Episode 10: Moving an events based business online and building a business from Hula Hoops with Marawa Ibrahim founder of Majorettes, Paradise and more.
For an unconventional approach on building your own business, you will love today’s episode as Fiona interviews Marawa Ibrahim - a hula hoop master, author, teacher and business owner of Paradise, a brand for consciously sourced and manufactured activewear and active-centric accessories. Listen as Marawa shares her journey as she started her career in performing to starting her own business creating hula hoops and apparel for people who want to ‘move’. Fiona also asks Marawa for tips on managing brand collaborations, mentorship, hiring staff and dealing with big companies ripping off her original ideas. This episode is perfect for business owners who want to create their own path for business success!
Topics discussed in this episode:
Introduction
Business and Work During The Pandemic [6:15]
How Marawa Started [12:11]
Educational Background [16:48]
Parents’ Support [17:28]
Moving To New York For Work [18:39]
Moving Away From Australia [28:01]
Starting A Business [29:34]
@bruised.zine [37:21]
Brand Collaboration [38:42]
When Big Brands Ripoff Your Ideas
Seeking Advice or Mentorship
On Hiring Other People [53:42]
Marawa’s Own Mantra
Her Own Legacy [57:40]
Connecting With Marawa [1:01:03]
Resources mentioned in this episode:
The Majorettes [3:22]
Paradise [3:38]
The Girl Guide [4:05]
Quality Novelty [9:58]
@bruised.zine [37:29]
Let My People Go Surfing: The Education of a Reluctant Businessman by Yvon Chouinard [48:47]
Alice Edgeley [49:24]
Transcript:
And how are you feeling right now?
Terrified. I said to someone today. I said that wall that they're building with Mexico, I feel like that wall is going to end up being the one that keeps us all trapped inside here. We're all going to stuck.
I'm pretty convinced that the EU is about to stop all flights inbound from the US, which I feel like every other country is too scared to say it right now.
How has life changed for you? We just heard in the introduction a bit about your businesses and we're going to get stuck into that a bit more. But you are very much an externally facing business. You know, you go out, you do things. What's changed?
Yeah. This is gonna be interesting for you, Fiona, because I have actually, like you said, I mean, I've been travelling for years, gone all over the place. But very recently, conveniently, I have been transitioning to everything that I do. Basically being online. And it all sort of went into effect at the start of this year. So bizarrely, I'm fine in that sense. And everything has been really weirdly like unchanged, like I was already, you know, working from home and all this kind of stuff. And then obviously the lockdown and pandemic kicked in. And I was like, oh, what happens now?
And because I've already stepped away really from performing and from touring and all that kind of stuff. You know, if this was two years ago, I would have been having a very different conversation.
But actually, for the work I'm doing now, it's actually going on the work side of things, not the pandemic side of things. Work's actually been crazy busy, which is really good.
Can you talk us through the variety of businesses and especially, I guess what you've just said, like them all moving online? So what are they? And then how does that work now, being online?
Yes, I feel like I've come into my own on this podcast, Fiona. I feel like it's the perfect timing. I mean, I think it is because I feel like, again, if this is two years ago, we like there'd be thirty five different projects to list off, but I'm sure we'll get into this later. But a year's worth of very good business coaching later. It's much more streamlined. I feel much more calm. And it's only really three projects now. Maybe you'll remind me of one if I've forgotten one. But basically I run the majorettes, the performing troupe that perform and teach in London.
They're based in London and they're a group of girls that hula hoop and rollerskate. And they perform and they teach. And I handle everything to them from carving costumes through to invoicing and booking and all that kind of stuff, only because of how it's been set up. I can now do remotely, so I can. I'm in L.A., but I tend to wake up pretty early anyway. So it's their afternoon and I talk to them every day basically. And obviously during Corona, it's been interesting because we have had to move a lot of our classes to zoom and obviously a lot of the workshops aren't happening. But a lot of the companies that we were working for, like we had some festivals lined up for the Children's Museum and the V&A and stuff like that. And then now they're all looking for ways to move those projects online. So we're still involved with them, which is great. So we haven't lost all the work.
