Turn Creativity into a Business - A Red Networking Event Review

Katie and I attended our fifth Red Networking Event on October 1st 'Turn Your Creativity into a Business' at the Royal Institute of British Architects in London and what fun we had!

As usual, Red magazine brought together some really inspiring women; Noreen Gallagher, managing director of Triumph UK, Jo Malone MBE, fragrance entrepreneur and Fiona Ellis, founder of Ellis Eye Interiors, to talk about how they got to where they are in their careers and how important creativity is to them.

It was so interesting to meet three successful women who manage their business in very different ways. Triumph's Noreen seemed very methodical and organised with fixed plans, goals and a strategy in place to take the brand to the next level. Jo Malone works very creatively with a lot of vision to the future involving all the senses not just in her fragrances but in her business plans too. Being an interior designer (and ex-model scout for some of the industry's top models) it's clear that Fiona is very creative but she seemed to plan less and go with the flow more which adds a free, fun element to her business.

One of my favourite things that Fiona said is that 'being creative is the core of who I am'. We're all creative, it comes into our everyday in the outfits we choose and the ideas and feelings we have. Fiona loves to see her creative ideas being turned into reality and I think that's something we want to continue to do with Katie & Jane too.

Of course, both our ears pricked up whenever they spoke about social media and it was very interesting to hear their different takes. Noreen told us that social media is vital at Triumph and that rather than aiming for thousands of followers (they do have 35,500 fans on Facebook), the team want to tell stories online in a way that is meaningful to their consumers (music to our ears!). 

Fiona saw social very differently in that, very honestly, she said she doesn't have a clue! She occasionally dabbles in Twitter and had 100 followers at the time of the event. Fiona said she was lucky in that her business has grown through word-of-mouth but she's keen to get to grips with social media soon! 

Jo agreed with Noreen and sees the power in social media. Jo said that she feels if a business doesn't get involved in social media, they'll soon find themselves failing which is why she loves to create an online (and offline) experience for her customers. Jo notably uses Pinterest frequently – arguing that this should be a priority for luxury brands, and we couldn’t agree more!

Jo Malone was very inspiring. She started the brand Jo Malone in her kitchen mixing fragrances with plastic jugs and turned it into one of the world's favourite brands, selling it to Estee Lauder in 1999. Jo was unable to create a new business for five years as per the rules of the sale which she said stifled her as she loves creating businesses. So back to the start-up world she went and launched Jo Loves in 2011 with her very first store due to open the doors in November. Jo honestly admitted that just five weeks ago it would have been easier to quit then plough ahead with the plans, but she kept that red finishing line in the forefront of her mind. It could be said that the red finishing line was synonymous with the beautiful and luxurious red glass bar she described that greets you as you enter her new Jo Loves store, hoping to make visitors feel as though they’ve had their very first kiss all over again! We can’t wait to experience 'fragrance tapas' when we visit in November!

Overall, all three speakers believe the key to a successful business in any industry from accounting to fashion design is creativity and they encouraged us to step outside the business in order to be inspired and to find more creativity in the outside world. Jo Malone wakes up each morning and the first question she thinks about is ‘what can I add to my business today?’ Katie and I love to do different activities together and can see the influence these fun and inspiring new things have on our business, our ideas and our future plans. Trying new things also keeps us feeling alive and ready to be open to new ideas and wondering how far we can take them! Jo believes we don't own creativity, it's something you have to feed.

As a final question, the three women were asked for their key pieces of business advice. As you can imagine, Fiona's 'fuck the fear and do it anyway' got a big laugh from the crowd! Our little motto is always 'what's the worst that can happen?' which helps us face fear head on and realise that if we do fail what have we got to lose? Jo Malone says some of the greatest ideas come from mistakes, so don’t be afraid to follow your own path.

Noreen inspired us to never give up and visualise that feeling of success. She said anything that is worth having in life takes effort but the more practice you get the luckier you are.

Jo gave a great practical piece of advice - create a mind-map. She advised us to decide whether our business idea is a hobby, a business or a global brand and then follow that through using a mind-map plotting how you're going to get there.

Fiona finished with great advice that motivation and passion work hand-in-hand and that you have to be prepared to work very hard in your own business, but to keep going and you’ll be rewarded and asked us to remember  it’s not about the hours you put in, it’s about getting the job done.

The Red Networking Events are the only networking I truly love and get so much from - they're designed to 'inspire and help in your career' and that's exactly what they do and more! Visit their website to find out when the next Red Event is.

See you there! Jane x