This transcript is generated using AI so apologies for any mistakes!

Pippa Goulden (00:43)
Southwood is the founder of Southwood Living, an online retail platform with a curated offering of products that celebrate independent businesses and slow living and an events and accommodation space from her Norfolk home. She is also the fairy godmother of soul-led female founders running the Southwood Social Hub, a space for female entrepreneurs or mavens as she calls them, offering support through the ups and downs of running a business through in-person and online events and community.

Hayley is the epitome of someone who has built her business through authenticity and just being herself and a brilliant example of someone who's used PR in a way that feels very aligned with their true self. think often without even realizing it, more of which we'll dig into. So welcome Hayley Southwood to PR Made Simple. How are you?

Hayley Southwood (01:33)
I'm so excited to be here! This is very very exciting.

Pippa Goulden (01:36)
so excited, I'm so pleased to have you. So as you know I've been thinking about doing this podcast for like far too long and every time you talk and I hear you telling your story I'm like she's she's just the person that I want to get on the podcast and now we're actually doing it so I'm really excited you're here.

We're going to start from the beginning because obviously I've heard you tell your story but I'm sure lots of people listening to this haven't.

Can you tell us about your business journey, where you started? You strike me as one of those people who's kind of was born with entrepreneurial bones, which I'm always a bit jealous of. So can you tell us a bit more about how you got started and yeah, how did it all begin for you?

Hayley Southwood (02:14)
Yeah, well it kind of began out of necessity really and I think that's often the case for lots of entrepreneurs like you say people that have to be an entrepreneur because actually the world doesn't really fit us. I really hated school, felt very much that I didn't know what was going on around me but went into that very much good girl syndrome of like looking like I knew, looking like I knew what I was doing, looking like I understood what was going on. Really, really struggled with that and

after coming out of school, wanted to go into, I loved art, really creative, so loved art and design and anything kind of like that. But as lots of parents, my mum was like, you need to get a proper job, that won't pay the bills. So I went into childcare. I got married really, really young, had my kids really young. And for me, I've always been a problem solver. So starting a business for me has always been around.

solving a problem if I can't afford something, I can't find something, if I can't make something work or I can't understand something. Starting a business for me is just the way that I deal with the world really around me. So I left school, went to college, did nursery nursing and had my children really young. Had my first son at 21, second one at 23. Still with Paul thankfully, still together which is a good thing but...

Yeah, after working in a nursery, a private nursery with my first job, I just felt really passionate about why my own children couldn't have good quality childcare. And that's where it sort of started for me. One of my best friends asked me if I wanted to set up our own day nursery, which we did. So I was 25 when I launched my first business, which was a nursery school. That's still going, that business is still going. Sally's still running that. God, she's amazing. It's like running a charity. I don't know how she does it.

But yeah, that's kind of where it started for me. I was just like, I need something good for my own children. How can I make this work? So we upped, moved, we left our family, we moved, we relocated to set up this nursery school. And I did that for about five years. And I absolutely loved it. We were one of the first child led centers in the UK. We've always had outstanding Ofsted. It was really, really amazing.

but childcare wasn't really my thing, it wasn't really what I was really, didn't really, you know, wasn't, I was doing it for my boys, it was a problem, was something I needed to solve. sadly my mum got really ill, she was 53 and she got diagnosed with lung cancer and I think for me that was the moment when I was like, okay, I'm just, I felt like my life was stereotypical, you know, I didn't have an amazing childhood, I struggled with school, like.

came from a family, you know, it just felt like I was going down this route of it just felt like that was the way my life was heading, my own life was heading and I think when you lose someone really close to you, it tests your own mortality. It's kind of that feeling of who am I, who am I going to be? I've had my children, I don't know. It just felt quite an awakening for me and poor Paul, he went to the pub and when he came home, we moved, sorry, we sold the nursery and then I moved back to where my mum lived and

while she was dying, was just horrendous. And then after she passed away, went to the pub and when he came home, I'd bought a vintage ice cream van off eBay. Much to his horror, he really was horrified. He was like, what are the neighbors gonna say? What are you gonna do? And it was a time, Pippa, that definitely women were not driving ice cream vans. It was a time when street food wasn't really a thing. It was...

