In this episode we hear from Awon Golding who arrived in London in 2009 having left her life in Hong Kong to pursue her ambition to be a milliner.  She talks through what she has learnt about balancing being a creative that also has to run a commercial business as well as where she seeks inspiration from. 

Awon Golding Millinery is an award-winning brand specialising in fun and fresh made-to-order special occasion hats and bridal headpieces for modern women. As well as regularly featuring in international fashion publications, Awon’s ability to meld femininity with wearability has brought her a loyal following of global style icons.  Awon Golding Millinery counts Lady Gaga and Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex amongst her clients. And most recently Kylie Minogue sported a custom-made lily headpiece to celebrate her new album DISCO’s release. 

You can contact Awon [email protected] or via Instagram

Awon’s advice:

• Be as skilled as you can be in your chosen field before you start
• If you are a creative, be sure to learn commercial skills too, however uninspiring you may find them
• Try to find the balance between your particular skill and the price you put upon it (don’t knock yourself out spending too long creating something if this is going to result in an unrealistic and unaffordable item)
• Keep talking to other experts in your field, study and learn from their processes
• Always be open to learning more even when you’re years into your trade 
• Keep a passion for what you do, because this is infectious and will feed through to your client too
• Know your market and your competitors
• Trust your employees. If you bring someone in, trust your decision and their talent too
• Build up personal relationships with your suppliers as not only will it build a better relationship, but there will be economies of scale too that will benefit your business
• Don’t put too much pressure on yourself and always try to keep a sense of perspective 
• Try to find something outside your immediate business that also inspires you. If you can blend the two, even better. 

Links

• Haute Dogs calendar or via Instagram 
• Google Workspace
• LastPass the password keeping site that syncs between devices
• I use Buzzsprout podcast 'how to' & hosting directory to create this podcast series as well as their super simple hosting platform . Their support team is second to none.
• Canva has proved invaluable for creating all the social media assets and audio bites

Thank you for listening.  I’d love to hear your own startup stories and please do let me know if you have any questions for future guests as well: [email protected]

I would also be delighted if you could rate, review and share this podcast with anyone else who may be starting a company in 2020. 

Hosted by Juliet Fallowfield, founder of PR for startups advisory Fallow, Field & Mason, How To Start Up hopes to bring you confidence, encouragement and reassurance that you’re on the right track. 

Recorded, hosted & published by Juliet Fallowfield and edited by Emma Dewhurst in September 2020. MUSIC CREDIT  Funk Game Loop by Kevin MacLeod.

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