Episode 22 - The Inventor And Business Owner

Listen on

Transcript

0:00:00 - (Nicole): This episode of bring your kid to work is brought to you by Lioness Media.

0:00:04 - (Nicole): It's time to bring your kid to work.

0:00:07 - (Nicole): Hey everyone. It's time to bring your kid to work. It's the family podcast that explores the world of work through the eyes of parents and their kids. Each week we interview one parent and their child to chat about what they do for work, what they like, what they don't like, and how they got there in the first place. Let's find out who we're talking to today.

[TRANSCRIPT]

0:00:00 - (Nicole): This episode of bring your kid to work is brought to you by Lioness Media. It's time to bring your kid to work. Hey everyone. It's time to bring your kid to work. It's the family podcast that explores the world of work through the eyes of parents and their kids. Each week, we interview one parent and their child to chat about what they do for work, what they like, what they don't like, and how they got there in the first place.

0:00:25 - (Nicole): Let's find out who we're talking to today. Our two very special guests today are Caroline and her son, Felix. Caroline Farrer is a mum of two who's had a three part career so far. She worked for a long time in film and tv marketing at the BBC, Universal Studios, and Warner Brothers. Then she moved into social impact and worked for a nonprofit for five years. Then with her friend Kelly Riley, she invented a whole new product, sulmates, and they started a business together. Caroline and Kelly wanted to live a more sustainable life and were eliminating all sorts of plastic from their worlds.

The one thing they couldn't quite work out was sunscreen. But instead of just seeing the problem of lots of different half empty sunscreen containers lying around in bags and bathrooms and cars and thinking how annoying it was, they decided to do something about it. They were buying their sunscreen in bulk But found it a little bit ridiculous To lug around a liter of sunscreen for an afternoon at the park. And that's where the invention of solmates came about. It's a refillable applicator made of ocean plastic. So you buy sunscreen in bulk, and then you pop some in your solmate to take out with you, saving the planet while making sure your sun's safe.

0:01:39 - (Nicole): she brings with her today her son Felix, who seems to want to follow In her entrepreneurial footsteps, having a desire to start his own business with friends. When he's older, I'll let him tell You all about it.

These two were an absolute delight, and I can't wait for you to hear their story. So let's get on with the show.

0:01:59 - (Nicole): Welcome, both of you, to bring your kid to work. I'm so excited to welcome two very special guests. And I have a young special guest and an older special guest. And I'll ask the young special guest to tell me his name and how old he is and maybe a little bit about yourself. Special guest.

0:02:18 - (Felix): I'm Felix and I'm ten years old.

0:02:21 - (Nicole): Oh, wow. Felix. And what grade in school are you? Because you're in England, it's a bit different. What grade is your schooling as a ten year old year?

0:02:30 - (Felix): Five.

0:02:31 - (Nicole): Year five. Excellent. Not that different then. And so at the moment, you're kind of in the middle of the school year because your school year goes from August, September through to the next year, doesn't it?

0:02:44 - (Caroline): Starts in September, doesn't yeah.

0:02:46 - (Nicole): Yeah. Wow. Different to hear, isn't it? And so, Felix, you brought someone with you today who's my other special guest. Can you introduce the person sitting next to you?

0:02:57 - (Felix): It's my mum.

0:03:01 - (Nicole): Yeah. And what's your mum's name?

0:03:03 - (Felix): Caroline.

0:03:05 - (B): Caroline.

0:03:06 - (Nicole): Hi, Caroline.

0:03:07 - (Caroline): Hello.

0:03:09 - (Nicole): Thank you so much for joining me on bring your kid to work, Caroline. I'm calling this episode the inventor and business owner. How's that?

0:03:18 - (Caroline): Great. Perfect.

0:03:19 - (Nicole): We'll go with that. Caroline, you are someone who has created a new business because of something you've invented, is that right?

