Blooming Beyond Your 9-5 (Wendy's 'A Little Love' Story)
EPISODE 83 — 23 MAY 2026
ABOUT THE EP
If you’ve ever dreamed of turning a hobby into something more, this is your sign!
We’re back in the same room and chatting all things ‘A Little Love Studio’ — Wendy’s newest creative endeavour. From taking a floristry course out of personal interest to launching her own business years later, Wendy shares the realities of starting a creative business, navigating imposter syndrome, balancing the 5–9 after the 9–5, and finding the courage to start before feeling ready.
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This was auto-generated by Spotify.
0:16
There is a 5 to 9 before the 9 to 5.
Yep, 'cause I go to the markets, yeah, come home, process the flowers and then go to my day job.
Oh my God.
But then there's also a 5 to 9 after as well.
So then after work I then will work on more desktopy stuff.
So I might be like responding to enquiries, doing our proposals.
0:33
It's been a little bit tricky.
Hi friends, welcome to our podcast A Seat at Our Table.
Candid conversations about the creative pursuits of Asian Australians.
I'm Tracy.
I'm Wendy.
We saved your seat.
Come join us.
0:49
Welcome back to the podcast.
Wendy and I are in the same room.
This is crazy.
Why?
Oh yeah, I'm back in Sydney.
Temporarily, temporarily, temporarily back in Sydney.
I actually think the last time we spoke we said that we record an episode in London.
Which we didn't do.
1:06
We didn't.
We were having too much fun.
Yeah, which we didn't do, so we.
Decided to prioritise fun.
Yeah, in the time that you've missed, Wendy's come over to London, she's visited, she travelled, we didn't record a podcast, and now I'm back in Sydney for two weeks and we're recording some podcasts here, so we're back in the same room.
1:21
So no virtual lags or whatever it is.
I actually don't think our virtual recordings are that bad.
No, I don't think so either.
Yeah, they can't tell.
It does sound like we're in the same room.
Hopefully they can't tell.
Yeah, but in today's episode we're gonna be talking about Wendy's experience starting up her forestry business and practical tips on how we can pursue your creative side hustle whilst balancing full time work.
1:41
So for those who don't know, Wendy recently, recently.
How long has it been?
Like since, since what?
Since starting up your little forest forestry studio.
It's been like officially a couple of months, but I was studying all of last year, so it's been pretty much a.
1:58
Year in the making, yeah, I would say.
So I think a year on, I kind of wanted to spend this episode kind of picking Wendy's brain about starting up a side hustle, what it entails, practical tips on maybe how you could start up one.
Because I know there are a lot of people out there who's kind of done with full time work to bonus, me included.
2:16
Like, you know, questioning is full time work for me, is what I'm doing for me.
And maybe you have an itch to do something new or pursue a creative hustle that you've always wanted to.
And Wendy's actually done it.
She's still in the process of doing it.
But I think it'll be good to kind of get your take on it right now as.
2:32
Yeah.
Yeah, as things are taking off.
Exactly as things are taking off, because I think, yeah, it's really good to see.
And hopefully everyone's following her on Instagram, which is a Little Love thought Studio.
That's correct.
OK.
Can you tell us about the origin story of A Little Love, how the idea came about?
And like what made you take the step to pursue this?
2:51
So it really started out not even just last year, but a couple of years ago.
So in 2022 peasants had these like short courses and I think they still do, but it's changed a little bit since it was like a four week short course that they had.
And floristry was always something that I was genuinely interesting as like, you know, I think that we did on the weekends, like, you know, a good day out with friends was potentially going out to the markets with friends, grabbing some cheap bunches of flowers and just going back to someone's place and making a thing like a vase arrangement or bouquet.
3:25
And I wanted to see if that could be something more.
So I did the short course in 2022, and that was during COVID, actually.
But it was kind of like us coming out of COVID.
So it was quite nice to be doing something new and different again that wasn't isolating at home.
3:43
But yeah, I really enjoyed that.
And it was with the intention of seeing if it could be something more.
But I think after that, I kind of just focus on like, you know, work because I started a new job and then life just got in the way.
But I think it was also potentially like a barrier in terms of like the commitment that I wanted to make.
4:04
It was very expensive.
It's like 12 K for the course.
And it was either you can do 3-6 or nine months of commitment if you'd want to do like the full career course and you get like a certificate 3 diploma at the end of it.
So it was a pretty big commitment.
4:20
So I took some time to consider it and it was kind of at the back of my mind.
I didn't really actively pursue it until the end of 2024.
They were advertising and because I'm on their mailing list, I got an email that was like our cohort for 2025.
4:37
We're doing like intakes now.
So if you've always wanted to do something like this, you know, the Adm, now's the chance.
And there was like a discount as well if you were to sign up then.
And I just remember it was like, I think the end of October, I texted you right after I did it.
I just like was just like, let's just send it.
4:54
And the good thing was it wasn't like 12 months.
I mean, 12 K upfront.
There was payment plans and everything like that.
And that made it kind of easier for me.
And I think for us, maybe it's just my mindset towards like finances and committing this much amount of money into something, I don't know, it feels kind of silly, you know, like, is it worth the investment?
5:15
It is a lot of money.
And I was quite precious about that.
So it's kind of like my money mindset was the thing that was preventing me.
And then I was like, you know what, I'm just gonna do it and I'll put down a deposit.
There's payment plans.
So it's quite manageable.
And then, yeah, once I did it, it, there was also like a time frame on the on the deal.
5:32
It was like enrollments closing into.
My marketing team did a good job.
The email marketing team, literally.
And I think that the other thing that I'll also mention is that it just didn't over the years, I did see that they were doing this course, but you never really lined up with work because I never wanted to take time off to do it.
5:51
I wanted it to be kind of a thing that I did alongside.
And I think it was the Saturday dates lined up for me and it would be one day a week for nine months.
So after I signed up, I remember texting you and I still have this text, and it said like, I just signed up to nine months of lottery.
6:08
Yeah.
And I sent that to Tracy and that was in October 2024.
And basically I started studying from Jan of 2025 through to pretty much the end of.
September and it's an investment into yourself even though it's like 12 Ki feel like we have the privilege to say you probably won't remember the money you spent.
6:25
Yeah, in a, in a few years time, you're not gonna remember that 12 K, but you're gonna remember that you know, that you took this leap.
And you did this leap.
Yeah.
And I think a lot of people, when I tell people how much it costed, I always get a really surprised look, especially for people who, you know, grew up around me as well.
6:40
Like I think that amount of money and also that level of investment.
Yeah, it is is it's a really big.
Deal.
Do you think they've made it back yet or not yet?
Yeah, yeah, basically.
Yeah, you.
Got money back?
Exactly.
The investment you made into your business has paid your back on that, yeah.
6:57
And I think like after the fact, it was only in the moment when I was signing up that I thought so deeply about it.
But I just kept telling myself that that was also the year that I wanted to invest in myself.
