Spinning Plates with Sophie Ellis-Bextor - Episode 149: Susie Crow

Episode Date: March 10, 2025

Susie Crow runs a small business called Let Us Pretend, in which she ‘makes sparkly things’. I have bought wonderful brightly coloured, fringed capes from her which say ‘Happy New Year!’ and ���Happy Christmas!’ She also makes personalised banners. Originally from Newcastle, Susie now lives in Sussex and has three children and a creative job that she loves. And she is the only person I can think of who has more sequins in her life than I do!Spinning Plates is presented by Sophie Ellis-Bextor, produced by Claire Jones and post-production by Richard Jones. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

FanDuel Casino's exclusive live dealer studio has your chance at the number one feeling. Winning. Which beats even the 27th best feeling saying I do. Who wants this last parachute? I do. Enjoy the number one feeling. Winning. In an exciting live dealer studio. Exclusively on FanDuel Casino. Where winning is undefeated. 19 plus and physically located in Ontario. Gambling problem? Call 1-866-531-2600 or visit connectsontario.ca. Please play responsibly. Hello, I'm Sophie Ellis-Bexter and welcome to Spinning Plates, the podcast where I speak to busy

working women who also happen to be mothers about how they make it work. I'm a singer and I've released seven albums in between having my five sons aged 16 months to 16 years, so I spin a few plates myself. Being a mother can be the most amazing thing, but can also be hard to find time for yourself and your own ambitions. I want to be a bit nosy and see how other people balance everything. Welcome to Spinning Plates. I speak to you on Tuesday morning.

The sun is shining, sky is blue. I'm doing all right. How are you? It's a little rhyme for you there. I don't know how I'm doing it right now because I'm surviving on so little sleep. Do you ever have that? These few phases of just having sort of four or five hours per night. I think I haven't slept longer than a four or five hour chunk for at least a week, maybe

longer. It's getting a bit boring. It takes me a while to drop off, so I'm kind of overtired. And then while I'm fast asleep and right in the middle of a good snooze, that's when my alarm will go off. It's annoying, isn't it?

Anyway, the kids are in school, heading back home towards coffee. And yeah, the sun's come out in London town. It really is an absolutely beautiful day. It's come out in London town. It really is an absolutely beautiful day. It's really really blue sky. It doesn't make life easier although I don't know if it's quite swimsuit weather and I say that with the knowledge that that's what I'm going to be wearing tomorrow. Maybe the next day in Brighton before I'm headed towards Bright maybe the next day in Brighton

before I'm headed towards Brighton town to shoot the new Freeman's summer campaign, which will be really lovely. There's such a nice bunch, honestly, and I'm super happy we're heading to the British seaside because I love it, and I especially love Brighton. It's somewhere I used to head to when I was a teenager. And Richard's from Sussex,

so his Brighton for him is a big deal as well. So it's quite sweet, it's like a place we really love. But yeah, I'm gonna be in a swimsuit, so that's gonna be a bit, that's gonna be challenging. It's gonna feel like about six or seven degrees. Hmm, balmy. Anyway, apart from the shoot, I've actually got a very quiet week,

which I am actually thrilled about because I was traveling a little bit too much and getting a little bit spread thin. So it's time for a little bit more home time. And what else is going on? It's World Book Day here in the UK on Thursday. So that's when primary schools up and down the land get kids to dress up as characters from books. And it's one of those ones that sneaks up on me and some people seem so organized. Actually today I'm doing all right. It's Tuesday as I said and I've already got the kids to decide

and commit to what they will wear on Thursday. So I can sort that and yeah, just other stuff. You know, I've got to do the running order for the album. I was asked about it yesterday by my ANR man from the label, Sam. I was like, you've got to give me a deadline. I'm one of those people where if I haven't got a deadline, I just won't get it done because there's other things to do that have got deadlines. So that's that. And yeah, green man, perfect timing. This week's guest. So I first met Suzy or Elisa, paths crossed way back in the day in the in the North East actually when she was working at Moschino and I was a new solo artist looking for beautiful clothes to borrow for videos and shoots and things and I fast became a fan of Moschino where

Suzy worked in the press office. Anyway fast forward forward to 2020. You know, we're in pandemic o'clock, doing my kitchen discos at home, and I believe that Suzy got in touch with me first, saying, I make sequin capes, would you like one? And I had a little look and I was like, oh my word, these are actually beautiful. Really, really gorgeous. I know that's right, she sent me, I got sent the sequined face mask, that was it, from my friend Holly Tucker, who's also been a guest on the podcast.

And yes, through that I discovered her sequined capes and I commissioned one that said Kitchen Disco. And since then I've commissioned a load. Got a Happy New Year cape, I've got a Happy Christmas cape, I've got a Moon Mrs. Jones cape when I'm DJing with Richard. And I've made them for friends, I bought them for girls in my band. I think they're lovely.

They're really joyful, they're beautifully made. She also does banners. Her company is called Let Us Pretend and she's really got an eye for colour and fashion and fun and finish. They are beautiful. And I wanted to know, how does someone get started? Going from one line of work, we are working in the world of high fashion and then move away from London town and start making

beautiful sequin things. What fun is that? But also kind of brave and also my kind of person. So Suzy has three children. I spoke to her from her office where she's newly back at work following an operation on her foot that she had in December. And yeah, she's newly back at work following an operation on her foot that she had in December. And yeah, she's surrounded by sequins, which quite frankly is how I spend a lot of my time too. So over to the chat with Suzy and I. My hand holding my phone is absolutely frozen now while I speak to you, but it's all good. You're worth it, and I'll see you on the other side. Cheers. you're worth it and I'll see you on the other side. Cheers!

I've been really looking forward to speaking to you. Oh me too! Yeah I'm a bit nervous because I feel like as you know I haven't't really been out since November and I'm like, okay, the first thing I'm going to do is record a podcast. Yeah, but the nice thing about podcasts is they're basically just an excuse to have a conversation where people don't interrupt you for a minute. Yeah, exactly. That's sort of why I started it because if you say, I'm going to have a really good chat with someone, they might be like, okay, I'm gonna phone you halfway through but if it's a podcast

Yeah, record it everybody leaves us to it. It's nice And all we're gonna do is talk about you and The reason I wanted to speak to you is I am pretty fascinated to know how it started That you went all in on Twinkly capes and Twinkly pants. Oh well, well yeah it's um, well you know I used to work for Moschino so I've always always been in in fashion like even since I was you know my first job when I was 15 in a shoe shop and it's just always been something that's been really, I've just loved it. It's always brought me so much kind of joy.