Pippa Goulden (05:41)
As you do.

Hayley Southwood (05:58)
I didn't really know what I was going to do with the van, you know, I just, I just knew I wanted to do something completely different and I had a tiny bit of money and to be honest, I think I wanted to VW Camper van and my brain went into, I can't afford that, what am I going to do? So I bought this van off eBay and as I say, Paul was horrified and the van just became like therapy. It was amazing. It became this space where I started doing it, like making it look amazing.

I know, it just became, and I felt like my mum was giving me gifts, I felt like she was giving me opportunities, and I just said yes to everything. And it just felt really, different from my nursery school business, it felt like I was, it just felt like I was taking opportunities and doing something a bit crazy, which also felt good. And I was grieving at home, had the, you my boys were 10 and 11, and I, in the van, would dress up.

do something, you know, it just felt like I was living a bit of an alter ego life and at the time Twitter was a thing so I'd tell my story on Twitter and document where we were going, what we were doing and my god the vans on fire and all of that kind of stuff and it was it was just three years of just amazing it got used for films and god we were in over a hundred magazines it was it was a real amazing it just felt like I

was saying yes to everything and pushing myself out. I'd lost the fear, that's what I could say, I'd lost any fear and I approached people and Twitter felt like a really new platform where people were actually talking to each other. I remember Jo Malone tweeting me and getting really excited about me setting up my business and she's like, my God, I set my kitchen business up too and kitchen table business and I felt like I was just saying yes a lot.

Pippa Goulden (07:44)
amazing, I love it. so you decorated, am I right in saying you decorated in kind of like really Kath Kidston style? Like it was really different, wasn't it? The ice cream

Hayley Southwood (07:54)
Kiddston wasn't really very well known. We had to go to the King's Road to get all the fabric and everything. I think it was just, I mean, there was a lot of luck in it too. I feel like, know, Calf Kiddston, cabbages and roses, that kind of era, it was at the very sort of beginning. So not a lot of people had seen it. So this van popped up and it looked amazing. It looked really different. It was very, very kitsch.

It was also a woman driving a van and I also had the story of my mum, the story of grief. So think lots of press picked up on that and obviously they picked up on through Twitter. We were in over 100 magazines, it was mental, it was a crazy, crazy

that that happened.

Pippa Goulden (08:34)
It really feels like you kind of were able to ride the PR wave with that business. Like it was of the moment, it was relevant, you had stories to tell through it. And I think, again, that it's that authenticity that comes through everything that you do. You don't hide away from who you are. It's very genuine. you feel like that's kind of at your core?

Hayley Southwood (08:54)
Totally, I don't think, I've had a friend over at the weekend, she was over, we did an event together and that's one of the things she sort of mentioned when she spoke about me. I think I can't pretend to be something I'm not, I just don't think that would ever really, it's just not in my remit, I just could never do it and I'm kind of like Marmite, you you love it or hate it and I think that's the kind of, you know, that's how I've always been and I have to do what feels good so for me it's like, you know, if something is making me feel good, making others feel good, then I roll with it, I can't.

my brain just doesn't work in any other way. can't be, I'm not really a planner, can't really, I haven't got any strategies or anything. It's about, I often describe it, know, I'm a feeler, I feel my way through life rather than kind of, which also means it's really good because on the flip side of that sometimes means that I just launch things, I just go for it and I kind of, it's always trial and error for me. If this is working, it feels good. If it's not working, I let it go and I'm really okay about letting things go too if they're not working. So that's kind of always been my journey.

We sold the van through Twitter, which was amazing. We bought the van for a couple of thousand pounds, sold it for 25 grand three years later. And we had people bidding against each other. We had people, because it was so unusual and it was so unique, I think it was just, it got this whirlwind of attention. So it was amazing. And I think for me as a woman selling a business, well, I'd sold two businesses, but I hadn't really recognized that, but selling a business, something that I had built was really empowering. It was a really, really amazing feeling for me because actually I'd always...

