Episode 26 – Steph Douglas

This Way Up

“The first couple of years in business were really tough, and there's no end, just chasing the I'm never going to be done and feeling so anxious and so stressed by it all. I think a lot of women of our generation are just adding things into our to do list. So now I'm going to run a business and now I'm going to have children and now I'm going to write a book or and we're not taking anything out. And at the same time a lot of us are trying to emulate our mothers by being the good friend, the good wife, the good sister, the good mother. I just think it's prime for disaster” Steph Douglas

In this episode I talked to Steph Douglas, founder of alternative online gift company Don’t Buy Her Flowers.

Steph used to be in the world of marketing and advertising, from working in PR for a government department all the way to being a Marketing Manager for EDF Energy and running their London 2012 Olympic Sponsorship.

BUT one day she decided to leave it all behind and follow her dream – setting up her own company called Don't Buy Her Flowers. It all started from an idea she had after having her first son, when everyone bought her flowers. She had gone through what was a demanding 9 months where not only was she pregnant with her first child, but her husband was diagnosed with cancer. So, when the doorbell kept ringing with flowers she thought it wasn’t really the most appropriate thing to give a new mum – something else to look after!

She was feeling extremely overwhelmed at the time and thought there must be a way of giving more thoughtful gifts. Firstly, she started a blog to build her audience before roping in family members to help run the business, it's now going from strength to strength.

What I loved about this episode is that we really got deep and personal. We talked about the importance of talking about emotions and empathy and doing that through thoughtful presents. Unfortunately, we live in a societ where we don't talk enough about how we feel, and we do not know how to be there for people.

And of course, we talked about the more business side of things including what it is like being an entrepreneur starting on your own and the kind of fears that come with it.

And you'll see we laugh a lot, and there is just so much that you can learn from her story.

#dontbuyherflowers #stepdouglas #femaleentrepreneur #onlinegifts