The Madgician S01E08 | “Finding Your Niche: The Key to Shaping Your Entrepreneurial Path”, with Rebecca Schween, Founder & Managing Director at @FutureSales

“Have the guts to do it. The only bad ventures are the ones that never happen. Don’t think, 'What if I fail?'—think, 'What if you fly?'” 🚀 - @Rebecca.

In today’s episode of The MADgician, we had the pleasure of speaking with Rebecca Schween, managing director at @FutureSales, about entrepreneurship in sales, personal branding, choosing your niche, and trusting your intuition. 

Rebecca also shared valuable advice for women transitioning from employment to entrepreneurship, and we discussed the balance of sacrifice, compromise, and pressure - while recognizing the incredible rewards that come with it.

Tune in on Spotify for the full episode!

About Rebecca Schween  

With over a decade of experience in sales recruitment, Rebecca is the founder of FutureSales, a sales recruitment agency that helps German and international tech companies find and hire the best sales talents in the market. As the managing director, she leads a team of dedicated consultants and researchers who share her passion and vision for delivering high-quality and personalized recruitment solutions.

“At FutureSales, we have successfully placed hundreds of sales professionals across various levels and roles, from account executives to sales directors, in some of the most innovative and fast-growing tech companies. 

We leverage our extensive network, industry knowledge, and recruitment expertise to match our candidates and clients based on their needs, goals, and culture fit. We also provide mentoring, coaching, and advisory services to both candidates and clients, helping them achieve their full potential in the cloud sales industry.”

What you’ll learn by listening

• The DNA of entrepreneurship: how sales and self-employment shape your journey

• The power of choosing a niche: why specialization is crucial for entrepreneurs in 2024

• Overcoming fear: advice for women transitioning from employment to entrepreneurship in tech

• Entrepreneurship: balancing sacrifice, compromise, and pressure—but with incredible rewards

• Why personal branding matters: people buy from the founder, not just the business

• Trust is everything: how your personal brand drives business success

• Key lessons learned in entrepreneurship

• The power of authenticity: staying true to yourself on the path to success

Podcast transcription

Georgiana: Hello, everyone! This is Georgiana with the MADgician - a podcast with women entrepreneurs. Today, I'm talking with one of my best friends, someone whom I admire a lot. And of course, this podcast has only the best women guests possible, but it's transcribed All the better when I get to speak to people that I really, really care about and that I feel I have a very special connection to Rebecca Schween is my guest for today.

Welcome. Thank you so much for talking to me today. And Rebecca has an extensive background in entrepreneurship and sales recruitment. And we'll be talking a little bit about. Her entire background and about this choice for over specialization in her business. But first, Rebecca, maybe you can tell us a few lines about yourself and then we'll dive deep into the questions.

Rebecca: Great. Well, first of all, thanks for having me. Um, and thank you for the very warm intro. Um, just a few words about myself. So, um, I was born and raised in Germany, um, in and around Hamburg and, um, From a very early age on, I guess, um, yeah, I got very used to, uh, self employment or entrepreneurship.

Um, you know, started with my grandparents, um, who owned a farm and a hotel restaurant business. Um, my parents, my aunts, my uncles, um, Everyone in the family is, is self-employed, uh, with a few exceptions. Um, so I guess I, yeah, got given the DNA of of entrepreneurship. Um, I'm now based, um, outside Hamburg. Um, I took, um, yeah, a few, uh, trips, uh, along the way.

I spent 15 years in London, um, and then five years in Berlin. Um, that's where we met thankfully. Um, and, uh, yeah. Set up my own business when I was 25, I think. Um, I finished university when I was 20. I finished my A levels when I was 18. Um, and then I worked in sales itself, uh, for about five years until, um, I thought, right, this is enough.

I have enough, uh, what I need. You know, my network, um, my computer, my business cards. Um, and I decided to, um, yeah, start my own business. Um, and here we are 13 years later.

Georgiana: Exactly. And I remember meeting you in COVID or a little bit before COVID started. And there's one thing that I remember up to this day, when we were at Charu’s having a drink one regular Saturday evening, and we were speaking about entrepreneurship and what it's like to. To run your own business and what makes you choose one topic or the other, you know, one direction or the other in your business.