I worked for Moschino for like 12 years and that was just the most fun job. I was in the PR department so I wasn't doing anything creative really, but it was such an exciting time to be in a brand and, you know, it was pre-internet, so we really were kind of doing everything and involved with all of that kind of thing, like celebrity dressing and stuff like that, and magazines. And then I guess when I got pregnant, I also, we also left London as well. Right. got pregnant, I also, we also left London as well. And so it was like a big, it was just such a huge change for me because I'd lived in London for 18 years. Like I loved it. You know, I never saw myself leaving and then we did and we came here. So I'm,

I'm in Sussex now and I was working freelance for one of my best friends who's actually a latex designer, William Wild. So I was working for him for like about two years freelance after I left Moschino. And then I just knew I wanted to do something. I've always been one of these people that's kind of had like, you know, like random business ideas. Like at one point I had a little business called Mini Cures,

which was like doing manicures for kids. It was a terrible idea, but doing like parties where kids would just smudge it. It was like nail art, anyway. And then, so I've always been like, what could I do? And could it be t-shirts? And I felt like that market was really saturated. And then I'd made a cape for my middle son, he was two at the

time and it was just a superhero cape but I was like oh it'd be fun to make it out of sequins and then I put his name on there and I put patches and pom poms and then everyone was like oh you should sell some of those and then yeah that's where it kind of all started I started doing kids and then people kept saying, oh, I think you should do adult ones as well. And yeah, and that's when it all kicked off really. So how old are your children? Maybe I should start with that.

So I've got Ocean, he's five. I've got Jordy, he is nine. And Berry, who's 11. Cool, and Berry is the one I met, isn't it? Yes, yeah it is, yeah. She still tells everybody about that. I mean, what a thing to do for your first ever concert. She just had the best time.

So fun. That beautiful venue as well, and the Delaware Pavilion was gorgeous. So is it when you were pregnant with Berry that you left London and had this big upheaval? So no, it was actually like my second, so Jordi was six, my second child, so he was six weeks old when we moved. So I moved here with like no friends, kind of nothing really. And yeah, I guess, you know, you're sort of feeling a little bit lost, especially after my job was so much of my kind of identity.

Um, so it was with him really. So I'd kind of been off for a year and still working freelance as well for my friend. Um, and that's when it was when, yeah, I guess it was, it was actually, I set up Let Us Pretend when Ocean, my youngest, was how old was he? He was about six months old and I would do it in nap times and stuff. And what are your memories of starting up the company? Did you realize you were starting something that was gonna be the thing you were doing for you know for the foreseeable or did you just sort of think I'll just

see how this goes or what was your instinct about doing it at the beginning? Well, at the beginning I was like, I'm just gonna see how it goes. I've got nothing to lose and if it doesn't work out, I'll think about getting a proper job. And when I started doing it, I felt like I was doing something special.

It felt different and the people's reactions to it were different as well. And then that's when COVID hit really. So I'd been doing it for just a few, just before Christmas, then COVID hit. And then that's when I sort of got in touch with you and thought, oh, I wonder if Sophie Alisbexter would like a cape for the kitchen discos. And then it really took off from there, I'd say. I think you were quite instrumental in that. Oh, well, thank you. I think it's funny because I remember that and I think from my point of view, I mean, a bit like you, all things

twinkling in disco, that had appealed to me for Yonks. But I think in that time, it took on special resonance as in a way of lifting me out of my environment. And I actually didn't realize that Let Us Pretend had started before COVID because I think I could see it was a young company and I think I thought it would started from lockdown. So it's interesting, isn't it, that people were so drawn to things that gave them that otherworldly place to head to that made everything a bit more sparkly than maybe how everybody was feeling. Yeah, well I think it was just that sense of like escapism as well.

And it's really weird because it's kind of like serendipity. I remember when I messaged you and then I think I sent you the cape and you saw the label and you said to me, oh my goodness, I've actually already got one of your sequin face masks which you'd bought from Polly Tucker's shop. And you said, I keep my Polly pockets in the, in the little bag or something it comes in. And it's funny how, and how, how like those crossovers happen and you think, Oh wow, okay.

Like this, this was meant to be, you know? But I think, yeah, people just seem to be, there was a lot of gifting happening at that time. People sending capes to, you know, loved ones they couldn't be with and that sort of thing. And I mean, making those, the sequined face masks, I mean, I don't think I could ever make a face mask again, because I made hundreds and hundreds of them. But I think we were all just up for something to lift us out of the kind of terror, I guess, of what was going on and the uncertainty because none of us knew at that stage how long it was going to go on for as well.

That's very true. And do you think for you, going into your workshop and being surrounded by someone that is stimulated by what you see, like the visual aspect of things that sparkle? Does it kind of improve your mood? Yeah, well I think it definitely improves my mood and I always say like it sounds ridiculous and so kind of flowery but when I'm working I'm always in a really positive mindset you know because it's it's such a joy to get to put these creations you know to realize these creations that someone's messaged in and said oh this is a phrase that my dad used to say or it's it's really I don't know it's just really

special it's so nice to feel part of that all the time. Definitely and so the reality of the business, is it still you doing everything? Or have you got a team with you now? What's the sort of scale of it? Well, so pre this operation that I've just had, so there was three of us, but now there's just two of us. So I did have an assistant and currently I'm not sure whether I'll get another assistant or I'll just continue with how things are at the moment. But there's me and there's a lady called Dawn who sews most of the capes. So she does most of the capes and I do all of the banners. Oh, they're beautiful, your banners.

Oh, thank you. So beautiful. I really love making them. And so these are for people who don't know, they're very large scale banners. They seem like they're very celebratory and often very romantic and bold and about, let's go on an adventure together or a quote from something. And sometimes you've done them quite, almost quite sort of arts and crafts, William Morris sort of era texture. And sometimes they're just all out twinkles.

Yeah. Well, you can get, we do like about four different sizes and some are phrases that, you know, people would just see and buy and then you can customize them as well. And I think at first I just kept to the sequins, but I feel like there's so many parts of my personality that I'm not afraid of going there now. Before I was like, oh well no, I shouldn't probably, I should just stick to sparkles

because that's what I'm known for. Whereas now I'm like, well actually no, I do love arts and crafts and I love all of that side of things too. Like I've just done a Liberty Fabric one and I really like being able to explore that side of me as well. And that's, I think that's the great thing of just realizing now like, oh actually, I'm the boss. I can do what I want. I don't have to stick, you know, I'm not John Lewis or whatever. I can do whatever I want. So it's been really nice that people have kind of been coming to me and go, oh actually, well we really love this William Morris fabric, we have that. So I'm really enjoying that at the moment.