I'd always squashed myself into that. I wasn't even told at school I wasn't going to achieve very much, wasn't going to amount to the amounts of anything really. And I think, especially having my children young, I think I kind of struggled with who I was going to be in the world and how I was going to put myself out there. But yeah, I think we won. Country Homes did a magazine, did a competition in their magazine. It was the first time they'd run it and it was, I think it was £6,000 worth of PR and marketing.

and was also six sessions with a business coach. And I think the money was great. I was like, brilliant, this is amazing. But when they said about coaching, I was kind of like, don't really want coaching. I didn't understand what they meant by coaching. I was like, this isn't really for me. I've had counseling about my mom. I just don't want to do it. I don't want to talk about my childhood anymore. Didn't understand the concept at all, Pippa. But...

It was life changing and it really made me see myself in a different light. I started to actually recognise my gifts and yeah, I was kind of a late bloomer. I was 32 when I had the van and it felt like for me that was really me stepping into being a businesswoman and doing it my own way, not conforming to what I thought business should look or feel like. So sold the van, then I, or during the van time I actually did some PR and marketing.

for other brands which was really bizarre. I started working with an amazing dress designer in Marlbone, a wedding dress designer and then I started working with an incredible artist. So it kind of fed all the things I loved, like all the things I loved at school, the art, the stuff that was really in my soul. I kind of just put myself out there and said I could help put together photo shoots and all sort of through social media really. Started doing that in the winter while I had the van in the summer. And then...

Instagram arrived, which was a whole game changer for me. Instagram arrived and I was just like, God, there's these women that have got money that are just posting pictures of avocado on toast. Do you remember those days, Pippa? Avocado on toast shots, like, it's mad.

Pippa Goulden (12:25)
It's crazy isn't it to think back when it first started and what we were taking photos of and stuff. And so how did you evolve that?

Hayley Southwood (12:30)
It was mad. So yeah. So I just, I had a thousand pounds that I thought, okay, I've 1000 pounds, I'm happy to risk. So I just went, just started buying Scandinavian homeware. And that was quite new. Like we, you know, we didn't have all the shops like we have now, the kind of shops that are kind of, you know, copying of all the beautiful brands. So we started going over to Amsterdam and buying stock.

and I started off with a tiny conservatory in my house and I just thought if you know if no one likes it I'll start selling this on Instagram and if no one likes the stuff then everyone's going to get the same vase for their birthday it's fine you know I'm not going to lose too much so I was always taking risks but they were quite calculated and quite kind of small so but they went mad like on Instagram people just started buying the stuff so we had a we had a like I say stock in the conservatory then we moved on to a shed in the garden then we had a studio

And was at that time, well, just before that, actually, people used to invite me to be a guest speaker at their sort of networking events. And I just used to turn up people and be like, my God, like this is so challenging for me. Obviously I'm neurodiverse, I've struggled at school, ADHD. I just couldn't do the small talk, found it absolutely gruelling. So...

yeah, but was invited to be guest speaker and just it just felt so alien. I was like, I can't bear it. Sweaty palms, feeling awkward. And anything I wanted to go to was in London and felt really expensive. And I just felt like there was this massive gap like who, how could we get women together? And I hate the word networking, but how could we network in a way that was real? That was real. That was real talk, real honesty, and not pretending that we've got our shit together because actually no one has. So I put a little shout out on Twitter and 40 women.

as mental. 40 women arrived at this really bad pub where I decided to do this little gathering and some of those women are still in the hub and they'll let you know it was awful like that was you know I'm like there's no sticky name badges there's no 60 second pitches but I don't actually know what I'm doing like I no idea I thought maybe three people were going to arrive I didn't think there were going to be so many people and people are driven miles like people are driven two hours to get to us so it was it was really really surprising

But with that, kind of thought, you know, I know that people need this and people want this. They want connection, real connection. So that's kind of how the hub was born. So Southwood Social Hub was born out of me needing something for myself and actually problem solving again. So yeah, that kind of brings us, I think that brings us up to speed, does it Pippa?