And I wouldn't have done it if I didn't think that there was a business that could come out of it as well.
7:17
Oh, yes.
So when you went into it, did you go in thinking, yes, I want to do a business out of this?
Yeah, I think it was a potential and I wanted to see, you know, through learning the skill, how hard would it be?
Would I enjoy it?
It's pretty much like just going through uni and then deciding like whether or not you could see yourself.
7:34
Yeah, in the industry and in the job, you know, But it was just a shortened timeline.
Yeah, yeah, I guess you went in there with a goal rather than going, oh, I just want to try this out for fun, like you actually had the intention of starting something.
That was the short course, yeah.
You know, And then after the short course, I was like, yeah, I see myself doing more in this space.
7:51
And I also think that it helps that I have friends in the wedding industry who could kind of like, share their lived experiences of what it's like.
They're not necessarily florists, but I think they have the same sort of experience where they're exposed to similar clients, the demand that it has on them as people.
8:11
And so I think I did my due diligence of like talking to people and understanding the realities of the the life that I will be walking into.
Yeah.
And I think that's really important when you're like, trying to decide if something's for you.
It's hearing first hand from other people who are living.
It, yeah.
So what was the decision process like for you and when did you decide that?
8:29
Yes, this is for me and I actually do want to do something with it.
I think when I started, I was just like, I'm just gonna focus on learning.
I didn't want to overwhelm myself with all the business stuff yet.
I think there was a point in like March, which was like 2 months into it, I had a mini meltdown which was like, oh, can I actually make something out of this?
8:52
And I kind of felt a lot of impostor syndrome at that point.
And I was kind of pressuring myself to figure out what the business would be, what like trying to define the realms of like what I wanted this business to do and how I wanted it to serve people and what my knee should be.
9:11
And I think all these questions just overwhelmed me to the point where I was like, I don't even think I'm focusing on learning anymore.
So I kind of had to get myself out of that mindset and remember that I still had another six months to just learn.
And I guess that's like a part of me having experience, what it was like studying design.
9:31
And when you study, study design, the interesting thing about that sort of degree is everyone's encouraged to think about freelancing as a way to gain experience.
And so you haven't even finished uni yet and you're already thinking about how do I get work?
How do I get experience exactly?
9:49
And I think I was experiencing the exact same thing for this as well, where because I've had that sort of, you know, pathway into the industry for my professional career, I started to apply the same sort of mindset to this as well.
And yeah, people to compare yourself to as well, because there are people in your class that were like.
10:06
Oh, yeah.
And design is so competitive.
Like, you're the thing that you produce is the thing that you get picked for, you know, when it comes to a job.
And it's so much more tangible than like, you know, a job that's based on soft skills, where you get a job and it's like, then you can prove your value.
10:24
Whereas for design, it's like your portfolio is the thing that says everything about how good you are.
And it was the same sort of thing here where it was like everything that we made was the thing that we were being judged on.
And for me personally, no one was pressuring me to do a certain thing or, you know, produce a certain thing.
10:41
It was the pressure that I just put on myself to have to define those things early.
And it definitely came from a place.
Such thing as an ugly arrangement.
Yeah, you know, like sometimes you just.
Think now just thinking about it, is there such thing if you, I mean you're and someone's like what is?
That it is very, it is very subjective.
10:59
Like there are definitely signs where you can tell that things haven't been.
But if AT shirt looked at stuff, they could be like oh, that's like did not.
Yeah, I think it comes down to like design principles.
Yeah, I can find it.
It's imbalance.
Yeah, mismatch.
11:14
Yeah.
You know, I think it's like you look at something and it's like, you know, some people like it and some people don't.
But then when you're in school, there are certain things that you need to find.
In order to learn.
That makes sense.
Yeah, Yeah.
It's not necessarily ugly, it's just.
11:30
Because it's really, it's like art, you know?
It's not an.
Interpretation.
Literally, it's very, it's very subjective, but how?
Did you find your niche?
I don't know if I have yet.
OK, Yeah.
I would say that I, if I was to define what my niche is now, it's just that I've chosen to specialise in weddings and events.
11:50
What my style is when it comes to producing for those sorts of things I haven't quite figured out yet.
I do definitely gravitate towards more like monochrome styles, more expressive, sculptural, modern type approach 'cause there's like traditional and modern approaches to floristry.
12:09
But that's kind of what I've noticed.
I gravitate towards just based on, you know, when I'm collecting pictures for inspiration or people I like to follow, it's all that sort of style as well.
But I think over time as I try things, I will understand what people like about my style, what I become known for, and also what I think makes me distinct from others, like with.
12:32
Your clients, have you seen a theme in terms of their skip?
Do they send the same reference pictures to you for example in terms of oh I like that you've done this, or is it just in general they like your vibe?
I mean, I'm not at that point where I have a lot of work that kind of showcases a particular.
12:48
Type of style pattern.
You know, for people to spot, I've just done things as an experiment or I've produced things for other people.
And then people are just like, oh, I like this that you made.
And it's a very like this big range of what people like and don't like.
But what I've noticed is obviously people do follow trends and in the wedding industry, for example, at the moment, people gravitating more towards like what we call on mess style, which is like a bunch of the same sort of flower rather than it being kind of like evenly placed around or more.
13:22
Asymmetrical.
Yeah, more asymmetrical designs, especially when it comes to bouquets, people are really also trying like there's like a grass movement.
So it's like people are using those a specific type of leaf, shredding it so it looks like grass and then kind of like bunching it and folding it in a way to make it look very sculptural.
13:41
And that introduces like, you know, texture movement.
So I think brides tend to gravitate towards what's trending at the moment, whether that is like, you know, a particular type of flower.
Everyone loves calla lilies at the moment, but people don't know that it's really expensive.
13:57
So you almost have to like, educate people about that.
Stuff like back in the days when natives were so in.
Yeah, natives are definitely not in anymore.
Not anymore, yeah.
No offence.
You know, like, like anything trends.
Come and go, yes?
Yeah, yeah.
But yeah, I don't even remember what our original question.
Was but your origin story my origin story?
14:13
Yeah, yeah.
But I think to caveat, I've also only been in the the game properly for like I would say in total maybe 3 months, right.
Yeah, yeah, like it's been a couple of months since I've graduated, but like I took time off.
Yeah.
And I haven't really gone all in until recently.
14:30
Right.
And then how I'm jumping around a bit, but like so from finishing your course, what was the time frame in that and like your first job?
I actually did some jobs while I was still OK studying.
Yeah, I luckily was able to do a wedding for my sister's friend.
Yeah, a wedding for someone who just referred me to.
14:47
And was that just you reaching out to people or how did it work?
It was just telling people that I was doing this thing and then them telling their friends and then they just reached out to me.
So it's like happy.
Accidental.
What amount?
Yeah.
And were they volunteer work or do they pay you?