Yeah, so is this the first thing you've done that has really given you that freedom in that way? Yeah, I think so. I think, obviously, working for a brand, it was brilliant. And I think you can tell by looking at my work that I used to work for Moschino because it's humorous and the slogans and all of that kind of thing. But when you're able to, I guess, call the shots, the only people I have to listen

to are my customers, that's, you know, that feels like really winning at life. Even on the days when you're like, you know, if I've made a spelling mistake or something disastrous like that, it's still kind of on my terms, which is great, really. And how did you come to work? I'm curious about the Moschino Day. So how did you come to work for Moschino? Because that's a very covetable brand to be working with I imagine. That's a tough job to get.

Yeah, it was, so I'd studied fashion design. So I'm from Newcastle. I'd left school at 16 and I went to do a BTEC in fashion design in Newcastle and I was never really that fussed about leaving to be honest and it was my teachers who were like no you know what you're good you need to go to London and get into one of the London colleges and I was like oh okay then and I went to the University of Westminster and while I was there I actually think your husband might have been in the year before me. I was going to say, Richard went there. That's funny.

That just sort of flashed back to me actually because there was a really good music course there as well and it was it was it was really fun to be there but while I was there I did like loads of work experience and and just every every I had, I'd be assisting on a shoot. I also had a Saturday job at Portobello Market. I felt like I was just really in that scene, if you know what I mean. I was going to say, you're very plugged into... I mean, there's a lot of vitality in a market like Portobello as well.

You get to meet... I bet there's people you met there that you're still sort of aware of what they're up to because it was such a melting pot of people coming there and sourcing and and fashion people. Yeah, a lot of stylists came. Yes, exactly. So I was sort of interning and working at Portobello and then I had this, like I remember having this like actual contacts book, like everyone I would just, like, write their numbers down or their email addresses and then just be in touch with them and say, do you need an assistant? So I assisted various stylists and things. And then I went and I got an interview for a job at Moschino on the reception desk answering

the phone. And at the time I was like, Oh, but I, you know, I want to be working with a stylist or I want to be in the PR department or something like that. Um, and I got the job and I just thought, well, I've graduated, I need to earn some money. I'll, I'll do this. And I, it was like, it was one of the best years of my life. And it was just working at this company full of young people, really up for doing their jobs and someone left in the PR department and I applied for that job and they knew that

I was there every day I was like making teas and you know typing all the bits no one else wanted to do while while I was quiet or whatever and then that's how I got the job and I stayed for 12 years and it was yeah it was absolutely bonkers and brilliant. So what year did you start then? I'm trying to work out the timeline, was that around 2000? Yeah it might have been about 2001 I think I got the job but it was such a fun time you know it was it was really fun to be in that industry and you know also just meeting I love music, I love music,

and meeting a lot of musicians that were like on the, you know, rising in their careers, you know, when they're coming in to get their look together and things like that. Yeah, it was just, it was brilliant, really. But then once you once once I got pregnant, I think I'm the kind of person that really likes to be kind of all in or likes to be kind of all in or all out. Like I couldn't imagine being, you know, that job and you have to go to sort of parties and stay out late and that kind of thing. I felt like I'd be like, it wouldn't be the same for me if I was like, I have to get home for the baby. So I knew

I wouldn't feel the same about it after I'd had Berry. So when, just in that style of work, that environment, it's quite hard, do you think, to keep the two things going? Like to be the party girl and then also be social and keeping up with that pace and then also going back home and having quality time in your home life as well at that point? Yeah, I think so. I think some people do it and they do it really, really well. And I've got, you know, so much respect for that. But I just knew I wasn't going to...

I did go back briefly to do one of the shows in, I think, London Fashion Week. And it just felt so different to me. I just, I don't know, it was quite sad in a way, because it's like, all right, yeah, those days are over. You know, you're never, once you've had children, you know, it's the best thing ever, obviously. But then there is that side, you know, that door closes of like, you can't just go out with sheer abandon anymore.

You have to like come back and, you know, be responsible and all those things. It's true. And I think, also listening to you speak about it, I think, you know, if you're, if it's quite a demanding lifestyle, but also a thing that you've, it sounded like you almost got to a point where you're like, realistically, my heart just isn't in this in the same way anymore. Like that, yeah, that that decision, as you say, some people do balance those two things and you have to keep that level of passion otherwise you'll just think, you'll be the one sitting out there going, you know

what, I kind of would rather not, I'd rather be at home than here or be doing something else. Kind of takes away your, changes your perspective on it, I guess, if you haven't got that thirst in the same way once you've shifted your attention I suppose. Yeah it was a real, it really dawned on me. I always remember actually I was out with a friend and we were both pregnant and we were at Oxford Circus and there was like we were going home and people were coming out and she just looked at me and she went that's never going to be us again. And I was like, oh my goodness, yes, like, obviously you still go out and all of those things, but it's a very different level of going out. And it felt like a real sort of sliding doors moment, you know, one in one out

kind of thing. Yeah, and did you always want to have children? Is that something you're always thinking that was on the agenda at some point possibly? Yeah I think I've always wanted to have children but I was always I don't know I was never one of those like you know those people are like crazily maternal like I never felt like I was like dying to hold somebody else's baby or or that kind of thing or would like massively coo over babies. And I often wondered like, Oh, am I going to be like that one day? And then obviously you're like that with your own children. But I remember thinking that

like other women would be way more maternal than me. And then, yeah, obviously I've got three children and I am maternal, but it kind of comes to everybody in different ways, doesn't it? Definitely. And I think also, I remember when I got pregnant with my first and it sounds terrible but I just couldn't see any cute babies anywhere. And I was like, with my mum and I was like, I don't know what's wrong with me but all the babies I keep seeing just aren't that cute and it's freaking me out a bit. She was like, hmm yeah maybe that's a bit concerning. Are you sure you're ready for this bit? My brain just kind of going like, hmm I thought I was really into this idea now like they all look kind of strange. Well it is that thing, it's like when you first had your

newborn baby and the you know they're all the hormones here and you're like oh my goodness this is the most beautiful baby I've ever seen in my life and then you look back at pictures and you think oh it's like a little like 18 number. Yeah there'd be like a couple of pictures I'd be like I remember this is the one that I sent out to absolutely everybody but now I'm thinking they did a very good job with their reactions actually. It's true. FanDuel Casino Daily Jackpots guaranteed to hit by 11 p.m. with your chance at the number one feeling winning which beats even the 27th best feeling saying I do.

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until Jackpot is awarded or 11 p.m. Eastern. Research and supply. See full terms at canada.casino.fandoo.com. Please play responsibly. Actually, as a funny bit of a timeline, I have quite a specific relationship with Moschino actually, but it's very much crystallized. And that would have been the time you just started working there. Yeah, because- I remember meeting you because I remember you came in right when I first started.

