage of that, um, which is really good as well if you are, um, not wanting to buy the rights straight out, um, from an artist because sometimes with the artists you'll buy the rights to use their designs. Um, but whereas with Spoonflower, you just pay every time you use their design if you have an agreement with them. And, and I, and I think the fact that I could turn around to Teysha and say it's going to help raise awareness, it's going to, um, help, um, raise money for my charity. I think that was another, another reason why she was more than happy for me to start like that. Um, and, and yeah, I mean, I, I think last time I looked it, it, the collection, it's raised over 3000 pounds for The Eve Appeal, um, and, and so, yeah, the, I think the artists are really, really encouraging and wanting, um, to, for me to use their designs because it's, it's giving back in a way that, that they want to support as well.

Vicki Weinberg: 00:25:25

That's amazing. I think, yeah, that's really lovely that you are able to support an artist and support charity and yeah, this is really nice, isn't it? How mm-hmm. how that works. So where with this, um, the site. I guess the only downside is does that mean potentially other people could use the same designs that you are using?

Elizabeth Rees: 00:25:43

Oh, absolutely. And, and, and I and I, I don't want to keep secret over, um, using Spoonflower because I think if you want to, then yes, they can go and use, I mean, I have an agreement with the artists to use the designs on a commercial side, and I think it's important that people understand even just for a matter of politeness that is important. They go and ask an artist if they can use it, if they're not using it just for personal use. But yeah, I mean, if you, if you, if you go into Spoonflower and search anything, it's, it's, I love, I mean, it's a brilliant site and I, I think they're really supportive of artists, um, and, and project makers alike.

Vicki Weinberg: 00:26:26

Yeah, it sounds like it's great that you were able to contact the artist directly, so it wasn't like a platform in between you and her. Mm-hmm. That sounds like that's really nice because there are lots of sites out there where there's sort of a disconnect between you and the person who's created the art or what the design or wherever it is so this sounds really nice that you could sort of actually speak to the artist and tell her what you were using it for and yeah. I, I really like that aspect of it.

Elizabeth Rees: 00:26:52

Mm-hmm. Yeah. No, I, I mean actually all of the, um, the designs I, I print, I, I use Spoonflower and quite a few of them I found through Spoonflower. Um, but like I said, it means that you can, you can access people who are, I think, um, the lady that, um, Angelique who produces my turtle fabrics, she's based in South Africa and I might never have known about her if I, um, hadn't been on, on Spoonflower. So it's really useful.

Vicki Weinberg: 00:27:24

And so you mentioned earlier about people, um, you mentioned Gillian Anderson and Emily Clarkson sort of sharing your products. So was that something deliberate that you were trying to get, um, influencers or people to use your products? Or is that something that happened organically? I'm just being curious and is it, um.

Elizabeth Rees: 00:27:41

Yeah, no, both by accident really. So, um, Gillian Anderson had been a gift for a, um, a, a friend. Was going to see a show she'd done and I sort of said 'Oh, can you just see if you can give her this, um, purse?' Um, never thinking, well, I thought I was hoping she might make, share it on a story, but she did the post on it in the end, which was brilliant for me on the, on Instagram. So it meant it stayed there forever. Um, and, and it is, it is incredible when, if you, if you have an influencer with a, a good following, it's incredible the difference it can make as a business. Um, and it just, it kicked off completely overnight and I sold out and it was wonderful with Emily Clarkson and that was, she'd actually bought the face mask herself because she works quite closely with The EVA Appeal and she'd seen them promote the face mask. So that was, that was wonderful. Um, and that was really nice because she'd bought the mask herself and then, and then shared it.

Vicki Weinberg: 00:28:50

That is really nice. And so at this, what, at what stage were you selling on your own website as well as on Etsy? Were you, were you. Yeah. When did that happen?