15:03
For it, No, they're paying me for it, but I did it at like I did the the classic thing that you do when you're learning, which is you don't charge too much because you you question what your work is, but I was happy to do it for like a cheaper.
Price, Yeah, just to get the.
Just to get the experience, yeah.
15:19
We'll go back to the kind of process in a bit later.
But then I guess what was it like studying and learning a skill for nine months and like in your late 20s, I'm sure you haven't studied in a while.
Yeah.
So coming back into study, like what was that experience like?
I was, it was fun because it's like, you know, I think when you're learning a new skill, you're, you're so curious, you're in this really curious mindset.
15:43
And I think that makes it a lot more engaging, right?
Especially if you're, you're doing something or learning something that you chose to do, not because someone else has forced it on you.
I really liked it because it was very hands on.
I had something to do every Saturday that was really different and I just enjoyed making again, you know, like at my core, I am a very creative person, so doing something that was like an extension of that was really fun.
16:13
And I think at this age also, you don't meet many new people, you know, unless you start a new job or whatever.
So it was really cool meeting new people from all walks of life and people who, you know, were there for very, very different reasons.
Whereas for myself, I think there was other people who were also there for like, you know, career change as well, but there were other people who were there just for fun.
16:35
And that was really refreshing to see as well.
And it kind of reminded me that it's like not never too late to start a new skill.
There were people who, you know, had just, they've been maybe stay at home moms for like 20 years and then now their kids are really grown up and they're looking to do something for themselves.
16:53
And it was really refreshing to see that.
But for me personally, at this age, it was cool to be in a spot where I could consider doing a career shift.
You know, like, I'm very privileged in that sense.
But it was also very humbling.
Yeah, You know, remembering that I'm seven years into my like design career and I would say that I'm pretty confident in that skill at a point where like, you know, I'm, I'm so sure of myself.
17:17
I'm very confident in who I am as a designer.
But having to learn that again for something completely different, I'm like having intense bouts of like, you're questioning.
Yourself constantly, yeah.
Yeah.
And you're like, oh, can I actually do this?
It's like remembering that in order to be good, you've got to be bad at it.
17:34
Yes.
And you've got to start something like everyone's a beginner.
Yeah.
Yeah, yeah.
So very, very humbling.
It's like, you know, people picking up new sports.
Yeah.
It's like, whoa, like, yeah, I'm not like a child again.
Yes, exactly.
Yeah.
So that's not put that pressure on you to be good immediately.
17:49
Yeah, yeah.
Especially because you've become so good at something else and you're like, oh, you.
Know why does that translate?
Yeah, exactly.
You're like, oh, this is so easy.
And then you do something and you're like, you know, I'm actually really bad at this.
But yeah, remembering that it does take, you know, months of learning in order to get good at something, even years.
18:06
Yeah.
Well, actually touching on your design career.
Do you feel like are you done with it?
Is that why the shift or?
Yeah, I feel like I've hit the ceiling for my career.
I just don't have an interest in what comes next.
Like full context, I'm a lead product designer right now, which is the equivalent of like, I don't know, how do I equate it?
18:28
So, you know, the next step up would be like a principal designer, for example, where you might be managing A-Team.
And I, while I love, you know, people and leading and I have for my entire life through primary school, high school, uni, I just have no interest in what that looks like for a professional career.
18:50
And that really helped me see that, you know, maybe this is the time for me to start something of my own.
And it felt like the right time because I always say to people that if you're thinking about changing careers, if you don't have any dependents, if you have nothing tying you down and you can take that risk, take the risk because there's never going to be a better time to do it than now.
19:14
And that's the case for me.
I don't have any dependents.
I have a pretty good job that can support this other thing while I kind of make the transition.
And, yeah, I just have no reason to not try.
And, you know, if this fails, it's like, OK, at least I gave it a go, you know, And I have always have my career to get back to, which is the thing that I keep falling back on.
19:36
And it comforts me to know that there is that Plan B.
But the ambition right now is because I don't see or am not interested in the next steps in my professional career.
I wanted to try something else, which is.
Yeah.
What does it look like if I was to start a business by myself and for myself?
19:56
So yeah.
Eventually make that the full time thing.
Yeah, yeah, if I can get enough bookings.
In a certain year, like I've I'll set a quota for myself and if that's enough to sustain myself financially, why not, right.
And I think the thing that gave me confidence is I've seen one of my closest friends, Alex do this as well.
20:17
Go from working a stable full time job, going all in on, you know, a skill that he taught himself and now being a really, really successful video of the.
Most sought out, Yeah, in Sydney, right?
Like he's completely booked out and I remember vividly conversations with him around him considering going full time but kind of doubting whether or not it was the right call for reasons of like, oh, I don't know if I can do this.
20:44
Like am I good enough stability.
All those things crossed his mind and I think seeing him as almost like a success story gives me confidence that I can do it.
Yeah, it's doable.
Yeah.
We have a podcast episode with Alex, actually, So yeah, listen to his story there.
Yeah, no, he's amazing and he's been amazing in supporting me for my journey.
21:02
Yeah, nice one.
So how?
Did you?
What was the process like?
I guess practise Academy wise?
How?
What was the process of starting up a little love?
What did you need to get started?
I'm really lucky because I've had quite a bit of experience building up my like freelancing business and I made so many mistakes with that, you know, like under charging or finding clients and only doing things for like friends.
21:30
And therefore that's what led to me feeling like I should just charge less or not.
Like I set up an ABN and everything, you know, which is what everyone does first, I think and registering my business name.
But through that experience, I was, I had no knowledge of like, what should you do financially to make sure you've got enough to pay for tax at the end of the year, for example, Or what should you do in order to like, you know, keep your finances like separate and clean or like even invoicing all that sort of stuff.
22:01
Like I kind of just figured it out along the way.
So I think I have a lot of like good and bad learnings from that experience that I could translate to this.
So I think the first step was I just decided to keep using my ABN like my freelancing ABA because it's just under my name, right?
22:17
Interesting.
And that for me is mainly because I don't plan on doing freelancing anymore.
So I'm just like, I might as well just keep, yes, switch it over and keep using it.
But in the case that I have to freelance for someone, I could just use the same ABN and it kind of keeps things very like simple for me.
22:34
The second thing is tracking my finances.
So because I'm buying materials, like I'm buying floristry stuff, supplies, I'm, you know, renting a van, sometimes all those things you need to keep track of.
I don't think anyone is good at keeping track of like just their tax stuff in general in their personal life.
22:56
So I think I really wanted to make an effort because it does come.
Yeah, it is really.
Important for business, how much money do you think?
Like if somebody wanted to start up something like Flourish business, how much in savings do you would you recommend they have?
That's a tricky question.
23:12
Or do you feel like it's pretty access like accessible you don't actually need to build up a lot of?
It depends.
Like for example setup costs might be for this business.
Like I might set up a website.
23:28
I see.
Yeah.
I've chosen not to set up a website because I feel like Instagram is that Ave for florists at the moment.