Well, it would have been. Yeah. I was walking past the shop and in the window they had this absolutely beautiful dress on the mannequin in the window. This was in, it would have been maybe 2001 I think, maybe 2002 at the latest. No I think 2001 actually, and it was this black strapless dress, very 50s shape, so like a fitted waist and a huge skirt with nets and the front was covered with a bouquet of flowers where all the flowers were jeweled. And it was the most beautiful dress I'd ever seen and I kind of stopped in my tracks. And shamefully, I can't remember the name of the star, I think it was Maria Bonnet I think that was her name and she was styling me for my first video so we were doing Take

Me Home and she sort of grabbed me by the hand and brought me into the shop and I basically ended up wearing that dress for my video and then very kindly must you know gifted it to me and I still have it I saw it only yesterday because I have it in a box on top of my wardrobe and I was actually thinking of getting it framed because it's firstly it's very beautiful but it also was such a dream moment for me to see this dress in the window and then go in and then find myself wearing it. It's very beautiful but it was was like, I'd never had that life before. And it was like such a magical. Yeah, such a moment.

But it really lifted me as well. I think clothes are so clever at giving you this character or this space or this narrative. And I can transform my mood if I'm wearing the right thing. Well, I think that that was the great thing that I loved about Moschino so much was, I always said that I was a fan before I worked there. So for me, I was just such a fan girl. I loved it. It came easy to me doing the PR because it's like, well, look at it. The product's amazing. It kind of does the work itself. But also the fact that you'd have the boys in Labyrinth Grove wearing it, and then you'd have people like you wearing it in music videos, and it had such a huge

spectrum of attraction to me. I just thought that that's really unique and special. And I think one thing as well I was picking up on you were talking like that I think such a crucial thing that's obviously been sort of secret to your success is that thing of being open to new experiences and open to doing the jobs and getting stuck in. It sounded like you were very enthusiastic but also quite you know quite aware like okay well if I'm in the office I'm going to do the jobs that other people haven't got time to do or maybe are not quite as exciting. And that meant that when this opportunity came to work in PR, they were like, oh, Susie's actually really on it for those things.

That's a good asset. And I think it's such a thing I'm always trying to tell my kids about when you're working is like, always be open and don't complain. Just get stuck in and do all the jobs. Everybody has to do all the jobs at the beginning and then you can start to refine it as you go along and find your people. But the beginning, if you want in, you've got to be the one that's like, I'll do it. Making the tea, yeah, taking the bins out, everything. Yeah, I totally agree with that. I totally agree with that. So with your, because obviously I can see that you have all these roots, even working

in the shoe shop, you know, and Portobello and all this stuff gives you all these tools when it comes to your aesthetic education in terms of fashion and finish. Because the thing I love about all the things you make is that they are beautifully finished. They're actually beautiful to hold and to touch and they last and they're just gorgeous. All the detail is spot on. But what about the crafty aspect because presumably you have to be able to have all these other skills and where did that come from? How long have you been able to sew and cut and all of those things? Well, it's quite funny because, so my mum is not crafty at all, like she's just not into that, but the rest of her family were very like that. And I remember, so I've got

this amazing auntie, she's called Auntie Lily, and I remember, I had this vision as about an eight-year-old child that I wanted a dress. You know when Alice in Wonderland sits down in the Disney movie and the dress is all like fanned out around her? Yes, exactly. Yeah, I remember having this clear vision, I was about, yeah, maybe about eight, and I wanted a school summer dress like that, and it all fanned out around me. So my mum took me to my Auntie Lily who is just this amazing woman and she made one for me and I just remember thinking that was so clever. She made this dress for me. I wore it to school. I mean it was a gown.

It was still in the blue and white summer check fabric and, I think I got made fun of for just basically turning up in this huge poofy dress that I was like, I've arrived. And so I remember that really planted a seed like knowing that someone could just make that with their hands. And then I got a sewing machine, I think for my 15th birthday and I remember buying patterns like you could buy like a DKNY pattern from John Lewis and I would cut the fabric and make the dress and wear it out to like some indie nightclub I was far too young to be going to but just love the whole fact

that I feel like I like your dress and I'm like, thanks, I made it. And then I think I'll, I will have a go at anything. I love learning to sew. So recently my thing is like embroidery. I'm really into that. But just sort of anything with my hands. I think as well, I discovered that like while I was recovering from this operation I just had, I was like sitting at home I just had I would I was like

Sitting at home and I couldn't watch TV. I just it felt so alien to me sitting watching TV during the day I had to be just sort of tinkering away with something and just making it just feels So much more satisfying to me and it makes I don't know there's something about it makes you you really present and calm and And yeah, I don't know, there's something about it, it makes you really present and calm and yeah, I just love it. I can relate to that. I mean, I'm not as talented as you at the sewing, but I love, I think there's a satisfaction in just creating something by the end of the day that wasn't there at the beginning. So just making something out of the ingredients. It could be for me cooking, but also I get that from songwriting. But when I was young, especially my mum taught me to sew and I was always making things,

sewing stuff, and I used to just love making things so much. And I think it's that feeling of like, oh, it's like a little bit of alchemy, you know, that you can get these raw ingredients and create this new thing. Your children learning to sew? Because I do think it's a pretty brilliant skill set, but so many people don't, they wouldn't even be able to put a button back on. Yeah, well, Berry, for Christmas, she got a sewing machine, a pink John Lewis one, and she absolutely loves it.

And she she is really having a go. And she sees me sewing and obviously doing this for my job they love coming here because it's like the world's largest craft cupboard so and my husband he's a creative director so he's really creative as well and we always joke that we're like those weird sort of hippie parents that we don't fully understand technology, so we'll be like oh let's sit around and draw or you know craft or whatever. So yeah I think naturally they're quite interested, I hope they stay interested because it's so I think it's so

rewarding but you know they'll probably all be like no we're accountants and that kind of thing. but they'll probably all be like, no, we're accountants and that kind of thing. And is Berry's pink sewing machine, is it designed for kids? I'm quite curious about that. Or is it just a- No, I think it's just the basic one, the basic one that they do.

That's cool. But yeah, she's sort of getting the hang of it. I think the hard part is, sewing is kind of the easy part. I think the hard part is the pattern cutting and all of that side of things. Yes. And also finishing projects, I think, because I think it's quite... Sometimes I'll get a whim of like, I'm going to do this and I'll buy all the bits and then they'll just sort of sit in a cupboard for a while. And I'll be like, oh yeah, that was when I was

planning to, I don't know. I started re... I saw something online where it was like getting fab old tea towels and like covering like stools with them so that they look really pretty. Oh wow. Yeah I like that idea. Well yeah so I did like two great and then the third one I did the top bit and then I've never I don't even know where I've put the legs. I just obviously had a sort of day where that was the thing I was doing and then like moved on but I do think it's such a great feeling when you've actually had your hand in the making of something, even if it's just a small tweak.

