A cuppa & a Custard Cream with.....ELIZABETH STILES

1.       Who are you and where do you come from?!

I’m Elizabeth and I’m from Bedfordshire.

2.       What do you do and why?

I’m very passionate about supporting people to earn a living using their creativity rather than being stuck in a dead-end job.

I support independent fashion brands with mindset, marketing and manufacturing through 1-1 work and online courses!

3.       What are the biggest challenges you've faced in your career?

I’d definitely say working at Arcadia was the toughest year of my life! It was very bitchy and a negative atmosphere which I couldn’t thrive in.

On my first day I was shown the toilet where I could go and cry... luckily I was only there for a year!

4.       What have been your biggest HURRAH moments so far?

Definitely making my first £10k month and then the next month it was £20k!

It took me a while to ‘admit’ I’m motivated by money as if it’s a dirty little secret!

I worked in sales for years but without the commission which meant I lost my motivation after a few years.

I wanted to leave because I worked hard and wanted to start putting money in my own pockets rather than the owners of multi-million / billion pound companies!

5.       If you could give 3 pieces of advice to yourself when you started out, what would it be?

Network! All opportunities come from people & the bigger your network, the more likely you are to get ahead.

Invest! My friend said to me ‘how do you expect anyone else to invest in your business if you’re not prepared to invest in it yourself?’ It hit me like a tonne of bricks and decided to start delegating some jobs out so...

Focus! I outsourced pretty much everything but marketing as it’s what I do best and is the way to ‘feed the funnel’ with new customers.

6.       What are your long-term hopes and aims?

Definitely mentor more people into self employment and earn a living from their creativity whatever format that’s in!

7.       Which 3 books would you recommend for:

I loooooove audio books!

a long hour train journey (with no kids!) -

I do love Harry Potter because it’s read by Steven Fry and nothing makes me escape from reality more!

a mood-lifter -

Anything witchy woo woo like Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert or The Secret

a fact-finding mission (ie, non-fiction) -

I’ve just finished the book about Netflix called That Will Never Work by Marc Randolph - it was so interesting & very inspiring.

8.       What are the most common misconceptions you've found from having your own business?

That you have more time! Even though I hated commuting it did give me the time to listen to podcasts and walk 10k steps every day! It’s hard to find the time to do that now when there’s always something to promote or reply to!

9.       You’re granted 1 wish (for you / your career) – what would it be?

I’d say to interview someone for my podcast who’s MAJOR like Ben Francis! He’s just signed a deal to make GymShark a $1bn business which is so cool!

10.      What’s your favourite biscuit?

I’m torn between a Custard Cream, Viennese Finger and Jam Sandwich!!!

Hmmm I’ll go with a Jam Sandwich - DELISH! 

Find Elizabeth Stiles here

Leave a comment

More stories

A cuppa & a Custard Cream with...RUTH of Paper Ren

We are a curated showcase of beautiful children's books from around the world. We review and feature books, as well as shine the spotlight on illustrators and authors that we admire. Our goal is to give authors and illustrators a platform to showcase their books and illustrations and we aim to focus on books that make the world a better place.

A cuppa & a Custard Cream with....CATHERINE ERDLY

I spent 10 years as a full time working mother in a series of roles that were at times very stressful. I would probably say they some of the most difficult times in my career was when I had to juggle babies and toddlers, sleep deprivation, and workplace stress all at the same time.