Episode 213: Changing The Way Our Children Eat with Annabel Karmel MBE
After a tragic experience as a mother and going through the difficulties of child feeding, Annabel Karmel found meaning in her life, realizing she wanted to work with children. Wanting to give a legacy, Annabel published the first book that marked the start of her career. Determined to learn all about baby and toddler nutrition, Annabel remained persistent and did everything that, initially, no one thought made sense. Amidst the struggles and thoughts of giving up, Annabel has built a successful career and started a food revolution. In this episode, Annabel talks with Adam Stott about her early struggles as an author, the importance of passion, and becoming a confident decision-maker in business.
Annabel is a mother of three and the mother of all feeding experts whose sole mission is to raise the standards of children’s diets. Recognized as UK’s No. 1 Children’s cookery author and best-selling international author, Annabel has pioneered the way babies and children are fed all over the world and has received an MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours in the field of child nutrition. To continue on the mission, Annabel is a media commentator on food-related issues and works as a consultant for major nursery chains, leisure resorts, restaurants, and hotels worldwide.
Show Highlights:
- The life-changing moment that got Annabel started in her career
- Why Annabel almost gave up on her first book
- Annabel’s journey from writing to publishing as a first-time author
- The impact of social media on the odds of getting a publisher
- Annabel’s take on failure and trying new things
- How Annabel realized she could start her own food range
- Annabel to mom-preneurs: passion, potential, identity, and time management
- Developing a high level of confidence in making decisions and their importance in business
- Why everyone should have a mentor and be passionate in their work
Links Mentioned:
You can find out more about Annabel Karmel by visiting her website at AnnabelKarmel.com or follow and subscribe on her Instagram and Facebook
Transcript:
Please note this is a verbatim transcription from the original audio and therefore may include some minor grammatical errors.
Adam Stott:
Hello everybody and good evening! Welcome to another episode of business growth secrets, I’m your host, Adam Scott and I’ve got a really exciting guest. I had a brilliant chat just before we got started. I think you’re really going to love tonight’s podcast 01:14 because we’ve really good. It’s Annabel Karmel, who has written over 40 books. She’s made a reality in business from book writing as well as suddenly everything. She has one of the best-selling and best-downloaded food and drink apps as well as having her food range in all the stores in the supermarket has created a massive brand.
In addition to that, she’s won an MBA, and she’s a lovely fabulous lady we just had a really good chat. So, as we’re going through, make sure you pay close attention because I’ve been talking to Annabel just before we started, and already she’s given some brilliant tips. I think she’s got a great view on business which is going to help so many of you get an edge in your businesses.
So make sure you come on tonight, you say hello, and you get involved. And without any further ado, we should welcome Annabel. How are we doing Annabel?
Annabel Karmel:
Yes! Great to meet you.
Adam Stott:
So, welcome! As we said we just had a group chat beforehand and you really gave me some great insights into your view on business. Which I think is gonna be really important for some people to hear this evening.
I want to start off as obviously we’ve got these great successes you’ve had over your career. Having 40 books which you mentioned yourself is not many people go out there and are able to write so many books. We’ll talk about why it is you’ve been able to do that so successfully, as well as your MBA. And as well as all the services that you’ve given to you know, food and nutrition. So I really want to hear a bit more about how that journey started. Did you want us a little bit about how you got started, take us back a little bit?
Annabel Karmel:
That started me in this career. I don’t even recession. I signed, I started recording music in Holland, and I spent my life being musician tracing musician. Then I got married, and then to record I was pregnant, and eventually I gave birth to a little girl Natasha. But one day she didn’t look quite right to call the doctor. He told me first her mother’s worry unnecessarily about their child. Eventually I took her to see him, and he said she was fine.
The next day, I went to the doctor, she didn’t look fine to me. And five days later she died in my arms. I rode all the way through the hospital, and I was beside myself I lost my child. I was no longer a mother, I was 28 years old, it was just the whole my life just fell apart. It was funny because from that day on I knew that I wanted to work with children and it’s some meaning from her life.
