Lula Belle Meets Beth Goodrham Personal Stylist

Are you championing independent businesses?

Through my feature, Lula Belle Meets, I'm championing independent businesses and finding out what drives people to become self employed.

Lula Belle Meets: Beth Goodrham, founder of Beth Goodrham Personal Stylist

You'll remember that I attended the first Buy My Wardrobe event held outside of London, in Birmingham, and it was here where I caught up with Beth, who was on hand at the event to give ladies advice on how to get the best out of their wardrobes as well as advice on the purchases they were making that day.

Where did the idea for Beth Goodrham Personal Stylist come from?

In 2009 I decided to retrain as a Personal Stylist. Up until then I was a successful lawyer, being 1 of only 50 in England who specialised in reviewing Miscarriages of Justice. I felt that I wanted to do something that was more creative. As much as I loved my job, I also wanted to explore the idea of running my own business and where, being a stylist, it could take me.  I had a light bulb moment, realising that for me, being a stylist ticked all of my boxes, both professionally and creatively. From thereon in there was no stopping me.

How did you develop your idea?

I attended a personal styling course with the NHJ Style Academy in London, which is run by Nicky Hambleton-Jones.  Through the course I developed my knowledge and skills around personal styling, so that I could be confident when selling my services to a client.I'd always wanted to run my own business and doing this with something that I am passionate about, such as fashion, seemed like the perfect idea. 

Was it easy to set up the business?

Well I have three children and so it was never going to be easy, but I felt that the course really gave me a good grounding and I felt confident I had a business concept for which there was a demand.  So no, it wasn’t easy especially as I was providing what was seen then, at least, as a luxury service, during a recession.

What are your philosophies?

I want everyone to be inspired to create the wardrobe that works for them!  It doesn't matter what age or size you are, my drive is to give my clients the confidence to make informed choices in order to develop a unique wardrobe that can work for any season and occasion.  Not only that I want them to step out of the door and feel confident that they are wearing the clothes rather than the clothes wearing them. My philosophy is to style each client according to their figure, their lifestyle and their budget.

What is the USP of your business?

Well there is only me and so it is up to me to make my clients feel relaxed and to teach them how to style themselves. It is important that I really understand their style dilemmas, which my legal training has really helped me to do.  They need to be able to relate to me and given that I have worked in a professional environment, that I have three children that I am a working Mum and juggling lots of balls, I think clients are able to do that.  I also hope that they realise that my fashion feet are very much on the ground!

Who would you say are your competitors?

There are quite a few people who provide personal styling services, but I feel I bring a more personal touch.  For me it is about building and maintaining a relationship with my clients, which is what sets me apart from the department stores who offer styling services. My background also means that I have a structured and analytical approach to styling, which brings results – and hopefully my blog demonstrates my creativity.

What is your strategy for telling people about your Personal Styling business?

I started a blog in 2009 after reading an article in Woman & Home magazine.  I was on holiday at the time but when I got back I immediately set up my blog, Style Guille.  I thought it would be a great way to tell people about my styling business.  I use it to take daily photos of my outfits and describe the style and how my readers could achieve this.  I also use other social media including Twitter and Facebook.  I have also had a number of press and magazine articles written about me, which is a great way for people to find out about me and my business.

I also run events where I give personal style demonstrations, showing how people can put outfits together for their shape, what the trends are for the season, how to dress themselves slim, how to accessorise and so on.  

What have been the highlights so far?

I was overwhelmed at being nominated for the Marie Claire fashion blog of the year award this year. Compared to other blogs, I didn’t have a large readership and so I thought I didn't stand a chance, but I was shortlisted to the last ten out of several thousand entrants and for me that was a great achievement, considering I hadn’t been blogging for that long.

It has also been great to have been featured in a number of top glossy women's magazines, including the May edition of Women & Home.  

What does the future hold for your Personal Style business?

I hope my business continues to grow and expand, and with the opportunities that have come my way the future is looking very exciting.

What would you say to someone who has a business idea and wants to set up their own business?

Starting a business is so much harder than anyone would ever imagine. It saps your time, your energy and your resources but, in my view there would be nothing worse in life than looking back and thinking “what if?” So if, having created a business plan, having looked at the financials and all other variables you are convinced that is the way forward for you then I would say go for it. Just don’t expect to run before you can walk and be prepared to put in the hours! Most importantly, try to enjoy it too!

Thank you Beth, it just goes to show that you can always change direction, even if you already love what you are doing.  There's never a right or wrong time to follow your dream, just do it when it feels right for you.

I'm championing independent businesses.......I hope you do too!

Lula Belle x

Upton House and Gardens Warwickshire

Is there a decade that you prefer for architecture and interiors?