And I think, you know, there's so, I do feel like the crafting world, if that's even the right term for it, has had such a boom. And people have really changed their opinion about that sort of artisan and getting crafting and things that have had that independent business and small business touch on things. It's been really nice to see that. Yeah, I think so too. I think, like, there's, you know, there's obviously there's so much to be said about social media and I feel that people complain about it a lot and I get that. But I think the algorithm that I'm on, I love it. I mean, I just seem to be served like American ladies who quilt.

And I could just sit and watch that for hours. I really, really, you know, I love this kind of wooly, crafty, cosy things to watch and to learn from. I just think it's such a gift in a way that we've got all this at our fingertips now. I've made two quilts now and I'm really enjoying that. I'm not very good, compared to, you know, the talents some people have. But just being able to learn that skill by being online a little bit, it's amazing, I think. It is amazing. And obviously we're sitting here knowing that what you're doing is connected with so many people,

but what's the reality of setting up a business? Do you think it's something that, was it like a big conversation with your you know your husband is it something where you have to kind of really plan it or is it a little bit more of a gentle thing how did you feel about it at the beginning and what's your sort of I don't know what have you learned about setting up I guess? Oh well I think it was it was definitely organic. I don't think I've ever sat down with a business

plan. I wish I was more like that and I wish I had that side to my personality, but I don't think I do. I have just let it grow. And I haven't ever taken out... The only thing that I got that was alone or whatever was that my... I asked my husband if he would get me a laptop because I haven't got any money for a laptop. So that's the one I'm actually still talking to you on. So that was right at the beginning. But I haven't ever, you know, done anything like that. And it has all just kind of grown. And, and I think that, you know, there's, there's definitely been some times where I'm like, Oh, you know, do I keep growing it and make it more of a, you know, proper business with, you know, people working for me and that kind of thing. But I don't know if I'd lose, lose

part of it if I did that. It's I mean, it's five years old now. And yeah, I think I'm just I'm happy with where things are at the moment. And I think it's, it's amazing to get to go to work. And it never feels like a job. It feels like an absolute treat. You know, and there's obviously this there's been there's been annoying things that have happened along the way, you know, being copied and like one big thing that's been really, you know, stressful and an actual nightmare to go through was, so my kids' capes, because they're, they're classed as a toy, so you have to have them tested like a toy, like a safety test. And that is so expensive to do. Obviously it's so essential,

but like going through that process is really hard when you've never done it before and you've got no advice. And also the companies that you use to test often, they don't really care about you because you're not Mattel or you're just some person who's trying to do the right thing. So there are moments where you think, oh gosh, I might not,

because my intention was always to do more of a collection. I'd love to have done sequin fairy wings and loads of dressing up things for kids. But because it was so expensive basically to do the capes, I've had to just stop there and be like, okay, I'll just leave it. No that's interesting because I didn't even really appreciate that. It's probably a bit naive of me really but so at what point did you become aware is that something that's like a legal requirement that

it's been through that before you can sell them online? Yeah yeah so you have to have them you have to have like the UKCA logo. So they have to be tested for all sorts of things like flammability, you know, strangulation, all sorts, you know, and I've got children myself and wanted to do the right thing. But it is often demoralizing when you're, I don't know, you see stuff in a supermarket or whatever, and you think, Oh, God, that I know it's been safety tested, but it looks like it kind of hasn't. And it but but companies can just whiz through that process because they've got the money. So yeah, that's something that that constantly plays on my mind because I think, oh, I don't know if I want if I will always continue with the kids stuff because it's such a stress really. So is it not a case of like you do it and it's done, you have to keep you have to kind of keep up with it and and if develop new products and that kind of thing, you'd have to keep testing. So yeah, it's a bit of a big one really.

Yeah, I mean, I suppose, yeah, I can see that obviously there's such validity in having it, but maybe there could be ways to support smaller businesses to make sure that they're meeting those requirements, but not finding it demotivating? Yeah because it it's hard it's like you know there are ways you can self test but it's really you know you've got literally like sit there and set fire to some fabric and and measure the burning time and on all of that so I didn't personally I didn't personally, I didn't feel comfortable doing that. So I used a lab, a testing lab.

And oh yeah, really, really stressful and difficult. Yeah, I can imagine actually. And also talking of what could be stressful and difficult, you've mentioned your operation a couple of times. This is an operation you had on your foot before Christmas, is that right? Yeah, yeah. So it's, I've always known I was going to have to have it. So I'm hypermobile.

And because of that, so I've got, I had, it's not very glamorous, but it was a bunion operation that had to have the bone fused. And then, so I had like pins and I had a joint removed and it was just, you know, when you're like, yeah, yeah, yeah, I'll do that. It'll be, that, that'll be all right. It was, it was so much worse know, when you're like, yeah, yeah, yeah, I'll do that. It'll be that that'll be all right. It was, it was so much worse than I could ever have imagined. Oh, I'm sorry. Um, not to put anyone off who might be considering it, but it's just, you know, and you've got three kids and you know, I only did the school room for the first time yesterday, um, since November it's, it's, and I'm, it feels a bit like I had

some physio on Monday and it's like learning to walk again and just balancing your feet the correct way because you know, it's three toes is kind of most of your foot, isn't it? Yeah. So yeah. Yeah. I had a girlfriend go through something similar and she found it really tough and it went on for months. And of course, once you're on the other side of it, you can say the memory of it will fade about how long it was, but when you're in it, it's really tough to just give yourself over to that. And I'd imagine for a business like yours as well, Christmas is a really big time for

you with orders, so you'd be trying to manage all like yours as well, Christmas is a really big time for you with orders, so you'd be trying to manage all of that as well. And in family life, as you say, it's hard not being able to be mobile. Well yeah, just all of those little things. My daughter wrote me, she's got an email address now, so she'll occasionally send me the odd email, which is very sweet. She wrote a bucket list of all the things she wanted to do with me and one of them was just to hold my hand and I was like oh it's because I'd had crutches for so long but yeah I feel so good now because I can you know the sun

shining I'm not just sat at home on my own every day like I had to sleep on the sofa for seven weeks it's just you don't think of all those things when you agree to it you're like yeah I can handle that that's. And then the reality is often quite different. Definitely. And imagine hypermobility as well might be a factor when you're pregnant as well, isn't it? Well, yeah, I think it was okay. I definitely know that I get a bit more sort of aches and pains in my joints than normal. I always thought it was really impressive up until I realized it the problems it sort of caused me with my kind of

bendy hands and things. But yeah, not fun at all. Oh, well, I'm sorry. And I'm very glad to hear that you're on the road to recovery. I always feel like the good news is that your operation, you knew you'd be getting back to a place of resuming your life in the same way again, which is not always going to be the case when you've had an operation, so everything changes. So as you say, you're back to doing the school run for the first time and all those first times, first times, and then that'll just be the regular again. But sometimes when you're having to be flat on your back, you feel like you can't really begin the process of probably getting better until you're up and motoring again.