And I remember you telling me that you've worked in sales all your life. So you simply don't imagine yourself doing anything else. And at the time, I was like, wow, this girl is phenomenal. She is knowledgeable. Obviously she's very passionate about what she's doing. And it made me think, you know, and over the years, whenever I was thinking Is digital marketing really what I want to always be doing or is employer branding what I always want to be doing?

I always came back to your answer and it's, it's really inspirational. I find it's, it's amazing. And it's one of the reasons why in the end, you know, I started to go into fashion and to, um, and into designing these shoes, the men's shoes that I work on right now, I'm only wondering. Why you chose this specific direction could have been, you know, so many others,

Rebecca: Yeah. Do you, do you mean specifically that direction of recruitment or the direction of self employment or entrepreneurship?

Georgiana: [00:04:00] both in a way.

Rebecca: Um, I, I guess, um, circling back on what I said before in terms of the topic of self employment or I call it self employment entrepreneurship. Um, It really is because I think, you know, it's, uh, it's a DNA.

Um, I kind of got given to, to be self employed, um, as well, or to set up my own business because again, um, you know, everyone in my family, um, is or was self employed. Um, and, um, you I think as well that entrepreneurship is also sales, right? Or sales is an entrepreneurship. So I worked in sales for five years and there wasn't quite actually, um, working for a big company actually in financial services.

And it's like running your own desk, really. That's what it felt like. Um, as well, and I was one of 700 people on the trading floor. I think we were about three or four women. Um, And, uh, yeah, I just had enough of that actually. And I saw a chance to go into recruitment as well. Um, because I've always had this passion for, for talent as well, because I guess your team, your employees, they're the most important thing in your company.

Right. Um, and, um, when I was, um, in employment and financial services, I got contacted a lot about, um, different opportunities, uh, different jobs, um, you know, recruiters back then still called me at my desk. Um, you know, it's all 90s, but it did happen. Um, and, um, they contacted me about jobs that either weren't a good fit, or I felt like I wasn't prepared for interviews in a good way.

Um, and nobody asked for my feedback after, um, I was pretty much left for my own devices. And that made me feel like I need to set up. My own thing and I need to offer a better service to candidates. Um, because back then everyone was looking for good sales talents, um, as well. Um, back then I still lived in the UK, in London, um, everyone [00:06:00] was looking for German speakers.

So I thought, Hey, that's a good niche, um, to set up my own business in. Um, and, um, Yeah, I guess sales is present in everything. Um, if, if you own a shop, for example, or you own a small business, uh, in craft, you know, uh, you're a plumber or you're an electrician and you're the owner of that company. You do sales, you know, it's not only selling software, uh, what we specialized in, but, um, yeah, as a recruiter, you're in sales.

I guess sales is really, uh, very, very present.

Georgiana: And I think it's, it's one of the, um, the skills that are the most important for all businesses, but particularly when you are an entrepreneur and you need to, to do, to be doing the sales yourself, but actually this stands as well for selling products because our personal struggle at the moment is placing the product on as many sales channels as possible.

And this is how you come torealize that whoever's, whoever is running the sales in a company basically is running the stream of revenue. This is genius, honestly.

Rebecca: Yeah.

Georgiana: And basically you have this knowledge, you started putting it to good use and you've been doing it for ages. And at the same time, you started the, you started recruiting people.

Who are also good at doing this. And aside from that, you kind of over specialized. You went for sales, recruitment in sales, in tech. And I know we talked about this many times, but is there a specific reason why you didn't want to extend to all possible industries? You could have, I don't know, recruited people in constructions, in pharma, in whatnot, medical.

You chose to go for this one in particular.

Rebecca: Yeah. I think the simple answer is that you cannot be Jack of all trades anymore in 2024. It's like marketing has changed as well. You know, you need to be very personalized with your marketing. Um, so I think, First of all, um, why the specialization? Because as I said before, I am sales and tech was my background before, so it was natural to, um, specialize in that because where you have a network and again, especially in 2024, um, it's good to have a network and to have a warm network as well that you can reach out to because a lot of things are.

Trust, um, you know, cold outreach doesn't work anymore in the way it did maybe in, in, uh, 2022 or 2023. Um, um, so first of all, that was that. And then, um, think the niche is so small specializing in sales recruitment, um, in the tech industry. But actually we have 1 million. Software salespeople in Germany alone, and we don't only specialize in Germany.

So then you can imagine, you know, that's equally as many jobs out there. Um, there's actually more [00:09:00] jobs out there than, than software salespeople. So, you know, then

Georgiana: Yeah, that is a lot.

