With International Women's Day in mind, Meta launched a 'Deserve To Be Found’ campaign that aimed to shine light on female founded Irish SMBs, who use meta Apps to connect with their customers every day.
We caught up with three of these business women to discuss the inspiration behind their work, the biggest obstacles they face today, their best piece of advice they can offer and how they use social media to their advantage.
Pat Kane of Reuzi
Sustainable lifestyle store Reuzi was founded by Pat Kane, based on her personal journey and her family guiding principles. Pat wanted to address the thoughtless consumption of products and reduce the amount of disposable material her family was bringing home. Reuzi provides sustainable lifestyle products and services for the greater good.
1. What inspired you to start your business?
After becoming a mom for the first time, I started to notice the amount of rubbish we were going through every day rising at an alarming rate – from plastic wraps and bottles, to random boxes and let's not forget about the hundreds of nappies!
I started to think: "If just two adults and a tiny little baby can generate so much waste, imagine an office or a school?", proper disaster, right? Right!
My initial reaction was to educate myself on recycling and composting – two powerful initiatives that seemed to be, in theory, quick wins.
After just a few months, I realised that recycling and composting were not the only answers; we needed to address the thoughtless consumption of plastic bottles, shampoo bottles and all single-use, disposable material that we were bringing into our home every weekend, after our weekly visit to the shops. And so, we did it.
Today, I can say that we are a family that watches its consumption and tries really, really hard to avoid unnecessary waste. Our end goal is to replace everything that won’t be recycled or composted for reusable alternatives.
Based on my personal journey and my family guiding principles, I decided to create Reuzi.
2. Who inspired/encouraged you to start your own business?
The women in my family. My mother is a serial entrepreneur and a very successful one! Entrepreneurship runs in the family. To give you an idea, back in the 40s, my great-grandmother got a small kindergarten from my great-grandfather – her wedding gift!
She worked really hard on the business and I got to watch a successful family-run business going for 60 years. She set up her business at a time when women weren’t really supposed to be doing those things – fierce or what!
She created a small chain of private schools in Rio and myself, my sister and our cousins all studied together under their watch.
3. What were the initial obstacles to overcome? And what obstacles do you face today?
Imposter Syndrome becomes a real issue when you decide to start a business from scratch. I was able to overcome that by formally educating myself on the subject (of sustainability!). Today my main obstacle is to find time to do all things I want to do! I have so many ideas and plans but I need to find ways to prioritise and focus on the most impactful ones first. I find this quite challenging.
4. What's your favourite and least favourite part of being the boss?
I have two favourite parts: I get to choose the people I get to work with and I get to choose how best to impact the lives of people around us. There's no red tape, decisions are made quite quickly and plans get tested and implemented without us having to go through a lot of hoops. The ball stops with me. Least favourite has to be the loneliness that (I believe) every entrepreneur goes through. There is no one to share the load or the despairs of running a business, or even the joys of small victories and successes.
5. How has social media helped to support your business?
Social media has been a fantastic way for us to connect with our audience. As the first eco-store of our kind in Ireland, people got really curious about our mission here and to have social media to Instagram and Facebook has really helped us share the message, which has been fantastic! Through it, we've connected with so many people - including some of our suppliers and partners. In particular, Instagram has been a great tool which has been allowing me and the audience have a two-way conversation. It's not always easy to keep up with it but if you work to deliver good content and authenticity, it will work for you.
6. What's the best piece of advice you could give to someone starting their own business?
Always do the right thing. My mom always says that and I think she’s right. Even if it hurts you, even if costs you a shed load of money. Do the right thing. A clear conscience is a soft pillow.
Hire someone. I have tried to do everything all by myself and what an epic fail that was. Something was always falling short. I will never regret hiring my team.
7. What are your hopes for your business going forward now that we're moving away from the threat of COVID?
I am an optimist and I feel like eventually, life will go back to 'normal'. As a society, I think Covid will force us reorient / pivot our politics and make substantial new investments in what really matters – for instance, our health systems and our ecologies. I am hoping that we will be better able to see how our fates are linked. The cheap t-shirt we buy from fast fashion chains that deny paid sick leave to its staff makes our humanity weaker as a whole and I think we will no longer accept that. Covid will force us to reconsider who we are and what we value, and, in the long run, it could help us rediscover the better version of ourselves #fingerscrossed
Lisa Marie of The Book Her
The creation of The Book Her evolved from Lisa Marie's desire to evoke the empowerment within the mindset of others. The Book Her provides journals that offer its owner simple tools and reminders to evoke their natural creativity, ability and power to create the best version of themselves.
What inspired you to start your business?
My younger self was my inspiration for the creation of The Book Her. The creation of my brand came from a personal place. I once upon a time was in a place of emotional pain and peril and desperately needed something to guide me through the fog I found myself trapped in.
I created The Book Her, to create a community for women to join together and rediscover themselves. The creation of The Healing Journal followed as my first edition journal, as it was once something my past self was in need of. The Healing Journal is now a place I have created for women to come to and find themselves once again, as I have.
