Sleepgoddess Gets Mentoring From Liz Earle (Via Google x BT)
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George Taylor
- 29th November 2021
- 7 minute read
Based in Dagenham, Laurelle Darroux’s sleep troubles inspired her to launch Sleepgoddess, – a start-up that helps people to feel amazing when they first wake up.
In 2019, Laurelle was working as a Head of Ship Registration at an international ship registry (for an overseas Government in the UK). Then, she was made redundant (due to cost-cutting, and a reduction in staff numbers). Naturally, her sleep took a hit as a result, so she decided to do something about it. The result? She launched Sleepgoddess, which makes British-made beauty sleep products.
Fast-forward to lock-down in early 2020, and Laurelle launched an Instagram page to test her business concept (and to build up an email marketing list). Her brand officially launched (and began trading) in September 2020.
Recently, Laurelle took part in the BT x Google Small Business Mentorship programme, ‘Get Mentored, Get Growing,’ As part of this, she met with the renowned wellness entrepreneur, Liz Earle, – for a mentoring session on digital skills, and ‘how to thrive post-pandemic.’
Starting out as a health and beauty writer, Liz Earle then went on to Co-Found her eponymous beauty brand with her best friend (which they sold for a multi-million sum), before returning to the wellness category with her own website, magazine, podcast series and YouTube channel. Liz has also earned an MBE for services to the beauty industry.
This month (November), Liz Earle joined BT and Google’s team of dedicated digital skills experts (providing one to one mentoring sessions for small businesses) as a Guest Mentor, together with the Dragons Den star, Levi Roots.
“I’m only a year into my business journey, so it was really inspiring to get the chance to hear the experiences of such a huge name in the beauty industry. Mentoring has been game-changing for my business. Thanks to BT and Google’s digital skills mentors, I learned how to optimise my website and social media, as well as build a digital marketing strategy,” said Laurelle Darroux.
“Since, business has exploded. I’ve got customers as far away as New Zealand, and I’ve got a really loyal and supportive following on social media,” added Laurelle.
“When my beauty brand first launched more than twenty years ago, our mail order business was based around paper forms and payments by cheque. Today everything moves at a completely different pace. You have to act like a publisher on your social media channels, and be super responsive to customers who want a real-time answer, NOT a letter in the post,” said Liz Earle.
“I encourage small businesses to grab all the available resources and training they can to help successfully navigate their way in the online world,” added Liz.
Both BT and Google are jointly committed to helping small businesses across the UK get better positioned for growth, by addressing the digital skills shortage.
Since the launch of BT Skills for Tomorrow in 2019, BT has delivered free digital skills training to almost 300,000 UK small business owners and their employees, supported by webinars from Google Digital Garage, putting Google on course to achieve its target of enabling one million small British businesses to be found online.
On top of this, Google has exceeded its target of helping to train 100,000 UK SMBs. In total, over 700,000 business owners have been trained through the Google Digital Garage programme.
”We’re proud to partner with BT and the participating business leaders on this inspirational program. Equipping small businesses with the digital tools needed to grow and succeed, is not only integral to future proofing the UK business landscape, but it’s the next step in the UK’s journey to economic recovery. We’re committed to making sure that shared knowledge and digital skills are as accessible as possible, and make a lasting impact for the entrepreneurs of the future,” said Ronan Harris (Google’s UK MD).
“Our partnership with Google comes from a shared vision and a commitment to help small businesses harness digital as a driver of growth and prosperity. Through our free mentoring programme and digital skills training, we’re aiming to equip small firms with the skills and knowledge needed to succeed in a digital world. BT initiatives, including one-to-one mentorships, have already boosted the digital literacy of almost 300,000 small business employees to date, and our partnership with Google is helping us to significantly extend our reach and impact within the small business community,” said Chris Sims, BT’s MD for its SoHo (Single/Small Office, Home Office) unit.