Sharmadean Reid founded WAH Nails as a side project in 2009 – now it is a huge global well-known business.
In this episode I chat to Sharmadean about productivity and distraction. She has a brilliant Guardian column called Bossing It where she answers modern work questions.
She wrote two WAH nails books, delivered global pop up nail salons for 100s of brands, created a product line with Walgreen Boots Alliance and was awarded an MBE for services to Beauty.
So now she is building a new way to book beauty online with her new company Beauty Stack.
We talk about what she’d learned from starting businesses. Sharmadean’s also working on a new campaign with NatWest which is all about helping small businesses be the best they can be. A big focus is on helping small businesses do more with less and improve their productivity through the NatWest Productivity Blueprint.
The medium article I reference in the opening section of the interview is called “Growing Up Too Fast — Or Why I Closed WAH Nails Topshop”.
Soundbites I love from this episode:
“Why not write a completely new rule for how we determine success?”
“Create your own pic ‘n’ mix from other people’s successful bios”
“You can’t copy someone else’s path”
“Being productive doesn’t mean being chained your desk the whole time.”
#245 Rana Foroohar: The Rise of Big Tech
#244 Ann Napolitano: From 80 Rejections To A Global Bestseller
#243 Ruby Warrington: What Does It Mean To Be "Sober Curious"?
#242 Kiley Reid: When Fiction Does What A Thinkpiece Cannot
#241 Gillian Anderson: TV, Time Out & Trying New Things
#240 Sarah Ellis (Part 2): Confidence Gremlins & Squiggly Motherhood
#239 Sarah Ellis (Part 1): Embrace The Squiggly Career
#238 Lucy Sheridan: The Comparison Cure: Be Less ‘Them’, More You
#237 Emma Forrest: Writing & Transcendental Meditation
#236 Rachel DeLoache Williams: My Friend Anna, The Scammer
#235 Ayesha Hazarika: on Online Tribalism & Multi-Hyphening
#234 Emily Weiss: On Building Glossier
#233 Eva Chen: On Building A Brand On Instagram
#232 BONUS: How Do We Make Work Better? (with Investors In People)
#231 Elaine Welteroth: On Quitting Your Job & Carving Out A New Path
#230 Jennifer Pastiloff: On Hearing Loss & Listening For A Living
#229 Jamie Bartlett: The Missing Cryptoqueen
#228 Marie Le Conte: Gossip, Power & Politics
#227 Dawn O'Porter: Is Anyone's Life As Perfect As It Looks?
#226 Scarlett Curtis: It's OK To Feel Blue
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