You kind of need to get going. Yeah, well, the thing is, is this is such a physical job as well, because firstly, my office is like three flights of stairs. And then when you're making, you know, you have to, like when I'm cutting, you have to put your whole weight into the blade and standing up and then sewing and all of those sorts of things. So it has, I have had to wait until I was like really fine

to be back. Even yesterday, I was stood with kneeling on my bad leg just while I was working. Oh yeah, going on and on. But it will hopefully get better now that we're getting towards spring as well. It kind of gets your morale a bit more like the sun is shining. We'll get back out there. How do you find raising your, I was thinking about the sunshine and I was thinking about Sussex, which is a place I love, but obviously you didn't grow up in Sussex. So what's it like raising your kids in a different

environment to the one you had or maybe their maybe their childhood is quite similar to yours? Yeah I feel I think it is really quite different actually because I was I grew up in Newcastle really quite close to the centre and there was always just so much going on and so much to do and and we're more in a like villagey sort of setting and yeah I think I think it's idyllic and wonderful for them and I wonder how it'll be as teenagers we've got Brighton just down the road so I'm hoping that will kind of satisfy that teenage you know you need a bit more don't you? Brighten's great. Yeah brightness is really fun and and so such a sort of colorful place to be so yeah hope I hope it'll be good you

just hope for the best don't you but I go back to Newcastle quite regularly and I absolutely love it up there I mean you know I could probably quite easily move back there in a heartbeat but I obviously don't think Castle quite regularly and I absolutely love it up there. I mean, you know, I could probably quite easily move back there in a heartbeat, but I obviously don't think that would work for the whole family. But yeah, I think Newcastle is an amazing city and the kids love it up there. Yeah, I love Newcastle too. It's really cool. And I was thinking, because before we spoke, I was thinking like, I just find it so, I

feel like I've got like a little community of people I've made friends with, probably since lockdown really, where they're all people that have got this same thing as you and I, where we get excited about things that bring you a bit of joy. But at the same time, I wonder if there's some people that would look at our love of twinkly things and be a bit bemused by it sometimes. When you're talking to people and they don't know what you do and then you explain your business, how do people usually react to it?

It's almost like once you're into it, it's a whole world out there. Not everybody's got... I've got a whole room upstairs with, you know, capes and leotards and all sorts of stuff. Oh, I bet it's fantastic. It's fun. I really enjoy it. Although it's quite funny because my dressing room was always the bedroom of my youngest child.

So where I know I had a baby, that's where they would be because they were small and my clothes could be everywhere. And then last, about last Christmas, I swapped it round. So I took my youngest out and he now shares with the next one up brother. And then I put my 12 year old in there. And I've recently had my wardrobe all like redone. I got um, there's a lady called Dilly Carter. I saw her on Instagram. Yeah. So Dilly came round. So I interviewed Dilly for the podcast a while back and she's absolutely gorgeous and she'd said I want to you to get into your wardrobe, let me help you. So I was like, okay. And it was absurd, like this crew of honestly like five people going through all

my stuff. So embarrassing. So embarrassing that it took so many hands to go through my things. Oh wow. But all the things, I used to have all my twinkly things hanging out on the outside of doors and wardrobes and stuff because I quite, I like how it looks like it's, I find it's similarity. Yeah. But I had to acknowledge that Ray is now his bedroom.

So it's all been put away. So there's nothing on the outside anymore. And yeah, I feel like, I know it's the right thing for him, but I do miss it. Yeah. I love all I know it's the right thing for him to miss it. I love all of that stuff so much. Well, it's funny because I've kept pretty much all of my Moschino things from when I worked there. So I've got these huge Tupperwares full of amazing like tulle dresses and tinsel and sequins and all these fabulous things because I remember looking at photos of my mum when I was little and I'd be like, where's that fur coat now? And

she would be like, oh, I don't know, I got rid of it years ago. Where's that amazing leather skirt? So I think in turn that's made me into a bit of a hoarder for my daughter. So I do think she's, she is quite into her clothes and that sort of thing. And one day I'll be able to go, okay okay open the giant Tupperware. Between now and then can I have a look? Sounds amazing. Yeah I think you would like quite a lot of the bits actually. And what about must be all your kids though I mean I think how did they feel about about what you do? Did they get excited about the idea of it? Yeah they they're really proud of me actually and I think that's the most sort of wonderful, rewarding thing of all because they know that

I'm just so happy with my work and actually it was interesting because someone asked me the other day, they said, do you have any hobbies? It was like a sort of professional person asking me this question and I was like no I think my work is my hobby like everything I do feeds back into it like if it's me learning a new skill or something it always feeds back into my business actually that's a really valid point I'd never really thought of it like that but I think I'm the same I suppose when someone says have you got a hobby and it's like oh I don't play tennis or anything like that you know. No but I think that's actually maybe the joy of being you know given the freedom to be a creative and I say being given it because I do think it started from before I even thought about what I might do for a living. I think it was my childhood and my teenage years and all of it.

Even the fact I was allowed to draw all over my walls and paint on there and all that kind of thing. It means that you can, because if you can be really truly expressive, then I do believe it will feed into something that ends up also being what you do, if that's what excites you. I'm not saying it's got any more value than anything else, but if that's your thing, I think it can then all become part of the same conversation. And it's such a privilege to be able to take elements of things that excite you and then

feed it back into your work. Into the thing that you love, yeah, it really is. It's totally unique and I just feel kind of lucky all the time really and because it still feels so new to me, I still feel like I'm only just scratching the surface, like there's so many other things I'd like to do. So yeah, it's exciting. I don't know what will be next maybe. Well, are there anything you can share with me about those sort of next thoughts you have? Well, I'd like to sort of do kind of more ornate style so I just I don't know if you can see I'll tilt can you see my bag there? Oh yes.

