Meet Hazel Russell, co-founder of The Wood Life Project
I am Hazel Russell, Co-Founder of The Wood Life Project, along with my husband Jimmy. We are parents to two young boys, Joseph and Lennon and we live in rural Norfolk.
I started off my working life within the Financial Services industry at Aviva where I stayed for 7 years. I then spent 7 years as a Production Scheduler at Williams Lea.
I made the decision to leave work in 2013 when I fell pregnant as I wanted to take time out to raise my children.
What inspired you to launch your business and what is the end goal?
When I became a parent, my perspective on life changed and I became increasing concerned about the level of plastic pollution in the world and the climate emergency. I was worried about the legacy being left behind for my boys and future generations.
I decided I wanted to create a brand with vision to end of the plastic revolution and the throw-away mindset of our generation. A brand which would inspire others and change the way people consume forever. So, in January 2019, The Wood Life Project was born.
I have big ambitions for The Wood Life Project to be a household name and market-leader in the eco-friendly market. I would love my boys to be able to grow up in a world where people buy more ethically and are more aware of the environmental impact of their purchases.
How do you set yourself apart from other businesses in your industry?
As an eco-friendly brand, we set ourselves apart from other eco-brands by manufacturing in the UK and using materials from the UK too.
Many of the other eco-brands on the market either manufacture overseas or import the raw materials from overseas.
Some of the leading eco-friendly products in today’s market, despite being better for the environment than plastic are not as “eco” as they seem due to manufacturing overseas or importing the materials from overseas, meaning there is an environmental impact to consider in the transportation of goods.
When our customers buy our products, they can rest-assured that they have bought a product with an honest provenance and a transparent supply chain.
What’s been the biggest obstacle you’ve had to overcome?
Our biggest obstacle to date has been finding a manufacturer. Almost all woodworking factories are now based overseas, due to the demand falling when plastic became more popular in the UK.
We reached out to so many manufacturers who worked with metals and plastics, to persuade them to manufacture our products. The machinery needed for our products is the same machinery used in metal work and plastic, however manufacturers weren’t keen to take us on as it meant cleaning lubricants out of equipment and building extraction equipment for all of the sawdust produced. We eventually managed to find manufacturers who believed in us, our brand and our products and the relationships we have developed have gone from strength to strength.
What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learnt so far as an entrepreneur?
Resilience and perseverance are what will make a business successful. It has taken a lot longer and a lot more money to build our business than I thought, and there have been many times when I felt overwhelmed by challenges faced. However, my belief in our business and what it stands for, coupled with my hunger for it to succeed is what has driven me to be resilient and persevere every day.
What are your thoughts on failure?
It is a necessary part of learning resilience and growth. A positive part of failing is having the ability to learn from what went wrong and is much better than regretting not trying something, however, you shouldn’t fail at the same thing twice, as it would mean you haven’t learnt from the failure.
Do you have a morning routine or ritual to get your day started on the right foot?
There is no need to set an alarm in our house as my children have a pre-six o’clock wake up time. I get up and get some exercise, normally a run or a session on the cross-trainer. It helps me start the day in a positive way, where I feel great and have time to myself. When I run, I choose not to listen to music or podcasts, I find the time meditative and it sets me up for the working day.
What are your top tips for entrepreneurs wanting to get their business out there?
1 – Start a business that aligns with your passions. For me, this was to build a business that would contribute towards a better future for the planet
2 – Make sure you have a USP or do something better than existing products or services in the current market. For us, all of our designs are unique, and we manufacture in the UK and use materials from the UK
3 – Work out the destination. Staying focused with where we want this business to be has been very important for us. We have so many ideas of products we could make but what do not align with where we want to be. At the core of our product range is the family home, with a focus on mealtimes. Despite knowing there is a market for other wooden products, straying from our core would distract us from our ultimate goal.
4 – Don’t procrastinate, just start and perfect later. Think of how disappointed you’d be if someone else beat you to it with your business idea. When we started out, we booked a trade show within 2 months of launching. It meant that we had a finite period of time to get set up for selling to wholesale.
What plans do you have for The Wood Life Project over the next two years?
Up until before COVID-19, we sold mostly to wholesale. Since restrictions have been in place and Retailers have temporarily closed, we have needed to change direction and focus on our online offering. We have always had an ecommerce website but haven’t previously focussed on driving awareness or traffic to it, so now we are concentrating on building it up, focussing on such things as SEO and CRO.
Over the next couple of years, we will to continue to grow our D2C but focus will be on growing our B2B sales. We are aiming to be a market leading eco-brand and as such we are aiming to onboard some large retailers, to help grow brand awareness and get our products in front of our target audience.
What’s the single most important decision that you made, that contributed to your business?
To manufacture in the UK and use materials from the UK. This has given us our USP and is what sets us apart from, competing eco-brands. We certainly haven’t made our lives easy with this decision, as by using materials or labour from overseas we could have captured more of the market by offering a lower price-point on our products. However, this would have meant that our USP wouldn’t have been so strong and we would have diluted our brand values.
What’s the most important question entrepreneurs should be asking themselves?
Where they want their business to be in the next 2/3/5 years. It is very easy to get distracted with so many different opportunities that come your way and it is easy to lose focus and spend time doing something that doesn’t align to your long-term goals. You should set your compass to where you are aiming for and keep to that path.
Any moments where you thought you’ve bitten off more than you can chew?
Most days! When starting the business, I was blissfully unaware of the number of challenges I would face, almost every day. There have been a lot of times when I’ve questioned whether it was the end of the line for the business. Start-up life is certainly not for the feint-hearted!