It’s a very kind of defining moment when you lose a child, and it definitely changed my life, and it was very hard to put myself off and be normal. And I really couldn’t until I became pregnant again. I took a fertility drug to speed up the process this time. And when she gave birth, understand 03:52 to no doctor, because my doctor told me not to be ages yet. And it was the birth of Nick, and he was literally the world’s worst teacher. That was the catalyst to my career. I was determined to 04:05
Adam Stott:
Doctors will be very low. What a terrible tragedy in Helens just said, you don’t come. So it’s an absolutely terrible tragedy. The fact that you’ve used that as a catalyst and the positive I think is a massive lesson already because that can consume it from for long reflect or live on it. I’m sure it still does, you’ve used it as a positive way to go and impact people’s lives so congrats on that.
Annabel Karmel:
Yeah, I want to find some way to give her legacy that her short life has some meaning was very important to me that. And for sure, he has a legacy, because I first. I think I showed this to you. This is book was inspired by Natasha. My son wouldn’t eat, and it’s the 30th anniversary of this book this week. It came up this week, so I’m very excited about that. It’s been a massive fail, that would fit in my group and everyone told me like don’t want.
Adam Stott:
An interesting thing that you say that because, I think that, even if it had been a massive fail, we’ll talk about why I wasn’t. But I would be willing to bet for you to keep going.
Annabel Karmel:
I think I was turned on by 20 publishers, and in fact the publisher eventually published it had carried on previously it was only that had agreed to publish it, that they decided their toe in the water. It was very hard, and I nearly gave up.
Adam Stott:
And when launched it, was that many people in that world, in that industry because it’s bigger now. Back then was them so many people in that industry.
Annabel Karmel:
Very boring, and people sell like brand food I’m thinking, why would my baby so I thought I put this to this test. I was running this big baby group so I had like 30 babies around the table. They gave like really bland food, and then again some fat guy chicken curry puree.
So I thought that was not true. Then I tried to find out all about baby and toddler nutrition. It was so difficult because all the experts around the country they interviewed, then literally constitutes each other on almost everything.
So the book, and then I remember Ormond Street, they have this Institute of Child Health which is the research on Great Ormond Street. So I work with them to get the real proper scientific research. And that was very before its time because now we say, give peanut butter from six months. Introduce red meat, and introduce fatty acids. That was the right books and it was like, well, no one was doing that at the time. They were also in Turkey Peanut Butter your child might get an allergy. But now they know we’re not giving him the chance more likely to develop an IV she’s the opposite.
So yeah, it was an interesting book and that book is sold out within three months. Even the publisher thought that was a fluke, and they didn’t offer me another book, not to begin with. So BBC food so remember that. And then, that was a while and then they took me back. Then I published about 20 books and even then they didn’t believe they just sort of a flash in the pan. Just no book on feeding babies and toddlers have ever done well. It was the worst subject to choose because every publisher turned me down because all the books on that subject had sold like 10 copies. That was it, you know, this book sold 5 million copies.
Adam Stott:
5 million copies. Well, congratulations that are mega and I think that we certainly in a subject might my son. You mentioned, he doesn’t eat well. So, you know, it is very difficult so you might sell 5,000,001 copies.
Annabel Karmel:
He’s leaving with me temporarily. And here is the best of interest hugest 07:58 in my life. I met some four people, and not eat the whole lot. So there’s hope yet.
Adam Stott:
Definitely, yeah, without a doubt. So, you know what I think. I’m sure there’s gonna be some people listening that are aspiring authors right. As well as we have lots of different business people, but actually more. I would even say a lot of my clients, especially in the last few months have been asking me about writing books. Especially with the whole COVID thing and people looking at how they can actually use their time wisely. It’s definitely a big thing at the moment. A couple of my clients are one of my clients Dan’s just launched his new book, we got another one. And I’ve called another client as well looking to launch.
Why do you feel, and you told me already. I want the audience to kind of hear why you felt it was successful. Behind the scenes, when we said, the publisher report is a flawed view I’m confident in it, but looking back now.
Annabel Karmel:
I was confident 08:50 confident I get a publisher 08:52
Adam Stott:
So 08:53 report from me was a great book.
Annabel Karmel:
Well, I thought it was a book that people needed because I needed it. And my friend’s a nice bit, and I thought other people would need it too.
Adam Stott:
Yeah. And what was that first time right so what was your process like. Annabel how did you get your head down and take it to completion, if you can remember back to that.
Annabel Karmel:
So first there was the research and then there was all the cooking in the kitchen and then it was I wrote the entire book. Now, I don’t know why I did that because you don’t need to do that but like from cover to cover. Sometimes it says to do.