0:03:28 - (Caroline): Yes. My friend Kelly and I have created something and started a new business from it. The business is called Solmates Australia. And we designed, made, and we now sell a refillable sunscreen applicator. And it's really just about the idea of saving plastic waste or reducing your plastic waste, but also just making it easier for you to be safer in the sun. And I suppose we invented it.

0:03:52 - (Felix): Yes.

0:03:53 - (Caroline): Because we sort of saw that we had a problem, that we wanted to be more sustainable in our lives, but we were busy and active and we had small children and one of those things was just how much sunscreen you go through, especially living in Australia.

0:04:07 - (Nicole): Oh, yeah.

0:04:07 - (Caroline): And we just thought there was a better way of buying in bulk and carrying around your big bulk sunscreen. And there wasn't really anything out there that helped us, so it was really Kelly. Actually, maybe we should call Kelly the inventor. She scrolled something down, she wrote a little design on a piece of paper one day and just took it to a design agency. And then probably about three years later, here we are.

0:04:30 - (Caroline): Not selling it. Selling it.

0:04:32 - (Felix): Two and two and two months.

0:04:34 - (Caroline): Yeah, been a few. It was a bit before we were working on it.

0:04:38 - (Felix): Two and one month and a few days.

0:04:41 - (Caroline): There you go.

0:04:42 - (Nicole): Okay. It's good to be specific. I like that, Felix. Thank you for that, Felix. So mum just told us about her amazing product with Kelly. But what does she do all day for that job as an inventor and a business owner? Do you know what mum actually does all day long?

0:04:59 - (Felix): Go on her computer.

0:05:01 - (Nicole): Yeah. What is she doing when she's on her computer?

0:05:05 - (Felix): Well, when we go on holiday to sunny places, she takes photos of solmates and then edits them on the computer?

0:05:14 - (Nicole): Yeah.

0:05:15 - (Caroline): That sounds like a wonderful job, just going on holiday.

0:05:20 - (Nicole): I think I'd like that job. Thank you very much. And what else does she do when she's on her computer? Does she have meetings?

0:05:28 - (Felix): Yeah, she has, but sometimes it's on the phone.

0:05:32 - (Nicole): Yeah. Caroline, is that a typical day in your job? I mean, I'd like to think being on holidays all the time was a typical day, but I suspect not. What does a typical day look like for you?

0:05:43 - (Caroline): I think it's a bit unique in our business because Kell and I decided to start when I was already living in London, so we moved over as a family about six years ago. But the business is based in Sydney, so the business is really clearly divided into Kel working on the product itself. She's there on the ground, so she sort of does the fulfillment and operations side, whereas I'm very much on the brand and marketing strategy side of things.

0:06:13 - (Caroline): So, yes, my day does really consist of sitting in front of the computer a lot, and the way Kell and I work is a bit difficult because of the time difference. So a lot of our phone calls and chats and meetings are sort of first thing in the morning or last thing at night, so that is my true. Yeah.

0:06:32 - (Nicole): And so, fair legs, does she like her job?

0:06:37 - (Felix): Well, we're not normally allowed in when she does her.

0:06:44 - (Caroline): Fair, you come and say hi. Do you think I like my faye?

0:06:47 - (Nicole): Yes.

0:06:48 - (Caroline): Yes.

0:06:49 - (Nicole): Yeah, that's good. We like for people to like their jobs because they have to do it lots of days of the year, don't they? They don't get to just go on holidays and hang out with you when you're on holidays. Yeah. This is probably not her first job, though. Felix, do you know what was Mum's first job when she was, like, in school? Just a little bit older than you.

0:07:08 - (Felix): I can't remember, but she had something to do with Warner Brothers.

0:07:14 - (Caroline): Oh, that was when I was a bit older. I worked for Warner Brothers and Felix, one of Felix's favourite things in the whole world is Harry Potter, isn't it?