Rebecca: that small people are saying, wow, you're so specialized. Um, but it's, uh, it's actually not. And I mean, the, the, um, The whole topic sales is also more broader than we think, you know, sales includes account management, customer success, sales leadership, um, you know, different go to market functions.

Um, but yeah, I think selling all things to all people is fatal, especially this year, and this will continue 2025. Um, so it's really important to find your niche and to own that. Um, and also knowing your potential clients, um, knowing your market. Knowing your pool of candidates, it's super important. And I mean, I don't know 1 million software salespeople myself. 

Um, but you know, it's, it's still good. It's still a people's business. Um, you know, and of course it takes courage to do that because, um, you eliminate a huge potential, a [00:10:00] pool of clients, you know,

Georgiana: Mm

Rebecca: you immediate, because we offer, we used to offer sales and marketing actually, um, in tech. And then at some stage we decided to, um, ditch the whole marketing, um, space.

And that was a good idea because there's so much to do in sales. And, um, yeah. And I think also companies want to work with recruiters that know their stuff, right. Um, and that know their industry and, you know, a lot of clients always ask, okay, what should we offer to that person in terms of salaries and commissions?

And you need to know that to be able to advise a client well, and if you don't know your industry, you can't give the answer to that. Right. Um, so yeah, that's

Georgiana: You are right.

Rebecca: why, um, a specialization is very, very important.

Georgiana: And I think you've, uh, you've said it yourself when the market isn't going or isn't as high as it used to be when the wave isn't as high as it used to be in uh, 2022, 2023, I think it pays off to over specialize or to specialize or to be niched and in any way possible, because we both know a lot of recruiters who are general recruiters in tech, but not necessarily in tech.

They're not doing so well at the moment. And I think it's. As you said, it's very important to create your own network to master the network around you to know who your client is. That really, really plays a big role. And that brings me to my next question. Because I, I personally struggled with selling our services in a German-speaking market.

Okay. I'm not, um, I'm not a native German, but, um, but I found that Germany is a country where a country that's kind of male-dominated in tech, at least,

Rebecca: Yeah.

Georgiana: and, um, maybe a little more than other countries I've been to. Have you felt that there's Gender inequality where this exists. Have you felt that this gender inequality has had some implications for you in doing your job because you're also a woman, obviously, and I don't want to transform this podcast into a sexist one, but we have to name names in the end.

Um, and I know that other women have been complaining about this. It is a very male dominated world in Berlin, in Hamburg, in Germany, in general.

Rebecca: Yes. It definitely is. Um, to be honest, it hasn't touched me personally, um, that much over the last 20 years or in my career so far. Um, I have to admit I'm conscious and I'm aware it's out there and it's real. Um, you know, as I said earlier, I was, One of 700 salespeople on a trading floor and I was one of the only few women there.

So of course, um, yeah, there was definitely some of that, but um, I had to reach my target like everyone else. I mean, there wasn't a difference, uh, there, and I can't see my, my clients making a difference either, you know, in men and women. It is male-dominated. Yes. But it's not because companies don't want to hire more women.

In fact, most, um, clients come to us and say, look, here's a briefing for the role. And if possible, we want to hire a woman actually. Um, uh, because, you know, as the next sales hire, and especially as a sales leader, um, and I think that's because the women lead differently. That's at least what clients tell me.

And they lead with more, um, empathy. They just think differently.

Georgiana: More compassion.

Rebecca: They put less pressure on a situation or on a deal to close it.

Georgiana: There's less ego, also, many

Rebecca: they're more natural, um leaders and they're also more emotional leaders. Um, you know what it also takes to Yeah to really connect with your team members. Um, So I can't confirm that it's because companies don't want to hire women I think naturally there are just more less women out there, um, in the tech industry, um, and also as founders of companies.

Um, and now I was at Bits and Pretzels last week and I had a very interesting, um, conversation with an investor, actually, um, funny enough, around an Oktoberfest table. Um, and actually the question came up, why are there so few, um, female leaders out there or female founders? And it was specifically about female founders.

Um, and he said as well, um, Female founders, um, it's not that they're less ambitious, but they basically, they don't, um, portray their ambitions, um, as much to the investors. So if they prevent in front of, uh, present in front of investors, um, Investors would basically not buy into them because they feel like, um, yeah, they might not seem as ambitious.