Elizabeth Rees: 00:29:00

So, fairly early on I switched to my own website. Um, I, I'd been speaking to, um, a friend of mine and she, she almost, um, encouraged me to, to switch to a website, um, rather than using Etsy. Uh, and I, I, I actually started using Squarespace cuz I mean, it's, first it's very easy to, they've got all these templates and you, you just almost, um, and I, having, coming from a background, which I. Wasn't very technically, uh, educated. Um, it was much easier for me to, to be able to just put in pictures and a bit of text and, and the information that was needed and upload it straight away. Um, so I would encourage anyone to, to use anything like Squarespace to, if they wanted to start a website. Um, Etsy is really useful I think when you initially start. Um, and, um, a great way to, to get your, to dip your feet in to, to dip your foot in, so to speak. But I think a website, it's yours, it's your website. It, um, no one can take it away from you. Whereas I think with something like Etsy or any other marketplace, they have full control over everything you do. Um, they can decide what they're showing. Um, and I think it's, it's just more of a professional feel when you've got your, your own website as well. Um, I think when I promote my website, it feels, yeah, a lot more professional and I still use obviously things like Instagram and Twitter and Facebook to help promote, um, my bags and accessories. But everything goes to the website now and.

Vicki Weinberg: 00:31:06

Oh, so that's really interesting because when you launched your website did you turn off Etsy completely?

Elizabeth Rees: 00:31:12

Uh, I think I even still have an Etsy store somewhere. Um, so I don't think it's turned off completely, but yeah, I certainly don't, I don't direct people anymore to any Etsy.

Vicki Weinberg: 00:31:25

That makes sense. I mean, I think for all the reasons you shared. And also let's face it, it's also for you much more profitable to sell on a website than it is to pay any marketplace. You know, when you have the fees and.

Elizabeth Rees: 00:31:35

Yeah.

Vicki Weinberg: 00:31:36

Everything else. Um, and one thing I am curious about though is did you find it hard to sort of get people to your website? Because on, I think on a, on a platform like Etsy or any other online marketplace obviously people are there to shop, they go in there and they're going in the search for and looking for whatever they are looking for. Mm-hmm. Did you find it like you had to market your business differently when you were getting people to a website? If that makes sense.

Elizabeth Rees: 00:32:02

Yeah. There's that balance, isn't it? Because I suppose they might find you through Etsy, but at the same time they can also lose you and get distracted by the products. Yeah. Um, so it, yeah, it's a hard, it's a hard balance to, to get, but, um, I decided, I think I decided to, to move to a website and I suppose to put all my eggs in one basket thinking I can build a blog up, I can, uh, um, take people's email addresses and, and that at the time was more important to me. Um, Then people finding me through yet another marketplace.

Vicki Weinberg: 00:32:47

That makes a lot, that makes a lot of sense. I didn't actually think about it from that aspect, but yes, it's, it's easier for people to find you, but it is also easy to lose them because you're, I mean, I've done it when you're looking at something on Etsy and then you scroll down and then it's got like, if you like this, you might also like. Yeah. And you can end up clicking happily clicking further and further away from the thing you were looking at. That does make sense.

Elizabeth Rees: 00:33:08

I think the other thing with Etsy as well is that it's hard because I was promoting my bags at a fair, a fairly high end price. I, I found it was difficult for people to, to understand the story through, um, Etsy. Then if I had a website, I could tell more of my story and, and I think with something like Etsy, you get a lot of hobbyists on Etsy. And not that I didn't wat to be associated, because I think a hobbyists get a bit of a, a bad stick sometimes, because the quality can still be there. But sometimes the problem is, is that they sell their products at a much lower end because they're not in it for a business. They just want to keep it as a hobby and the money that they are making just pay for their hobby. Um, so that was the other reason I think I wanted to have my own website as well, is because of the cost of the product that I created. I wanted it to stand alone and people understand why it was costing that much rather than being compared to, um, too many other lower price product.