0:07:24 - (Nicole): I can imagine why. Harry is a bit of a legend. And so was Warner Brothers your first job, Caroline, or did you have a first job when you were a teenager?

0:07:33 - (Caroline): I didn't work so much during school, so I suppose I did the ods and ends know, cafe restaurants, that sort of stuff. But then my very first job out of university, because we lived in Western Australia, so I went to university in Perth and my first job was writing for a businessmining journal. Business so I would write about miners in Australia and mining companies. So quite a little bit different from where I'm at now.

0:08:03 - (Felix): That's boring.

0:08:06 - (Caroline): It wasn't boring at the time. I was very keen to be a journalist, so that's where I started. But then when I was about 21, I jumped on a plane and I moved to London. Wow. Yeah. When I was 21 and it was the first time I'd ever left Australia and I moved.

0:08:26 - (Felix): You went back to Australia, though?

0:08:28 - (Caroline): Yeah, I did go back to Australia, so I was here for quite a long time and that's when one of my first temp jobs was working for the BBC.

0:08:35 - (Nicole): That's not a bad first temp job.

0:08:37 - (Caroline): I know, it was amazing. And it's so different to now. Yeah. Because I sort of rocked up in London. I signed up for a temp agency and I think the second job I was on was the BBC.

0:08:47 - (B): Wow.

0:08:48 - (Caroline): And they just kept me employed. And then I finally got a permanent job there and I worked there for five years. So I sort of fell into. It was in the marketing department, actually working on children's television. That's how I just sort of fell into my career, really?

0:09:03 - (Nicole): Yeah.

0:09:04 - (Caroline): It wasn't really a big plan.

0:09:06 - (Nicole): That often happens. Yeah. You're not the first person who said that. It just kind of happened that way. Yeah, that sounds like journalism. Was that the thing you wanted to do when you were a little kid?

0:09:17 - (Caroline): I did, I think. God, I clearly remember at one point wanting to be a zookeeper. Think I dabbled with the idea of being a lawyer. But then the journalism came to me pretty quickly, I think. I really loved writing. I really loved reading, so, yeah, that's what I wanted to do.

0:09:34 - (Nicole): Nice. Felix. Mum. Having this small business and running all of the marketing and brand and all that sort of thing for the business. Is that something you're interested in, or have you got another idea of a job you want to do when you get big? Not at all. What are you keen to do?

0:09:55 - (Felix): I'm going to open a pet daycare.

0:09:58 - (Nicole): Oh, I like that idea. Is there a big demand for pet daycares in London? No, but maybe it's just because they don't know that they exist. You need to make one happen. What do you love about the idea of opening a pet daycare?

0:10:14 - (Felix): Well, I love animals, and since some animals have role, like to eat other animals, they'll just be different rooms.

0:10:24 - (Nicole): Oh, that's fair.

0:10:26 - (Felix): Animals can be together like turtles or.

0:10:30 - (Nicole): Whatever else, but probably not the snakes with people's mice. Pet mice. That's probably not a good combination. Is that something that you think you're going to learn about animals and do more of as you get older? Are you thinking that's kind of a thing that you'll study? Yeah. What do you love at school at the moment? What are the things you love to learn about at school?

0:10:54 - (Felix): Well, I love history.

0:10:57 - (Nicole): Yeah.

0:10:58 - (Felix): And science.

0:11:01 - (Nicole): Good combination. What do you love about those. What are the things that make you excited about those two subjects?

0:11:07 - (Felix): Well, science is like doing really cool experiments. And history? Well, like, learning about the past and how things came to now.

0:11:18 - (Nicole): Yeah. It's really cool to be curious about those things. I love it. And so this pet daycare that you're going to open, I'll bring my dog, by the way. I'll have to bring him over to England, but I'm sure he'll be okay with that. Whereabouts do you think it's going to be in London or do you think you're going to set it up somewhere else?

0:11:35 - (Felix): It could be in Australia. I'm thinking of doing in Australia.

