Meet The Founder: An Interview with Zoe Wheeler, Founder of Nettlefold

Where did the idea for your business come from? Tell us how and why you get started.
My Grandad was a hobbying poet and wrote stacks of poems for me when I was a little girl. I rediscovered his words when I was clearing out my Mum’s loft after she passed away and being pregnant at the time I had an overwhelming feeling of nostalgia and happiness remembering my childhood.  I not only wanted to share his words with my new baby but thought it might bring some joy and much needed escape to other people as well. My day job had been proving more and more challenging so I needed a light relief and a new focus and during Covid work wasn’t going so well so I had a bit more time and determination to get Nettlefold up and running.  Nettlefold was the name of my childhood home that I had to sell when I lost Mum.
What's a typical day like? 
Sadly Nettlefold has to come after the day job and looking after my baby boy so it tends to be post 7pm that I get cracking with Nettlefold.  Then when my other half is off work I find myself packing cards in the spare room!

What is the best part of having your own business? 
The freedom to go at my own pace, on my own terms and take it in whichever direction I want.
What's the hardest part?
The fact I want to do nothing but Nettlefold and focus on it 100% but am unable to due to the day job!  Also the guilt with the Mum/work juggle
What’s your best selling product?
The Animal Friends greeting cards but I’ve just released a new sunflower design that is proving very popular so that may take over!
If you had one piece of advice for someone just starting out, what would it be?
Take it slowly, don’t make any rash decisions to ‘get it out there’ and don’t be afraid to ask for help and advice.
Let's talk tech. Which softwares do you use in your business? ( Online store, email marketing, scheduling tools, video apps, accounting & banking apps etc)If you're on Shopify, I'd also love to learn your favourite apps.
​Wix for my website, GoDaddy for the site and Email domain hosting,Mailchimp for email marketing. Planoly for Instagram and Canva for drafting templates for flyers/ads/IG posts etc

Which social media platform works best for you?
Instagram has been slow but starting to get traction now
​What business book/podcast/courses would you recommend? 
The Resiliant Retail Club is amazing
Where can people find you?
www.nettlefoldhome.co.uk
IG @nettlefoldhome
FB facebook.com/nettlefoldhome