So I made that last week mainly because I haven't been able to like I needed to be hands-free so I made myself a bigger bag when I was walking and I appliqued this big bow on it and I feel like that kind of thing is really speaking to me at the moment. That sounds good. I could already see it hanging up in the background. I was like, I wonder if she's going to do bags. What about the fact that people often do messages that are about really significant points in their life? I mean, obviously there's a lot of things that are quite romantic, but there might also be, I know you do a lot of ones that will say like, fuck cancer and messages that are to do with all sorts of things people are going through and anytime they might need

to feel a bit empowered. I wondered how that might feel for you while you're involved in the actual like, touching these items and sort of feeding it back into the work? Well, those, the fuck cancer caves have been a real, sort of such an unknown beast to me because they are so popular and they are so significant to so many people and and to me as well you know I've made sort of friends through people buying these

capes and coming back and buying them again and the sometimes like the messages that will come with them I'm not exaggerating though they make me cry like I just they're so touching and amazing and I've always felt it's been a murky water because I'm like, well I make these capes and I want to do something with a charity but I don't know how because there hasn't been a particular charity that's kind of spoken to me if you know what I mean but there's one charity that just by pure coincidence of people buying them and wearing them to their events, it's called Cancer in Common. And they have these amazing events up and down the country and you can go if cancer

is affecting you or someone you know in your life in some way. And they're really fun events. They're joyous, they're people wearing capes and you know all sorts of things like that and yeah I'm actually chatting with them about you know some sort of collaboration and I'm so excited because they, I feel like that's the right thing, that's been the organic element I've been waiting for, for the right moment and the right kind of charity to work with. So yeah, that's quite exciting, I think. Definitely. But also I think it's, as you say, like that personal element of people, you know, writing to you or the messages and then you become part of something and

that is a real privilege isn't it to sort of like have these like insights and you say you've even made friends with people. Yeah. Yeah. And to people who kind of, you know, they buy them for end of treatment parties or they buy them to gift to somebody who's going through chemo or something like that. And yeah, it's and I have a, you know, I have a sort of thing on the website that says, I always prioritise those

capes over every other order because they're so special and important to me. So yeah, I never saw myself doing that, but the fact that they're actually, they sell so well, it's been, you just can't see the way things turn out sometimes, you know? That's really special. Yeah, an unexpected pleasure. Turn, yeah. Exactly. And how do you find raising a family and running a business where you're the one who has to, I don't know, manage stress or manage your timings and compartmentalize, I suppose, when you've got a lot of orders to fulfill, but you've also,

you know, do you have like very set hours? Is it quite boundary? Does it end up being a little bit more amorphous? Yeah, it's quite murky. I feel like I'm pretty much always working, but I don't, I actually don't mind that because I get to do it around my family. So I tend to leave and pick up the kids from school. So I work, you know, I'm here school hours and then I'm at home and I'm sort of doing sort of online things, replying to emails and that kind of thing. And you know, everybody feels bad. You know, sometimes I feel bad because I think, oh oh god I've been on my phone a lot or I've been ignoring the kids while

I'm replying to emails. But then I think well so my parents had a small business when I was growing up and I saw the work that they put into it and I don't begrudge it at all. I never did as a child. That was just the way things were. So I hope that they see that and understand that. No, actually that is comforting because I think we can put ourselves under a lot of pressure with that and particularly if you've got work where just by the language of how you speak about it, your kids become aware that you've got a choice about how things are working. There'll sometimes be time where they'll say,

well, can't you just say no to that? Why are you doing that? Because they kind of know that if we really wanted to, it's not like I've got a boss over me saying you have to do these things. So I think you can sometimes feel like quite guilty about the commitment you're giving work and the time you need to give it, but actually the trickle down is that when they're older,

they actually can have a really, as you say, they'll be like, oh no, we kind of just really knew. Kids push boundaries anyway. Yeah. We just knew that that was the thing you were getting on with. But I think sometimes giving yourself permission to have that space and to have, to do the work and to enjoy it and to be working hard can be quite, I find that sometimes a bit of a struggle. Yeah, and actually I think that is, that's quite interesting you saying sort of giving

yourself the permission, like you do need to be like, no, this is okay, you know, everyone's everyone's surviving and it's, it's not that bad. I actually remember once being somewhere and a lady, she kind of made a reference to me, the fact, I think I was watching my kids swimming and I was on my phone and she made some sort of comment about me being on my phone while they, I can't remember, it was just a few years ago, it really cut me. It was, It made me feel really dreadful, but I was working. It was like, well, I'm here and I wish I could watch with undivided attention. But sometimes you just need to do the thing. You need to reply to the customer who's going, hi, is my order on its way or something like

that. So yeah, but it's funny when someone makes a little comment like that and you kind of go, oh my goodness, I'm a dreadful person. Yeah. Also, I would argue that a swimming lesson is a really, that's like, I'm like, great, I've got half an hour now to do a response to, that's when I'd get a bit of work done. It's much better doing that so that you've got the time on either side to bring them in, help them get changed, take them home again. Yeah, exactly.

Can you get yourself changed? I've just got to work on some emails. I mean, is that swimming lesson? Are you supposed to watch all of that? No, I don't think so. No, I wouldn't say I'm... I'll maybe watch the bit at the end where they do the big jump and I'll be like, is that okay? Did that smack the surface? Yeah, are you okay? Yeah, great. You've come back up. Brilliant. Oh good, yeah, you've bogged up. Great, home time. Yeah, that kind of shaming thing is not cool. I think with, you know, if your phone is like your office like it is for me as well then it's sometimes people wouldn't really understand it you're not just

sort of actually I was gonna say sometimes I probably am just on Instagram but by and large I'm not. Let's presume that I'm not. Well yeah I sort of asked you before but then I kind of distracted myself from it but what is most people's if they don't know what you do and you tell them. Oh, right. Sorry. That was probably me just not answering the question. Well, so what happens is most people say, what is it? What's your job? And then I say, Oh, I used to say, I make sparkly cakes. And they'd always reply and go, you make cakes. No, so it would just be this to and to and to and fro every time like, no, I don't make

cakes. And so now I just say I make sparkly things for people to wear and sometimes hang at their weddings and it's quite hard. I've actually started without sounding massively pretentious to just say, I'm an artist. I'm an artist or designer. It's sort of easier and cleaner and I'm certainly not, you know, a Tracy Eman or anything like that. But I think it's easier for people to understand because sometimes they'll just say, what, you're a what? Like it makes no sense to people.

And trying to explain words on fabric and things to people, It does sound quite alien, like if you haven't got a visual to go with it. Well, I can help provide visuals. I mean, the last time I had a cape from you, I commissioned one for a new year because it's such a perennial. I'll be able to wear a happy new year cape every new year.'ve got a Happy Christmas, a Happy New Year. I just need a happy birthday. Easter's coming up. Yeah, it's just, gotcha. Too true.