And then I thought well I also need some illustrations so I offered 500 pounds to various art colleges all around the country to come up with characters like food characters for the book. And they came up with one passenger models amazing science I mean they’re all fabulous. So I then put it together with the illustrations, and I sent it to all the publishers that I thought would be good for publishing this book, most of them never even applied, and there was a digital code written quite rude letters, so that was quite depressing.
And then I play tennis with somebody who knew somebody was a book packager. This is 18 months after trying my first publisher. Frankfurt Book Fair, and they came back and they said Simon and Schuster, which is a massive publisher in America. But I think that’s the only reason I will get published in the UK, because then random house. So what if some is just the one publisher, maybe there’s something about this book.
I think well, we’ll publish it, but they publish it through the which meant I got terrible royalties, literally, terrible. So I wrote them saying that I might, At best, make $30,000 on this book 5 million copies. Couldn’t get alliterations, so I’m not giving any percentage to the charity because I couldn’t get one. Give me a big favor. And then I went on and I did one book contract, which was quite good with the book packager. And then when renting houses, such as this, I signed a contract with them, but now it’s interesting.
So, very often what publishers do now they wait till somebody has a huge social media following up with them, because they know that the people following them, will probably buy their book. And so, it’s almost guaranteed success. Yeah, some people. So it’s very different from my day. It wasn’t like that there was no social media. So, way to get a book published, It’s about your social media following.
Adam Stott:
Absolutely. If you want to 11:26 publisher. So you went on then to build a career, basically, and a brand. I think you know this story. But so much, and we were chatting beforehand and Scott and Rochelle, your middle range as we mentioned you were with Disney. So you’ve been on national TV multiple times you’ve had, in fact had your own TV shows as well. You see massive things and a massive career. How does that how’s that been? You started off with an idea you started off with a drive, wanting to create a legacy.
What are the ups and downs of that journey been like for you and what would you say to other business owners that are listening today, about, you know, going outside of your comfort zone because I bet a lot of this has been uncomfortable for you, you know, and you seem to power it on and made it happen.
Annabel Karmel:
Yeah. So, I would say like being an entrepreneur, it’s not a full-time job. I start a part-time job it’s not a full-time job. It just literally takes over your life and my life. It’s very hard to kind of, I am me and my career are very intertwined. Everyone talks to me and so Dan welcome my brand so I’m not really in person anymore.
I feel sometimes like, they’re all talking about me as a friend of mine that because I feel the way I did it was so important. I feel proud that I wanted to make a difference in people’s lives. I’ve achieved that because I know that so many parents tell me what their children were doing. Now that it’s so well, following my book. I always push myself out of my comfort zone. I’m always trying new things, and I think that is so important. You cannot stand still in business.
And I always think that, as I said to earlier, you know, the opposite of success is not failure. The opposite of success is not trying. Bcause when you try something and it fails you learned even more than when you’re successful. You know what happened, why it happened. You won’t probably make that mistake again. And very often from a failure something good happens, it’s interesting. I’ve always been kind of brave in business, and I’ll take risks.
And I also think the definition of someone who’s an entrepreneur is someone who is totally unemployable. That’s also mean, you could never employ me as impossible. I just, I have these like kind of a creative and always thinking of ideas. But then at the same time, I’m always thinking it must be something that someone else isn’t doing well. And that there’s a gap in the market, and that this is something that people really, really need. But if you’re smart, you can find those things.
And there was a gap in the market, there was no good book on feeding children. There was no good toddler food in the supermarket, people were buying food for children which were four years plus. But my range just wants three years which has very different nutritional needs.
And no one did frozen food and food and it was almost like Ambien food that was potentially and most probably older than the child by the time the child ate it can’t be good. You can’t have children, you can’t have frozen food, you can only have room temperature, but my food.
Adam Stott:
So did you spot that gap in the market?
Annabel Karmel:
But I went to a very good university, the University of Woking, So, I didn’t want to do a lot when I was writing books as I write books because I was a mom and I had three children. And I lost my child and I wanted to be that and I wanted to be present. I felt that I could write books in my own time and still be a really good mum.
But then in the year, 2000, the book was published in 1991. Marks and Spencers rang me up out of the blue, and asked if I’d help them spread their food range. And that was the university I went to work with Marks and Spencer’s. Because when you’re working on a job, it’s not just a theory, you design the packaging. You design the food you put it on the shelf, and you’ll see if the customers find it. And I think that’s very important, you cannot even with research, you can’t do research just by sitting location computer.