They might, they are, but they're way more cautious and investors don't want to see that. Investors want to see, Hey, we can do this. Yeah. Boldness and a really bullish approach. And plus it starts on the investor side to say, start with in terms of female founders. Um, there's actually, if I asked the investor, um, um, how many women are at the investment companies at about 20 percent male, female and 80 percent male.

And so if women have to pitch in front of male investors already, I guess that makes a difference. If there were more female investors there, then I think, uh, female founders would also pitch to them differently. Um, and just one more thing to add, that was an interesting talk on one of the stages and the, um, chairwoman the German startup association.

She was in conversation, um, on the stage with our, um, [00:16:00] I think finance, finance minister as it was. And they had a conversation about why there are so few female founders there. And part of it was yes, the investor situation, but part of it was as well that actually we have to manage things. And especially in Germany, that is true.

We have to manage things like, um, maternity leave and things like that. You know, Um, because when female founders, um, found a company, they're usually in the age where, you know, they, um, yeah, want to have

Georgiana: of children.

Rebecca: as well and grow a family. So that has to be addressed first and that's why politics can help for sure.

Uh, but coming back to your original question, um, yes, it is dominated. Uh, it is a male dominated industry. Um, but I think tech companies are trying to change that actually. Um, and a lot of the cases, yeah.

Georgiana: a woman willing to leave her, uh, employee status could maybe determine her to go into entrepreneurship and to start a business of their own in tech. Most of the women I speak to want to start something in tech because this is where my. Network is spread out. So this is who I talk to most of the time.

And there's always this, there's always this fear of what's going to happen. What if it doesn't work? How long will I have to be doing this, these two things at the same time? And how will that leave me in a life for any, any space for my personal life? You know, these questions you've probably asked them yourself.

I still ask myself these questions sometimes. I mean, after so many years, um, and this, this is basically one of the main questions that I get asked from people who listen to this podcast, women mostly, and from friends of mine who are thinking of, okay, you know, maybe one day follow that dream and start that business based on that idea.

But what would you tell these women? What is it like? And what should they sacrifice? And what should they not

Rebecca: I think first ofall, my best advice would really be have the guts to do it. You know, um, I think the only bad ventures are really the ones that never happen. Um, and I think sometimes, um, People, I mean, especially women, but people in general think, Oh, maybe it's not a good idea. Or maybe this doesn't work out.

What if I fail? And I can only say, what if you fly? You know, um, something I've definitely learned in the UK more than here in Germany. Um, so that would be my first advice to just do it and try it and go with the flow, um, you know, and something will most of the times work out. 

And if it doesn't work out, it's not the end, you know, I mean, go with an approach like this maybe. And I think secondly, You should have a good idea, you know, about, uh, I mean, I guess a product market fit comes later, but you should have a good idea in principle where there's maybe a product niche or a services niche or something where you see something lacking. You should definitely have a business plan in place.

Um, you know, and have your figures right and start with your personal, professional network. Um, first, you know, maybe getting a co founder by your side, getting first team member by your side, getting a first client that would like to try it. Um,

Georgiana: Get some feedback

Rebecca: Exactly. Honest feedback and friends and family to try it. Um, and I guess the third thing is though, I mean, don't underestimate the hard work it takes that you have to put in.

Unfortunately, it's not a walk in the park. Um,

Georgiana: never

Rebecca: Yeah. And I hear very often from people, Oh, you have such a great flexibility in your work. You know, when you're self employed or you're in entrepreneurship, they don't seem to be the fixed hours of a nine to five job. Um, I mean, the nine to five job has changed as well, you know, if you're in employment, but I guess it's a bit more rigid, uh, in terms of your working hours.

And, um, you [00:20:00] know, I always say to people, um, um, You do have to put in the hard work though. You know, when people say to me, well, I love your job. I think I also want to be self employed and run my own business. Um, but unfortunately rarely does anyone want to really put in the hard work. I mean, it took me weekends after weekends to put in hard work in the first few years, you know, can really harvest the fruit out of the hard work you put in.

Um, but I think, And when you see these founders of companies who, uh, yeah, sell their companies for x million, uh, euros, they've put in a lot of hard work and they've actually had to give up on a lot. Um, and I would advise to give up on family and friends and things like that, but, you know, you have to give up on something to make it work.

Georgiana: And I think one, one thing that people kind of oversee most times is that I personally have never left [00:21:00] my house without the laptop on vacation for years. Because you never know what might come up,

Rebecca: Exactly.

