DESIGN CHATS by Reena Simon
Welcome to Design Chats, where you'll meet Entrepreneurs and Founders, and discover how they built their brands whether you're seeking inspiration or simply curious about the creative process.
Throughout my house renovation journey, I had the privilege of meeting some incredibly talented business owners. Their unique stories and passion have inspired me to share their journeys with you. The house build in fact inspired my own entrepreneurial journey which began with co-writing my book Scandi Rustic and then onto product design and the beginnings of my own brand with The Romy, Reena Simon lighting collection, the Kitchen I co-designed with The Main Company and The Nordic.
You could look at Design Chats as informative, behind the scenes and / or inspiration if you too are on a entrepreneurial journey. I have collaborated and will continue to do so with Brands but in tandem I would love to launch my own Homewares brand… watch this space.
Over the coming weeks, we’ll delve into the lives and businesses of the individuals I have met along the way highlighting the lessons they've learned and the insights they've gained.
Our series kicks off with Sasha Stewart, the Founder of Toasted Wood who works with Shou Sugi Ban which we discussed in Chapter 10 of the Black House Series. Join me as we explore Sasha’s path from her adventurous upbringing on a free-range chicken farm in Ireland to becoming an internationally renowned equestrian and eventually, an innovative entrepreneur. We’ll uncover the pivotal moments that shaped her business philosophy, the challenges she overcame, and the inspirations that drive her today.
A picture of Sasha
RS - Reena Simon | SS - Sasha Stewart
RS: Sasha, could you please tell us about your background and what inspired you to start Toasted?
SS: I grew up on a free range chicken farm in Ireland and as one of 5 siblings it’s fair to say that we lived a fairly feral lifestyle, scruffing around on our fat furball ponies, jumping over farm machinery and bikes made into show jumps in our fields and garden! I’d say it was a very free and adventurous upbringing with our lovely parents allowing us to get on with it. Mind you hard work on the farm was also expected when they needed us to collect or grade eggs or lock the chickens in at night time etc.
I loved life in the countryside and still adore rural life. I’m not a city slicker AT all! Anyhow my passion for horses grew and I started to win a few local shows and before I knew it I was riding for Ireland and touring all over the world competing throughout my late teens and twenties at European, World Championships and Olympic Games. It was an absolute dream and a very charmed life I have to say. I worked hard and was obsessive about it, sacrificing a social life and working birthdays /Christmases etc but I loved every second and learnt a lot about myself; discipline; standards and had high expectations of myself.
As soon as I had my first babies (twins) in 2008 I retired to put all that energy into trying to be a decent mum. (Still feel like I haven’t quite mastered that one lol)! Anyhow fast forward to having it all, building and then losing our dream home in the crash of 2008, and dragging ourselves back up from being penniless and going through the awfulness of repossession… living in a mouldy cabin with our 4 kids in one bedroom for several years. (They loved it!! … us… not so much at times).
We finally managed to find a site and build a simple barn in 2017 and I’m actually really proud of us being able to find the resilience and determination to start over. It was only whilst charring my own boards for that barn, that I started to think of “Toasted” being born and dared to dream of a new adventure.
RS: Can you share a pivotal moment in your entrepreneurial journey with Toasted that shaped your approach to business?
SS: My husband constantly (and annoyingly) tells me that Toasted was all his idea. I was charring 400m2 of timber for our own barn. It was a labour of love with a single blow torch and a steel hand brush. It took about 6 months (in between being mum to 4 kids between 4 and 9). It was Andre who said when I was nearing the finish line, “you should find out if there’s a niche for this charred timber?” As soon as he said it I had an actual epiphany. I could instantly see the branding, the name, the brochure, a whole stack of ideas just slotted into place. It was so weird. Anyhow I decided to tentatively show some architects a few samples. One firm that I absolutely love here in Ireland called me back just after I’d been in their office to tell me they’d had someone drop out of a luxury trade show they were running. Would I like to take their spot… this weekend… free of charge…
I had a small panic and said I’d call them right back and instantly phoned my sister. “I can’t possibly have trade stand at an actual show in 2 days time!” I shrieked. “I don’t even have a brochure/ a flyer/ a sign/ or a clue what I’m doing!!”