So that's number one. And then number two is, I guess, the lingering "I always threatened to retire, but I still seem to end up at some point in the year, picking up some hula hoops and doing some performing", hopefully, and in a nice beach location or somewhere where they fly me and I get to eat some pineapples and mangoes. But yeah, so I still have a little bit of performing that I do and I end. Then last year I was working a lot with my show Quality Novelty, which obviously festivals or that kind of a cancelled now, but that would do festivals and shows. So I ran that. But the thing that is saving me through Corona is my shop. Because my shop Paradise, which used to be in London, and then now that I'm based in L.A., has moved to the US, which is an online shop where you can buy all the kinds of stuff you need to do, all the kind of stuff that I love doing. So it's lots of cotton, lycra, stretchy bike pants, T-shirts, crop tops, unitards, roller skates, hula hoops, facemasks. Now, of course, except our face masks are really cool because I like you can like. It's like a tube and you can either pull it up over your face. You can also wear it like a headband. Definitely not an N95. It's not meant to be something that you'd wear on the hospital but more for something you wear skating down the beach. So yeah. And then that's sort of it. And then yeah. There's a few other little side projects like obviously the book and writing and things like that. But definitely during this time for the last five months or whatever, it's been very much focused on the shop.
Wow. People if you haven't seen that. And of course the links will be in the show notes. But you can check that out at @iwanttogotoparadise.
How did you even begin? How did you even get into that? Like, what was your upbringing like. Like how how kind of did that influence what you're doing now? Or did it have any influence at all.
Now when I look back, it seems to make a lot of sense. At the time, I didn't know what I was going into. And it's funny how, like, look like now I'm like, well, cause that's where I ended up.
[00:12:30] But, you know, I didn't really I felt very lost. Like I was definitely an active like when those kids that, you know, climbed every tree. And we're really lucky that our parents and we did a lot of sport and running and roller skating and stuff like that when we were kids. So, you know, I was always reactive. But then, you know, you go to school and it's kind of like there isn't. I mean, I guess maybe in America that's different. You get like college sports, like college, college or whatever other blah, like you go and play professional sports. I wasn't really into any sort of team sports. I just knew that I liked jumping around and but when I. Yeah, when I was in year twelve and you know kind of what it's called anymore, VCE, it was a I think it might make people doing a telephone book is anymore, like, you know, like I was a huge, massive book with like size zero font. And they were like, pick one. I dunno, it's I have some little slight OCD thing that meant that I couldn't like I had to read the whole thing and I was like I had to consider every obscure course. And I was like, none of this feels like something I can dedicate my life to. Like, I'm so confused. I just don't you know, I'm trying to make it down to a shortlist of seven hundred courses and then trying to get it down to 50. And, you know, but I was just like, I don't know, like, how do you how do you know? How do you know? How can you just choose one that doesn't make any sense. Really annoyed me for a long time and I ended up going with social science, interactive multimedia, which was like, you know, I could do sociology and psychology, but I could also be creative writing. Then I could also do some design stuff on the computer. And it was just like this whole weird mishmash of, you know, uncommitted in any which way, kind of course, you know, which I guess is being a bit of a running theme of never being able to stick to exactly to just one thing at one time. And then the planets kind of aligned at a certain point. And then through a series of bizarre twists, I ended up with an application to apply for a Bachelor of Circus Arts, which was this brand new degree that hadn't existed before. And I was you know, and I think now it's very different with things like Cirque de Soleil popping up in other courses like this, popping out people kind of when they're in high school. And I'm sure if I'd been in high school and had seen that, I probably would have I don't know if I don't know if what would have happened. But I feel like if I'd known that existed, I would've been like, that's the cause. I was definitely how I felt when I found it.
What did you hope to get from that when you were doing that course?
No, I. I had no idea what it was going to lead to. The only subject that I ever had skipped school was drama. I hated anything like that being on a stage. But I loved the idea of spending my degree on a trapeze and hula hooping and doing all these fun physical things. But I had no idea where it was gonna take me and I. And to be fair on me, I'd feel like the course didn't even know at that point where they were we were all going to end up.
What did your parents think of this?
I'm pretty sure you've already heard the story. But I'll tell you again, my dad absolutely did not know it. So there was no opinions that I had to worry about from him because he just thought I was still so studying my social science degree. And I thought that that was probably easier to just let him keep believing that. So I'm you know, and I thought in my mind, I was like, well, I'm still at Swinburne's, technically. And then they ended up my whole family ended up moving back to the Middle East. So I was alone in Melbourne and all my family in Middle East. So, yeah, I kind of managed to dodge the family interrogation. But my mom was very supportive. She's always been very supportive of everything I've done, which is very useful.