So that's where I've been able to cut costs, right?
That is what like $250 a year?
If you do like a Squarespace website or if you get a domain, there's other small costs, like for my Google Workspace, which is where I have my like that host my hello at a little Love Studio to pay for that Google Workspace domain, that cost me like, I don't know, 100 bucks.
23:56
Yeah, not even 100 bucks.
I think it's like a bit more than that.
Each year.
It's little costs like that that go into the setup.
Yeah.
So it's not a huge investment, especially if you have like, you know, a couple of $1000 in savings.
But for me, I find it hard to kind of comment on because I'm working and so a lot of the my salary, I invest a little bit into the business each month.
24:23
And that for me is like like I might invest like a grand each month.
And that for me is like my money to go and try and set up a business or also use that to like buy flowers to just play with, you know, it's.
Almost like the money that you would already spend on other hobbies, for example.
24:38
Yeah, you.
Know exactly it might be like you know if you want to get better at volleyball, you sign up for.
Social Things Edition.
Yeah, so it's, it's quite hard to say.
I think that you can actually do so much with very little because everything is so accessible these days and there are so many ways to kind of like if you can't afford the real thing, for example, if you can't afford to pay a developer or web designer to make your website, you can go on a tour and try and do it yourself.
25:06
It might not be the best outcome, but it's kind of like a stepping stone to when like it just does the job and it does it well enough.
Another example might be like for me, if I wanted to get inquiries and I wanted people to fill out a form, instead of using like an official like form website that is linked to like a CRM that tracks all your deals and stuff, I might just use Google.
25:31
Forms, yeah.
Yeah.
So it's like there are there are plan A's and Plan B's and you know, like cheaper options and all that sort of stuff.
So I actually don't think you need that much.
Yeah.
Other parts of my process I also gone back to like the tracking finances thing.
25:47
MYOB recently released a new offering called Solo that is a product or like an app that is made for sole traders.
So because I work in the industry that I am, we work on a lot of like problems around, you know, finance and why sole traders really struggle to manage their finances.
26:11
So I kind of had a lot of awareness around this space and NYB kind of put out a product in order to solve that problem, which is that sole traders, because they're focusing on maybe the trade itself, they don't have time to manage their finances.
So I already knew of this product and I was like, you know what, this is my opportunity to test it out, do a bit of like market research for my professional career, but also for this as a customer.
26:33
And it's whole thing is you can take pictures of receipts, you can track and link it to like clients.
So if someone sends me money for an invoice, I can link it back to their client file easily.
So that just makes tracking your finances so much easier without having to have like a separate spreadsheet.
26:49
And then they also have a bank account.
So that's what I meant by like separating my finances out.
And that's been really good because like, I can see what's business and I can see what's personal.
Yeah.
So that distinction has been really, really important for me to manage my finances better.
By no means.
Perfect, but it's a good.
27:05
Starting point and then I guess like the other things that are less businessy transaction Y is just making sure that I'm constantly posting on my Instagram because that is my main source of gaining awareness, getting clients.
And to be really honest, I'm I haven't been amazing with putting content out, mainly because I'm a bit of a perfectionist and it's been a bit of a block of me.
27:30
I'll talk about this a little bit more later, but essentially when I have put out new content, I've noticed that it has gotten more inquiries.
So I think that's most that's my marketing channel.
Yeah.
And that's the thing that I probably need to spend a bit more energy on doing.
27:46
I actually.
Remember, because like you started an Instagram page pretty early.
Yeah, yeah, I saw it was a way to force myself to share what I was doing as well and build a bit more awareness.
And I think you said to me, like, was it your teacher?
Someone said that you should post as if you're a third, you're already in an established business.
Yeah.
28:01
And I thought that was a really good tip.
Yeah, I intentionally chose not to post anything about.
Not that I didn't post anything about learning, but I didn't put it on my feed.
I didn't put out things that I didn't think were reflective, like commercial.
Ready.
Basically, yeah.
28:17
Or like reflective of who I was as a florist.
So, you know, you, you meet some people who document their entire florist your journey, and that's great for them.
And I definitely think there's a place for that as well, because it attracts a certain type of audience.
28:33
But I think it didn't speak to my audience for weddings and events, yeah.
You need to be more polished.
Yeah, yeah.
I wanted it to feel polished.
I wanted people to be able to see themselves in the content I was posting.
So I made a conscious effort to, yeah, post bits and pieces of my journey, but not making my entire personality.
28:52
Yes, yeah.
I feel like some of that, if I was to be on TikTok for example, that sort of content would do well.
On TikTok behind the scenes.
And stuff.
Yeah, yeah.
But I thought.
It was a really good tip to be like, just be posting, acting like you're already a business.
Yeah, yeah.
And I think that changes the way that you frame up your posts, the way you caption them, all that sort of stuff.
29:09
Yeah, Yeah.
I think maybe the other thing is think really long and hard about what you want your process to be.
Yeah, I'm quite lucky that through learning the skill in school, they taught U.S. business skills as well.
So what does the workflow look like when someone inquires with you?
29:29
How do you respond to them?
I get an email and I'll get back to them about whether or not I'm available for a date.
If they've sent me like references on what they want, then I'm like, OK, I'll take that as, you know, the thing that I need to base my quote on.
So I'll look out for things like what sort of flowers they want, whether that's like seasonal or premium flowers because that changes the price.
29:53
Or I'll also look out for, you know, what sort of arrangements they want.
Is it a bouquet?
Is it a table arrangement?
All those things are priced differently.
And we were taught in school how to price those things.
And then on top of that, it was also learning how to respond to your clients in a really professional way, like close the deal essentially.
30:15
So I'll respond to them, tell them, you know, how much XY and Z is gonna cost, get a deposit.
And then after the deposit, I'll write up like a proposal, which kind of brings to life their vision.
So I kind of thought really carefully about all those steps, like why would I ask for a deposit before doing a proposal?
30:34
And we learned that that's because you don't want to do all the work before you've even secured the deal.
So if they financially put down money, that's a sign that they want to invest in you.
So that makes you want to invest in them as a client, which is very tricky because sometimes people ask very detailed questions about, well, what's it gonna look like?
30:53
And I've, I personally don't want to kind of create something so bespoke that then goes away so they don't go with me, you know?
Whereas maybe when I was designing from uni in my graphic design job, I would have just done the job to prove that I could do it and then gotten painted, you know, which I think is like the wrong way to think about it because you're just selling yourself short.
31:17
Yeah.
So, yeah, think about your workflow, how much time you want to invest in each step and how do you kind of make things as easy as possible for you as well.
Because you are just one person and you don't want to be spending too much time on a specific step that doesn't kind of, it's not worth it.
31:33
Yeah, you know, Yeah.
So I think that's probably the only other thing about, yeah, setting up your business.
OK.
What were your biggest concerns with setting starting up a Little Love and how and did they play out in reality or how did they play out?