Vicki Weinberg: 00:34:23

That does make sense as well because you're right, when on any other marketplace you're comparing, maybe not like for like exactly, but you're comparing obviously different products, whereas on your website. Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. Um, and did you have to change how you, anything you did in terms of getting people over to your website? Um, beause it sounds like you, it's mostly, is it mostly social media you've been using to do that?

Elizabeth Rees: 00:34:47

Yeah, I mean, I think for a long time when I, so when I first came onto Instagram, it was a very different place than it is now. And I know we go on about the algorithm, but it is true. It's, it was a lot easier. You could, you could get your, your posts in front of a lot more people. Um, and so yeah, so social media has been my, one of my main ways of, of getting new people to see my products. But then at the same time, I think a lot of it is word of mouth, and particularly because of the bags, um, people will go and talk to their friends or they'll give them as gifts. Um, and their marketplaces I think are quite important as well. I think being able to go to a real market and, and chat to people, um, and, and use that as a way of, of telling your story. I can take email or I can get emails down and get people onto my email, email list there. Um, um, networking events are really good for, for speaking to other people. And I mean, I'm based in Cardiff and there's, there's a, there's so many small businesses in Cardiff and we all talk to each other and I've built up that network over time. And you get to know people and, and you might see them on social media and, and, and know, just contact them, meet up, um, and just start those conversations about what they do and, and help each other out. And I think that's another thing I've learned over, over the years is that, is, is, is just chatting to other people about their businesses and what they do and, um, and not going to get anything out yourself, but just because, I mean, I, I just love it. I, I, I love talking business to people and finding out about how they sell their products or service, um, and supporting them as much as I can, and they do the same for me. So it's just a really great way to, to support that, to build that network up of, of, um, especially women I think as well. I think, I think we, we really build our, our businesses in the strength of businesses up on emotional connections. Um, which you can't just do sometimes over social media. I think it has to be done, um, in real life. It has to be done and the, the only way you can do that is through meeting up in real life and having that coffee and chatting and, um, yeah.

Vicki Weinberg: 00:37:37

Absolutely. We were talking a little bit about me before we started recording about how much you can learn from each other, which is, you know, the main reason I, I, I mean, main reason I love this podcast is because it is genuinely interesting to talk about people's businesses and why people have done what they do, and the fact there's, it's just fascinating. And I think, like you said, there's a lot you can learn just by listening to other people.

Elizabeth Rees: 00:38:01

You really can, and. Um, I mean, I, I, I've got a, I've got a friend that I, um, she's my, well, she started off as my accountability partner. Um, she, she runs a business, producing um, digital, um, patterns. She's a fashion designer and we, we started meeting them every, every week and bouncing ideas off each other. And it's, it's the most useful thing because they can, I mean, apart from the fact they can hold you accountable, it's just somebody to talk to because it, it, it can be really lonely working on your own in your business. And sometimes that's all you need is just to say things out loud and somebody to turn around, especially if it's somebody that's, you can really trust and will be honest with you. Um, you can say something and that person can either turn around and say, no, that's not going to work. Or they can, they can look at it from a different angle and make suggestions on how you can make something work slightly differently. Um, I know you ha you don't have to listen to them all the time. And, and I know my, my accountability, Alex, accountability partner, Alex, there's been times where I've, she's made suggestions, and I've gone completely against it. But then there's been other times she's, she's turned around and said, look, you really need to change this because it all makes something, it will help you in the long run. And, um, and I've listened to her and I, it's the best thing I've done. Um, and, and it's worked the other way around as well. So I think, um, accountability partner is, uh, one of my biggest um, suggestions. I, I talk to a lot of people too, because I think it's a really useful, um, and free, um, oh, what's the word I, I've lost, um, I've forgot the word now, but it's, it's, it's a really free tool that you can, you can get, if you can get that right person as well. Makes such a difference.