You moved or you went over to New York and you were going to pursue performance stuff. And how did that happen? How did you even decide I'm going to go do that?
Before that, I like I always like to let everyone know, even though it's embarrassing. But I don't feel I've I. I hold my badge with pride. I managed Supre, Melbourne City. Oh. Which I guess probably doesn't exist anymore. But I was meant I would. I left Circus school and went straight back into full time retail. I worked at Ginki my favourite shop, which was obviously the complete opposite of soup. Right. But I worked, you know, I've always hustled like I always had a job in when I was at circus school. I still worked at Supre then, and I specifically got the job because I had to quit. I was working at a skate shop and where I was living for circus school was so much further away. I was like, where can I get a job with the staff? Discount will be really useful. And I was like, Oh, Supre. Because all that cotton lycra stretchy stuff that I need for training. And so I started working as a merchandiser, which meant that I was all I had to really do is move racks of clothes around and carry boxes up and down stairs, which was just like conditioning. So I was like perfect. And then through some very strange twist of events, I ended up managing the store for a year. And then, you know, I just was like, I've always been not focused on making not like I need to make a million dollars. But I was always very focused on being independent and pay my own rent and paying for my own stuff and working as much as I needed to have the things that I wanted to have and I wasn't interested in like pursuing artistic endeavours for wanting to express my performing, because, like I said, you know, I'd I'd never been excited about expressing a lot of stuff publicly and emotionally and that sort of way physically or whatever, but which obviously changed a bit. But I started getting booked for, you know, Burlesque was having a real big moment again around that time. Like two thousand four, five people, you know, didn't you go to circus school? And I was like, oh, yeah. And, you know, and it was kind of like, oh, wait, I'll get paid the same amount of money for one lewd act that I would get for 38 hours of work at Supre. Right. And I was like. I'll take the gig. But I still kept Supre. I kept Supre for quite a while. I couldn't quite give it up. But, you know, but I was amazed that you could you know, I was just like, wait, this could this could work. Like, if I could get lots of work like this. And then Russell, cen't remember his surname, I wish I could, who is based in Sydney, was doing a tour of Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane with a show that he was putting together.
And he still puts on lots of shows in Sydney. And he's based there. And he came to Melbourne and it felt very official. We met at Joe's Garage. And he was like a senior act, you know, come and do this three city tour of Australia, but also, P.S., you need to go to London. He's like, you want to do his work, you need to go to London. That's where the work is. And I was like, right. So I did those shows. And then I had some money saved up and I was like, well, you know, I'm early twenties. Let's give it a crack and see what happens. And worst case scenario, come back. And I can always do this job because I know I'm good at it. I also know I don't want to do this job forever. So I packed up, but in my very calculated way and I bought around the world ticket. So I was like, OK, I can get home, I'm not going to get stuck overseas.
And I had money saved up. So I was like, OK, I'm not going to starve. And then I had I'd worked out where I would stay pretty much in each city. So it's like, OK. There were a few gaps, but I was like, worst case scenario, I'll be.
I've got money, so I'll be OK. And let's go see what happens and. Well, first off, I was telling you is San Francisco with my major three weeks, see what's happening there. And then I went to New York and I picked up a bunch of work in New York. But I was really shattered when I got to New York, because all the gigs I realised very quickly. I was like, oh, everyone in New York is kind of getting 100 bucks a show, 150 bucks a show, and they're doing six nights a week. But the shows are at two or three o'clock in the morning doing, you know, cabaret shows and variety shows. I was like, that's that's just like a normal job except your working crazy hours. And I like to I'm not very good at late nights anyway. I was like, this is terrible. I was like, this is going to be a disaster. So I was there for a little while, but I also met some really dear friends that are still to this day dear friends in New York and lived and lived it. It was an amazing time was amazing time. But I still hadn't worked out how I was gonna do this as a job. I was like, this doesn't work. And then I went to London and when I went to London, everything changed immediately. I met Lara from the Whoppie club, which sadly is no more. But she's still producing things. And she knew Russell from Australia. And I sort of you know, I came prepared with this whole ridiculous you know, I had a DVD of my act and postcards made up with pictures of different costumes I had. And I was like, you know, prepared to do this sort of presentation for her. I met her at the Bethnal Green Working Men's Club and she gave me a cup of tea and she was like, right, I've got two shows for you Thursday two shows you Friday, you know? And each one was like 400 pounds. And I was like, what? And I was like, this is crazy. And I was like, OK, you can make a job out of this. And I would argue that it's you know, obviously I'm talking pre-Corona, but it hasn't been that good in the last few years. But I think I just I was I just was really lucky in the way that I was lucky when I got into the circus school.