If you want to open a café, go and sit in the street where you want to open your café. Watch what people come in, what they buy. How long this day, otherwise all you know is how it’s gonna cost you to pay your staff and your rent, and your rates you won’t know what they’re actually going to buy for they’re going to sit there and smoke a cigarette and have a cup of coffee and you’ve got like there’s nothing happening to you.
So I think it’s very important that go to Marks and Spencer’s and work with them, and a team. I spent nearly two years paying a food range and watching it. Then I worked with boots, and I worked on a co-branded range of books. Then I thought you know what I can do this. I think I had one of those two brands I just thought like, I can’t do this you know they’re all big companies, massive budgets and marketing and how are we going to do this I didn’t go to business school, I don’t know anything about business.
But the fact that I’ve worked with these two brands like created really successful ranges for them. I thought I don’t want to work with someone else I want to do it myself. Because they said we want you to be exclusive carry on working with us. I said no I’m here to go to supermarkets. So found a consultant, and I use the money from my properties, and I developed range, design the packaging, and I went to things brace myself. I didn’t know what I was doing to shield food buyer, and then rush my food in 2006. And that’s it.
Since then we’ve got it so Tesco Morrison’s Asda, Iceland, supposed to come up today and we just like everywhere. But then, through the books. I don’t think of Australia, continue to do this about seven years ago, they said they wanted to make a range of food for Coles supermarket in Australia, where I’m from everyone’s about the rage for them, so I went over to Australia and I worked that rage that came out, seven years ago. It’s almost as big as my business in the UK. It’s huge. And it came books. It came from people loving the books that I developed my food rage, and it’s been amazing business now what would the number one first food company in Australia we’ve sort of set you up to your food range Australian 17:29
Adam Stott:
Only way I can take you, isn’t it, when you’re done. You know, for the audience if you know what I can see there is, you establish your authority first, you use the book to establish authority. That said, Look, I know I’m talking about here, I’m an expert in this, you’ve got 5 million people to agree with you, and then you leverage that to go on and create the results you know I think that becomes very clear, you know, because sometimes when you say something and think well that was the work that you did in 1991, I guess your results in 2010 and I’m a big believer in that it’s about that keep going keep moving forward and keep it keeping pushing on 18:09 results.
Annabel Karmel:
Embrace new technology. So, I 18:14 that was about seven years ago now, when we have the best-selling furniture campaign in this country. We have 340,000 Instagram followers same on Facebook huge Pinterest so we get to 1.5 million pounds a week. Just throw channels, I mean in my day to get to 1.5 million to all parents who have children that are constantly like money, I can just do one post on Instagram, and it will get to you know 150,000 people in like 20 minutes.
Adam Stott:
I tell my clients, and I say to him in human history, you have not had this opportunity, 18:54 trying to explain it that the more that you go out there and speak your message, the more you’re going to get opportunities and, and people don’t embrace that huge opportunities, worse, somebody can create it for themselves right you don’t need to be established I’m in your case you are established, and you’ve built that up and you’ve got that credibility, which is well one, you know, but even someone starting off from a smaller base can get their established authority build a business build a brand, as long as they are willing to as you say step outside their comfort zone they go strong enough why you know,
Annabel Karmel:
I think with social media, it’s not about like always pushing a project, isn’t that social media by giving away recipes by people, you know, doing lots of nutritional posts, I answer everybody nearly everyone who writes to me on social media. It’s a focus group all the time I’m looking at what they’re asking me what they like what they don’t like. I put my new recipes out.
If I get 700 likes on that recipe or 800 likes on it that’s a good recipe for getting 40 likes and probably not a good recipe and I own personal phone scripts, the first thing I look at in the morning now is Instagram, I’m literally obsessed with it, I do live relays, I love it, it’s a two-way thing I’ve employed, people I’ve met on Instagram, it’s, I’ve done collaborations with people on Instagram. And I suppose some restraint, 20:14 Dawson’s daughter has had just had a baby, just got 1.4 million in those photos anyway. So I’m just like, it’s an amazing tool that is free that you can use, I didn’t have that.
Adam Stott:
Yeah, and you’ve embraced it, you know you can embrace the new technology, build the app in so we’ve gone from being an author, with, with a purpose, taught me a little about you had this strong wire that you wanted to build a legacy which I totally understand you wanting to be purposeful, and he said something else to me earlier that you really like to create things of quality so when you were talking about being successful as a book writer. You told me that you put your heart and soul into it, tell the audience a little bit about that because I think that’s important.
