An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis
Tend to your energy. If you’re thinking of leading a company, you must have some serious self-belief! And that’s a good thing, but you’re not a machine. We all have a tendency to use ourselves on our best days as a marker for what we can get done, but that’s not realistic. You’re a sum of your good days and your bad, and your business will ebb and flow with your energy.
As a part of our series called “Making Something From Nothing”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Alice Ojeda.
Alice lives in Cardiff where she runs my business called Authentic House. Alice has a passion for telling stories about ways we can protect the planet, and making them possible too. Through Authentic House, Alice was a member of Red Bull’s first Social Innovation programme in the UK and is working on a Community Land Trust to buy and manage land sustainably. Alice has a background in literature and language and is half Peruvian which has always made her curious to explore different perspectives and ways to live.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dive in, our readers would love to learn a bit more about you. Can you tell us a bit about your “childhood backstory”?
I was born in London to my English mother and my father who’d only recently emigrated from Peru. We moved all over England until we settled in Cardiff when I was 5.
One thing my family shared with me was a love of nature, books and an ambition to do something positive in the world. Growing up with parents from two different cultures gave me a unique perspective, but was also hard in many ways.
When I had the chance to study languages and literature in Edinburgh, I took it! It was a way to explore and leave the intensity of home. I spent 7 years studying and working in Scotland, before moving home to Wales again.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
Bill Withers said, ‘You can’t get to wonderful without passing through alright.’ I read this first on a double page in David Hieatt’s brilliant book Purpose. It really touched me.
We live in a world nowadays where you only ever get to see the finished product or ‘overnight success.’ Often, you don’t get to see the years of hard work, mistakes and plain endurance that go into making anything worthwhile.
I’ve accepted now that I’m on my own journey. I’m alright; I’m learning, and I’m happy with that.
Is there a particular book, podcast, or film that made a significant impact on you? Can you share a story or explain why it resonated with you so much?
Just a few weeks ago, I read Untamed by Glennon Doyle. When I read the part about trusting your inner ‘knowing’, I stopped in my tracks.
As a woman, I think we’re conditioned to feel safer checking for the opinions of others about our lives instead of looking inwards to trust our own intuition and take risks. And yet, when I’ve trusted myself, that’s when I’ve made my boldest and best moves!
I’ve changed already and made some hard decisions. These included moving our complete website to a new platform for the second time in a year to be certain it would function well for Christmas, bringing a puppy into our family, and now pivoting Authentic House to step away from our original product and explore a new offering.
Sometimes it makes me feel scared to move so fast, but then I remember how right these decisions feel to me and how good the results have been.
Ok super. Let’s now shift to the main part of our discussion. There is no shortage of good ideas out there. Many people have good ideas all the time. But people seem to struggle in taking a good idea and translating it into an actual business. Can you share a few ideas from your experience about how to overcome this challenge?
I think the problem can be that we’re caught up in our idea.
I’d say, start with a purpose. The world can be improved in so many ways. How will your product or service do it?
Then go with an idea. It might even turn out to be a bad idea, but the act of starting creates its own momentum.
When I began Authentic House, I knew I wanted to help people protect the planet. That was the purpose.
My idea was to start with a directory of all the architects, builders and makers who could help create an eco-friendly home. I interviewed so many people! And it turned out the idea wasn’t great — there was no way anyone would pay for it.
What had come from starting though, was getting to meet inspiring people and see the products that were out there. I saw some of the first plastic-free products back in 2018 when they were something new and so different from the throwaway plastic supplies we often use.
I could see the potential in them and linked it to an idea for a subscription box — a service I’d used in the past and loved. From there, I had a better idea and the foundations of a business to pivot into it.
Often when people think of a new idea, they dismiss it saying someone else must have thought of it before. How would you recommend that someone go about researching whether or not their idea has already been created?
Look your idea up on the internet. It’s the best way to see if something like it exists.
That said, if there is another idea like yours, and you think you could bring something new and unique to it, I think you can still go ahead. When I started my eco-friendly subscription box, it was a brand new idea and there was nothing like it out there. That said, 2 weeks after I began, a competitor brand started too.
As we’re all inspired by similar things and live in a similar context, there’s a zeitgeist around ideas. Even if your idea is unique, it won’t be for long. What makes your idea have staying power and become the idea is stamina. If you have the belief, just keep going. You’ll be surprised at how old competitors fall away — although you’ll have new ones too of course!
For the benefit of our readers, can you outline the steps one has to go through, from when they think of the idea, until it finally lands in a customer’s hands? In particular, we’d love to hear about how to file a patent, how to source a good manufacturer, and how to find a retailer to distribute it.
I think the best way to create a product from an idea is to start with the resources you have.
When I began my eco-friendly subscription box, I was effectively putting my business ‘out there’ and slowly I began to build a network and credibility simply for showing up consistently.
A year or so in, I realised Authentic House needed to have its own product range as this would give me more creative control over the products we sold and would add more value to our brand. I asked around with craftspeople I knew, and some I’d heard of. A few said no, but I ended up with two very skilled people helping me.
From there, it was a case of building relationships even more. I gained another three craftspeople to help me and, over time, they trusted me more and offered to create more unique products. This meant I could play a greater role in formulating new products and coming up with ideas my customers wanted.
In terms of finding a retailer, we sell wholesale and my best advice is to build your brand and let them come! I’ve experimented at the start with contacting retailers online and ‘pounding the pavements’ as my mentor put it. My best results have simply come from growing our presence on Instagram and our own website which has attracted retailers wanting to work with us. It also means you’re that much closer to your customers.
