Girlboss interview met Floor & Erin van Nourished

Ruim een derde van alle ondernemers in Nederland is vrouw en er zijn heel veel vrouwen die eraan denken om een eigen bedrijf te gaan starten. Wellicht heb jij hier ook al eens over nagedacht? Of ben je al onderweg maar heb je nog net dat duwtje in de goede richting nodig om er helemaal voor te kunnen/durven gaan? Deze inspirerende vrouwelijke ondernemers gingen je voor! Vandaag in de Girlboss Interview serie: de Nederlandse Floor en Australische Erin die samen Nourished hebben opgericht. Een online boetiek met pure, natuurlijke cosmeticaproducten uit Australië en Nieuw-Zeeland. 

GIRLBOSS

“A woman in control, taking charge of her own circumstances in work & life. Someone who knowns her worth and won’t accept anything less. She is empowering and inspiring to those around her & kicks ass!” – Urban Dictionary

‘Lees ook: Girlboss interview met de oprichtsters van Triaderm huidpraktijken.’

Girlboss interview met Floor & Erin van Nourished

1. Kan je jezelf eens voorstellen? / Tell us something about yourself!

Floor Hendriks (30). Ik woon in Nederland, ben afgestuurd op AMFI en als Diëtist. Ik ben met Erin gaan ondernemen vanuit onze gedeelde passie voor alles natuurlijk. De beste stap die ik had kunnen maken. Ik werk fulltime voor Nourished en word hier heel gelukkig van. Als ik niet aan het werken ben, ben ik graag actief bezig van krachttraining, yoga tot voetbal. Ik geniet ook van niks doen in een leuk café met vriend(innen). Ik ben altijd reislustig geweest en heb dan ook al veel van de wereld gezien, dit staat even op een laag pitje nu maar wanneer ik kan ben ik het aller liefst in een warm land.

Erin Hawken (37). I am lucky enough to call Sydney, Australia my home! I have worked as a Chiropractor, helping people to improve their health naturally, for the past 13 years and love every day of it! I love spending time at the beach & enjoying the amazing natural beauty of Sydney. I also love exploring art galleries, discovering new cafes & restaurants and enjoying the many cultural activities that Sydney has to offer.

Whilst travelling & working around the globe in my late 20’s/early 30’s I ended up spending 3 years living & working in Amsterdam which is where I met Floor. Of course we bonded straight away over our shared love of all things natural!

2. Hoe kan je Nourished het beste omschrijven en hoelang bestaat het? / How can you describe Nourished best as a brand/company and how low does it exists?

Nourished is an online boutique that offers the best in exclusive natural beauty & lifestyle products. We present a quality collection of brands, thoughtfully curated from Australia, New Zealand & beyond. Nourished is not only an online boutique, but a community of like-minded people who want to contribute to themselves and the world in a more conscious & sustainable way. Nourished aims to:

– empower individual health & wellbeing through education, choice & accessibility
– reduce pollution from packaging and toxins
– take a stand against animal cruelty
– contribute to a consumer driven shift in big business to create products that are health and eco-friendly driven, rather than only profit driven.

We have been live online since September 2017; the idea of Nourished was conceived 8 months before we went live.

3. Waar komt jullie liefde en passie voor ondernemen en beautyproducten vandaan? / Where does your love and passion for business and beauty products come from?

Our love and passion to start this business came from the love and passion of taking care of your body and the environment you’re living in. We are both health professionals and like to take care of our community, our family and ourselves.

When Erin lived in Amsterdam she noticed that there was a lack of beautifully made clean beauty products. It was when Floor visited Erin in Sydney and got to experience the quality of clean beauty & lifestyle products she had in her home that the idea of Nourished was born.

4. Op welk punt besloten jullie om er helemaal voor te gaan en begonnen jullie fulltime te ondernemen? / At what point did you decide to go all the way and did you start fulltime?

From day one we decided to go all-in with Nourished. After 8 months we were convinced that we made the right decision and felt that our dream was becoming reality. At this point in time Floor works full-time for Nourished in the Netherlands. Erin runs her own, successful Chiropractic Studio in Sydney. Every free hour she works for Nourished and handles the business side in Australia.