Pippa Goulden (15:06)
where you are now. But even that, even so I've been a member of the Hub for probably over three years now. In fact you came into my life when I was when I just lost my mum. think there's something there's something that always gives me a few shivers actually when I think about it. even the Hub's evolved as well because you've obviously you moved to Norfolk, you bought this amazing space with

so you can now host like real life

So you you are constantly evolving your business, aren't you? and I think what comes across is what you say is you're not doing it, there's no like big 10 year plan, is there, with you? It's like just what feels right and it seems to work for you.

Hayley Southwood (15:48)
Yeah, totally. mean, moving to Norfolk, we moved out of our studio and we decided to move to the last house and we decided to put our money into that. Well, I was paying the rent for the studio and it just seemed mad. So the whole thing for me was OK. I might as well invest this into a property. And it had a studio in the garden and we sort had a cabin and stuff. But we outgrew the space. And obviously with Covid, the house had gone up in value.

We got the house valued and was like, my gosh, this is our time. And the boys had left home and everything. And it just felt like a real opportunity to make a change again. So we weren't really planning to come to Norfolk. We were just looking for a space that had a bigger space for the hub and some land. And that's how we've ended up in Norfolk, which we absolutely adore. It's beautiful. It's so beautiful. So yeah, that's kind of how we ended up here. And you're right, I don't have a...

definitely don't have a 10-year plan. For me it's about what feels good, what feels good and what makes others feel good and I think that transaction is where I get my energy from and I think for me there's no other way of doing business. I would never force myself to do something that didn't feel right or I didn't believe in so it's the only way for me and that also means taking some dips. Where I shop at the moment is really quiet, I'm definitely planning to

start my shop again in January and I'm looking at creating and curating it in a completely different way and that happens for me every couple of years. I have to be real and have to be interested. can't just be, it's definitely not about just making money. For me it has to be a soul-led, heart-led decision. So yeah, it's always, always a journey.

Pippa Goulden (17:25)
Yeah.

And I think that's why you attract such like-minded businesses into the hub because it is very, I would say that's how I describe the businesses in there when I'm talking about it and recommending it to people. It's very much about soul-led businesses, people who are kind of, yeah, doing it because they feel like they're kind of drawn to do something, whatever it is. Can we talk a little bit more about PR, obviously, because, you know, we're here for that.

talk about getting known for what you do because I think you're absolutely brilliant.

at it, doing that kind of that thing where people talk about you when you're not in the room because they they know that you're so good at what you do

think you realize that you do that can we talk about that in a bit more detail?

Hayley Southwood (18:09)
Yeah, so that makes me kind of

I know when you asked me to do the podcast, you said that, and I find that really surprising, because I'm like, I don't, yeah, that's, that is a surprise to me, and I think, yeah, I haven't, I don't think I've heard that before. So that's really, that's really interesting. Although people do say, obviously, when they find the hub, or my friend recommended you, or I've done some work with a coach, and they recommended you, so I guess I know that happens, but.

Pippa Goulden (18:25)
Yeah.

Hayley Southwood (18:35)
for you to say that, like, I definitely don't plan that, you can't plan that, can you? It's one of those things, I think, by being authentic and showing up as you really are. And obviously learning that you can't be for everybody, that's also the other thing, as I've got older, that's definitely one of the lessons, I guess. yeah, like PR without realizing, that's definitely, and I think I'm a bit like that about, know, one of my friends calls me, she calls me the accidental serial entrepreneur.

So I guess it's a similar kind of analogy, isn't it? It's a similar thing there.

Pippa Goulden (19:08)
Yeah, but I

the thing that you said at the beginning about saying yes to everything, I'm the same and I've had to really push myself to do that because my automatic...

thing is, god what happens if it goes wrong or if I look stupid or something but I've realised by saying yes to stuff you know it opens doors, it opens opportunities, you know if you Google you which I did before this you know you've done you've done the kind of the collaborations and the interviews and you know you've aligned yourself in the right spaces to to reach the people that you know are going to be drawn into your world so you know there's probably more to it there than you realise that you're

so how do you keep evolving? what, how do you decide what's next and what's going to be right for you to do?

