The lovely Ange from The Little Gift Loft has been such an inspiration to me and I am lucky to have her as a client. I have watched her for the last (almost year) manage a full time corporate 9-5 while running and growing her business and just recently take the leap out of corporate and full time in her business! And I know big things are going to happen!
Her work ethic and passion for her business shine through when you speak to her about The Little Gift Loft and her desire to make gifting easier for all is a value I can really get behind! If you are looking for an amazing soul to work with, either for corporate gifting or for a special occasion I couldn't recommend her enough. Check out her store here
Read more about her amazing story below!
1. What is your brand story? Tell us a little bit about what makes you, you! And why you got into business?
After working in corporate marketing roles for 20+ years, my creative & entrepreneurial spirit was yearning to be unleashed. So, I set about dreaming up business ideas that would:
1. Give me the financial freedom to step away from corporate role
2. Be scalable and something I could start whilst still working in corporate
3. Act as a creative way to 'do good' in the world
As someone who is passionate about encouraging moments of gratitude and supporting local makers – I launched The Little Gift Loft in the spring of 2019, as a side hustle to my 9 to 5 corporate job.
2. What has been the biggest challenges you have faced during your career/business? And how did you overcome it?
No work / life balance – early on in my career I put everything into my job, worked long hours, weekends and didn’t have much down time for rest and relaxation.
On reflection, I prioritised my career because I thought of it as extension of my self-worth… the better I did my job, the better person I was, the more successful I was.
But after a few chronic health conditions surfaced and a bought of extreme burnout, I realised something had to change – my work life balance was all wrong and it was having on my body and relationships.
I worked with a psychologist, who helped me identify what I had to offer the world (apart from being part of the corporate rate race) and gave me permission to put my needs first.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s not like all of this happened overnight – there is no quick fix to getting in touch with who you are, what makes you happy and then re-building your life to support those things.
10 years on, I am still on that journey, but I understand myself better, prioritise self-care rituals (and lazy Sunday’s) and have started living the dream of running my own business, my own way, on my own terms.
3. What is something you are super proud you have achieved?
Just one thing? HA, I am proud of it all!! I’m grateful for the journey (good and bad) that has bought me to this point… but if I had to pick one thing, I’d say I’m super proud of myself for bouncing back and remaining resilient after being diagnosed with a major heart problem in 2017, which required me to take 3 months off work and 1.5 years of recovery to get back to full-time work.
4. Who are the women you most admire in business?
All of them!! Any woman who runs a business, alongside her life, household, and family deserves praise in my book. The ones I admire most are creative women who run their business with heart and community (over competition).
· Deb McNaughton - Artist
· Jess – House of Wellington
· Belinda - Sophie Store
5. If you could go back and give advice to your younger self, what would it be?
Eeeeek so many things!! My advice would be:
· Don’t sweat the small stuff
· Believe in yourself
· Don’t worry too much about what others think of you
· No one has it all figured out
Trust your gut