0:11:42 - (Nicole): Okay. So do you think I should get my spare room sorted out for you for when you get big and you're needing somewhere to.

0:11:49 - (Felix): No, no, you'll be all right. Some of my grandparents have two houses.

0:11:57 - (Nicole): Perfect. You don't need me. You got it all sorted. Do you have pets now?

0:12:02 - (Felix): No, but we're hoping to get.

0:12:05 - (Nicole): You're hoping to get a fish. Fish, okay. A fish is on the wish list. Is there a particular type of fish that you're really keen to get?

0:12:14 - (Felix): I really like goldfish. Those are the only small fish that I can think of. But also clownfish.

0:12:22 - (Nicole): Yeah. Like nemo. They're very cute. My kids, when they were your age, the big ones, they had little siamese fighting fish and they had to be in their own little tank because they would fight each other. Pretty weird.

0:12:36 - (Caroline): That would be cool. Maybe we've said that we're not allowed pets until we move back to Australia.

0:12:42 - (Felix): Because it's a bit.

0:12:43 - (Caroline): Unless it's a fish. Because it's a bit hard in an apartment in London.

0:12:47 - (Nicole): Yeah. So is that on the cards, moving back to Australia?

0:12:51 - (Caroline): Oh, we talk about it a lot, don't we? Felix was four when we moved here, and it was never a permanent thing. And with the business going so well, we'll probably head back at some point.

0:13:03 - (Nicole): Amazing. The business itself. Solmates. I love that. It's so for people listening, they can't see how it's written, but it's solmates. S.o.l.mates.

0:13:14 - (Felix): Yes.

0:13:15 - (Nicole): Because sol as in solar? As in sun. Genius. Love it. I know that in our family, we live in Brisbane and it is incredibly sunny and we have recommended sunscreen from 07:00 in the morning at the moment because it's summer and so we go through a lot of sunscreen. And so that was just a problem that you saw in the world and you wanted to solve it?

0:13:37 - (Caroline): Yeah, I think so. I think I was really focused on trying to be more sustainable in just my daily choices. And one of those big things was how much plastic I got through. So we use a lot of reusables. Anyway, we made those steps, but sunscreen was really hard to do that. And I think when you've got a family, the most cost effective thing is to buy in bulk. But what does that mean in reality? So we just wanted a solution that meant we could reduce our own plastic waste but still make it really easy for us as a family.

0:14:09 - (Nicole): Yeah, that's the best way to come up with invention, is when something happens, you go, oh, there really needs to be a solution to this. And you look around and you go, hang on, there's no solution to this. I guess I need to make it happen. Yeah.

0:14:21 - (Caroline): And I think I'll always credit Kelly for this because I think she was the one that was like, this really annoys me. I'm going to do something about it because I think there's so often in life you complain about something and then you just move on with your life and just put up with it. But Kelly actually decided to do something and we actually decided to launch a business because of.

0:14:41 - (Nicole): So, yeah, that's brilliant.

0:14:44 - (Felix): Well, we don't need it.

0:14:45 - (Nicole): Not as much. No, Felix, probably not for as long during the day, but I reckon you probably still need.

0:14:52 - (Caroline): Yeah.

0:14:53 - (Nicole): What is the best part about your job? What do you love the most about your job, Caroline?

0:14:58 - (Caroline): It's so funny because I never thought I would be a person to run my own, really. It was never really built in me, but I just really love, it's like every day is like a puzzle. Every day you're sort of building something and overcoming a little problem that gets sorted, then there's another little problem and it's just like a bunch of little challenges that you then work on and it becomes something solid at the end of it and you have this thing that you can then release into the world.

0:15:27 - (Caroline): So I think it's just that ownership and the ability to figure it out as you go.

0:15:33 - (Nicole): Yeah. And what about the worst job you've ever had? What is the worst job you've ever had and what's the things that you learned from that, whether they're good or bad?