I was really lucky that when I hit London, it was really when variety Cabaret was just teaching again. And being based in London meant that you're really close to Europe. And then there was loads of work in Europe. That was it. I didn't I didn't leave after that.
Even though I had my around-the-world ticket, I never ended up finishing it because I just had that two year visa that used to be, I don't know, you can still get that one, but you could get a two year visa as an Australian. And so I just you know, I was based in London, but I would go to Paris in Sweden, then I go to Poland, then, you know, and do these variety shows and try my best to save. But, you know, I do like having the costumes and eating my food, so I'd be there. But, yeah, definitely was like, okay, this works. And then pretty soon after that, I got picked up by La Soiree which used to be Le Clique, and I knew Bret. Hey, look, from back when I was in NICA because I had done a couple of shows back in Australia for them and they had a hula hooper already. He would want to put me on a trapeze, but I would always want to do hula hoops because trapeze just felt like a bit too much work. And then they had a season where they hula hooper who couldn't come. And so I got to fill in. And then me and her would sort of alternate for Seasons for pretty much the next seven years. And that became a big part of, I guess that part of my career was working with them and touring, which was the best fun.
And so do you kind of you sort of hinted at this, but say for somebody listening in Australia or New Zealand or in another kind of seemingly far away country than, say, the hub of like London or New York or the big cities, do you think you had to have moved away from Australia to think if you would for some reason had to have stayed in Australia? This would just not have happened? Or would you have kept going to try to do it?
I wouldn't know. I know I wouldn't of a different person might have been able to for sure. But I really felt that in terms of I'd hit the ceiling in terms of what was possible to earn and to create in Melbourne at that time. I think a lot of things have changed. You know, going back, I did Adelaide Festival last year and in Australia, you know, I think, you know, things move in, you know, every five, 10 years, things kind of move around. Australia is definitely a hub, again, in terms of the festivals. Like, you know, they're just huge now. Like those what they called the Garden of Unearthly Delights or something or the huge like I remember when they started, they were tiny. And now there's just like tens of thousands of people going through those places every day. So there is now, you know, it's changed again. And like I said, I think the cabaret and variety scene in London has really, to me is nothing. I'm what it used to be.
How did you actually move to "I'm gonna make my own hoops. I'm going to have T-shirts, I'm gonna have products, or I'm going to eventually open this store in Dalston, which is in the top of sort of north east London." How did that happen? How did you go from. I'm gonna earn money and I'm kind of almost like an employee of the places that I entertain for or to "I'm actually gonna build my own brand, my own business out of this.?
Very, very, very slowly because I'm just not a risk taker like that. And I you know, I think I've seen people I've seen other people do it. And I think it's amazing when people can have that, like, gut thing of their just like I'm gonna follow. Like, I'm I'm backing myself and I'm gonna follow myself 100 percent. And I'm not programme that way. And I was always, like, much more cautious about it. But the thing I knew very quickly, even though I toured with them for seven years, I very quickly was like, "oh, I don't want to tour. This is not my life." I love that I'm getting to see all these countries and do all these different things. But long term, I don't wanna do this. Like, it's it's really interesting. Like and I would hear this all the time from people, especially then of people just being like, "oh, my God, like, I love your life. So, like, I wish you know, I wish I had a job where I could travel all the time and be in different places, you know, but I'm stuck like I have to be, you know, I'm stuck in one place, my job out here." All the time.