What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me When I First Started Leading My Company” and why? (Please share a story or example for each.)
- Tend to your energy. If you’re thinking of leading a company, you must have some serious self-belief! And that’s a good thing, but you’re not a machine. We all have a tendency to use ourselves on our best days as a marker for what we can get done, but that’s not realistic. You’re a sum of your good days and your bad, and your business will ebb and flow with your energy.
- Get a mentor. When you start, there are lots of programmes for new businesses that give you a mentor — and maybe even some grant money. A good mentor is worth more than any money and will build you as a person in a way that can change your life. I’ve been helped by mentors from The Prince’s Trust, Natwest and Red Bull — they’re there if you know where to look!
- Network. By this, I don’t mean making the rounds of a room with a beer in hand — although I’ve tried that many times! Social media is a brilliant place to network with people in your niche and beyond. For my business, Instagram works best for me. I spend time every day engaging with the accounts I follow which has helped me build connections with fellow businesses, customers, journalists and event organisers.
- Become a fan. Who inspires you? If you draw a blank, you’re not looking! As you network, you’ll start to discover some very wise people. Read their posts, their books and listen to their podcasts. This way, you can benefit from mentors you’ve never even met before. If the person offers coaching, don’t be afraid to pay for it! One hour with an expert has worked wonders for my business — but be cautious. Test the waters and don’t overcommit either as there are many false promises out there too.
- Keep going. There’s a remarkable gift that comes with simply staying put and working on what you love. More people will find out about you. You’ll be asked to speak. Magazines will feature you. You will learn and become a wiser, braver person who will create a better, more purposeful business. Believe in yourself.
Let’s imagine that a reader reading this interview has an idea for a product that they would like to invent. What are the first few steps that you would recommend that they take?
Ask yourself, would you use it?
If the answer’s yes, go forward. You need to be passionate about your idea to keep cherishing it through all the knocks and obstacles.
And don’t listen to naysayers. There are plenty of people who will doubt your idea because it doesn’t fit with the vision they have of you. Your idea is very fragile at the start, so protect it.
Take a page and in the top right, write your idea. Draw a line diagonally back to the bottom left. That’s where you are right now. Starting from the top, work out the steps downwards back to where you are. Now you have an action plan.
On the way, if your idea doesn’t seem to be working, don’t be afraid to let it go. Close your eyes and see how the idea feels within your body. If it feels good, persevere! If it feels fearful, go back to your original purpose and see how you might pivot. It can be painful at the time, but you’ll be proud telling the story of it later on.
There are many invention development consultants. Would you recommend that a person with a new idea hire such a consultant, or should they try to strike out on their own?
I think it’s important to know what you have to bring.
If you know your skills and know there are other skills you need, search for the right person to help you. Finding someone passionate and committed to join your team is harder than hiring a consultant, but I think it could be more worthwhile in the long run. That said, be very careful about who you share your business with! If you need help and a consultant seems like the best option, maybe it is.
If you’re starting with an idea but you have no qualifications and it’s a new industry to you, I’d recommend going it alone or with friends before hiring anyone to help. When I started Authentic House, I had a background in marketing, but no retail, product or business management experience. There were mistakes I had to make and falls I had to take to learn and become the person I am now. Don’t hire your way out of that process, or you’ll miss this valuable time.
What are your thoughts about bootstrapping vs looking for venture capital? What is the best way to decide if you should do either one?
The best lesson I’ve been taught is to ask yourself — am I passionate about working this business into the way I live my life, or do I want to sell my business eventually?
If you answered yes to the first, you might want to bootstrap. It takes longer, but you’ll have complete ownership of your business at the end. It’s what I’ve chosen for Authentic House.
If it was yes to the second, look for venture capital. It’s a difficult process, but you’ll benefit from much faster growth. The one cost is that you’ll lose complete control over your business and will be more tied to the bottom line.
Ok. We are nearly done. Here are our final questions. How have you used your success to make the world a better place?
I created Authentic House because I wanted to help more people protect the planet. By starting out with this purpose at the heart of my business, I’ve been able to contribute in the way I’d like as it grows.
All our products are alternatives to single-use plastic and have helped over 3,000 families reduce their waste and become more eco-conscious. I share the ways I’m learning about sustainable living on our social media and weekly emails, simply showing up for the conversation about how we can do better.
After our first year, I realised I also wanted Authentic House to contribute to repairing the harm done to the natural world, in that way adding a macro element to the micro of everyday changes. We now plant a tree for every order and have planted 3,384 native, protected trees across the world to date. It’s equivalent to nearly 7 square kilometres reforested.
You are an inspiration to a great many people. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.
At the moment I’m interested in land and who owns it. There’s a crazy statistic that in England, you only have access to 5% of the land! (The Book of Trespass, Nick Hayes) A lot of it is tied up in large estates — it’s the same here in Wales.
With a couple of friends, I’ve begun a new idea for a Community Land Trust called Recommon. Our plan is to buy some land and build affordable eco homes on it with room for people, nature, workspaces and growing.
If anyone is interested, I’d love to hear from you! You can find our project on Instagram @recommonuk.
We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US, with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them.
I would love to talk to David Hieatt who I mentioned at the very beginning of this interview! I saw him speak once at the very start of my business before I even knew who he was. His words are incredibly powerful and I come back to them again and again.
Thank you so much for sharing these important insights. We wish you continued success and good health!
Making Something From Nothing: Alice Ojeda of Authentic House On How To Go From Idea To Launch was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