0:15:43 - (Caroline): I don't obviously like it when people answer like this, but I don't think I've had a bad job. I think I've been really lucky.

0:15:51 - (Felix): What's your least favorite?

0:15:53 - (Caroline): What's my least favorite?

0:15:54 - (Nicole): Yeah, good question.

0:15:55 - (Caroline): I think there's parts of jobs that I've found my least favorite in, and I think the parts I never liked when I worked for organizations is the politics involved and having to manage hierarchies and personalities. And I think that happens when you're in big companies, but also really little ones. So I think that's the worst aspect of jobs, and that's actually the joy of having your own business, is that you can be really deliberate about how you work and who you work with.

0:16:27 - (Nicole): Yeah. You get to choose the fun people that you get to hang out with.

0:16:30 - (Caroline): You get to choose. And also you get to set the tone, I think is really important. Like, Kelly and I talk a lot about how we want to work as a business and how we want to treat the people who work for us and with us. I think it's really important to start out from the beginning.

0:16:47 - (Nicole): That's absolutely true. So, Felix, do you think your mum's a good. Yes. Yeah. What do you think makes a good boss?

0:16:57 - (Felix): Good to organize stuff.

0:17:00 - (Nicole): Yeah. What else makes a good boss?

0:17:04 - (Felix): Being nice to their employees.

0:17:08 - (Caroline): Good one.

0:17:09 - (Nicole): Yes. Also good.

0:17:11 - (Felix): And giving them higher.

0:17:14 - (Caroline): Giving them higher paycheck.

0:17:19 - (Nicole): I reckon they like that.

0:17:21 - (Caroline): For sure.

0:17:21 - (Nicole): Yeah. Those are good things to have as a boss. I think. I think you're very wise. Is that what you're going to do when you're the boss of the pet daycare? Yeah. Any other ideas as a boss that are good ideas to be a good boss?

0:17:37 - (Felix): No.

0:17:38 - (Nicole): Do people get to take the pets home? Sometimes just have sleepovers? Yeah.

0:17:43 - (Felix): So there's going to be half days and full days.

0:17:47 - (Nicole): Right. You've thought about this? I love it. Keep going.

0:17:50 - (Felix): Going for a half day will be half the price of a full day.

0:17:54 - (Nicole): Makes sense. And then will you have people being able to take their animals to you for a sleepover if they're going out for the night or they're going away for a. Yeah. Yeah. That's another thing to think about.

0:18:07 - (Felix): Yeah.

0:18:10 - (Nicole): Caroline, when you think about jobs, being a journalist was what you thought after initially, zookeeper and those kind of ideas when you're a kid. But is that something your parents were doing? What did your parents do?

0:18:24 - (Caroline): No. So I grew up in country Western Australia. My mum was a school teacher and then she looked after myself and my sisters growing up. And my dad worked for the government in the conservation department, so he was very much outdoorsy. We spent a lot of time in forests and talking about animals and trees and leaves and so it was a very different life. Lots of birds. He's a big bird lover, isn't he? Yeah.

0:18:54 - (Caroline): And I think back then, I think you had limited, not choices, but ideas of what was possible. Yeah, I think it's very different to now. So I think journalism was just one thing I latched onto because I really liked to write and I really loved reading, so it sort of made sense to me.

0:19:13 - (Nicole): But it still circles back, because if your dad was in the conservation department and now you've come to this sort of sustainability and trying to reduce plastic waste, it's still, I think, inspiration coming together.

0:19:26 - (Caroline): Yeah, absolutely. I mean, we spent all of our childhood outside doing that sort of thing. And I think it was just sort of built into us as kids that the importance of nature and wildlife and things that live in it. And even now, Felix is right. Both my parents are massive bird watchers. They do a lot of camping. Yeah, it's definitely part of our family.

0:19:50 - (Nicole): Felix is for you, thinking about wanting to have a pet daycare. Doesn't sound like that idea has kind of come from mum. Is dad someone who looks after pets, like a veterinarian or anything? What does dad do?