I think the biggest 1 was not getting clients.
31:51
I was like, oh, I'm still so inexperienced.
Did you look at the market as well?
Did you do like market research and go like, oh, how do I differentiate myself from everyone out there?
It's really hard because it's like there's just so many.
There's so many.
Yeah, yeah.
But what that helps me see is that there's room for everyone, you know?
32:07
And I think we always think like just in general with business, you need to have that one different idea to really separate yourself from the crowd.
And to be really honest, like I think in a world where with weddings, there's room for everyone because a single person and a single business can only do so much in one year.
32:31
So it's not the same as like releasing a product and completely dominating a market.
You know, this is a service and this is labour intensive, so you need more and more people to be able to kind of fulfil the the demand.
So I think that that definitely helped me understand that there was a place for me in this industry.
32:51
But I think it was more so like, how do I get myself to the level of some people I really respect in the industry?
And I was really worried that I would had to take so much time to build up credibility that people would be able to kind of actually see value in my work.
33:08
And also, it's kind of like building up your portfolio, you know?
So I kind of thought, oh, it's gonna take me ages.
I'm gonna have to like freelance for other people.
I'm going to have to, yeah, really invest a lot of time into practising styling some shoots just to show people like, hypothetically what I could do before even getting booked.
33:27
But I started getting booked without even putting a lot out, which really surprised me because I thought, you know, I would have to invest a lot in ads, for example.
But I think in the stuff that I have put out, people have seen the value in it.
And I get surprised every time when someone emails me and they're like, I really liked this on your page.
33:48
And I was like, oh, that like those were florals for my birthday, which I didn't plan at all.
I kind of just did.
But it really resonated with some people.
So I kind of think it goes back to your question of like, is there such a thing as an ugly arrangement?
Yes, when it comes to looking at, you know, design principles.
34:05
But I think stylistically you don't realise that different things appeal to different people.
So you just got to put things out and see what attracts people.
So that was kind of the how it played out in reality.
And I'm really grateful that people see my work as something that they want for their special day.
34:23
Like it's like the biggest compliment, you know, time and time again.
And I think the other thing is like imposter syndrome.
I think that's related to what I just said.
It's like not feeling like I'm good enough to be worthy of someone investing money in me and my services, you know?
34:41
And I still have it nowadays.
Like there are days when I'm like, if I have made something I don't like, I'm like, is this for me?
Can I really do it?
But it's like reminding yourself that, like, I think it helps that I have my design experience to fall back on because there were times in uni where I made things that I thought were really good, but there were also times where I made things that were so bad.
35:03
It's embarrassing to show, but look how far I've come, you know?
So I make it out in the end.
So I, I think that helps me kind of stay grounded that this is all just part of the process.
And then I guess the, the very last thing is balancing the amount I'm still going like seeing someone therapy wise to help manage this.
35:24
I think I'm on the other side of it where I've recovered from that really kind of intense experience that I had with burnout and I was like to her, So I'm signing up for this thing.
I'm planning to start a business like you know, with my history of burnout.
Do you think like I should do this?
35:43
I think the difference is I feel like I want to work on this 24/7, and while I can see myself getting burnt out, feels like it's almost gonna be worth it.
Yeah.
You know, like it's probably a really, what's the word, bad way to look at it because I don't think I'm managing my burnout in that sense.
36:05
But I think it's like knowing that I chose this path for myself, whereas previously I got burnt out because it was like.
Other people's work.
Other people's work, and it was out of my control, whereas this is very much in my control.
And everything that I do that may lead to consequences is decisions that I've made for myself.
36:26
Yeah, you know, And everything's within my control.
So, yeah, I think it's just knowing when to kind of like, turn it up, when to turn it down.
I've definitely gotten better at like, managing my time and protecting periods where I know that I just need to relax.
Yeah.
Like how do you feel about it now?
36:42
Like how do you what's the balance scale?
Like there were days where I'm like, I don't feel like doing anything, and that's OK.
Yeah.
I think he's being kind to myself, right?
And I find it easier to manage that guilt.
Yeah, because how does it look like now?
So you're working 9:00 to 5:00 five days a week?
36:58
Yeah.
And then is that nights that you're doing?
Pretty much.
So it's funny because like I think, you know, people make videos about like this is my 5:00 to 9:00 after my 9:00 to 5:00.
Go for a run, yeah.
Literally meal prayer, but my whole life is literally like there is a 5 to 9 before the 9:00 to 5:00.
37:14
Yeah, because I go to the market, Yeah, come home, process the flowers and then go to my day job.
Oh my God.
But then there's also a 5 to 9 after as well.
So then after work, I then will work on more desktop Y stuff.
So I might be like responding to inquiries, doing our proposals.
37:32
It's been a little bit tricky, you're not gonna lie, finding what's the right balance for me, mainly because like, I know that if I work after my 9:00 to 5:00, I am very wired and then it makes sleeping difficult.
Because you really switched on, yeah.
37:48
Yeah.
So what I'm trying now, I still have to go to the markets, but I'm not going to the markets every single day.
What if I do a bit of that desktop work in the mornings, you know, and then protect my evenings.
So I think it's like I have been quite successful in like waking up and like doing it because I love a good sleep in.
38:10
But I definitely do feel the impacts when I'm working late because I'm the sort of person that is just like I lose track of time.
I don't know when to stop.
Are you getting any sleep?
I am, yeah.
Mainly because I'm.
I'm telling myself I don't have to get this done tonight, Right.
38:27
OK.
I have some days people are probably not waiting on this, you know, And the only person that I know that I'm letting down is probably myself.
So I think that helps kind of like keeping the cheques and balances a bit more even.
Yeah.
Yeah.
38:42
Whereas previously, I think there was always a sense of urgency, which is what burned me out.
Yeah.
Have you had to forego?
Anything to make time for forestry.
Oh, maybe some of my weekends, I might be like, freelancing or I might choose to, you know, spend my entire weekend literally playing with flowers and shooting it, and that's my entire day gone.
39:05
But I really enjoy it.
OK.
Yeah.
And it's an investment of time into building this business.
So yeah, it's a little bit different in that sense.
Whereas, like, you know, when I was freelancing, I dreaded it so much.
Like freelancing for design.
Sorry, I should probably clarify, I dreaded.
39:22
Working on it.
Yeah.
Because you didn't enjoy.
It I didn't enjoy it.
And I think that's the difference.
When you genuinely enjoy something and you believe in the vision that you have, you will never feel like work.
Yeah.
What has surprised you about your journey so far With a little love?
39:37
Any unexpected learnings?
Yeah, so many, like, I think the biggest one has been people are so like nice, like my, my friends, my family, even people that I don't talk to day to day, but just know of I think it's a very like grounded in, you know, community and how we grew up as well.
39:57
And the the people that we grew up around and our background.
People are so supportive.
Like some people have reached out to me about doing florals for their wedding.
