Design duo Melissa Matthews and Liz Owen are the mums to know right now. Both from Marlow, they're helping businesses
by using their creative and PR skills, bringing to life inspirational ideas and spreading the word through their own venture, Little Shop of Brands. I caught up with them on your behalf...

 

Hi ladies, it was great to see you at the Media Hub the other week. Did you enjoy yourselves?  

Liz: Yes, it was hugely inspiring. Adrian Moorhouse was just incredible – we both love hearing people's journeys, and found Adrian's incredibly poignant and open-hearted. He is a true inspiration and had us captivated throughout his talk.

 

You've just embarked on a new journey of your own – how are you? 

Liz: Really well, happy, busy and excited about our new project!

 

www.littleshopofbrands.com sounds very exciting. Where did the idea
come from?

Liz: We came up with the idea after Mel started to become really passionate about photography, and was already a graphics guru. I studied fashion design back in the early 90s, but soon fell into PR, and my passion is illustration. Little Shop of Brands was a slow realisation of our skills combined and we now offer small businesses photography, graphic design, illustration and PR consultation as one package, or as a pick-and-choose option as and when needed. We felt this would suit small, creative businesses just starting out or who need a little refresh and don't have squillions of pounds to do so. So if a lifestyle brand needed a spot of PR to boost their business, I can go in there and help with press releases and strategies, Mel in turn can help with their photography and offer graphic design for, say, a newsletter. 

 

What did you do before you had children, and before this new venture?

Liz: I was head of PR for Laura Ashley before and during having children, then realised the commute was a bit much from London to Marlow every day after we moved here nearly eight years ago. So I decided to start my own little PR 'thing' and have been working with local brands such as Home Barn and Plume Boutique in Marlow, but also took on V V Rouleaux, Indian Ocean Outdoor Furniture and became an associate to Portrait Communications – and still help with London Fashion Week for Bora Aksu and Mark Fast… so actually still continue to commute to London on occasion!

Mel: I worked in London for seven years before the bambinos arrived, working in marketing for Paramount Universal and ITV before moving to Marlow nine years ago. Then I decided to retrain in graphic design at St. Martins while I was pregnant with my first. I then started working for Juicy Lucy Designs along with other various small lifestyle companies and brides, combining my marketing and design experience.

 

So how did you two meet? 

Liz: We're both from Marlow now, living the dream! We met each other via
the school gate about five years ago (that classic story of children introducing
us to each other through friendship, which extended to Mel and myself's friendship… which then in turn extended to our hubbies, so we get to enjoy
fairly harmonious times together). We are both from creative backgrounds,
and enjoy the same kind of lifestyle – both very much into music, fashion, gin, yoga, festivals and clearly our families. I annoy Mel with my OCD tidiness and Mel irks me with her luxe jet-set lifestyle, which is seriously annoying, but
apart from that, we get on tremendously – we can comfortably rib each other when the mood takes us without too much offence!

 

Did you have to do any extra training in preparation for Little Shop
of Brands? 

Liz: We have years of hands-on experience for what we do, but I am currently doing a little top-up with Mastered.com for the illustration. I'm always looking for great courses in what we do. We've had a bit of a consultation with Brand Stylist Fiona Humberstone, who we helped launch her book How To Style Your Brand, and we are strongly linked with the press and bloggers, so are constantly in tune with the latest looks and trends. We have already made quite an impression with a few bigger brands (but our lips are sealed at this point).

 

What do you love most about what you do?

Liz: The best part is the flexibility we have as a partnership – clearly we have to work around our children, as they're so young and we don't want to miss out on their lives, so this is a priority for us. And the worst is sometimes juggling too many balls – it's all about some sort of balance, and we're human, and sometimes it can seem there are never enough hours!

Mel: It's wonderful to love what you do and get lost in your creative bubble, to feel like I have now have integrity in what I do in my worklife. You do have to be very flexible with design projects as the timelines are immensely unpredictable and I do find myself sometimes working weekends and bank holidays. But, to be able to pick my girls up every day and be present in their lives is priceless. I have a really supportive husband and we make it work. Don't get me wrong, I by no means work every weekend, but when we take on a job we are dedicated to the core and want to make it the best we possibly can. 

 

What's your dream?

Liz: To own a gorgeous office with a team of creative associates under our umbrella, working in central Marlow for incredible brands who we help to launch, and then seeing those seeds become something awesome.

 

Anything else we don't know about you? 

Liz: I danced on Top of the Pops once, loved clubbing and was a regular at the Hacienda and Ministry of Sound back in the day! Now its more Hendricks Fizz round friends' houses, Ascot and Henley Regatta!!

Mel: I've become partial to hula-hooping and headstands when working at home. It's geat for the core and rebalancing between projects!

 

Wishing you the best of luck with your new business, girls. See you soon.