Features / If I Knew Then
If I knew then: Zoe Hewett
Interior designer Zoe Hewett is the founder of Stylemongers Of Bristol, an award-winning boutique studio offering workshop experiences and DIY design kits.
A former set designer, Zoe aims to use people’s unique stories and style, rather than interior trends, to make spaces that are enduring.
Zoe is passionate about social justice and sustainability and donates a proportion of sales to Crisis UK through the Work For Good platform, as well as planting trees through Ecologi.
How did you start your career?
Originally, I was a set and costume designer for theatre and did some TV and a few films in the art department, but I felt a bit disillusioned and burnt out after a decade of it. That’s when I switched to interior design.
If you knew then what you knew now, what mistakes would you have avoided?
Probably charging by the hour, as is conventional. It doesn’t work for me. It makes things really stressful for everyone so I’ve ‘productised’ my services instead. But self-employment is just a catalogue of mistake-making really! And risk-taking. All my mistakes have been the best learnings and I don’t think you can have it any other way. I still make them but have no regrets.
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What advice would you give yourself when starting out?
Get real about the financials. Coming from freelancing in arts and entertainment, where exploitation is rife, it was difficult to understand what it costs just to exist as a business and how to charge in a service-business setting, so I needed a steer there.
If you knew then what you know now, would you still be sitting there?
One hundred per cent. I’m completely unemployable and I can’t do anything else, so it is do or die!
What do you know now that you didn’t know then?
That you can choose who you work with. You don’t have to just take on any project to pay the bills if it doesn’t feel aligned, you get to say no.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve received so far?
To own your unique sauce, your marmite. It takes a while to pin down exactly what it is, but my coach has helped me identify it. It’s been liberating, saving loads of time agonising over marketing messaging.
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What is your business highlight?
Probably appearing on the telly, designing glamping space for My Unique B&B on BBC, because being outside for 12 hours a day in all the weather and physically making the designs inside my mind with my hands was brilliant fun, but whenever I see my work is making a difference to clients is a highlight – that’s the reward I do it for.
What is your business low point?
In all honesty, I’m just coming back from the worst one. Over the last year, I had to down tools and start a legal battle to get my daughter a school place, as unbelievable as that sounds. The time and energy it has taken impacted my business to the point where, if I had staff or premises, I would have been forced to cease trading. Luckily I don’t give up easily.
What keeps you awake?
Dancefloors rather than business worries. If I were to make a catastrophic mistake or whenever there’s something less serious to firefight I won’t rest until it’s sorted, but lying awake worrying then being exhausted doesn’t solve anything. Self-care and a positive mindset are paramount.
What’s changed from when you started?
I’m much more engaged with the sustainability issues in my industry now, and I’m no longer afraid about expressing my values in my brand. I care about people and the planet, which I know rubs some people up the wrong way, but I’ve reached a point where I’m proud to be putting that into my business.
What’s still on your to-do list?
There’s an idea for an unusual interiors book that I’ve been germinating for about five years that just won’t go away, so I’m taking action on that this year. I’d also really like to do something to celebrate E.W. Godwin. He’s like Bristol’s own William Morris and one of my design heroes but there’s no buzz about him at all, which is a bit of a travesty. I’d like to put that right.
What’s next for you in business and personally?
Next up, I’m opening my workshop sessions to other businesses to help them fulfil their mental health and well-being duties towards staff. There’s a new restaurant in the pipeline that I’ve had some design involvement with, which is also very exciting. I’m tentatively making my first forays into music and I haven’t left the country for ten years so I’m ready for a holiday this year.
Main photo: Kirsty Northover, Brandcology
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