Hayley Southwood (19:52)
How do I do that? I don't know Pippa. I think I just I really do just go with what makes me feel good. know obviously I need to earn a wage like there's no doubt about that. I've never been in the situation when I don't need to earn a wage. You know I pay the mortgage, I absolutely need to, gosh what's the word, know Paul and I are a partnership, both bring, we're both involved in the finances and running our home together.

So it's never been a case where I haven't had to do that, which I love because I love the fact that I've got a driver. think having to be and I also really like being independent. So having my own finances is really important to me as a woman. So I think that is a good driver having to earn a wage.

Pippa Goulden (20:40)
think that's really important to have that conversation as well, isn't it? Because as much as we're talking about soul-led businesses and, you know, attracting people into the space who kind of you connect with.

we're all running businesses and we're all doing it

make the money and that there's nothing that we should be apologizing about that. I think we need to, and you again, that's something that you talk about in the hub quite a lot is about this kind of money mindset and you know, the fact that it is okay for us to admit that we want to make money from our businesses and that kind of thing. And again, I think that's, that's a really authentic thing that I see you do when you're having those conversations.

Hayley Southwood (20:59)
Absolutely.

Yeah, I think it's really, important because I think, like you say, we attract, we do attract soul-led businesses, heart-led business owners and lots of those types of businesses, lots of those women really, really struggle with the conversation around money and it, you know, we are in business, we are doing it to make money, we're doing it to create freedom for ourselves or inspire our children or all the reasons that you have for running your own business, to pay the rent.

to pay the rent doing something you love. that's, you know, for me, that was always the dream. If I can pay my rent or pay my mortgage doing something that I love, then I was winning. And I think it's really important that we have those conversations and we'd often have those because actually women can avoid that. And also I think especially the women that run holistic businesses like, you yoga and all those kinds of things, it can feel quite dirty to talk about money when you're...

you're a therapist or and it shouldn't because absolutely shouldn't and I think it's really important to face that head-on and that's something that I absolutely love talking about because you know there isn't any there absolutely isn't any shame in earning money but yeah I think think evolving I think my business has evolved with me as I do if I'm honest like you know I'm 48 now I started my first business when I was 25

I've changed as a woman, I've changed, you know, I've been through mothering, I've been through grief, I've lost my friends, I've, you know, I've been through every chapter and I think as women we go through so many chapters, we evolve and we unravel as we get older and older and I think there's so much power in that and I think for me getting to this age really understanding that I love being who I am and it isn't for everybody and we're all Marmite and that's absolutely, that's how it should be but I think the thing of actually...

learning that by being vulnerable, by asking the questions, by not being scared, you know, God at school, I was petrified of asking the questions. That's probably why I did so badly. I just was petrified of looking stupid or, you know, all that stuff. And now I'm the first person to put my hand up and say, don't quite understand what you're saying, which is power. Like it's empowering to do that. And I think that's the only way we learn. And for me, you know,

like when people say about failure and failing, you know, for me, I fail every day. I fail every day at something. And it's, I love it because I fail at everything. I fail at something every day. And that helps me to learn. It's the only way I'm going to get better at stuff. It's the only way I'm going to learn if I like something. So for me, you know, I'm definitely not scared of failing and I'm not scared of failure. It's part of being an entrepreneur for me. It's part of the journey. So it's, you know, it's actually necessary to evolve and grow.

Pippa Goulden (24:01)
I love that. That's all. Yeah. Do things that push us out of our comfort zone with them. Obviously you work with lots of small business owners within the hub and kind of your mentoring and that kind of thing. A lot of the small businesses I work with get what they worry about putting themselves out there

the PR is really scary for them because

they think that people are going to, you know,

judge them or they'll think they're too big for their boots or that kind of thing. What kind of advice have you got for people who

feeling those feelings?

Hayley Southwood (24:31)
Yeah, think there's two parts in there. The bit about when you're thinking about PR, think the thing for me is that understanding that people that are in a PR job, the people that you're approaching because you want to talk to them, if you want to get noticed or get seen, they're just people. They're really nice people who are looking for content. So the thing of that actually, they're not scary.