0:20:04 - (Felix): He works for Facebook.

0:20:06 - (Caroline): He's in tech. So not animals?

0:20:09 - (Felix): No.

0:20:10 - (Nicole): So, no, this is just something you've come up with yourself. Yeah, I love it. This is good.

0:20:15 - (Caroline): I think it's been a group effort because him and his friends have talked about it a lot at school because don't you want to start it with your.

0:20:22 - (Felix): Yeah, but it's going to be a bit hard in Australia.

0:20:27 - (Caroline): Yeah, they'd have to move out there with you.

0:20:29 - (Nicole): You just have to bring them with you.

0:20:31 - (B): That'll be okay.

0:20:32 - (Nicole): I'm sure they won't mind. It's a lot sunnier in Australia for them. And then they can use their solmates and take them with them to make sure that they've got sunscreen on. It all works together. When you come up with a product, Caroline, what do you do? You come up with this idea. But what happens next?

0:20:51 - (Caroline): Yeah, I mean, it took quite a long time because while I was in marketing, Kel was project management and worked in big financial organizations. So neither of us had any background in design or even starting their own business. So it mainly just meant talking to people and bringing people along the ride that were really good at their jobs. So we found a very good design agency who then introduced us to a very good manufacturing business because we make our solmates in Australia. We make them in the northern beaches of Sydney.

0:21:23 - (Nicole): Wow.

0:21:23 - (Caroline): So it meant getting to know Tom, who works up there, and then he introduced us to people where we could source our recycled plastic, because the applicators are made with recycled plastic. So it just really meant just slowly bringing people, the right people on board to do things. And then Kell and I, just figuring out how we go as to how to run a business.

0:21:49 - (Nicole): I like that idea of learning on the job and how to work it out yourself. I think that's a really good way to do it because you don't always know all the answers.

0:21:56 - (Caroline): Oh, God. We didn't really know hardly any answers. I built our website and I'd never done anything like that before. Kel is now an incredible expert on all types of plastic. Yeah, we've definitely learnt as we've gone.

0:22:12 - (Nicole): And that's something that people can do in their own jobs, because I think, like you said at the beginning, you don't know what kind of jobs there are out there. You kind of know what you've seen before. Part of the idea of this podcast is to get people to understand that there are lots of different jobs. I think it's really inspiring to hear from someone like yourself and Cal, obviously, that if you see a problem, you can solve it and create something and make a business out of it and just start.

0:22:38 - (Caroline): Yeah, exactly. And I think about that a lot with the boys, with Felix and his brother. What do jobs look like by the time they're out there in the workforce? And fee, even though fee is very keen on a pet daycare, like, he goes to coding classes, they do a lot of interesting different things at school. So I think as long as we can broaden their horizons and get them to see the most of the world, it sort of puts them in good stead to figure it out as they go.

0:23:05 - (Nicole): Yeah, because that's what we've all done too, Felix. We haven't all had the ideas and followed the path directly like your mum hasn't. I haven't. So you can come up with your own ideas. I think that's brilliant. And when it comes to marketing a new product, it's really hard to get people to pay attention. So what are the things that you've been doing to tell people about solmates?

0:23:28 - (Caroline): Well, we started really small because we just had no idea if anyone would be interested in it. And we just did really simple advertising through all our social channels. And Felix is right, my husband works in social media, so he definitely helped us out a little bit and it was just getting the word out that way. But to be honest, we've been so lucky because I think in Australia, people have seen the product and immediately understood it for what it was and realized that it could be really useful.

0:23:57 - (Caroline): So it was sort of an easy sell from the beginning because I think people could see the immediate need in it. And once we got that, sort of, we got the first early interest. It's just rolled from there, really. So it's just basically ticking up all those marketing checklists of how to get it out to people.

0:24:14 - (Nicole): Where are people finding it? Where can you buy Solmates?

