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- BUSINESS -
Starting Life Over & Kicking Ass with Francesca Gamble
Within 10 years of working for the biggest global communications agencies within consumer PR, travelling the world from New York, Miami to Argentina, handling PR and press, with influencers and brands such as BMW, Sky, Lulu Guinness, and the Olympics; you could say Fran is your new icon in business and PR.
But then, she quit. Why? “I didn’t really know what I wanted to do in my life but I knew I didn’t want to be with an agency anymore.” She changed her whole life. Francesca freelanced for 6 months, gave up her flat, moved in with her sister then travelled for 6 months. You could say reinvention was definitely on her mind. “I went to South Africa, which was one of the most eye-opening experiences of my life. It was insane and it taught me to slow down and look at the messages that the world and life give to you rather than rushing and missing things.” Fran is one of those people that runs a billion miles an hour, operating on high energy and a hell of a lot of enthusiasm.
Being approached to be a marketing director for about 6 months gave her a push to set up her own business. “I didn’t know what I was getting myself into, I just put my head down and went for it.” While gathering clients, working extremely hard, working solely on an iPad and flat-sharing with strangers, Twenty-Nine London was born. Twenty-Nine London is a strategic communications consultancy for lifestyle and luxury brands. This includes content, PR, influencers, events, building a brand strategy and campaigns. “I felt indestructible like I could do anything and then I woke up.” That was the moment it hit that it wasn’t just about having a business. It was about letting go of everything you know and everything you thought you were, but most importantly - letting go of your ego.
Our society is incredibly ego-centric simply because of your career. Society loves to somehow define someone by what they do as a career. If you don’t have that big “director” or “head of ” title then it begs the question of “what are you doing?” Social media doesn’t help either. As Fran said, “it definitely makes you want to portray yourself different to who you really are. People become jealous of what someone else is doing. Behind closed doors, the people who are working the hardest aren’t always portraying that on Instagram.” Not having a job title is like walking around naked in front of a large crowd of people. People look at your job title and judge you from that simple point, regardless if you own a business or not.
Every day is stressful as a business owner. Every day you have to figure out how you still make time for yourself. How you balance needing to be the best version of you every day for your clients - you can’t be that person if you are strung out and exhausted. At the same time, you can’t let yourself feel guilty. Fran knows. ”I get up at about 6 am and I won’t do yoga if I am really busy and I feel guilty. It is a mad way to work. You need to let your mind recover and be the best version of you.”
Fear creeps in as well. When you want to move your business forward and grow from a marketing perspective, you have to go back to the idea of letting things flow - rather than controlling them. As Fran says, these cause blocks and then you’ll constantly be in a state of fear and worry. Asking for help is never a bad thing. Asking for help is stereotypically a sign of weakness. You can never achieve anything on your own and that is why having your own network is so important. She says, “People don’t realise it takes time and you have to get away and meet people face to face; away from phones and your computer.” A meeting in person should never be underestimated. Even if you are low on time; seeing someone is the most powerful way to connect and grow your business.
Fran loves networking, joining and introducing likeminded people together. Being surrounded by friends and family who own small businesses and helping them is Fran’s area of expertise. She explains to me that while helping them, she realised most businesses can’t get access to anyone like her who is relatable, has the experience and understands both the business and personal side of growing a brand. “I think there are so many business owners wondering what the hell to do next. My passion to help and open up is what has started to drive Platform.”
While Twenty-Nine London focuses on global fashion and lifestyle brands, Platform is a space for small to medium-sized businesses to go to when they needed any kind of help in knowing how to create and sustain their brand. By offering to coach and mentor business owners and freelancers, it means people know they can push their business further with someone they trust who invests time in your personal capabilities and business model. Fran’s coaching is insightful, incisive, and helpful. Many clients of hers have said that Fran gets to the heart of the matter in a manner that is energising and productive.
When speaking about Platform, Fran said the following, “I have an idealistic view of a brand, how it operates, works and how you need to build them. PR is the last thing a business needs to get because you need to build a story, build a website and build your content before anything else.” People can access her whenever they need help, to buy her time and create a detailed plan together which everyone sticks with for the duration of the course.
So what is Fran’s ultimate goal? “To open up the restrictions the marketing industry currently has with small businesses. This is based on not having enough money to pay for services and not being taken seriously because of that. As Platform grows, it will be the go-to destination for anyone looking to start or are running a business that needs that ongoing support without the contracts and hassle of a big agency.”
A really interesting point that Fran pointed out to me was a concept called editing your peer group. It’s based on the pure fact that if you tell people too much, you’ll open yourself up to more criticism. Looking back to school and growing up; if you said you were going to get a certain haircut or new phone, people will either get it first before you or get jealous and they’ll mock you. Fran said, “It’s a really important thing for people to understand that when they are building a business, you need to choose your friends wisely which may mean cutting your friends out. You don’t mean to do it in a nasty way but it’s about choosing who you want to spend your time with.” It’s silly but that’s what people are like.
"Work hard and be the best version of yourself that you can be. It will pay off."
What about stress? How does Francesca Gamble cope with everything that’s happening in her life, both past and present? She wrote a letter to herself. “It’s one of these things where every time I get it out, it’s a yes this is exactly what I needed to remember. Just little key phrases like “you’ve got this” and “keep going”. Saying I can do this. It was definitely a “Yass Queen” moment!” This is what her book is all about. People need to remember their self-affirmations, as when you are stressed my god doesn’t it all go out the window.
The biggest personal life moment for Fran was when she broke up with her boyfriend after 5 years together. But that is when you really have to reach out to people and that is the moment where you see your growth. That is when it becomes exciting. “Besides,” she says, “men can’t be on their own!” There shouldn’t be a divide in men and women, there needs to be a balance. “In our careers, women are automatically fucked. We are the ones that have to have children. Over the course of our lives, personalities change and I’ve got friends who had high power jobs and they quit because of their love for their children. Men are always going to rise to the top because they don’t have that.” Bigger companies aren’t understanding. She admitted some are doing more but we both said that if you are a young woman, going to a job saying you are newly married, engaged or young; you probably won’t get the job. At Twenty-Nine London, they do work with mums quite often and they get their shit done. They don’t complain, work super hard and super fast. Why wouldn’t they?
Humans drawback at the idea of human expansion. If people were really honest with themselves and gave themselves a really hard talking to, they would find they have more time to grow and less thinking about it. It is such an easy thing to change but humans are programmed in a funny old way. Fran is not a massive believer in a routine, as it doesn’t help creativity or being an entrepreneur because you have to be so fluid and ready for setbacks and changes every single day.
In her final words, Francesca states that no one can give you a set bible on how to grow a business but she does believe in consistency. Even when you are having a hard day and want to give up if you can do one thing to push your business forward. One small thing or that one email, then you will survive. It is very easy to be overwhelmed and give up. But don’t. Never give up. You can do this.
Your journey is still continuing and I am still learning as well. So who knows what will happen? This is the exciting part.
Make sure you keep an eye out for the release of her book. I can assure you that you will be feeling all the “Yass Queen” moments throughout.
Go follow for all the latest updates:
Francesca on Instagram @francescagamble29
Platform @platformbusinesscoaching
Twenty-Nine London @twentyninelondon
Written by Hannah Mathieson
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