Transcript

Karla: Hi, Anna. Thank you so much for coming on the podcast. I really appreciate it, as I know neither of us have ever done anything like this before. Why don't you start off by telling us little bit about yourself? Because I know quite a bit about you, but our, listeners won't.

Anna: Yep. I live with my husband, Corin, and we have two children. Fearne, who is four and a half, and Heath, who is coming up for eleven months old. He'll be one next month, which is completely mad. We live in Devon. We have lots of family around us, which we feel very lucky for. We live right by Dartmoor, we're close to the sea. I feel like Devon is a pretty special place to live.

Karla: I love it so much. for anyone listening doesn't know, I moved to the Netherlands for a while. I really miss Devon. I'm from Devon and I miss the rolling hills and the seaside. Yeah, it's a pretty special place. Thanks, Anna for giving us that introduction.

I wonder if you would now like to tell us your story. Tell us the story of SMALL-FOLK?

Anna: Okay, so I guess the story of SMALL-FOLK kind of begins with Fearne, my daughter, who was born in 2016. I didn't have a job from about three months pregnant because we moved house and county and country, I suppose, from Scotland back down to Devon in England. I assumed correctly, that nobody was going to give me a job when I was three months pregnant so I went through being pregnant, and then I had Fearne and didn't work again for two years of her life, and that's pretty much where the availability, I suppose, of being able to do this started.

So probably when she was about one and a half, I went to get her some shoes. She needed a new pair of shoes and I went into Totnes, and the little shoe shop that we were using to get her shoes, had closed. So that was quite annoying because Totnes is our local town. If I had wanted to go and get her some from somewhere else, it would have been pretty much Clarks is the only option. So that sort of clicked something in my mind as to thinking, oh, there's not a shoe shop in Totnes for kids. That's really annoying. Surely there must be lots of other parents who feel the same and at the same sort of time.

One of my friends who owns a little shop in Totnes, was pregnant and was going give up her shop to go and have her baby. So it all sort of coincided, and I made' the leap of faith to just go for it, to open a shop in Totnes selling kids’ shoes. And it grew once I started looking into it, I thought, oh, there's not really anywhere to buy clothes either. Most of the time I'd been buying online or secondhand car boot sales, charity shops, etcetera. But there wasn't a shop in Totnes that I would have bought anything from. I added clothing and select few toys. The shop is, was, very small, so I could only sell a few brands to begin with and, yeah, that's pretty much how it started.

Karla: A real leap of faith then, by the sound of it?

Anna: Yeah, so it maybe seems like a leap of faith, but my parents were self employed all of their lives and they were, jewellery makers. So I grew up surrounded by being your own boss. It seems normal to me. so, yeah, I find it a joy. I like having that autonomy I suppose. I like that what I do is reflected in the outcome. So if I work really hard, then things go well, and if I have time where I just need to take a little break and a step back, then things calm down a little bit. But that's fine, I'm happy with that. It's the sort of ebb and flow.

Karla: I've never really thought of being self employed and running your own business in that way. Like, it's all on you. You can totally own your business and there's no board meetings to decide. But I guess the other side of that is that you can totally own your business. Like, it's your ethos, it's your approach. There's no board meetings to decide what goals or purpose the business has. It can be totally your approach. So what is your approach to your business? I kind of think of SMALL-FOLK as quite forward thinking. So what does that look like?

Anna: So I'm always very conscious of anything to do with people in particular. So, like, women that I hire. I like to be flexible. I would hope that they would say that I'm a very flexible boss. They've all got children, so it's a matter of working around that we work as a team to try and cover each other where needs be. So that's in terms of the people who work for me. But there's other aspects to it within the business as well. So obviously there's pretty basic things that people can choose, like energy supplier.

So I make sure that the energy that supplies the shop is, renewable from renewable sources and also the insurance. So my insurance policy is from the only environmentally conscious insurance company in the UK called Naturesave. Shameless plug there for Naturesave. They are a great company and they happen to be based in Totnes as well. So obviously insurance, the money that you pay insurance companies goes into things to make more money and naturesave ensure that the investments, that they put your money into are environmentally sound. And there's also the very basic, sort of thing of the goal of your business. So, you know, I'm not aiming to be a multimillionaire. You, know, my business, I would like to make enough for myself and my staff to have a living wage and to be able to support local business and other small businesses who are, thinking along the same lines, there seems to be a rise in women starting their own businesses

Karla: Yeah, that was actually one of the questions I have here is to talk about the businesses you work with, because I know you work with a lot of makers from the UK, and there seems to be this rise at the moment in the number of women starting their own businesses, especially makers?