But I'm not personally very close to them, so they genuinely want to support me from afar.
40:14
And I love that so much because I'm just like, wow, like this is the community that we grew up in and these are the the values that we grew up with as well.
And it's just opened up so many doors, conversations with people.
And I'm just so grateful for that because, you know, I think when being on the other side, like watching other people try and start their own business, like that support goes a long way.
40:38
And I always make a conscious effort to support my friends who are trying something new.
So being on the receiving end of it is like, really, really nice.
And I think the other thing is like, yeah, like I said before, the industry is so big, there's room for everyone.
So it's a really good thing to remember, I think.
40:54
Yes, you're not fighting.
Exactly.
And you know, like you will meet people along the way and this is just business that we'll be quite overprotective.
About yeah, yeah, yeah.
Their business and their IP and everything like that.
But I think that comes back to buy people in the long run.
41:13
And I think if you remember that there is room for everyone, you're more willing to give and people are more willing to give to you as well.
And I just love that about like anything that I've ever done.
Like I've always felt this kind of inclination to like, support other people, mentor them because I knew what it was like trying to start out and it being so hard, you know?
41:33
So I think this community, I'm very lucky because a lot of the florists are so willing to give and people kind of help each other out.
And that's like the way people get freelancers to help on a, on like, you know, a big wedding day as well.
So yeah, I really love the community and the, the vibes.
41:49
Yeah.
You know, yeah.
So how have you been able to grow the business so far?
So practise makes perfect.
So I've been trying to, on the weeks where I'm not super busy, I will try and go to the flower markets, spend a bit of money, you know, getting I, I basically create a brief for myself and I'm like this week, let's imagine I've got this sort of client, almost like I was what I was doing at school, you know, and I need to create this thing for them.
42:20
And I just go and do that.
And then through that I'm able to practise my hard skills.
So from like making get content from it, be able to post from it, and then through that hopefully generate some inquiries, you know.
So it's like, yeah, investing in my learning in that way, but also keeping skills active.
42:39
And then recently I did some workshops with another florist, which I had to pay to do, but it was so worth learning.
Yeah, learning.
So they just held some workshops.
I think these are more like workshops for people who it's for a mix of people, people who've never done anything floristry related or people with formal training but they just want to learn from other floors.
43:00
So that was really cool because I learnt so many on the job type skills.
Like business wise I didn't learn in school and we were exposed to different ways of doing things.
So I think it goes to show that there's no right way of doing things.
I might have learnt a specific way to do something, but honestly, you can break all the rules.
43:20
Yeah, in flourishing.
And I think that's the other really beautiful thing about it.
Like once you learn the foundations then you can start making things up.
Yeah, yeah.
So doing that, I've also done some styled shoots with friends.
So shout out to my friend Jenny who runs Rare Photo Booth.
So last year when I was still studying, we decided to do like a styled shoot together and we came up with a brief ourselves and we booked out a space and we did that.
43:43
So I wanted to keep doing more of that.
And that kind of really puts you into the right mindset of like, OK, how do I take an idea and then execute on it?
So and then through that, I also get content as well.
So it's been pretty cool to do that.
43:59
And I always love collaborating with all the creatives as well.
And then I think I just have to post more.
Posting is like everything I know, right?
Like even posting for this podcast.
Content is just so hard.
44:14
Yeah, it's a full time job in itself.
It's also sticking like spending time to actually keep up with the trends as well and like go it.
Changes so fast as.
Well, yeah.
What's the new audio that's trending?
What's the new editing style that's trending?
It's just like, Oh my God.
It's a lot, yeah.
44:30
But because I know that posting is the thing that gets in business, yeah.
I just have to keep doing it to gain awareness, yeah.
The nice thing about forestry is that the visuals almost speak for themselves.
I love that stuff.
Yeah.
Like, you don't have to work that hard because the flowers should be the ones doing the talking.
44:47
Yeah.
Yeah.
But I think my one of my bad habits or the thing that I need to overcome is progress of a perfection.
Like posting whenever I just have something made like it doesn't need to be perfect.
But I've been kind of running into this thing where I'm like, and I think it's just me as a person.
45:07
I like my grid to be like nice, you know, all that kind of stuff.
Even on my personal Instagram, I just need to post.
I can't like I sit on, there's so many things in my camera roll I haven't posted and it's because I'm like they're not perfect yet.
So I want to redo this thing.
45:23
I just need to post it.
Honestly people probably take like a 2 second glance at it.
And some people not even looking at the feed anymore.
Yeah, exactly.
So yeah, I probably just need to get better at that.
Yeah.
Have you done any paid ads or anything yet?
Not yet.
I think it's because I want to run ads for something that attracts the right audience.
45:44
And the visuals needs to be in a style like the floral florals need to be in a style that actually reflects who I am.
Right.
So that's why I haven't yet, but I might do sometime soon, yeah.
Cool, do you have any advice for people who want to start a high side hustle but like have no idea where to start or in terms of they don't know what The thing is like they're like done with my full time job.
46:06
I definitely am creative, want to do something different but like I don't know what I'm.
Trying to think back to what was it about this that attracted me?
Especially because it can be get overwhelming because I feel like everyone's doing a side hustle, you know, like full time's work.
46:22
Really.
Not for anyone anymore.
Yeah.
At least in my age.
This age, at least in our generation, I feel like we're kind of done working for corporate.
So I feel like there's a lot out there, a lot of people doing different things.
So you almost get paralysed at your life.
I want to do something different, but I don't want to be the same as everybody else.
46:38
I want to do something new.
Yeah.
Yeah, I think I, I've tried things that didn't work out previously before.
So I in COVID, I just started making jewellery and I was like, let's see if I can make this a business.
And I did that for a while.
46:54
But then I realised like products as a business is very hard because you have to keep releasing new products and returning customers.
They have to want to buy in order for you to get returning customers, you need to release more products.
So it's a never ending cycle of that.
47:10
Whereas I think something where you're offering a service like Floristry, it's so much easier to get returning customers because time and time again if you prove that whatever you make for them the first time is good enough, they'll want to keep coming back for other things or they'll refer you to other people.
So I feel like it wasn't.
47:28
As for the jewellery business, I didn't think that that could grow very quick.
I didn't.
I didn't think that you could scale, but would I have ever learnt that without trying?
No.
So I think that would be my first piece of advice, which is like, you just got to try it to see where it takes you and if it fails, that's fine.
47:48
Yeah.
A lot of businesses nowadays, the successful ones, they didn't get it right the first go.
Rarely do people ever make it with their first idea.
It was through iterations of that idea.
For example, I think Airbnb started just as like a bed and breakfast thing, right?
48:05
And then eventually it turned into what it is today.
So it was only through iterations that that business was able to scale and get to its kind of like final form.
And it's the same as this where it's like you can try new things but I think without trying you will never know if you enjoy.
48:20
It or not?
You know, so you're gonna put yourself in that position.