0:24:18 - (Caroline): So we have our own website, so people go directly to there. We have a number of small independent retailers that now stock know, like those wonderful stores that you can find in your local suburb or town. And now the cancer council actually stocks it. So that's been really wonderful to see. And Kell and I have done some really big consumer markets together, so we've had some excellent feedback and sailed through that as well.

0:24:43 - (Caroline): And it was actually, when we launched, it was actually featured in Sydney's powerhouse museum in the new Australian Design exhibition, which really got some people interested in it. And it was in the shop there and there was some buzz about it. So that's where.

0:24:59 - (Nicole): Wow. Those are all very easy places for people to get to, because I know that they used to, you'd go to a conference and occasionally they'd give you one of those little sunscreen containers that would just fit on the side of your handbag, which was really useful. But of course, it was just plastic waste because it was only a little bit of sunscreen. So placing that with a solmate makes a lot of sense to me.

0:25:22 - (Nicole): Felix, what do you think about Mum being a boss and the owner of business and someone who gets out there and solves problems? What do you think about that?

0:25:33 - (Felix): Well, I think she's very busy all the time because she has to design things and talk to Kel every day.

0:25:42 - (Nicole): Yeah. Do you think it's pretty cool that your mum has her own business? Sort of, yeah, sort.

0:25:53 - (Caroline): Of had me all iterations, too. Like when he was young, I worked full time, but I traveled quite a bit. And then when we moved here, I was at home with him because we had Winston, his little brother, and now I'm working a lot. But it's from home, so he's had it all, haven't you, Felix?

0:26:10 - (Felix): Yeah.

0:26:10 - (Nicole): And what's the best way, do you think? Having mum working from home or having mum travel away?

0:26:16 - (Felix): Working from home? But sometimes she does go to Australia for a few weeks.

0:26:20 - (Nicole): Yeah, well, that's where the business is. It makes a lot of sense. And one day, maybe you'll all come back over and then mum can run the business from Australia and you can get your pet daycare going. I think that works. Where is home then, when you come back, if the business is Sydney and your parents are in WA, what does that mean for home for you?

0:26:42 - (Caroline): My husband and I lived in Sydney for a really long time. And Felix, we lived in Sydney, so Sydney is our home. That's our base, and that's obviously where the business is. But then both of our sets of family are in Western Australia, so we do go back to Perth a lot when we can.

0:26:58 - (Nicole): So that 17 hours flight from London to Perth, has that helped or made things harder?

0:27:04 - (Caroline): Yeah, we've done that. We've done that. I mean, obviously, Covid stopped us coming home for quite a long time, but since then, we've done the 17 hours flight.

0:27:12 - (Nicole): Caroline, what's the advice you'd give to someone who thought about starting their own business?

0:27:19 - (Caroline): Firstly, I think it's quite important to acknowledge that I think both Kelly and I came from a place of privilege where we were able to start this business because we had the backing of our partners, so there was a financial security to that. And I think about that a lot. I think it's a bit hard to offer advice to people who want to start a business without acknowledging it, because I think we're a bit lucky in that way.

0:27:44 - (Caroline): But I think the best way is just to give it a little bit of a go and just to take it step by step. And that might mean you work full time, part time, at the same time as you get it running. It might mean that you pivot quite a lot. So you start and you try, and then you try something else if it doesn't work. But I think if you just start and you take it bit by bit, I think that's the most important thing.

0:28:09 - (Nicole): I think that's great advice. And we'll have to remember that for you, Felix, when you start yours, just start and take it bit by bit. It's good advice. What do you love to do that is not school then, Felix, apart from thinking about animals?

0:28:24 - (Felix): Well, I love swimming and my coding lessons are really fun.

0:28:29 - (Nicole): Yeah. Do you make games? Do you use, like, scratch or anything like that?

