The Interview - Part 6

In this final instalment we look at creativity and business.

Interviewer      How do you think creativity and business come together?

 

Fairypants      I think unless you’re lucky, they don’t. It depends on the area of business. It depends on how creative you are. I’m lucky in that my business is so creative and I’ve got full control over what happens and what I do. I dream about something, I get up the next day and I make it. And then I decide what the artwork’s going to look like, and I make that, and I put it all together. And then I sell it, and I write about it, and I write the blog. And I think having that full control over it, and the fact that it is such a creative thing, from the colour of it, if it’s a nail varnish maybe, or the smell of it or whatever, I’ve got free reign.

 

Interviewer        Do you think to be an entrepreneur you need to be creative in some way?

 

Fairypants       I don’t know. I think there are skills that you need as an entrepreneur, and I think you’re really lucky if you’ve got all of them. I’ve not got all of them, I know that, but I’ve definitely got some of them. And I think creativity, like I say, even though it applies really, really heavily to my business, I think you have to be creative in a sense to even think about what your business is going to be. That’s being creative. You know, even if the end product is quite dry compared to a rhubarb and custard perfume, you’ve still had to be creative in that you’ve sat there, you’ve had this epiphany, and you’ve decided to create a business out of nothing.. So I think you have to have it, but maybe in different strengths. So creativity is a really big thing for me. But, like I said, I’ve not got some other skills that I wish I did have.

 

Interviewer        So do you work during your weekends for your business?

 

Fairypants      Yes.

 

Interviewer       So you have very few free time, in some way?

 

Fairypants      I don’t necessarily have less free time, it’s just it gets booked up in advance. So I know now today, I know today what I’m doing for the rest of this month and the whole of the next month social calendar wise. There’s only a couple of evenings here and there that could be filled up with something. 

But that's how I like it -Each year, is busier than the last. This financial year is already busier than last financial year. So because it grows every year, that’s what keeps me going. If it was not growing, or if it was declining year-on-year, then I’d have to re-evaluate what I was doing. But for now, the fact that I’m filling more orders than this time last year is enough to reassure me that I’m doing the right thing.

Interviewer     So why the vegan products?

 

Fairypants      It was accidental. Like I said, I found the recipe, the recipe was vegan, and it just made sense to me because whether you are a vegan or not, surely you don’t want to put animal bits on your face. You know, if you’re a carnivore and you eat meat, that’s up to you, that’s fine. You know, veganism is… it can be viewed a little bit like a religion in that if people are a Christian, that’s great. But if people are a Christian and they shove it down your throat and they say, you’re not going to go to heaven because you’re not a Christian, then they’re bad Christians.

And in the same way you have good vegans and bad vegans. So good vegans are vegans who go through their life being a vegan, having a great time, introducing their non-vegan family and friends to vegan things and maybe converting them – that’s a good vegan. But a bad vegan is someone who says, you shouldn’t eat meat, you’re awful, you’re poisoning your body, you’re the sole reason why the Earth is going to explode.

You can’t really get vegan cosmetics on the high street. There is one brand in Superdrug that is completely vegan and not that many people know about it, not that many Superdrug shop it, not every village or town has got a Superdrug. So for that reason I thought, if could create an online business that shouted about the fact that it was vegan, but also at the same time was saying, in order for your lipstick to be vegan it doesn’t have to be brown, it can be blue. So my hashtag on twitter is #vegannotboring because the point that I’m trying to make is, this perfume is vegan, but it doesn’t smell of hemp.. It smells of rhubarb and custard.

 

Because just because you are a vegan or just because you are choosing to be conscious of what you put on your body or in your body doesn’t mean you have to settle for second-best. It doesn’t mean that as a vegan you shouldn’t be able to get things that non-vegans can get.

 You should have the same amount of choice, if not more choice. And I’m not saying that you have to be a vegan to wear vegan on your face. Because if you make just one small change, then surely that’s better than nothing. You can eat all the bacon you like, but if you’re choosing products that do not contain animal bits, then you are making a difference.

 

Interviewer        Did you ever consider… well, is it part of your plans in the future to sell on a shop like Superdrug or Boots, something like that?

 

Fairypants     I would love that. I would never turn down Boots, but Superdrug would be my first choice just because they gave me such a great start in my career and also, unknowingly they did a lot for my business. The things that they taught me I’m still using now, so I still have an affinity with Superdrug and probably always will.

 

 

Wow, what a read! I'll be really impressed if you stuck that out right to the end, well done if you did! xox