And sometimes things aren't, you I think the other thing of getting used to people saying no, not at the moment, because actually it doesn't mean no forever. So for me, when I message somebody or when I email someone or when I contact somebody, especially in the early days, you know, I had a million nos, I wanted a million nos, let's have all the nos, because actually it just means that you're still trying. And actually, you know, some of those nos then turning to a year later, someone saying, gosh, you got in touch with me a year ago, and you know, it wasn't right at the time, but actually you're still in my mind, I've seen you doing something.

It's just getting your name known. it's, you know, it's not, I just think don't worry about the rejection and the no's like just almost flip reverse. I know one of the women in the hub talks about having a jar and she's like, you know, I a hundred no's because actually if I have a hundred no's it might mean that I get two yeses. I love that. I think that's a really, really good analogy there. But yeah, I think for me it was getting used to that, getting used to not worrying about it and messaging so many people that actually you forget who you've messaged in a way and then you kind of get over

Pippa Goulden (25:51)
have we do meet the media sessions in in them in my DIY PR membership and the feedback from every single one has always been my goodness she was so nice like it's quite amazing isn't it how we

Hayley Southwood (25:59)
Thank you.

Pippa Goulden (26:02)
so worried about emailing these people that we kind of put on a pedestal and we think alike other and actually they're just normal human beings like you and I trying to get their jobs and I mean this journalists in the hub there's you know they're all

normal people with the same kind of thoughts and feelings as the rest of us.

Hayley Southwood (26:17)
Exactly, exactly, exactly. And I think for people that you said, like you said at the beginning, like, you know, people that are starting to do something and they're worried about being seen, you know, that is something that comes up in my mentoring sessions when I host, when I hold them with women. And I'm like, just start really small, just start really small and just like pretend no one's watching because really no one is watching. Like the reality is, you you're worried about starting an Instagram account, you're worried about starting something, you're worried about launching your website.

you're not going to get inundated with like a million people. A million people are not going to look at your content. Like start small and just, you know, if you're being really honest, start really small and talk to that one person. Talk to that one person. Then you're talking to two people and then it just grows. And then you grow and it kind of evolves of where it's going anyway. But I think, I think we can get so wrapped up and it can stop you from doing stuff because you feel like a million people are going to be looking at you. But the reality is they're not, you know, they're really not.

Pippa Goulden (27:11)
Absolutely, one of my favourite kind of pennies that dropped when I first launched my business was that nobody cares about your business as much as you do and

actually the most freeing thing for me because I was like god I'm worrying about all this stuff but literally no one else is thinking about any of it and actually that then gives you

so much permission to just go out and do whatever you want because no one's no one is thinking about you in the same way that you are thinking about yourself and your business it's so freeing.

Hayley Southwood (27:39)
Exactly, exactly. I love that so much. I think that's so, so, so true. It really is. And then I think there's a lady I did some work with about two weeks ago and she's like, she's got a full-time job. She wants to do something else. She started her Instagram account. I'm just like, just do it like no one's looking. And she's really blooming. And I think the whole thing of like, suddenly when someone gives you permission to say, no one's looking, and then you can just start to express yourself, start to think about whether you really like, you know, what you're really into, whether you really want to do stuff or.

It's so freeing. Yeah, I love that analogy, Pippa. It's really true.

Pippa Goulden (28:10)
And how do you strike the balance between

but fear that holds you back versus...

the authenticity piece which stops you from doing something that doesn't feel aligned. How do we get the difference between the two things?

Hayley Southwood (28:25)
It's a tricky one isn't it? Because I think there's like that grey area when sometimes you think, sometimes I might, for me personally I might have an idea and I'm thinking okay does this feel good, does it feel good and I kind of let it sit for a while and then it's the feeling of is this my gut telling me not to do this or is it fear holding me back? So there's that fine line between is it fear, is it really fear or is it really just my gut warning me telling me this isn't right for me?