And at a certain point, I suddenly realised I was like, oh, I'm trapped in travel. I can't stay in one place. I can't just be in Australia doing shows 24/7. London a little bit, yes. But even with London, it meant that I had to be going to Europe all the time. I don't know if the show had stayed at the Hippodrome for ten years, who knows? It might have been a different story. I might have stayed there. But I also was like, it didn't feel like that was it? I was kind of like and also, you know, the other thing people would say to me is, you know, other performers, like I'd say to other performers, I'm like, I don't know, this just doesn't feel enough. And they say, yeah, but it's because you're doing a five minute hula hoop act like you need to do a solo. You do an hour long show. If you did, do you know, a proper big show, then, you know, we are on stage for an hour, then you would feel fulfilled. And I did that and I still didn't feel anything. It was like so I just don't think I'm in the right place, you know. So, yeah. So then I, I was more set up in London and I could see that like fitness was becoming you know, this is when I'm trying to think what year it is. But it's the time when, like I mean, fitness has always been a thing, but, you know, it goes through different phases. And people were really getting into waist trainers and, you know, alternative types of fitness. And I was like, oh, like you could turn this into a fitness class, like you do hula hooping fitness class. And I just didn't have the business brain to be able to do that.
You know, I didn't have, you know, how to set up a company and just split the thing and do the spreadsheets to work out how many people you have to get into a class, into, you know, all that I like. That was all very new and very foreign to me. So I was like I struggled to work it all out at the start. But I was also like, there's something in this for sure.
And so and then the hoops as well, making the hoops. I was like, you know, there weren't really any I mean, there were a couple maybe of hula hoop places online that are very obscure like this is way, way back in the day. But they didn't have the types of hoops that I liked. And I was like like and like hoops. I don't know how to make them. And I could, you know, find a plastic supplier and get the tubing and do the thing. And so that's sort of where it started. But it was very it was a lot of work. And then it would be that thing of like, you know, I spend all this money researching plastics and working out how much, you know, I need to sell a hoop for twenty pounds and you got to post it. And by the time I've done all that, it was like, great, how many these do I have to sell? And then someone be like, oh, don't come to Sweden and I'll pay you three thousand pounds for one night. And it was just like, you know, I just couldn't say no to the work. And I was like, this is the money that's going to fund me to sit here and try and work out how to do this. So you know, I kept going back whilst trying to figure out how to do the business side. And then and then the Majorette thing happened and send in that. That also helped to be like, oh, okay. Now I have like this troupe of girls that get it and understand what I'm trying to do and understand not just how to perform, but how to also teach. And so I could put them to go and teach. And it kind of, you know, it was very like made every mistake and did every, you know. Oh, like in hindsight, like looking back. But, you know, we needed to do all of that to get to where it's got to now. I don't think we could have done it any quicker, you know.
And I think when I see those, you know, and I think we've all thankfully, most of us, I think have like recovered from that initial shock of social media where you kind of would see people like that and you'd be like, what am I doing wrong? Like now this person. You mean, for me, a lot of these stories, when you look into it, you go, Oh. And then it's like. And then I got you know, I started my company. And then three weeks later, I got two million dollars in funding. And it's like, how the fuck did you get that? Like. And then you just go, oh. But, you know. Turns out your parents run this thing or, you know, there's always a connection. Whereas for me, I felt like I was like, "OK, this is how much rent I've got this month. This is what I need for this, like this, you know? And it was like baby steps, baby steps all the way. And I had no idea how you'd go about. And I'm kind of glad I didn't know how to go about trying to get funding or anything, because I think that probably, you know, from what I what I hear, it's like, you know, it brings its own set of problems. But I'm happy that I got to do it in my own way, on my own terms.
But what is the account handle for people who want to see the kind of actual things that happen [during rollerskating]?
It's called @bruised.zine, because we actually have a physical copy of it as well. We're actually working on the next work on the quarantine issue right now. @bruised.zine - And it's a feed of mainly rollerskating injuries. But we're getting some really good Korona injuries as well of, you know. And again, it's like it's great to see skaters that people like really look up to. And, you know, girls that are like that can do amazing tricks. But, you know, for every amazing trick, there were ten stacks before it where they, you know, got a good bruise. So and we love bruise. A bruise is amazing.
Brand collaboration - that's something that can be really a tricky space for artists and people in the performing space. And there's a lot of kind of, "This is going to give you so much exposure, but we're not going to pay you kind of being that happens." That's easy. Those ones are easy. How do you do you have a checklist? Can you explain maybe how the checklist has changed from when you first started?