How does somebody put their heart and soul in something, you know how important do you think is to love what you do. And so really be passionate about what you do.
Annabel Karmel:
I did not start writing a book on baby and toddler food to make money because it would be the worst possible subject 21:16. Listen, don’t be stupid. No one’s gonna publish it and understand why they haven’t done, because it was up until then, no one had done my life that subject.
And I put my heart and soul into it, into every single recipe that I made, I made like four times to test it I tested it on children. I every single thing in that book you know it’s made in my kitchen by my hands and I had to be the best post your recipe. And I knew when it came out that there wasn’t anywhere in the world, you got published in 25 different countries.
And with my meals, you know, were made now by some of the best manufacturers in this country, but I still buy them every week, I still taste them every week and then always same and if they’re not the same I’m on the phone to the manufacturer, you know, this one isn’t like this and it wasn’t like that before and it should be more like this and you just have to keep on looking at the quality of what you’re making.
Because I think you’re only as good as your last meal. And I’m really passionate and I think what is really lovely about this is how it’s just so diverse, we’re working on a children’s restaurant in Qatar, I’m doing all the food for the new Chimera constant Tower Hotel in London. I’ve just done a big kind of collaboration with what returns for British line, eggs, and you know it’s like. Every job is different, it’s just the most fantastic career, and one of the most lovely things.
And what I feel very privileged about is that I now employ my daughter. My daughter, let’s put it that way. Though she is with me every day, she’s in my office. Yes, I had to make some sacrifices being a mum for now. But my great, you know, happiness is like seeing her loving what she does and she said to me the other day, we’re going to prefer to shoot you know she said the best thing in my life is my work, I love it.
And how love is created by something like that. You know it’s hard, the various first steps in a career are very very difficult. She’s come at a time when there are just so many possibilities in my career that she can really embrace. She’s absolutely loving it and I’m loving being with her and my other daughter because it will see me working I think that’s good for children.
When it comes to social media marketing experts has their own team. I use her for my Facebook advertising and things like that didn’t exist a few years ago, or social media. 10 years ago doesn’t exist. It’s a young person’s business.
Adam Stott:
Absolutely. And you mentioned being a mumpreneur, what would your advice be to, you know, busy mums looking 23:43
Annabel Karmel:
I thought, I’m cooking for my children all the time for a long time, so wanting to eat well. My life is gonna be with my kids for the next five, six years I knew I was gonna have, I wanted three kids, do something, embraces them, don’t go off and do I do haulage trucks start your life 24:02like my lifestyle. I’ll make something for them if they like it, what am I doing the book you know Safra can make use of it, and it’s brilliant.
And yeah, it just worked it actually did with my life at that time I knew that being a musician, which I was a big way from the family was not a good idea when I got married like I, I signed up to play Cinderella and pantomime, and I was away from my husband, you know 52 days it was terrible. But it would let me out of my contract, I was like, I should never get married. So it’s just, I wouldn’t have wanted to carry on performing it just didn’t fit in with, you know, life.
Adam Stott:
You said you’re a musician and singer, and you come out of that, and you go into some something completely different. Yeah, I think it’s really good advice for people that are mums. Can you do something, especially if you want to be a business person that can fit around and 24:55.
Annabel Karmel:
Moms are very talented, so they multitask, they can deal with rational toddler so they have amazing people skills, and multitask, is you’ve got three children all going in different directions sticking their hands and plugs sockets and God knows what, the teachers, the drivers they have so many skills as a mother, and nothing is as hard as being a mother just true.
I mean I have amazing respect for full-time mothers, because, you know, in my work I think I’m valued at home when they were listening, it was like, do this, do that, You know you’re just like your slaves your children in some ways you think at the end of the day, what am I actually done. I bet this is still the most important rather than woman’s life and I wanted to be a mom.
First and foremost, but at the same time we’re always in the back of my mind I couldn’t only be a mom. I always worked. I knew that I had to have something of my own, I didn’t want to, I wanted to keep my identity. And I think it’s made me a more confident person and a better mom, and that I’ve been able to help my, my children and their careers, because I completely understand all the different things about business, employment contracts you have to know about law.
