Things I wish I’d known years ago

THE BENEFITS OF HINDSIGHT

Elizabeth Ashley muses on the things she wishes she’d know when starting out in the business twenty five years ago…

Istarted working in the family business twenty five years ago alongside my mother Jill Bruce, who was one of the pioneers of aromatherapy in the UK. Her company, Jill Bruce Aromatherapy, would later change its name to The Apothecary which became one of the best known aromatherapy companies in the country. The Jill Bruce School of Aromatherapy was the largest in Britain and was affiliated to both governing bodies.

Every summer, we’d pack up the estate car and caravan with dozens of stacker boxes full of pots of cream. On top of the green boxes, lay trestle tables and fold out chairs and on the top of those, three border collies and cats. One cat was never pleased about leaving her spot sunning herself in the garden, thus we travelled in a tranquilising valerian fog, up and down the country to different agricultural shows.

Setting up and closing down was hard, physical work. The boxes were heavy. If you were really unlucky you carried one of my stepfather Mike’s boxes filled with oils that I could hardly lift or the mobile phone which had to be plugged into the mains and weighed an absolute ton.

When I started out, the pots were labelled as “Eczema”, “Psoriasis”, “Hay fever” etc., but later, laws forced the change to “Geranium ointment,” or other oils we’d used, and we concentrated on selling on a one to one consultation basis.

As I think back, I reflect most on the headache cream. People thought I was bonkers saying “rub it on your forehead and temples”, but when I pointed out how odd it was to swallow a pill, they would be stopped in their tracks. Now of course, no-one would bat an eyelid and I think that’s my biggest proof of how far therapies have changed. We had two targets. To sell pots of cream and to collect contacts for our newsletter. Every month we would send out an eight sided magazine, with brown ink printed onto green paper full of recipes, products we’d designed and gossip from the shows.

The agents collected names and addresses on little slips, temps inputted them onto the computer system, and then we’d print off labels to stick onto envelopes For about 5 years we posted them out. Around 5,000, until one year, we’d paid for all the printing, hand folded and put them into envelopes, and put them in the post. Only to realised after, that I’d forgotten to put our contact details on. This was pre-websites of course, so naturally the phone remained eerily quiet. My popularity dipped in the company considerably that month.

After that we started adding emails addresses to the list, with no real understanding of what that was for. Nobody created a back-up. The computer crashed and a database of 10,000 contacts was lost. That was back in 1995. Can you imagine what that database could have grown to now?

The recipes file remains intact and is in the process of being made into a monthly subscription video database of how to make different products, called The Recipe Hub.

Each year the school enrolled two more intakes of students. Two sets of 12 students in September and second intake in January. We also created a series of formulas to treat stress, to

detoxify the body and to create prescriptive skin care. Each student could have been licensed to set out to teach the systems to spas and salons, but instead we never followed that thread.

By 1999, I had been working in the family business, with my mother and step father for seven years and felt utterly suffocated, do decided to leave to go and learn recruitment, which was a great decision because I learned all my sales abilities there

In some ways the school was a monster of mum’s own creating. She and Mike were teaching such in depth esoteric stuff, any question had to be answered by them. In the end their life ceased to their own and the school had to close to save their sanity. Nowadays of course, you’d create a much more cookie cutter course, put it on line and forget about it or co-ordinate one to ones through zoom.

By 1999, I had been working in the family business, with my mother and step father for seven years and felt utterly suffocated, do decided to leave to go and learn recruitment, which was a great decision because I learned all my sales abilities there.

But one of the last initiatives we tried, just before we decided to restructure the business was to open The Sanctuary, a meditation centre where people could come and sit and learn to be quiet. People thought we were nuts and the landlord of the building we rented off was really quite rude, but again, all we were was ahead of the game. Today, meditation is everywhere.

SO, WHAT DID I LEARN?

ALWAYS BACK UP YOUR INFORMATION

Today we have the cloud and it’s worth every penny. From a security consultant friend, I have learned 3-2-1. Three back-ups, two within the company, and one off site, not connected to your system, just in case some-one hacks and tries to ransom you. Your data is the most valuable asset you own.

DOCUMENT YOUR PROCESSES

Someone once said to me, how would you feel about handing your business over to a band of spotty sixteen year olds to run? The idea filled me with dread. Then he pointed out McDonalds do it successfully every single day. Anyone can pick up a training manual and know exactly how to replicate the process easily.

It gives you the power to be the entrepreneur, rather than manically trying to juggle every part of the business.

UNDERSTAND THE VALUE OF YOUR NETWORK

My eldest son studied Maths at Oxford. Visiting him intimidated me until he taught me something that they learn right at the beginning. “Everyone you meet will know something you don’t”. Thus, you have stuff to impart, and when you do, you spread information to people who advocate on your behalf. Know where your wisdom comes from and where it does. It’s a powerful set of people who may be able to help you again.

RECOGNISE THAT ALTERNATIVE THERAPIES ARE ALWAYS AHEAD OF THE CURVE

In my opinion, what we’re thinking about now tends to be about 15 years ahead of the mainstream approach to health and wellbeing. My advice is to persevere. If something’s not quite working, perhaps shelve it for a couple of years while the collective consciousness catches up, but as my mother always says, “Never let go of your little piece of thread.” Everything you create has use. n

iELIZABETH ASHLEY is a clinical aromatherapist with nearly thirty years professional experience. She is the best-selling Secret Healer aromatherapy manuals and the Tongue of The Trees Essential Oil Oracle Cards.

From the recipes left over from her family business, she has created a video database of how to make and use safely called The Recipe Hub, which you can find, alongside others of her courses including The Prosperous Therapist Course. You can find these at www.thesecrethealer.co.uk/courses