Georgiana: you know? And I always tell myself this time, I'm going to need to disconnect completely. And somehow there always needs. To happen something, you know, there's always a document that needs to be drafted, or there's always an email that needs to be sent faster from the laptop. So in the end, you know, the flexibility and the, the, the beauty of the, um, of the entrepreneurial job comes with sacrifice and it comes with a lot of compromise and with a lot of pressure.

Rebecca: Exactly. And you never switch off. So at the end you have to really ask yourself what makes me drive this and what makes me want to sit in the driver's seat. It has to be the passion for what you do. There's no other way. Um, I mean the success comes with it, but there has to be the passion for what you do.

Um, because yeah, that was a good example of taking the laptop on vacation. I mean,

Georgiana: Exactly. And you know what? One other thing that I've discovered, um, along the years is that I think we've been exposed to a lot of faulty marketing or to a lot of faulty images where entrepreneurship was always equated to these very successful businesses with X million euro exits, but it doesn't really have to be like that.

It has, it can also be. Like a nine to five job in the sense where you get a decent salary for yourself and you set your own schedule, you put in the work, obviously, and you live a decent life, right? There's a lot of, you know, conflicting stereotypes. I think that we're also exposed to that kind of also prevent many women, maybe more women than men from starting a business because they automatically think, Do I have what it takes to, to build something ultra successful?

It doesn't have to be ultra successful. It has to work out for you. It has to cater to your own needs. It has to be able to, I don't know, accommodate family and friends and children in a way. And to me, this has been the main advantage of entrepreneurship, to be honest with you. I have been able to arrange my life the way I wanted to.

Rebecca: Yeah, absolutely. It's a flexibility. That's number one bonus. Um, but you're in free fall, you don't have a safety net. And I think, you know, the flexibility and the passion for things that keep you driving, um, because there has to be something in it for us as well. Right.

Georgiana: Exactly. Um, and I'm, whatever question I ask, I somehow always circle back to marketing because this is my background. And because this is what's, uh, uh, hurting all businesses at the moment in a time where I think everything is about how much money you put into it in order to take something out. And then I speak to communication specialists like Oliver, for example.

And he always [00:24:00] tells me. Whatever you do, make sure that your own personal brand is very strong and very successful because in entrepreneurship, people never buy from the business. People buy from the founder or the business. Image and you know, most of the time you are the image of the business. Correct.

And I'm, I'm wondering what your take is on personal branding and on how people have been perceiving Rebecca as the founder of future sales versus future sales as the provider of services as the business

Rebecca: First of all, I agree with, With that a thousand percent, um, you know, the, your, your brand is always attached to your, to personal brand, basically, or your business is attached to your personal brand. Um, in my case, it applies to more cases than not of how we win our new business in. And I remember that my former manager once said to me, people do business, right?

with you because they're like you and yeah, with people, um, they don't, um, do business with you. Well, don't do business with your, with your company, you know, because the name of the company or what the company can offer. Um, and I think that's especially true in the services industry more than, um, the product, um, on the product side.

Because on the product side, you have other advantages that people get from the product. I think in terms of the services industry, it's based on trust. What can you deliver, right? That other people might not be able to deliver. And how much do I actually Trust this person that sells me these services.

And I think that's even more true. So in recruitment, um, because in recruitment you rely on a recruitment business or an agency to deliver you candidates. And candidates fill your seats. They fill your roles and sometimes crucial roles that are so crucial for your success. So, and there's such a knock on effect as well.

And so trust and credibility is everything here, um, as well. So to be honest, I can, um, underline that, uh, 1000%, um, that it's all about your personal brand. It's all about trust. I had a scenario last week or a couple of weeks ago where I met a client, um, And they, uh, used to work with another headhunter on another role and they filled the role for them.

And, um, then we started working with them and I actually asked him, so why the switch to us? Um, and he actually said, um, you know, there's nothing wrong with the other headhunter and they've done a great job. And, but I trust you more. Um, so, you know, it was just this built up trust over years. Um, and I think that's exactly what it is.

Um, and especially again in 2024, you, you sell based on trust, you know, you don't sell based on your [00:27:00] website anymore or, or things like that. Um, so

Georgiana: Indeed. I think this is true. And we, this is a topic that I've touched before during this podcast. Um, and I will continue to talk about it because for self employed people, personal branding slash marketing should be one of the core focus.