There’s so many things you need to know about but I’ve had to learn, and you’re always learning in business and I love that. I love that side of this business.
Adam Stott:
26:12 growing businesses I was talking about time. How did you manage your time Annabel when you were growing, when you’re writing your books, what did that look like for, you know, how did you manage things and manage your time around the children as well. There’s no tricks or hacks that you use that you could reveal that might help some people that are listening.
Annabel Karmel:
I think even full time mums sometimes aren’t present with their children, they’re on their phone, they might guilt factor. Guilt is a very negative thing. So you set your own guidelines are going to be with my children, you know, when they wake up again to have somebody help recover from during the day or for having to stop work, and again to birth them reach them, feed them, and then again start work again when they’re asleep. And if that’s what fits in with your life when you feel happy with that. That’s great, and you’ve compartmentalized your work and your children.
And when you’re with the children or handset with them, and when you’re working or 100% working. Sometimes you just feel guilty when you’re working because not with the children, and go through the children because you’re not working and you’re beating yourself up. It’s no good. Can’t do that. So, I think you have to realize that, probably, you know, we both need to work both, you know, both parts of the partnership need to work very hard to make ends meet.
Otherwise, you know, I had to work, it wasn’t a question of like I was gonna live off something, and this is to work. And this is find a way to earn money, but I found a way that I really enjoyed and became part of my life, and it was part of my life and I think finding something that fits in with your life is very important, and that gives you a lot of enjoyment and creativity, you’re as creative.
Adam Stott:
Yeah, some great tips so find something that fits in with your life that you enjoy, but you literally can parted your life in different ways. 27:55 in order to get things
Annabel Karmel:
27:58 that, you know, now he wants to beat you. I’ll drop anything even for my most important cause someday, when my children eat meat that is my priority, and it always has to be on my deathbed when we’re going to think about. I didn’t get this particular meal in Tesco or I don’t have a good relationship with my son.
So it’s important, and they often say you’re only as happy as your nice happy child. So I think for a mother, it’s also important to be yourself, and you know, not try and be a man in business I’ve never tried to be a man business I’ve always like, you know, my children are important to me. I will leave at Sports Day and I won’t make, I won’t make excuses about it or 28:32 for it, but I’ll make up that time.
Adam Stott:
28:36 is it to have, which is another thing I talk about is that level of confidence to make those kinds of decisions because you said I want to apologize for. I love that I actually think that’s a real good Indic indicator for somebody that’s going to be successful, is you made the decision to stick to it sounds like discipline. You know how important you think that is to establish that discipline in business?
Annabel Karmel:
I’m discipline because of my music career, you have to be very disciplined decision. I think of a difference between a man and a woman. When entry level are doing as well as men, then they go off and they have children, or maybe they’ve, they haven’t worked for two or three years, they don’t necessarily want to go back and be a lawyer, just doesn’t really fit in but they live.
So then I have to say, how do I really find myself, and then they worry that they’ve been out of work for some time, they’ve lost their confidence, or we’re trying to say is that, as a mother, you’ve learned a whole load of amazing new skills, and you probably have a secret passion, but you probably don’t have the confidence to follow it through because you think every other day get better, but believe me, I didn’t know the first thing about feeding child when I wrote my book, and I became the expert. And the funny thing is I worked with the consultant nutritionist, Margaret Lawson at Great Ormond Street Hospital.
She said her claim to fame was that she was on the back of my book. She’s like a consultant magician it’s like I didn’t know what I was doing at that time, or else you know what I’m doing now, but not that. I think that you need to have this confidence and men will often go for a promotion, when they’re 20%, thinking they might get it. On the other hand, women probably won’t care for brochures about 95% sure they’re going to get it. That’s the difference in men and women.
We don’t have that ego that we think we’re going to do it well think I got to be good enough to get this was men will think that I can then rest on the job. So I think women just need to, you know, just kind of boosted their confidence.
Adam Stott:
How did you do that? So I do think, quite a few people saying they were an inspiration and I think Jason’s really inspiring so much.
Annabel Karmel:
I think research is extremely important.
Adam Stott:
30:41 about confidence of researchers that were you, you said one of the big parts, so I was gonna say what did you do to build your confidence Annabel and push yourself out there, because you’re saying a lot of people hold the agree view, I’ll try and 1000s and 1000s of business owners, and always talk about the mindset, being the starting blocks right, you’ve got the mindset right in order to succeed. How did you get your confidence, what kind of tips could you give someone that was listening about building confidence?