I mean, what a different colour for every season, every occasion. Could even have a Happy Halloween, like a spooky one. Well, thank you so much, I think honestly I find it so, so inspiring because I think the part of the reason why I think what you've done has resonated so much is because of your passion for how you've set it up and what it means to you. I think those things really come across and that's why, you know, you get them and you can see that everything's been been made with, with, yeah, like I mentioned before, the attention to detail, it's beautiful, it's joyful, but it's proper. It looks great and

I think long may it continue. I can't wait to see whatever happens next. Oh, thank you. But I know it'll be something that, I mean, I've just had a wardrobe clear out, so I've got a little bit more room back, so I can order some more things. Thank you for always sort of shouting about my business and everything. It really makes such a difference. It's so lovely to have someone's support like that. Oh, not at all. Well, I actually, I feel like when I, you know, especially like I've got a real soft spot for small businesses, I think, because it does emanate so much about the

relationship you get with the person. It's never just about the item. It's always more of a story around it. And I also feel like, yeah, that sort of kindred spirit feeling really. Yeah. You know, I've just like, people have just gone all in on something that, that yes, other people can enjoy, but fundamentally provides, you know, fulfills a need in us, doesn't it? Yeah.

It comes from that really, like a happy feeling at its core. The world can never get enough of that stuff, for sure. Oh, I totally agree. As to that, and also you're probably the only people I know that would see, you probably see way more sequins than me actually I see sequins. I got out of the shower this morning and I saw a sequin in a rather unusual place I mean, it's just

My the people that work in this building must be sick of the sight of them I'm constantly going up and down with the sticky getting the sequence They do really get about I mean also that I leave a little trail yeah they're just like a little trail little beads or little crystals yeah everything pops off. There's worse things you could be leaving trails off. It's true it's just sometimes if I put like I really love like glittery socks and things like that and sometimes if they go in the wash, the glitter comes off and then everything comes out with a little sparkle. As you say, there's worse things.

Thank you so much to Suzie and thank you to her and people like her who take the plunge and start creating something so joyful. And actually, the fact that Suzy runs it from home and it's independent becomes fused with my enjoyment of her things actually. I like stories in clothing and things that I own. In fact, I think there's hardly anything that I own that's just kind of, you know, obviously it's like highly functional things. But things that are around me that are more for, you know, the non-essentials, but the stuff I just like to be around.

There's often a bit of a story to them, where I found them, or who I was with when I saw it, or something it kind of reminds me of. I think it's quite unusual to have something and then have like no connection with it beyond it just being like, that's nice. But maybe that's just me, sorry. Just decided to eat a bit of, it's now Sunday afternoon and got all the potatoes, the roasted potatoes and vegetables that didn't get eaten earlier.

And yeah, even though I ate loads earlier, I'm just like, now I've decided it's the time to start eating a carrot. Well, I'm just like, now I've decided it's the time to start eating a carrot. Well, I'm speaking to you. A roasted carrot. I'm also stirring some vegetable curry now for the kids for supper. Cooking some rice.

And yeah, starting to think about the week ahead. So yeah, thank you so much to Susie and her beautiful things. And look, next week is the last one of this series. So what's that number? 150 or something? That is crazy, isn't it? I mean, it's been nearly five years now that I have been doing the podcast. And thank you so much. I feel very lucky actually.

It's so nice to do these chats and think of interesting people to speak to. And I hope you've enjoyed being part of it as well. And yeah, keep it going. I've already got in the diary three more to record for the start of next series. So look at me go. Because I go on tour in May, the middle of May.

And I want to make sure that I've got them recorded before I go, otherwise it gets a bit stressful. And I've also just been writing out my 16-year-old son's GCSE timetable. And I've realized it's exactly when I'm on tour. So that's great parenting, isn't it? Good luck with all that, Kit. I won't be here. No, it's all right. I mean, he's been brilliant. He's been getting on with stuff so well.

Yes, Mickey? Hmm. I got called and then dismissed. Um... Anyway, the tour's going to be lovely. I'm talking to whoever's been listening to my podcast, actually. It's my farewell for this week's episode. Have you got any words of wisdom? Whoever's been listening? No? It's my farewell for this week's episode. Have you got any words of wisdom?

Whoever's been listening? No? He's watching Horrid Henry. It's a film I've seen a lot. I quite enjoy it, actually. We've had a really nice weekend here in London. It's been beautiful weather. Although some people aren't so sweet.

I went outside and obviously it's glorious sunshine and sort of 16 degrees, which is very exciting at this time of year, because it's been a bit bleak recently. But when I went out, I saw teenagers with their tops off and girls in little cut-off denim shorts and little vest tops. And I'm like, I get it, I applaud your enthusiasm. I also don't think we're quite there.

We're nearly there, we're not quite there. Apparently it's going to get cold again this week. Anyway, I digress. Yeah, I've got some lovely guests coming up for you. And for next week, I will be speaking to a lovely woman called Daria, who I was introduced to through Care International, a charity helping women in difficult circumstances all around the world. And she is a very interesting woman. She is living in Poland. She's a teacher,

but she's also a Ukrainian refugee. Her and her son and her mum and their cat all fled pretty much three years ago to the day when Russia invaded the Ukraine region. So she had about 20 minutes to get her things together and they have now built themselves a new life. But what an extraordinary thing to have to go through and how terrifying to feel so unsafe in your home that you drop everything, you get a backpack together and you're gone. Anyway, we will hear her story next week. She's very eloquent and it was a real privilege to speak to her about that.

And then, I know I say it every week, but I do mean it, please do send me your suggestions. It's so valuable, because I feel like I have one way of thinking, and I do find some lovely women, but then sometimes when someone says, oh, have you heard of this person? It's like, oh, a little treasure trove. So keep it coming.

Or if there's something, an area you feel like it'd be interesting to hear from, sometimes I do that. Like, for example, I'm always trying to find a woman who is also an astronaut and also a stunt person. I think it'd be very interesting to speak to someone who works in stunts, like high risk jobs. Bring it on. Anyway, I'm leathering away. I'm going to go back to cooking my curry.

Thank you to Susie Crowe. Thank you to Ella May for my gorgeous artwork. Very colorful this week, I like it. Thank you to Richard for doing editing. Claire Jones for producing. But as ever, it's you, my love. It is you and your glorious ears and the space you have given me in your life today.

I much appreciate it. It's nice to hang out with you. And I'll see you again next week, if you're so inclined. Lots of love, bye! I'm not gonna lie, I'm not gonna lie I'm not gonna lie, I'm not gonna lie I'm not gonna lie, I'm not gonna lie I'm not gonna lie, I'm not gonna lie I'm not gonna lie, I'm not gonna lie Fandu casino daily jackpots guaranteed to hit by 11 p.m. with your chance at the number

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