I think at the very, very, very start, when you're at the very, very, very start and you're like, you know, all the energy is there and you're like you're just trust you and you are trying to get exposure. Right. It's difficult because one in 10 of those ones that I really had exposure might get you some exposure. But I'm talking like day one, like, "OK, I'm here and I'm going to take every opportunity." It doesn't mean you're gonna go through with it, but you gonna read every email. You know, I definitely read every email. So the first two years and, you know, considered "Is this worthwhile.?" But now it's very different system, like anything that mentions anything to do with exposure and no pays. My husband's much more brutal than me. What did you tell me the other day? TLDR. Very L.A. very classic - TOO LONG DIDN'T READ. When we first started dating, it was there was was it but, you know, now I really understand that it's literally his motto. Like, he's just like if it's he just doesn't even look at it. And I always felt like even if someone was offering me something terrible, I still felt like I need to write. Dear Samantha, thank you so much for your email. I just don't think that maybe I just I don't know if I could really not. It's not really right. Thank you so much for asking. And hopefully something will come from the future and I'll let you know and re-check it and check the grammar and read it again. And then and then, you know, now it's like I'm just like, yeah. That's five minutes of my life. I'm not getting back. Like, Samantha doesn't even get an email. I'm just like, you know, if it's exposure and no pain and that's no response.
On the topic of brand collaborations or just brands, you are well known for your crazy kind of initially DIY "put a big heel on top of roller skates and see what happens" type. And now that it is being done by some of the biggest brands out there. What how did you deal with that? I mean, the kind of context of people listening to this who who might be creating homewares or something else, and it just gets completely ripped off by a bigger brand. What kind of advice do you have to people going through that situation?
Meditation. Stressful. Decaf coffee. Long walks. It depends. You know, I think I've definitely had a couple, but I know I've seen people who have had much worse. But I do come back to one thing in particular, which doesn't make it necessarily it will never make it okay. It's never okay.
But just because it's not okay doesn't mean that it's almost impossible to like. If it's like I designed this plate and here's a perfect ripoff and diet product even wrote about it. But the chances are you're going to need some fancy pants lawyer that's gonna take six months and two years worth of pay. And if they've got bigger lawyers, I mean, at least in America, that's just generally how it works. And it's like, you know, it's not fair, but it's often how it goes. And I think it, you know, part of it is making sure that people know when you have original ideas and you've got the receipt intent of like what date, you know, you did something versus someone else's stuff like that. But I don't think for me, it's never worth my time to be investing the time and energy because it just, you know, often it would just keep happening.
I mean, it really depends. Case by case what it is. But the one thing I will say, the one thing that I think is useful to know that is often hard to remember in those times of going, "oh, my God, I can't believe they ripped off my whole identity and my life" is they can't do it themselves.
The older I get a group people into different categories. And I just think people that are genuinely creative, especially if they're in a creative industry or they're in the arts or whatever they're doing. And the thing is their skill and this is why it sucks for people that people, especially people that are really, truly creative and I have a lot of friends like this is when you are so gifted in one area, yurning that into a business, making money off, that is that's a different skill. That's a different combination of things. So you have people that can take that person's idea and turn it into a million dollar business. You know, I'm spacing for whatever reason. But this is a story as old as time of every, you know, gadget that got turns out that was made by someone else, but someone else turned it into the big success story yet. But, you know, and I've seen it with my work and I've also seen it with my products and stuff like that.
But the thing I hold onto that I remind myself of, and I say it to friends when it happens to them, is that like you have the creative bit and that thing, that's not the thing that you can go and get from a textbook or an online course. You just can't learn that. That to me is like the people that I know that are truly creative geniuses. That's like a Bourne thing, like, you know, you have it from the beginning.
And yes, people are going to come and rip it off, but they're never gonna know what you're gonna do next. And they're never gonna know. And then the other thing is that you just have to push yourself. Not that again, I'm not saying it's fair, but what it has definitely done is pushed me to do something even crazier or make something even crazier. When, you know, when I feel like someone else has taken the thing, I've gotten turned it into something really bland. And you just have to channel the energy.