I think that's the first thing.
And I think the other thing is I had friends in the wedding industry and I always just loved weddings as a concept.
It's such a happy day, you know, there are so many things about the day that makes it feel special.
48:37
And I think initially when I was thinking about, I was just like, oh, could I do wedding invites for people?
Because that's where my core skills are from uni, right?
But then I realised can't really scale that as a business because especially now canvas are accessible, Etsy templates are so accessible.
48:54
The DIY bride thing is like really big, you know?
So I thought about it long and hard where I was like, I like the industry and I like what it has led to for some of my friends, but I don't think my initial idea of like events, stationary isn't enough.
49:12
So I wanted to do something more.
So that's where I was like, OK, where else can my skills be quite transferable?
Because I wanted something where I could still bring in my design skills.
And that's how it came to forestry.
So I think, like, think about what you enjoy in your like, life today and what like, I think you need to think about how that translates to a business and if it's gonna kind of keep you engaged with what you like about it as opposed to kind of making you hate it, I think.
49:44
And I think it got to a point with my jewellery business where I was like, yeah, I don't like doing it anymore, you know?
Yeah, but you learn how to actually.
Like sell something, start a business.
So it's like transferable skills that you can bring into.
This exactly.
Yeah.
So I think I talked to a lot of people in the industry once I decided what I wanted to do.
50:02
And I think I got a really realistic sense of what I was signing myself up to.
So I talked to people with lived experiences and people who've been on the journey.
And I've also just, like, gone on shoots with my friend Alex, Chloe, just random people who are already in the industry because I just wanted exposure to what the whole day looks like day was like.
50:26
So exposing yourself to the actual environment itself also helps.
You see, can I see myself in this?
Yeah.
What was your first, actually?
What was your first job like?
My first job, yeah, as in for floors, weddings.
Yeah, yeah.
God, so stressful.
Like, I was like, yeah, it's easy.
50:44
It's so fine.
I did all the right things in terms of like, you know, invoicing the client, understanding what they wanted.
I did like a practise round because I was like not super confident in my skills yet.
And then on the day itself, like I had ordered flowers, which is all the right things to do.
51:02
On the day itself, it took so much longer to do the thing than I thought it would just because I was like, Oh my God, like having you know, moments in the day where I was like, can I do this?
Like what am I doing wrong?
And like starting over and like all these things.
This was quite stressful, not gonna lie, but it was very rewarding off the back of it because it helped me see that, you know, I can actually do this, I just need a few more reps.
51:26
But I was very lucky because it was a very small job.
Like I was just making maybe like 4 bouquets, 4 button holes and a couple of corsages.
At that point I hadn't even learned how to make a corsage buttonhole.
I kind of just like looked up some YouTube and I just did it.
51:42
And then I was like, yes, it's good enough.
They they will never know.
Yeah, exactly.
You know, they don't know what you don't know.
No, yeah, yeah.
So just kind of wing my way through it, but I was like, it's fine.
Yeah, you're gonna start somewhere.
She she got the flowers for her special day.
They took photos and it looked great.
51:57
And yeah, it worked out.
Yeah, I love it.
Yeah.
No one sees all the behind the scenes chaos.
No, the chaos.
Yeah, but I had to like take a day off work in order to do it because I didn't realise just how long it would actually take me.
Yeah, yeah, I was a bit too ambitious thinking I could do it and work on that day as well.
Yeah, yeah, OK.
52:14
So last question, what is your top three advice for people wanting to start something of their own?
Number one, probably progress of a perfection, like you just need to keep experimenting, keep working on that skill and don't stifle your progress just because you want something to be perfect or trying to get the perfect version of it until you kind of put it out into the world.
52:37
And I mean that in like, you know, posting or even just believing in what you're creating as being like, you know, I think that's going to help you move forward as well.
Yeah.
And then second thing is it's never too late to start something like take that leap of faith.
52:54
Like, I'm 30.
I always thought that my career was going to be the thing that I would stick with forever.
And everything else would kind of just be like, you know, on the sidelines and be quite additive to my life.
But I always thought that, you know, I'm just gonna make it big as a designer.
53:10
And then, yeah, that's cool.
But I think I'm realising, I realised the hard way that like I didn't see a future in my design career anymore in the sense that I wanted to keep climbing the ladder.
It was more like, OK, I'm kind of done with this chapter of my life.
53:25
How can I pivot and use a lot of my skills that I still do today and move it into a new thing?
And I think on that, maybe as a side note, I also realised that, you know what, like if I still want to go back to design throughout wedding season, I might do weddings full time and then I can contract in the middle of the year where it's like quiet.
53:47
So I thought also about like, how could I live in a world or in a reality where both things were still there, but not necessarily doing them both at the same time.
Yeah.
And so that gave me a little bit of, yeah, peace knowing that I could do that.
And I think the last one is probably running a business and starting a business is very lonely.
54:08
So don't go it alone.
Like lean on your friends.
I regularly meet up with Alex and Jenny because we're all kind of in the same boat where we're all in the wedding industry, we're all offering different services and we're all different types of vendors.
But we all have similar learnings because we're dealing with the same sort of clients, you know, And our business process is probably similar in some senses as well.
54:28
So yeah, don't be afraid to like, share what you've learned, ask questions to your friends, even other business owners, even like sharing, you know, moments where you're doubting yourself with your family and friends because I think you don't realise where, you know, really good advice might come from.
54:49
But you also might not realise that other people might be facing the same things as you.
So it's not a lonely journey, even if you are a sole business owner.
Yes, to kind of keep those doors open.
Yeah, and like you said, like when people want to support each other, so when you the more you reach out, the more people will be able to support you.
Exactly.
55:04
And like, if you don't make that known, like, people just think everything's, like, fine and dandy.
Yeah, Exactly.
And like, she's fine.
She doesn't need help.
Yeah.
But I'm also really lucky because my boyfriend's a business owner, and he's honestly been, like, a massive inspiration because I've seen him build something from the ground up time and time again.
55:24
And his resilience and his attitude just kind of really inspires me to do the same as well.
So if you surround yourself with people who do do that, and I have more than the friends that I've already mentioned, other people like Jono, who's also been on our podcast, start his own thing, like a physio business as well.
55:42
So, you know, if you surround yourself with people who are going through the same thing, it makes it so much easier to feel like you're not doing it alone, even if your focus is different.
Yeah, yeah.
Love that.
Well, thank you Wendy for sharing your journey, your experience so far, I'm sure.
Will there be updates to come and follow her on Instagram?
56:00
Yeah, speak to me in a year.
See.
We'll see how it goes.
Hopefully growing bigger and bigger, bigger.
OK, so to wrap up our episode today, obviously we have dinner table questions.
First one colour related, but how have you nourished your creativity recently?
56:19
To be honest, it's all been about floral.
Yeah, so giving my space myself, the space to experiment, writing briefs for myself, looking, I have like a little notes in my phone that it's just like floral experiments.