On Saturday I was having a mother and daughter day with my mum and was thinking about what we could do. When looking through my Twitter stream I noticed that the National Trust was having an open weekend. Considering we had already had afternoon tea once this month and are going to the Ritz next week, I wanted to do something different. When I phoned Mum to tell her my idea, she raised it before I could.  She had already seen it in the daily newspaper, talk about great minds thinking a like! So one decision down, another to make, which National Trust property to visit?  We had already visited Baddersley Clinton in February (I've still to write the review on the house) but you may remember I wrote about the snowdrops are these the first signs of Spring?.  So the options left were Packwood House, Coughton Court and Upton House and Gardens. Due to the weather forecast we decided on Upton House and Gardens, as the other properties have more extensive gardens which would would like to visit on a nicer day.  Plus I was really interested to visit a 1930's house, as usually the houses we visit are pre 19th century.

The journey turned out to be really pleasurable, we love travelling through the Warwickshire countryside especially when the sky is blue and the sun is shining, which it was on our journey to get to Upton House and Gardens.  We pulled up in the car park to see a very cute looking hut, which was the main entrance into the property. The lady on reception was lovely, she took our voucher and talked us through everything we needed to know.

We made our way towards the house through the trees and up the main drive, it didn't take us long to get to the house.  There is a buggy that you can catch a lift on too, which we did coming back.

As it was lunchtime we headed for the restaurant first. What a lovely building it was, it really fitted in with the surroundings.  It was busy with people sitting outside and inside. It was fairly busy but the service was very quick and I couldn't resist this scrumptious apple and cinnamon cake.

The entrance of Upton House is quite impressive and I love the exterior.  Upton House was the country home of Walter Samuel, 2nd Viscount Bearsted and his family, which he brought in 1927.  He extensively remodelled the house, which included guest rooms entertainment spaces.

We were greeted in the Main Hall by a number of volunteers who talked us through the map of the house.  This is the first time that we have been given a map, let alone be shown the flow of the house. We both thought this was a good idea, as we did use it throughout our tour of the house.  We started in the Long Gallery which is very impressive.  I loved the colours and the style of furniture.  The house has a lovely flow and we next found ourselves in the Sitting Room, which was very much like a snug that you might find in a modern house.  They had some interesting coffee table books.  Next it was onto the Library, which was small but impressive.  I really like these spaces, there were some interesting artefacts and what a great office, especially with the minstrels gallery over looking the Main Hall.

 

We then went down stairs to the Picture Gallery, Porcelain Lobby and Billiards Room  We loved the china, in the Porcelain Gallery, Mum thought the blue was the more classic looking, whilst I loved the bright yellow.

I think it is great that we can now take photos in National Trust properties.  This is the second property where visitors have also been able to pick up some of the objects.  At Upton House people were even able to have a game of snooker.

Being a more 'modern' house compared to a lot of other National Trust houses we have visited, I had to keep reminding myself that the interiors were reminiscent of the 1930's. I did love all of the wood, especially on the stairs.

Upstairs we visited Lady Bearsted's bedroom.  This included a refurbished art deco bathroom and a very large bedroom.  Both the perfect size and proportions for any lady to enjoy.

Back down stairs we found ourselves in the luggage lobby.  It was a rather large space, but then you have to remember that this is where the carriage would drop off the family's luggage ready to be taken upstairs.  Again in the Dining Room I had to remember that this was a more 'modern' house, as I am used to being wowed by dining rooms in other houses, where this is a very functional room.  For a house of this size, the kitchen seemed on the small side although it included a pantry and cold store.

We really enjoyed the tour of Upton House and felt like we had a good insight into how the Bearsted family lived. We seemed to have missed the showers and so had a look at the back of the house to take in the splendour of some of the gardens.  We were impressed by the tulips, so many still standing tall.

If you like visiting period houses and gardens, then I would fully recommend a visit to Upton House and Gardens. It is really easy to find your way around the house and there aren't too many stairs to tackle, so the accessibility is great.  Everything is close by, the restaurant, garden centre, house and gardens.



Lula Belle x

World Book Day Warwick

Can a book really be written via Twitter?

On Monday night I attended the opening of the new library in Warwick.  There had been a number of events on during the day, all culminating in the writing of a Twitter book and poetry reading in the evening.  I chose to take part in trying to write the Twitter book.  I figured we have Tweetups and Twitter parties, why not try a Twitter book.  I had been advised by Jack that the theme was going to be murder mystery and quite apt that we would be sitting next to the crime and adventure books.

When I arrived there were quite a few people already there, phones in hand.  The Twitter book was going to be illustrated by a local artist/ illustrator James Vinciguerra using an ipad.  Using the #worldbookwarwick Jack started off with the first line "it was a dark night, the kind of dark that surrounds you smothers you, and I had that sick feeling I always get when.....

This is how the story unfolded through Jame's illustrations.

For the the full story lines read Jack's review.  I can tell you the story included Simon Le Bon, Hatton & Harding, the Air Ambulance, Warwick Mayor and Mary Portas.

I couldn't finish the post without telling you about the most amazing chocolate cake that we had.  It was from a local company Sweet as Cakes.  If like me you have a sweet tooth, see my food and reviews, I can definitely recommend this very rich dark chocolate cake. I can't wait to try more of their cakes.

Is anything possible on Twitter.......I think so!


Lula Belle x