So I think for me it's about giving it bit of space. Like if I give myself a bit of time, cause I'm not like that, like I just do stuff. So like for me, I'm like, I'm so impulsive. I'm going to launch this or launch it. So as I've got a bit older, I'm like, okay, just give it two weeks, Hayley. Give it two weeks and see how it feels. And if it kind of peters out and it's like the idea is disappearing.

and I just feel like I'm not as enthusiastic then I know it's not really for me it's just I might have got whooshed up because I've heard something or I've kind of like my god that sounds amazing god that's gonna make me some money that sounds like a really great way to make some money but actually in reality I think just letting it sit for a minute is a really good thing for me I know that there is the opposite for lots of our mavens like who procrastinate who sit with it for too long

because they're looking for perfection so I'm not like that like I definitely definitely never wait for perfection because that's never coming right like that that's never happening so I think there is a fine line if you are if you're sitting with an idea and you're like I've got to wait for this to be right or I've got to wait for that to be right then that's never going to happen so like you know my my words of encouragement or whatever you want to call it would be like just start just start doing something tiny it doesn't have to be massive you don't have to like

do it in a huge way, just do it in a really safe, in a way that feels safe to you, that is small, but start doing something.

Pippa Goulden (30:13)
I think that's a really good piece of advice. think, yeah, it's taking action, it? think, and it feels to me that you've done that all the way through every kind of, every business you've had with your PR, building your brand, getting known for what you do. You've just learned on the job, so to speak, rather than kind of sitting there doing hundreds of hours worth of kind of courses and learning. It's like the best way to learn and to do it is by taking action, isn't it?

Hayley Southwood (30:38)
I for me, that's the only way. Like, that's the only way. That's the only way I can do it. I often laugh and say, feel like I sometimes feel like I've got a blindfold on and can just feel my way through life. can't do it any other way. It doesn't work for me. And I get it. You know, I take my hat off to people that...

that do it in the opposite way, that you really study and kind of, but for me I'm a doer, that's the only way I can do it. For me it's like have a go, see how it feels. And if you have to do, sometimes we have to do training, we have to do things and sometimes that's essential. for me it's kind of like, see how it feels, how does it feel when you're doing it, do you really believe in it, are you really helping people?

purpose you bring in? this what you want to bring to the world? know, and that sounds a bit deep, but that's kind of how I am. I kind of think, how is this making a difference to anybody? Is it helping anyone else? Like, you know, all those sorts of questions really help me to know if this is right for me. And yeah, I definitely just give it a go.

Pippa Goulden (31:39)
Yeah.

Yeah and yeah I mean it and it's worked so maybe we all need to be a little bit more Hayley when we're thinking about whether we should be doing that thing or not. What would Hayley do? And the answer is probably...

Hayley Southwood (31:51)
God, God, I don't know if my husband would agree with you either. You keep being like, you keep being like, everybody pause!

Pippa Goulden (31:59)
you're doing? No, let's be more Hayley and Hayley tell us about the hub and tell people about how they can kind of get involved with it if it sounds like something they're interested in.

Hayley Southwood (32:07)
the hub is my most favourite part of my business. I was going to say life then, but I can't say that because of my children and my husband. But the hub is just incredible. it is. it is networking. I hate the word networking. That's why I say that. But it's it's a way to meet other women that are in business. It's a way to connect with other women that share similar, similar ups and downs. It's a way that you can get support if you don't know where to turn.

It's a way that you can get advice. It's a way that you can get known. It's a great way to sort of collaborate. So for instance, you know, we meet each other. There's 300 women in the hub and actually, you know, by getting to know each other, supporting each other, interviewing each other, talking about each other, celebrating each other, it's just the most amazing pot of women. And we have women from every single industry, from every walk of life. So we have women that, you know, are sidestepping, they might be working.

doing something else and they really really want to start doing something by themselves. We have women that are my gosh like hugely successful, been self-employed forever, the variation and the backgrounds like we have women from every background, every you know women that you know completely different walks of life which I love because I think when you sit in circle with women and they all have a different outlook they all have a different you know

take on life or take on business, it's so powerful because actually if you only sit with people that work like you do, you know, with women that think like you do, it's really small and it can be really limiting. So for me, for me personally, the hub is incredible because it makes me think differently. It helps me to expand my thoughts, my views. Yeah, it's really, really powerful. The hub's been going for 11 years. It's like you say, it's really, really evolved. So we host

online meetups every week so there's loads of ways that women can get involved. We've got women from all over the country, a few women that are abroad. Yeah, it's really magical. It really, really is Pippa.