Rebecca: Yep. Yep. Absolutely.

Georgiana: approval for focus? Yeah, probably there is. Anyhow,

Rebecca: I

Georgiana: coming back to lessons learned in entrepreneurship.

Um, since you've been doing this a very long time, you've probably, um, taken a lot of, uh, takeaways and you've drawn a lot of conclusions for yourself. But I'm wondering, is there one thing that you could name? That is like the main thing that you've learned in these years where you've been an entrepreneur.

Something that you think is really, really important for [00:28:00] leading your own business.

Rebecca: think the first thing is to acknowledge and to accept and to anticipate that there will be ups and downs. Um, you know, not going to entrepreneurship like, oh, it will all be a walk in the park and you know, it has to run smoothly somehow. Because it won't. And, and I think rather than avoiding the downs, um, or the down periods, embrace them, learn to accept them, um, and just ride the wave as smoothly as you can.

Um, because it will always get better, right? I mean, it will be the end, but then at least it's the end and you do something else. But I think, um, yeah, Yeah, it's, it's important to accept that there will be ups and downs, um, especially in the tech industry. I mean, we had 2022, you know, the whole hashtag layoff period, um, where a lot of tech companies, big companies [00:29:00] let so many people go.

And in the end, you know, they all found jobs again and all as well. So I think it's just important to just accept that rather than trying to avoid it and then trying to do everything you can to avoid it. Um, and I think attached to that, um, and that's probably the most important lesson I've learned is about hiring because I guess every venture or every business, um, Is hiring people.

If you want to grow, you hire, right? Um, and I think if you have a bad gut feeling about somebody in the recruitment process or in the hiring process, Stay away from it. I think that's the biggest lesson I've learned. Um, because It won't get any better. I think if your first impression is already not good or there is something about it and whether it's trust issues, I guess that's the biggest red flag for me.

Um, then actually let it go. Um, I think it's super important. I think if it happens with your existing [00:30:00] employees, talk to them, you know, and that should be that open a channel that talk to them first before you do anything. And somebody said to me, you know, you only ever let people go too late, never too early.

So in an existing employment relationship, if you have a bad feeling and you can't fix it, and you know, you can't fix it, then end it, let people go. Don't hold onto it. I mean, given that you want to let them go, right. And you've tried everything else. Um, I think that's my biggest lesson about hiring. Um, that you Also entering client relationships on a bad gut feeling when you already know, Oh, this didn't go well.

It's not the terms I would have normally agreed on or, you know, the briefing didn't go as smoothly as I wanted it to be or the response rates are awful. Stay away from it because the chance that things are getting better, they're very slim. So, um, yeah, that will be my biggest [00:31:00] advice. Follow your gut feelings is essentially the key

Georgiana: Exactly. But yeah, this is, this is very valuable and I'm sure any person who's ever hired people can confirm everything you've said. If there's something not working for them from the beginning and you have this hunch that things are going to be rough along the way they are, it's not going to change and it's going to end in you letting the person go, but after you've accumulated tons of frustration.

So

Rebecca: Yeah, absolutely. Mm.

Georgiana: I can confirm that. And, um, you know, since we're approaching the end of this podcast, I'm wondering in this very complicated economic context, where almost all companies that I know are struggling one way or another, what do you do to, um, to stay focused and involved and how do you keep up with everything that's happening around you and yeah, how, how do you not [00:32:00] give up?

Rebecca: I think the feeling that you've put it so much into it by now

Georgiana: Yeah.

Rebecca: not always the, that's not always the answer or the right answer actually, because, you know, sometimes it's also strong to say, Hey, I've put so much work into it, but it's not working. I have to give up. However, I think.

In my case, I still believe in the in the industry. Um, we have fantastic clients we work in and fantastic projects. Um, I love the exchange with salespeople. Um, you know, I think you have fabulous conversations and the glass usually is always half full rather than half empty. And so, um, Um, and I believe in in the whole war for talent.

Um, You know, so I think that that keeps you going and that's what I said earlier I think you have to have a certain passion for something that keeps you going [00:33:00] um Yeah, that's pretty much it. Um, of course there's times You know where you reconsider everything and you think oh, do I want to do this for another 20 years?