And you do have really big blocks. And often when you know someone's gonna rip you off, you don't you don't get that lightning bolt idea the next day or the next month or, you know, in the next six months. Sometimes it takes it takes a long time, like when I think about my, like, truly creative ideas. I probably had, like, four of them in my whole life, but like and they take a minute to, like, sink it. But but I know that they're really good. I know that they like things that other people, for whatever reason, hadn't done before.
So, yeah, I think you have to you have to work with what you've got and you can get mad about it and try and sue someone. I mean, and also if you if you know, you can sue someone and you've got to come out and you, you know, you kind of like this is probably worth the risk. Absolutely. Go for it. Like go for it. But I'd say a lot of the time a lot of people just end up getting really bitter and really depressed. And I get why. But if you can find a way to turn that around and channel it into something else, you're going to have a better year, that's for sure.
Where do you seek advice or mentorship when it comes to your business? Are there like books or podcasts or or people that you'd recommend?
Yeah, it's a very short list really at this point. I've never really I mean, I've definitely read a lot of stuff. I really loved reading. Yvon Chouinard book - Let My People Go Surfing. It was very good to read and soothing just from the aspect of someone who clearly is creative that managed to do it and seeing all the mistakes along the way and you know, how they built that. To me, it's very short. And to me, the thing that I really feel of the last few years is that after years and years of being very scattered and doing but it is doing a bit of that and being in three different countries and trying to wanting to be in one country, but not being able to commit to it. And then Alice Edgeley, my dear friend, favourite friend in Melbourne, who also makes my costumes and has an amazing store on Gertrude's. Yes. Made negotiate. She's the best. And I was having my pretty much daily moan to her about like, what am I doing here? And she was like, "you need to see Maureen" and Maureen was someone Alice worked with. And I was back in Australia. I met Maureen once in person because I was in Australia. But after that we spoke every two weeks on Skype face time, something to go hang out. I kind of knew what was. But Maureen is a business coach. And Maureen was everything. I didn't know I needed at that point in my life and I worked with her for 12 months. It was more money than I'd ever spent on a thing because it's expensive to get business coaching. But let me tell you, best money I ever spent. Best money I have. And I was like it was it was amazing. And I did 12 months. And I remember getting towards the end of the twelve months, I was like, oh, God, is she gonna try and make me sign up for another? I don't think I can afford to do this again. And I remember on our last session, she basically did like an inventory of everything we've done and she was like "Right. OK, let's go. Good luck." Then I was like, amazing. And, you know, that was it was three years ago now. She just fixed everything. I've never felt so calm about life and money. Then after that, my year with Maureen because she just got home. All right. You just. She she just gave me the tools that and it's that thing of what I was talking about of like, you know, it's a different set of skills and you can't in the way that I don't think you can teach someone necessarily to, you know, come up with a brilliant creative. I mean, you can that's what things like Nike is set up to help people explore their creative ideas in performance. But like I said, when I first started trying to sell hula hoops and stuff, I was like, don't know how it is.
And she took she was able to take all the different elements of what I was trying to do, help me work out what I wanted to really do long term, how to streamline those things. Had to group some of those things into multiple things. You know, the shop really has become the place where, like, I can sell my book through the shop. I can sell the stuff that I like to train in and the stuff. Also note the similarities Supre there. You know, it was a way to streamline all these different projects and and reach that ultimate goal. I had not being trapped to travel everywhere to survive.
Could you give any kind of suggestions or advice to other people who might be looking to either hire people full time or just hire people for like a contract or even the fact that you have the Majorettes, you know, your girl hoop troupe? How has that been? Like, what's the process being to hire them? And do you have any advice for other small business owners?
Yes, you have to be very, very, very clear about what you want, what the job entails, what it's going to pay, write it down and get both people to sign it. So there's no "let's meet for coffee and see if..." I just think from the get go, you need to be really straight up about it, because to me, the big problem I had to start with when I was trying to find people that could help me with the more admin side of things, is that my bargaining chip, my get my my chip that I had was that I didn't have a lot of money, but obviously I hoop and, you know, and I can teach and stuff like that. And a lot of the first few times that I tried to work with people, it would become very clear that what they really wanted to do was be showgirls. And I wanted to be performers and they didn't really want to do any admin.