Annabel Karmel:
31:07 from working with Marks & Spencer’s some boots, be able to build something with them, I felt like I did it for them, I could do it myself, but my confidence also came from believing, deep down that what I was doing was good, it was a good thing to do I was helping people. I think children will have better lives. You know, one out of three of us will die from a diet related disease so I had a big kind of, there was a real reason why I was doing it, and I think that pushed me a lot. And then I wouldn’t be afraid to ring up a buyer or somebody in my business, I would also questions, and I’ve just recently taken on, and Ron executive he was finance director Selfridges, the chief operating officer of the way company.
It’s a company called neurons quite interesting company, where she put up your job description, and all these hyper people see it and then they send them a CVS if they’re interested. I was like inundated with CVS, but I really liked this guy and then I thought why he’s so I’m proud you won’t want to work with me, and he is working with you. He wants to work with you that’s great, it’s amazing, and you know you learn from them I want to go into a slightly different area. He’s done that particular area, and I’m going to learn from him. But having a mentor is very important, even at my stage in my career, because it’s slightly different what I’m doing right now,
Adam Stott:
Yeah that’s awesome and you can see that throughout, you can smooth out for your story, you know, when you went to the boots, you went out and you went to the mentors or the nutrition you learned off them. You know when you went out and did your food rounds you spoke to the top people boot and also expenses. Now you’re going a different direction you’re looking at somebody in that in that area. So I think there’s some big lessons.
Annabel Karmel:
32:46 when you’re listening you’re learning.
Adam Stott:
Yeah, absolutely.
Annabel Karmel:
Like animating in the supermarket with a buyer. Sometimes, you know, people just talk at them and I said well, you know, what are the trends. Now, what you’re looking for launch into anything. Listen. people think they justify themselves.
Adam Stott:
And curiosity as well, which is essentially what he’s saying. So curious mind can learn a lot and if you know, you know, absolutely. So you know, it’s been some amazing advice and guidance there Annabel, really impressive career.
Annabel Karmel:
33:23 I won Businesswoman of the Year. What was it about six years ago, I thought, how does this do that like you get Christie Rocco and I went to business school and you know she married Chris Wheeler, who had Charles turret, and she wanted to prove to him that she could be good wife materials, there’s my sister’s house appalling white. And then she couldn’t afford it so then she found out when Ralph Ranko or his wife, beautiful bed smells and things made, and then she’s all I can do is, she set up a metal company, which we can measure successful, but her mentor was her partner, who really handle the company, and I mean she’s obviously brilliant in her own right, without getting a mentor is he really, you know underrated thing.
Finding the right to help guide you you can’t do everything, and do what you love, because the things you don’t love you’re not going to do very well.
Adam Stott:
Absolutely.
Annabel Karmel:
Just because it makes money. It’s never going to succeed. Do something you’re passionate about,
Adam Stott:
You mentioned that and you said if you do something just for making money, you’re not going to do it with the same amount of passion, you know, absolutely and I think 34:35
Annabel Karmel:
34:37 eating, as I’m always happy when I’m eating, and they always say, like, when you meet somebody, we want to have the feeling about them, as when you see food coming in restaurant for you.
34:53
Adam Stott:
As you’re joining today in advice net. That was good. So when you meet somebody you don’t realize so it’s coming in rushing 35:10 around, right. It’s a great advised.
Annabel Karmel:
35:15 enjoy working with people and just you know, meeting people, it was a shame we have a lockdown, you know, rural zoom and stuff like that it was good enough but now actually going out with CP was so much fun I forgot what I was missing, to be honest because business is about other people and learning from them ,talking to them, collaborating with them.
Adam Stott:
What did you do during the lockdowns and things with your business concerns you or was it something that you?
Annabel Karmel:
We have a website with like 1000s of recipes every time cooking, I mean to start like crazy. We have, in supermarkets and everyone has their children. Hence, great sales. I read frozen, and we were very busy. Oh, thank God because I am a complete workaholic. I am completely the opposite of o’clock in the morning.
First of all things I needed to do, because I love it, and like people, oh poor you, you’re not going out now. I love what I’m doing here and we can do so. Love it. I’m so excited about it, you know everything, all the things we’re doing. I want to go home today, I don’t like it as much as working. I prefer to work. Apart from scheme.