5. Wat is volgens jullie de sleutel van jullie succes? / What do you believe is the key to your succes?

We think that doing business in an honest way and building strong, real relationships with your business relations and customers is the art of any successful business. Your brand needs to be an extension of you. It should be aligned with your passions & values in life. You really need to believe in the products you work with and be able stand behind your mission with authenticity & integrity. You need to be in LOVE with your own brand!

We seek a lot of feedback from our customers and use it to inform the choices and directions we take with Nourished. We see all feedback as positive as it ultimately helps us to create the store our customers want! But it is always amazing to hear the success stories, when their baby finally doesn’t have that rash anymore or they finally have their confidence back because our deodorant keeps them dry and fresh.

6. Waar zien jullie jezelf en het bedrijf over vijf jaar? / Where do you see yourself and the company in five years?

We will have a Nourished Team, Nourished Warehouse and Nourished Conceptstore. We will be inspiring an entire nation of people looking to make choices that better serve themselves & their family, that are more sustainable & that help to make changes in the way big business is done. At the end of the day we all choose with our dollar. When we purchase products we are saying yes to the brands philosophy, production choices, the way they treat their workers, everything! We hope to be helping the entire Netherlands make better choices by rigorously researching the products and brands we include in the store, making sure we only offer those in line with our values & mission.

7. Hoe ziet een gemiddelde werkdag eruit? Hebben jullie bepaalde taken verdeeld of doen jullie alles samen? / What does an average working day look like? Have you divided certain tasks or do you do everything together?

We discuss almost everything we do but we both have our own tasks.

Floor: Wanneer ik wakker wordt zet ik mijn telefoon aan en post ik eigenlijk gelijk op Instagram. Soms heb ik al een berichtje van Erin want die is dan wakker. Ik probeer eerst nog even weg te blijven van email etc. Dan ga ik ontbijten en soms doe ik even yoga.

Als mijn dag dan echt begint is dit een combinatie van inkopen doen, voorraad beheer, social media post schrijven, de achterkant van de website onderhouden & hiervoor teksten schrijven, pakketten inpakken en zorgen dat alles op voorraad is zoals doosjes, labels etc. Daarnaast doe ik ook de administratie en bezoek/ onderhoud het contact met zakenrelaties in Nederland.

Erin: My role is really based around the fact that I am not physically in the Netherlands. I create & maintain the face-to-face relationships with our brands. I am constantly seeking out new brands and products that fit our criteria to include in our collection. I also deal with the ordering, shipping logistics from Australia & New Zealand. We have recently begun a distribution arm to our business to ensure the amazing brands we bring to the Netherlands are

represented in a way that is true to their vision & mission. I am very involved in this aspect of the business.

A typical day for me is 5.30am wake-up, meditation, then off to my studio where I see patients until around 7pm. Once I get home I switch on my computer and attend to my Nourished duties whilst I eat dinner & wind down on the couch. The time zone difference between Australia and the Netherlands can also mean I am up until late on conference calls. And of course the weekends are also largely for Nourished, but I try to get a healthy balance by always fitting in an early morning workout, swim at the beach or dinner with friends!

8. Wat is het grootste leerpunt uit jullie carrière? / What is the biggest learning point in your career?

Before Nourished, we were already colleagues and I think at that time period in our lives we learnt how we wanted to run a business, and what kind of people we wanted to be. We learnt the importance of upholding the standards yourself that you expect of others, of listening, kindness & honesty.

When we started Nourished we agreed that our relationship was always our number 1 priority and our business was number 2. They don’t happen very often but when they do we always discuss our differences of opinion in an open and honest way. We try not to store up any grievances we may have, we respect each other’s opinion and both try to meet in the middle when we disagree.

9. Waar kunnen jullie als ondernemer echt niet zonder? / What can you as an entrepreneur really do without?

Facebook messenger is our best friend. This is our number 1 communication tool. We also call each other with messenger. Without the digital world having an intense business relationship between Australia and Netherlands would be very difficult. Also Instagram. It is a very powerful tool for us.

10. Wat is het beste advies wat jullie aan andere ondernemers kunnen geven? / What is the best advice that you can give to other entrepreneurs?

Find a good business partner. Building a business with someone is like being married to them. You need to like them as a person and share simliar values otherwise it is destined for failure in one way or another.

–> Klik hier voor de website van Nourished om het assortiment aan prachtige producten te bekijken.