0:28:34 - (Felix): Well, at the start, you started using. You start to use scratch, but I've passed that now onto yellow belt on make code arcade.

0:28:45 - (Nicole): That sounds impressive because, yeah, scratch is the only one I know, so you've already gone way beyond what I can do. Not that that would be hard, I suspect, but that's great. Good for you. Caroline, I do need to get you to tell me, what is the website for people if they want to buy solmates?

0:29:02 - (Caroline): So it's solmates, which is solmates.com au perfect.

0:29:08 - (Nicole): We'll put the links to that into the show notes for everyone listening to make sure that they know that they can get solmates and save a lot of plastic from going into the landfill. We don't want any of that. So thank you for creating such a brilliant invention. So thanks so much, Caroline, for joining me. I'll bring your kid to work.

0:29:26 - (Caroline): Thank you so much for having us.

0:29:28 - (Nicole): Bye, Felix.

0:29:29 - (Felix): Bye.

0:29:31 - (Nicole): Wow.

0:29:33 - (B): I really have so much admiration for someone or two, someone's who can look at a problem and go, that's not just annoying and rant about it and be annoyed about it, but, hey, I wonder if we could do something about this problem and then create a whole new thing and go and find the people that they need to talk to and source the materials and get the thing made, manufactured and doing all that in Australia, where not as many things are made as they used to be, and then telling everybody about it and trying to get people to buy it and try it and use it and, wow.

0:30:10 - (B): I think if you've got the ability to give something a try, if you've got an idea, then go for it. Like Caroline said and acknowledged, she and Kelly are in the really privileged position of being able to do that. But not everybody can. Boy, if you can, don't let that idea go to waste. It needs somewhere to go. It needs someone to bring it to.

0:30:30 - (Nicole): Life, otherwise the idea is just going to float away.

0:30:33 - (B): And I believe in you. Go for it, and so does Caroline, because clearly she believes that you can make things happen. I love that she's passed that on to Felix as well, who is so determined to make this pet daycare work. I just love his energy about it.

0:30:49 - (Nicole): It was a really great delight to.

0:30:50 - (B): Talk to these two and the poor things. It was so early in London for them. It was great to be able to make it work. I love having these conversations. I love talking to people who are doing really interesting things and to let people know about the wonderful, different ways that you can live your life and earn money to live your life with. It's really important that we know that there is lots of different things that we can do.

0:31:12 - (Nicole): So once again, if you have an idea for a guest, let me know. Always looking for really great people to interview and talk about their jobs.

0:31:20 - (Nicole): Look forward to talking to you next week.Talk to you then.

0:35:59 - (Nicole): Bring your kid to work was recorded in mean on the lands of the Jaggera and Turrbal, people who've been sharing their stories for more than 60,000 years. Thanks for listening to another episode of bring your kid to work. If you haven't already, make sure you give us a review on your podcast player of choice. It helps other people find the show and follow bring your kid to work and subscribe wherever you're listening now and send your favourite episode to a friend.

0:36:28 - (Nicole): These stories are too good to keep to ourselves. And don't forget to follow us on Instagram and TikTok at bring your kid to work and on Facebook at bring your kid to work the podcast and did you know? You can join the conversation join bring your kid to work career conversations community on Facebook for great career tips and conversations about the journey of work, workplace culture, and parenting while working.

0:36:51 - (Nicole): We're always looking for inspiring guests to be a part of our show. If you have a fab idea for a guest, drop us a line at admin@bringyourkidowork.com.Au or dm us through the socials. We would love to hear from you. Thanks again for listening. Bring your kid to work is a lioness media production. This episode was produced and edited by me, Nicole Lessio. Our music is composed by Rukkuo with graphics and design by Anastasia Makkuhka.

0:37:20 - (Nicole): Follow bring your kid to work on your podcast player and all the socials, and visit bringyourkidowork.com to see our blog transcripts from our episodes, and to sign up to our newsletter off for the latest updates. Talk to you soon.