2. Who inspired/encouraged you to start your own business?
Apart from my younger self, my biggest supporter and source of encouragement to take the risk and leap into the world of entrepreneurship would have been my partner. As an entrepreneur and businessman himself, I was always encouraged and guided through all moments of doubt being reminded the biggest risk to take is not taking any risk at all.
I also have close friends who are also new business owners and young mothers like myself. Watching fellow females with similar lifestyle as myself not only inspired me to keep going, to trust the process but also inspired me to follow every path, to embrace failure and continue on through all obstacles as one day, it will all come together. Being surrounded with like minded people aided my venture into the business world.
3. What were the initial obstacles to overcome? And what obstacles do you face today?
Initially, my first obstacle to overcome was actually getting a sample of my product created. As an Irish brand created by a woman for women, I wanted to have my products entirely manufactured here in Ireland. It was next to impossible to get a sample product created which was something I battled for six plus months. Never the less, we got there in the end.
Today my obstacles can be endless, as they are when you choose to run a business. The biggest is ensuring high luxury and quality products at an affordable price mark for both the business and consumers we provide for. Inflation is proving to be an issue post covid as shipping prices for materials was sky high and continues to be. These are all things I embrace, however, as challenge and failure are what I learn from.
4. What's your favourite and least favourite part of being the boss?
My favourite thing about being the 'boss' is that I get to pour every ounce of my creative essence into each and every product created. I get to decide what standard is set for our consumers when they purchase from The Book Her and that standard is nothing less than excellence. My least favourite part is probably that if I take a day off, so does my entire business and brand. My mind is constantly battling and wondering "Have I done enough today?" for my business. When you run the show, the show can sometimes almost run you too if you allow it.
5. How has social media helped to support your business?
Considering 98% of The Book Her sales have come directly from Instagram, I would say it is crucial I the support of my business. It is the main form of traffic, sales and marketing for The Book Her. Facebook/ Meta has also been an incredible platform to test running adverts.
6. What's the best piece of advice you could give to someone starting their own business?
Stop thinking about it and just do. The biggest risk you take is by not taking any risk at all. You are capable, resourceful and whole. Trust yourself, you are just as able as anyone else who has been there before you. You learn by doing, you earn by doing, you make your dreams a reality by doing, not by dreaming.
7. What are your hopes for your business going forward now that we're moving away from the threat of COVID?
The Book Her is predominately an E-Commerce business. It has always been a vision of mine to host Female Empowering events, featuring life coaches, writers, therapists and fellow wellness-inspired professionals all in the name of bringing power back to those women who may have lost themselves in the midst of challenges that life and relationships may bring upon us. After all, The Book her is a community for women to come and find themselves once again. It is also a goal to have The Book Her featured in leading Irish retailers now that COVID is on its way out.
Judith Ritchie of A Box For My Treasure
A jewellery lover at heart, Judith Ritchie first started making jewellery as a hobby in her teenage years. Developing her style since then, A Box For My Treasure was officially born in 2010 when she began selling dainty gold jewellery at local craft markets in Dublin.
1. What inspired you to start your business?
I had always been interested in working in a creative field and in moving from being a hobbyist to a professional maker and the financial crisis provided the unusual opportunity to do just that. There were no jobs available in my previous profession, so trying something new made sense.
2. Who inspired/encouraged you to start your own business?
I was a keen shopper on Etsy.com and was really inspired by the many female makers on there that had been able to turn something that they loved doing into a career.
3. What were the initial obstacles to overcome? And what obstacles do you face today?
I had no idea how to run a business and had so much to learn along the way, from learning how to be a salesperson to a bookkeeper and administrator, to photographer and everything in-between. I did courses with my local enterprise board and with the Design & Crafts Council of Ireland, which helped me to gain skills in different areas. Brexit is a current obstacle as are supply chain issues.
4. What's your favourite and least favourite part of being the boss?
I love getting to do something creative – having an idea in my head and turning that into a piece of jewellery is incredibly fulfilling. Probably my least favourite part is having to wear so many hats and never being able to properly switch off.
5. How has social media helped to support your business?
Social media has been key to spreading awareness about my business – when I started out it was all about Facebook and in the last few years Instagram, as a visual platform, has allowed me to engage with my followers and give them a look at what goes on behind the scenes such as the process of making some of the pieces and the workings of a jewellery studio.
6. What's the best piece of advice you could give to someone starting their own business?
If you have a dream of starting your own business, then you do need to be prepared to make some sacrifices along the way – starting and growing a business takes time and a lot of energy. Get a plan for your business down on paper, seek out support from the different bodies (enterprise boards and the like) and build a network around you of like-minded business people.
Without a doubt, it's also important to have a presence on social media to connect with your customers. If you are unsure of how to navigate Facebook or Instagram, the parent company Meta offers training for businesses using their platform.
7. What are your hopes for your business going forward now that we're moving away from the threat of COVID?
I’m looking forward to working on some collaborative projects that had to be paused because of COVID. I also have lots of new jewellery coming out this year.