Anna: There definitely seems to be a rise. I think I've got four or five local makers who make things from mobiles through to clothing through to dolls, most of whom are, like, hyper local, as in they are within probably a five mile radius of the shop, are friends, as well as people whose, work I sell in the shop. So, there is Susannah, who makes the NAAiNAAi clothing and accessories. So she started out maybe a year after I'd opened the shop. She came into the shop and we started talking about kids clothes, women's clothes. She showed me some samples of some things, some waistcoats that she was making, and it kind of went from there, really. We sort of regular, regularly chat, and she grew this amazing brand, which is now women's wear, as well as kids clothing, because it started just as kids. and she's in Dartington, so she's literally down the road. She's, just a super lovely lady. She's got three kids who are all at school, so she does her work around looking after her kids. she's very on it with sustainability of the fabrics that she uses, so she uses like, ercotex linens and organic cotton. so, I mean, I really love her brand. It makes me feel very happy that I know exactly who is making the clothing that I'm selling in the shop, and that she's doing such great research around the fabrics that she's using. And, like, every element of her brand, down to the labels that she sews into the clothing, the labels, the swing tags, everything is sourced with sustainability in mind.

Naomi is another lovely local lady who makes the beautiful Waldorf, inspired dolls that I sell in the shop. So she is a very good friend of Susanna's and was sort of standing by Susannah as Susannah was building this business. And then Susannah said to Naomi, you should bring in some dolls, show Anna some dolls. And Naomi reluctantly agreed, I think would be a good way to put it. But when she brought them in, I was just blown away. They're just stunning. And she, again, is really on it with what she's using. So the dolls are made of organic cotton or linen and they are stuffed with wool, so they're really natural. Some of them that she makes are suitable from birth. Very, very sweet little dolls. And they're all, completely individual as well. So she never makes exactly the same thing twice. They've all got their own sort of personality, which I love.

So I've also got my lovely friend Claire, who makes mobiles that, are sold in the shop. I haven't got them online mobiles. If anybody has ever tried before, mobiles are probably the hardest thing to ever take a photo of, so hence they are not on the website. But if anybody ever wants, you know, to look at them, I'm happy to take some quick snaps. so, yep, she's literally down the road from me in Buckfastleigh. She is, a mum friend. I suppose that's a good term. So she's got a daughter who is nine, days older than mine. Nine days might be a little bit different to nine, but somewhere around that, they're very, very close in age and we met at the local playgroup and when I opened the shop, Claire showed me these mobiles that she was making and I was keen to sell them in the shop, keen to help her out. That's one of the things that I also love about the freedom of being self employed is that you have this opportunity to, sort of. I don't want to use the word help other people because it's not helping other people, but it's like support.

You know, when I was pregnant, with Fearne, and had Fearne when she was younger and before I did any of this, it would have been amazing had there been, a local shop who would have sold something that I make. I'm a knitter, so I could have created a brand and done this in a different way, but that didn't exist. And so the opportunity to be able to be that thing to me it was really cool. And it means, you know, that Claire, who at the time, when I first opened the shop, she's two young girls, so she was doing sewing of these mobiles in the evening when the girls were asleep. I just think it's really cool. It's like women supporting women, which I think is really important.

Karla: It so, so is. And I think I have to say, I do think you're amazing for giving women that space to be able to sell what they're making. I think you said all of the local makers you've got to know had babies and then started their own businesses. And that's something I'd really like to look into because the more mums I get to know, having become a mum, I just don't think the usual nine to five jobs these days fits particularly well with being a mother.

Anna: No, they definitely don't. And that's one of the things that, that was why, when I had had Fearne and, you know, she was, say one, there just wasn't any point in my head in getting a job because it seemed to me that I had the choice of either staying at home and looking after Fearne and being with her as much as possible, or with childcare costs involved. To me, I couldn't cope with the idea of doing a job that essentially would mean I would have take home pay of about three pounds an hour. It seemed. I don't know, it just seems, it seems wrong. So it didn't even occur to me to do that. I guess it depends on, for some people, they have no choice. And getting basically the equivalent of three pounds an hour is the difference between being able to survive and not.

So I understand that that is definitely a privileged position to be in to be able to say, I don't want to go back to work because I don't want to work for that little. There's a lot of people out there who don't have that choice. And one of the large things like for the, got certification, is that that, employment should be freely entered into. So that's an interesting conversation in itself, you know, is employment in the UK freely entered into when somebody knows that they're going to be earning such a small amount of money?

Karla: Wow. Another topic I will totally be looking at, actually, as part of this podcast, I'm going to be taking topics raised by the women who are featured. I'm going to be looking into it in more detail. So either that's going to be blogs or possibly videos because I just think women have to hold so much.

You had another baby just before lockdown in February. You know, this year you had the pandemic to deal with. You had another baby just before lockdown in February. And then you moved small folk to bigger premises during lockdown. I mean, how's that been for you?