Vicki Weinberg: 00:40:16

Thank you so much. I completely agree. Having someone you trust that you can just, even from, it's just to, to vent to, or whatever it is, but just someone who's going to listen and mm-hmm. understand and give advice when you need. Yeah. I think that's invaluable. Mm-hmm. And I was about to ask you, Elizabeth, what your number one piece of advice would be for other product creators, would accountability partners be it, or do you have anything else you wanted?

Elizabeth Rees: 00:40:41

Um, it would, but I've also got another one and it's something, um, I've done the last few years. Um, and it would be to have a, a word of your year. A word of the year. Because the last few years I've had a word of the year, um, this one, this year's focus. Um, and I get it printed out and I put it on my wall. Um, last year's I think was it consistency and the year before was fearless. Um, and, and we do, I mean, at the beginning of the year, I, I do goals and, um, throughout the year come back to those goals and work on them. But yeah, just having a word of the year really helps. Given that, that focus, that's something I can keep myself accountable to. And I, I mean, the fearless year was, was a really important year for me because I, I put myself out there and did a, a talk and it was about my, it was about post depression and I did it in as part of this networking event that I'd been going to the for, women, um, mostly business women. And I don't think I would've done it if I hadn't had this word. Um, but it, it, it really put, helped me to push myself out of my comfort zone this, that year. And likewise, even this year focus, because I see that word every day, it really in, encourages and, and reminds me to be focused. So, yeah. A word of the year, I think. Is it It's.

Vicki Weinberg: 00:42:14

No, I really love that. I, um, no one's ever said that before, which I absolutely love. I love it when people have advice them. Um, I don't know if you've ever listened to the podcast, Happy with Gretchen Ruben, because they recommend on that podcast having a word of the Year. That's quite a big theme that runs with podcast. And, um, yeah, I really like that. I, I, I have done it previously. This year I don't have a word of the year. Mm-hmm. Um, because I couldn't find one that resonated. Mm-hmm. And I feel like I didn't want to sort of have something that I wasn't feeling. But in previous years, I've definitely had.

Elizabeth Rees: 00:42:49

Yeah, no, it's.

Vicki Weinberg: 00:42:50

I had it last year cause it was all about trying to be a bit more relaxed and make things a bit easier on myself.

Elizabeth Rees: 00:42:57

I think it's, I mean, it's such a simple thing. Um, but like things like vision boards as well. I did a vision board this year and I have it next to my bed, so I see it. It's the first thing I see in the morning, last thing I see at night. And that's really useful because even just the idea of when you put it together, um, you can really get focused on what you, what you want and why. And the why? Because I think the reason why you're doing what you're doing is, is so important, um, and it doesn't, doesn't have to be just one thing. I mean, I've got things like family and um, and where I want, where I see my business, and then even things like self care and making, making sure I make time for that as well. And it, it is just reminding because I think it's so easy to get caught up in what we're trying to do and what we're trying to create business. Um, but having, having a, a focus and, and visualizing, and I really love, um, um, Carrie from the Female Entrepreneur Association. She's brilliant at talking about visualization and, and, um, looking into why and, and the reasons for why we do what we are doing. Um, because there's, there's, there's more to life than just work and, um, I think we need to remind ourselves of that sometimes.

Vicki Weinberg: 00:44:22

I think you're right. Well, thank you so much. Thank you for everything you shared, Elizabeth, and I loved where you've ended. I just think that's really, yeah, like I said, that's advice I haven't had anyone before and I really like that because I think it's something really practical that people can go away and think about doing, that they might not have ever considered.

Elizabeth Rees: 00:44:39

Oh, thank you so much for having me on Vicki, it's been lovely chatting.

Vicki Weinberg: 00:44:42

You're so welcome. Thank you so much for listening right to the end of this episode. Do remember that you can get the full back catalogues and lots of free resources on my website, vickiweinberg.com. Please do remember to rate and review this episode if you've enjoyed it, and also share it with a friend who you think might find it useful. Thank you again and see you next week.