And I was like, no, no, I need an admin person, you know? And then, you know, as times as time went on, I sort of, you know, made that mistake a few times and then realised I had to find someone who was completely uninterested in anything to be able to help me with those things, because my whole thing was like I knew what my skills were, I knew I knew what was really good at the performing thing. You know, I wished I was good at spreadsheets, but I just wasn't. So I needed someone that had those skills to come in and fill those gaps.
Do you have any mantra's or caught so or things that you come back to again and again, even when maybe things get tough for when you've just got power on and get stuff done?
Yeah, I always try and get it done. Just get it done. There's so much talk. And this would be more often things that I would be saying to other people. Like, "Let's get it done." We don't need to talk about it all day. I don't need to know about breakfast and lunch and what happened. You know, I'm just like, we can talk about that after. But right now, let's just get it done.
What is the legacy that you want to leave with all the businesses that you do?
I'm not 100 percent sure, but I feel like it's something to do with. It blows my mind that, like, we're still in 2020, even in the pandemic, there is a strange disconnect in people's brains with their bodies, what they're meant to look like and what they're meant to do and all these sorts of things.
I've always been very physical, but I've also been I mean, I'm like this is a lot to do with the shop. But like, you know, I remember that time Mom took me to just jeans and I must have tried on 40 pairs of jeans and not one of them even vaguely fitted me. And I was just like, how can you have a company that's this big with this many different versions of the same pair of trousers and none of them fit?
It just doesn't make sense. And like, it's the same height, you know? You know this like I get really crazy underwear because I'm just like everyone's walking round the wedgie. Everyone's walking and you read the statistics. Seventy five percent of women are wearing the wrong sized bra and stuff like that. I'm just like it makes me crazy angry because I just feel like I think a lot of it has do with my mom as well. But she's always been, you know, very quick to just be, like, less ridiculous, you know. And it's like it is ridiculous. Like our bodies are the way that they are. And the clothes, especially now and this bazillion different companies making bazillion different things that we should be able to have, things that sit different shapes and different types of bodies and that extreme thing of like you have really ill fitting, uncomfortable clothing.
And then you have uber over sexualised, like, you know, push ups suck in bizarre, you know, overlooked scenes that are in fluoro pink up the back of a pair of orange leggings or something where it's like butt crack separated. It's just like what is going on? Like, which one is it? I just want something that's breathable because remember, breathable, like all these like weird shiny workout outfits. I want breathable fabric and I want it to be stretchy and I won't be on a move in it. And my body goes in it and, you know, and it should just fit. And I feel like I've worked really hard with the things that we have on the shop to do that. And then that's the thing I get like the most excited about now, especially because the shop's been getting a lot busier during lockdown. But people that write to me and they're like, I've never had a pair of pants that sit with me until now.
And then just I guess and you should all the time be able to have pants that fit you. And I'm really glad you found these. But like, you know, it's crazy that, yeah, people have felt that there's something wrong with them, which is just not true.
How can people connect with you? If they are like, "I need to reach out to Marawa and tell her that is one thing she said was just really on the money." How can they do that? Where can they find you?
I make people work hard. You have to email. It's not that hard. Emails aren't even that hard. But like, you know, I'll get people that will email me for, like, a job and they'll be like, oh, my God. I wrote on a photo on your Facebook wall and I dm-ed do. And I sent a tweet to. And I'm like, I don't know. Like, I'm not I don't look at that stuff. I don't look at the messages. I look at the comments, you know. You can't if you if I would be doing it all day and I don't want to spend my day stuck on my phone like that. But if you go to any of my five hundred websites, you can always email me through them. And that is the best way to get in touch.
I would love to know what you took from this interview. So please send me a DM or tag me on Instagram - at @mydailybusinesscoach.
And if you'd like to connect with Marawa, you can do that via her main website, which is marawa.online.
You can also find her on Instagram just @marawa or hit her off thru email. You can find her email via her main website, marawa.online. You can also find all the shownotes and a full transcript of today's interview over at mydailybusinesscoach.com/podcast/10
As always, if you've enjoyed this episode, I would love it if you could leave a review on iTunes, which really helps this podcast get found by other small business owners, and hopefully they can take away things from it as well.
If you want to get in touch, you can do that at mydailybusinesscoach.com or hit me up on Instagram - @mydailybusinesscoach.