And then I I just collect things that I see.
56:35
Yeah, I just want to try.
And it's really funny because Indesign, they always tell you, like, don't copy other people's work.
But I think there is so much learning in finding a style that someone else has done and then trying it for yourself to see what you enjoy about the process, not about the output, but the process itself in producing something that looks like that.
56:58
And so that's what I've been doing with florals, like finding things that I really like and seeing if my interests of like, you know, stylistically, does this feel like me kind of resonate with it while I'm doing it?
So yeah, that's kind of mostly been how I've been staying creatively connected because that's what I have space for at the moment.
57:17
Love.
Yeah.
How about you?
I've been.
I think I.
Chatted about it, you know, very first episode of the season, but I wanted to do like a creative club in London.
So me and my friends, we, we did, we have a group chat like at the creative corner.
And then it's just a bunch of us who are interested in arts and crafts.
57:33
And then we just try to organise like get togethers where we did things.
Our first one was making fridge magnets with clay and that was just so nice.
It's just like, so I've got a goal for myself now actually, that I keep track in my diary.
I give myself a sticker every time I enter like creative flow state.
57:49
Oh I love.
That and the goal is once a month.
Yeah, yeah.
So it doesn't have to be through Creative Cloud, but it could be me taking time to draw or like me to, so I don't know, whatever it is, right.
And then I it's like tracking my exercise by tracking every time I get into creative flow state.
Amazing.
So that's what we're doing.
What is something new you've tried recently?
58:07
Surfing.
Oh yes.
Yes.
So I went to Molly MOOC for three days whilst being in in sorry being in Sydney and my partner Gavin and I tried a surfing lesson for the first time.
It was so fun.
Was it really?
Hard.
It was really tiring because you're paddling back and forth constantly and I was able to stand up for like one second, 1.5 seconds Max before falling, but Gavin was struggling to get up.
58:34
So I think everyone has different journeys, but I think as women, we have easier balance.
Yeah, yeah.
So it's probably easier for us to stand up.
But it was so much fun.
And I was just like, you know, we live in Australia, like the beach, like, we should try surfing at least once.
You know, I really enjoyed it, and I would actually recommend it.
58:50
And it was like the first time I felt like not scared in the water.
Yeah.
Because there was, we had the big board and I guess there was an instructor with us.
I had the wet suit and we went pretty deep.
But I didn't feel scared.
And normally I would feel a bit like scared being in the beach, going too far.
Like what if I get caught in a yeah, but I can't stand then I'm like, scared.
59:08
But like, we like, we were on the board.
So like we didn't feel the depth of the water.
Anyway, it was really cool.
Yeah.
So good.
Yeah.
What about you?
I'm trying to think back to London, what we did that was new.
Dog dog sledding.
Oh yes, dog sledding in Finland was crazy.
59:29
Like, I think I haven't done any other snow activities other than snowboarding.
So we did like, snowmobiling, snow sledding with the dogs.
And it was just so fun.
Like, it's just crazy that it's kind of like a lifestyle thing.
Like people would ride around on snowmobiles, for example, to get from like, A to B.
59:45
Oh, I didn't even know that.
Yeah.
Yeah.
It's like, basically like having a car or like snow sledding.
Like, literally the dogs are so excited and this is their entire life.
They excited to just get going.
And this is what they look forward to doing like every single day, which is insane to me because the way I think of like, Ringo, for example, is just like, he's such a domesticated animal.
1:00:04
You know, like those are like actual working dogs.
Yeah.
No, that was that was super fun.
Nice.
What is trending in your life or your household at the moment?
Oh, trending going to Costco.
Is it trending right now?
I love that I love Costco.
Yeah, it's trending right now because we realise that fuel at Costco is really cheap.
1:00:25
Yeah, but also, yeah, I I feel like going to Costco is like an excursion.
Yes.
You never know what you're gonna get.
Like you go to the groceries.
It just makes grocery shopping really fun.
But as a two person household, it is quite hard to buy things.
Yeah.
So that's why when we go, we're like, oh, we have to limit ourselves.
1:00:40
Like, you know, like we're here to get these things at Staples.
Like I'll get like milk and eggs because it's cheap there.
But it's like, oh, what?
What extra thing are we gonna impulse months a day, you know?
Yeah.
So yeah, it's been quite fun for Chris and I to do that together.
Yeah.
What about you?
1:00:56
I remember mine.
It was just running.
We love our kind of trending.
I feel like we like not trending, but I think the age in life that we are at the moment that everyone seems to be running a marathon or doing high rocks.
So what have you been doing?
Like running.
Well, I signed up to 1/2 marathon.
I can't remember if I told you on this.
Yeah, but I signed up to 1/2 marathon.
1:01:13
In London, Yeah, Yeah.
So in September, so forcing myself to do more runs. 21 K train for it.
Yeah, that's crazy in one case.
But Trace, like Tracy is really good at running.
I feel like, yeah, you just have really good stamina.
I can just run, Yeah, like I'm a good.
1:01:28
I think I've always thought I was a good sprinter, but long distance is something that I never thought it would be for me.
But because a lot of my friends in London, they run a lot and long distances as well.
Like I've joined in for the runs and I'm like, oh, you know what?
I actually can.
Do you feel tired after you went?
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
1:01:45
I just feel like.
You're the sort.
Of person that just is like, like when I choose like a 2K runner, I'm like.
Dead yeah, like I don't feel I feel tired at the end of the day, but I think when you're running with people you don't really like you just keep up I guess.
But I do sometimes, like the other day, like the most I've ever run is like 15 K and that was kind of by accident because like I got like I was running to a park and I kind of got lost and I just kept on going.
1:02:09
And I sometimes you just feel like you can just keep going.
So I just did.
So I do think I can run, but I can run.
Yeah, I think people have had similar experiences where they don't track the run.
Yeah, and they run for longer than they thought.
They would run like, I just run.
I can.
For me, running is more so to get like pent up energy out.
1:02:26
Yeah.
So like it's more of a functional thing.
Like if I'm stressed at work, I'm gonna go for a run.
Yeah, I've, I've realised this slowly, like this year as well, like when I'm feeling like I can't get out of a rut, like a design rut, I'll just go for a run.
1:02:42
Yeah, exactly.
Because I like force myself.
And it feels really just satisfying.
Yeah, it feels like a bit cathartic.
Yeah, exactly.
And I wanted to do cardio because I've been going, I'm doing doing weights a lot.
But it doesn't get in your.
Heart, yeah, but I need to look after my heart because I'm doing like volleyball, but it's still also not enough for me.
1:02:58
It's very like one hour.
So I was like, I want to do running as well.
So yeah, I guess that's what's trending right now.
Strava is Strava is trending all.
Right.
Well, I guess it's episode 3, yeah.
Yeah.
Thanks for listening everybody.
Thanks.
For interviewing me, Tracy.
You're welcome.
Bye.