Anna: It's been quite a full on year. Not gonna lie. I'm, not anticipating another year to ever be quite like this one. Just gone. yeah. So, yeah, basically the year started with Heath being born. He was born in February, just literally probably about two weeks before everything really kicked off, which was such a relief looking back because I actually had an elective c section. So had I have had that say two weeks later, it would have been a totally different experience. Yeah. So the year started off with me having heath and then the lockdown started, I think about a month after he was born, like the first lockdown. And, that was full on. I furloughed all of my staff at this point, I was still in the little shop, so the quantity of stock was much less than it is now. So I bought all of my stock home and basically worked from home by myself, packing web orders and doing everything else at the same time whilst having a brand new baby. It was probably the most intense, period of time in my life ever, so far. It was hard work, but it was also really nice. Again, bringing Devon into the mix. We were very lucky to be here. The weather was incredible. So when I wasn't doing work, we were chilling outside and, yeah, it was, it was a very mixed experience. and during all of that as well, there was the whole thing of looking at this shop over the road that came up for that. I've been looking at ever since I opened the little shop, really thinking, oh, that's a nice shop, I'd quite like that shop. and, yeah, so during lockdown, I remember going and collecting stock and looking at the, at, ah, the sign saying it was for rent and thinking maybe. And then, yeah, then fast forward a couple of months and there I was in the new shop. I think that was June. I think I, yeah, I think I reopened in June. yeah, and it's been, it's been very busy, which is really good.

Karla: That is fantastic news and good to hear a positive story coming out of such a distressing time. I hear all these stories of shops closing, especially little indies and independent run shops. It's really sad. And so it's so good to hear that some shops are weathering this storm. I mean, I know I've been buying a lot of beautiful clothes and toys from you, much to my husband's annoyance! What are you loving in the shop at the moment?

Anna: I’m particularly loving a book called Migrants. I've just got in recently, which is trying to open up the conversation with children about migrants, people coming from elsewhere who are in need of help and I don't like to shy away from difficulties topics with my children. I think it's important from a young age that they are aware of the world. and it's a word free book so you can tailor it to the age of your child as to what their level of understanding would be and also how deep you want to go into the conversation about the state of the world, I suppose. but, yeah, it's an amazing book. It's a really beautiful book and it's an incredible parenting tool to teach your children about the world and to hopefully increase their understanding and lead them into being welcoming and kind people, which, you know, as far as I'm concerned, that's one of my key goals of being a parent.

Karla: Yeah, totally. Same here. We have to talk about these things and normalize them because that's what's happening in the world at the moment. There's no getting away from that. And the children we're raising are the future generations. You know, I think I'll definitely be buying that book. Navigating explaining what the world is like is tricky, you know, what the future holds.

Talking about the future, where do you see small folk going? What's your plan? Do you have one? What's on the horizon?

Anna: So, yeah, definitely expanding and refining the women's wear range. So I started that because I had more space. It's what I wanted to do for quite a long time. And pretty much daily people would come into small folk and say, why don't they do these clothes for adults? And, like, quite a few of the brands that I stock actually do make adult clothing. So I thought, well, now I've got a bit more space, now's the time to, to do it. So, yeah, it's, it's a small selection at the minute. Hopefully it will grow, but it can't grow too much because then I'll need an even bigger shop. yeah, so growing the women's wear and refining the brands and knowing exactly what people are looking for.

I also really want to delve into the world of second hand. Somehow I have not yet come up with an idea. It's literally just a sort of floating notion at the minute. I am, a, ah, massive advocate of secondhand clothing. So, I mean, Fearne and Heath still wear lots of second hand clothing. I think it's really important. It's part of the way that we are going to defeat fashion as it is now, fashion being a loose term, clothing in general, the way that people buy clothes. So clothes need to be worn until they can't be worn anymore. And in order for that to happen, there needs to be more consumption of second hand clothing. If you start off with the clothing being of high quality, like the clothing that I sell, then it's going to last through more children. And I'd really like to somehow come up with a way of selling second hand clothes of, you know, the brands that I sell already, I suppose, or maybe a buyback scheme. I don't know. I haven't come up with a plan yet. But I think it's important. It needs to be done, and it also opens up the world of high quality clothing to a larger audience. You know, it needs to be priced fairly so that lots of people, so it's accessible to lots of people. Because I know that that's part of the problem as well with, sustainable clothing is it is more expensive. There's no two ways about it. It has to be, because the cost is the true cost of clothing. But for many people, that cost is high, and I understand that, and it's not attainable. So there needs to be a way of bridging that gap. And I would say second hand clothing is the way to go.

Karla: Anna, thank you so much for being my first guest. I learned so much and I really enjoyed hearing your SMALL-FOLK story and, thank you for sharing it.

Anna: You're welcome. It's been really fun to chat.