Um, and yeah, you check in with yourself. Hey, is I want to go down and I'd always remind myself of the freedom and you mentioned that the flexibility that you have as an entrepreneur. Um, And again, I remind myself how far I've actually come and yeah, that does remind me every day to keep going, um, as well.

So yeah, and there's still a very big need in the market. Um, and if there's a need for your services, uh, in the market, then I think that's a good enough

Georgiana: Might as well. Yeah. Keep going and just overcome the hurdle. And is there someone that you find inspiration in? Some sort of role model or mentor that helps you during the tough times? Yeah.

Rebecca: Um, [00:34:00] I think in general, There's always people I look up to that basically that have come from nothing and have basically built something from scratch, right? To make a living. And I find that very inspiring, actually. Um, I mean, that was Michelle Obama, for example, on the stage last year at Bits and Pretzels.

And, Um, yeah, that was really inspiring, you know, and, um,

Georgiana: I think so,

Rebecca: talking to 5, 000 founders, uh, that all, you know, build something from scratch to make a living or to, um, yeah, to, to have a passion for something. Um, I think most importantly, I find it really important to not give up on, Authenticity with your success, right?

I mean there's very huge startups. They've started very small It's very important to keep on the ground. I think and to keep that authenticity um, so yeah, and I think especially friends and family it's [00:35:00] important to have that support from your family and your friends and Yeah

Georgiana: but I agree. I agree with what you said. I will oftentimes go look for inspiration elsewhere, be it events, conferences, not necessarily an entrepreneurship or tech or fashion, you know, whatever helps sometimes it's museums. Other times it's friends. Other times it's just a walk in the park. Um, is there anything else that you do as a last question that helps you decompress, that helps you relax, that helps you, you know, Find yourself again when you feel lost.

Rebecca: I've learned to switch off a lot more in recent years, um, especially, you know, on weekends, um, during holidays when traveling. Um, I used to also take my laptop everywhere and, um, you know, always be online and 11 o'clock in the evening. And, um, for example, now I switch off my emails on my phone. So I fetch them, uh, you know, I [00:36:00] pull them when I want them.

But they're not being pushed to me on my iPhone, for example. Why? I just told somebody yesterday, like a partner, um, that I actually still have a proper desktop on my desk. I don't have, I don't have a laptop that I take to the kitchen or, and she looked at me, she took up. So, but how do you work from the sofa?

And I said, I don't, I mean, I replied to LinkedIn messages and things like that. Of course, when I'm on my mobile phone on the sofa, but I don't want to, so I really try and connect. I work when I work, right? And I do, I'm on holidays when I'm on holidays. Um, because you think about when you're in entrepreneurship, you think about your business and your team all the time anyway.

Um, so you might as well just at least disconnect from your tech equipment and, and your screen and, and

Georgiana: Or simply be into it properly while you're at it.

Rebecca: Yeah, exactly. Which exactly, which leads to more energy actually, when you come back. And I think that's super important because you owe that to your [00:37:00] clients. You owe that to your team. Um, you owe that to everything around you, actually. Um, and I mean, I live by the sea, so naturally, um, you know, it's a 15 minute walk.

So naturally, uh, yeah, it's great to just, after work, switch off, cycle there, walk. Um, what's the sunset? Um, you know, have a drink, have a dinner by the sea and then just stay at the sea. Gives me a lot of energy. Um,

Georgiana: It's so simple, right? In the end, it doesn't have to be complicated.

Rebecca: exactly. And I mean, I love crafting. I think it's important as well to have like an, an offline.

Georgiana: Yeah.

Rebecca: hobby, um, you know, with your online business, just.

Georgiana: We'll need to talk about that more in detail because that's something I didn't know about you.

Rebecca: Exactly. We, we take that offline often.

Georgiana: Exactly. We take it offline. The first, first time we meet again.

Rebecca: Yeah.

Georgiana: Thanks so much for, for everything you've shared. I think this is really valuable. This are, these are [00:38:00] lessons that people can actually, um, use and learn from.

And I wish you the best of luck in, in growing in all directions imagined.

Rebecca: Thank you so much. Thanks for having me. Thanks for allowing me to share everything. And, um, likewise, I'm super excited, uh, to follow your shoe business. And

Georgiana: Thank you so

Rebecca: very, very confident that it will do well. And I can't wait to actually try on my first pair of shoes myself.

Georgiana: Yes, very soon. Very soon we'll get there. Thank you so much, Rebecca.

Rebecca: you, Georgiana. Speak soon.