Pippa Goulden (34:10)
It is, well I am testament to that. Yeah I mean I've learnt so much through it. I've met some great business buddies through it, people have joined my membership through it. It's been absolutely brilliant and I think what is, it's this whole thing about authenticity because you are you and that comes through.

throughout the hub and therefore it trickles through the whole of your business really. Everyone in the hub is really authentic themselves and it's a real space where people can be kind of open and honest about things and you don't get that in every other community. There are other communities out there that you do but I think because you are you and that's how you are, kind of lives and breathes through everything that you're doing.

Hayley Southwood (34:52)
Yeah, I think that's one of the most important things in the hub really is that women can show up and be vulnerable because actually I think it's a really safe space and for me I think it goes right back to like it always does it goes right back to my childhood and about me wanting to create a family and actually safety is one of those things that I just really really yearned for and not feeling silly, not feeling stupid, not feeling you know all those feelings and actually creating a space where women can show up and feel

feel that they can actually be part of something where you don't have to have all the answers, don't have to, know, no one knows what they're doing. That's big secret that everyone's hiding, know, nobody knows what they're doing. It doesn't matter who you talk to and I think being really honest, it just opens up so many doors and I think that's what the hub does and it's really interesting because I take, obviously I take the hub for granted, I don't really look at other communities that much, I'm very much involved in my own and I just...

It's so amazing when women join and they say how unique it is and how different it feels and I'm like gosh that's a bit like when you say you do PR without knowing I don't you you just take it all for granted don't you you don't know what you do you just do it the way you do it but yeah it's a magical space it really really is it's it's it's amazing and the thing for me was always that so with my background and where I came from with money and stuff for me it had to be accessible so

you know, the price has never changed, the price has been the same since we started it. And for me, it was always like, right, it's a fiver a week. If you can afford a cup of coffee, and I used to say coffee and a cake, it wouldn't buy you that anymore, would It'd be a fancy coffee. If you can afford to buy yourself a coffee, you know, this is what it is for you and your business, because it helps with your self-development to give you confidence as well as all the business support you get. So it's, you know, for me, it was like, how can I make this table?

that everyone can sit around. It's not just that it's not a leeches, it's not for some, it's not for one type of person, it's for every woman to be part of. And I feel really proud about that, because I've been challenged on that so many times, like by my mentors and my coaches. Like, why is it so cheap? You shouldn't do that. But actually for me, it's really, really important to revisit my values and go back to why I started it in the first place. So yeah.

Pippa Goulden (37:00)
Yeah well congratulations to you because it is it's brilliant and everything you do I just I love watching. What's what's Hayley gonna do next? Watch this space!

Hayley Southwood (37:08)
my my gosh. it's definitely, the shop is my new thing. I'm going to give myself a little, it needs a big mix up. So it's January, we'll be relaunching and re-changing that up. But the hub continues to grow and evolve all the time and it's a community. So it evolves because actually our members are part of it and they ask for things and it just keeps evolving as business does and the environment. So, know, the way the world changes so quickly, especially over the last.

Gosh, like the last few years, it's been, you know, we're all about actually how can we survive and how can we thrive in this environment. So yeah, it's all about that for me.

Pippa Goulden (37:47)
brilliant Hayley, thank you so much for coming on PR Made Simple. just love talking to you. I could talk to you all afternoon and yeah we will see you very soon. Thank you so much.

Hayley Southwood (37:58)
Thanks so much Pippa, lovely to chat to you. Thanks for inviting me. Bye love.

Pippa Goulden (38:01)
pleasure bye