There Are Other Ways: Conversations About Living Life a Little Differently Fiona Barrows

This is the last episode of this season of There Are Other Ways but I will be back in January with more conversations about living life a little differently.

This week's conversation is with Sarah Layton from Growthfully. Sarah helps women create joyful gardens that support their mental wellbeing through one-on-one garden coaching and design. She is also the host of the My Garden, My Life podcast in which she talks with women about their relationship with their garden, and many other things beside.

We chatted about how our gardens can support our mental wellbeing, the importance of creating space for ourselves and how this is perhaps counter-cultural to many of us, and how clearing away the weeds can allow the things we really want in our garden to thrive.

This week I'm chatting to my friend, and candle-maker, Becky Avery from Hazel & Blue. Over the last few years Becky has grown Hazel and Blue from selling in local markets while working for the NHS full-time, to being a Not On The High street partner and sold in many shops around the South-West. We talked about how she has done this, the trend towards kits and things you can make yourself, how social media doesn’t come naturally to her, and running in your own way.

I adore Becky's enthusiasm for her business and the life she has created, and find it really inspiring. And I hope you do too!

Nicola Slawson is the founder of one of my very favourite newsletters - The Single Supplement. It's a weekly newsletter exploring the experience of being single in a very nuanced and relatable way.

We had a conversation about the upsides, and downsides, of being single, and how it impacts both of our lives, beyond just dating. We also spoke about why she set up The Single Supplement, the financial and mental load of being single, how it can make you feel like less of an adult, and our experiences of lockdown.

Jane Lindsey is the founder of Snapdragon Life, a part shop, part membership community that encourages people to find joy in the small things, and to bring the seasons into their daily lives.

A few years ago she decided to rebel against traditional business models, take the profit out of selling, and build her business in a very different way. We chatted about her journey to getting here, consumption and consumerism, the problem of novelty, and why it is we buy things.

Syreeta met her now husband Rob while they were both living in Hong Kong. Their life was hectic and moved at a pace, until, in September 2014, Rob suffered a brain haemorrhage and stroke while they were on holiday in Sydney. It turned both of their worlds upside down, and the life they had imagined for themselves exploded into dust.

Yet somehow, out of this intense and traumatic experience, they created light, and Moments of Sense and Style, or MOSS, emerged.

I asked Syreeta about her and Rob's story, and how creativity has helped both of them to express themselves, heal and find a way forward out of the darkness.

This is a really special conversation, and one that I know will stay with me for a while yet - I hope it does with you too.

Sarah Mason is a filmmaker and photographer, living in Yorkshire with her wife and business partner Suzi, and daughter Olive. They've been clients of mine for a little while now, and I'm constantly amazed by how consistently creative and explorative Sarah is.

Over a mug of tea (her) and coffee (me) we chatted about how she got into photography, the creative gap, what it's like working with her wife, and the impact of Instagram on photography and how we interact with photos. We also talked about the idea that is at the heart of their business, and what Sarah is always trying to capture: the feeling of home.