My sister Melanie is that girl who oozes positivity, sees every crisis as an opportunity, loves an adventure, is a massive risk taker, fails and laughs about it… you get me? Anyhow she gave me my pivotal piece of advice:
“if you start now before you’re ready, you’ll seriously thank yourself in a years time.” And boy was she sooooooo right! I jumped in face first, winged it, talked myself up and imagined Toasted as an already flourishing business! I went home after three days at the show exhausted but exhilarated as people had been so kind about the samples and enthusiastic about what I was doing. I didn’t get a single order for 9 months. Count them NINE!!! I hadn’t factored in people having to fall for the product, include it in their home design, apply for planning permission and start building their house before they needed me to get involved. Lucky I started way before I was ready!! Thanks Mel.
RS: How do you define the mission and values of Toasted, and how do they influence your decision-making process?
SS: I try to keep it extremely simplistic. Basically I will not provide anything to my customers that I wouldn’t be excited to put in or on my own home. Everything from the species of the timber, the way it’s been produced, the sustainability, its eco credentials, the highest grade of sealant… this high standard finish is everything to me. So in a nutshell "green and gorgeous!"
RS: What strategies have you employed to overcome challenges and setbacks in the journey of Toasted?
SS: So I was thinking quite small at the start....manageable bite sized toast to begin with. I kind of made myself think of the business as a side hustle I suppose keeping expectations a little low. I’m aware how many small businesses fail in the first year (20%… and 60% will fail within 3 years) so I knew I had to keep things manageable. I had a rent-free chicken shed on my parents farm I could convert pretty easily. I had no staff. I didn’t need to buy stock as everything is tailor made here for each client. These ingredients made for very little risk or pressure. With no money invested and no employees depending on me I could focus on providing a top-quality product myself and telling everyone about it.
We need to be all things in the business at this fledgling stage so you do the marketing, the socials/pr, the samples, responding to emails and queries, taking calls, networking, bookkeeping, orders, haulage, I designed machinery we needed engineered to make things more efficient… it’s never ending. But if it’s your passion and you’ve decided to go for it, most of it is pretty fun too! I’ve heard of people spending thousands of pounds they don’t have on focus groups for things like coming up with a name. In my opinion…what a waste.
Ask your pals… your family… brainstorm over cocktails… really think about where the limited amount of money is best spent. Running out of cash is the number one reason small businesses don’t make it off the ground in year one.
Another strategy I think has worked for me is to employ other women who are better than me in the areas I’m weak. The women who work for me are other mums with kids and so we all get each other and support each other with our parenting woes whilst doing toasted stuff. I’d say a big weakness for me is that I’m pretty great to work for but I find it impossible to be a boss. I’m much more of a friend and so having a team around me who are genuinely lovely people but who also want the best for the business makes me feel incredibly lucky.
I’d also like to quickly mention that it’s important to “read the room”. I had a few clients in the early days who took one look at my 5’3” small blonde stature and immediately asked “who does the burning??” I didn’t have a portfolio to prove I was as good as I know I am. I had no testimonials from happy customers yet. As a real feminist and cheerleader of other women, I'm afraid I had to imply I had a team of burly men with blow torches who did the heavy lifting in order to reassure those few early clients who perhaps wouldn’t have trusted my skill set from how I looked. So if you need to… work with what you’ve got to get the deal done. I knew I could deliver so it wasn’t really that naughty was it? Now I love telling people we are the only all girl team on the planet charring timber.
RS: Could you highlight a key lesson you’ve learned from a past failure or mistake with Toasted Wood, and how it has contributed to your success today?
SS: So I’m a fixer. If someone is stressed or has a problem I love to step in and try to help sort it for them. I know it’s because I’m a people pleaser which is something I would love to be able to work on. So I had this client call me from London in a real panic as she’d forgotten to order the timber for an upcoming build. She had a crane ordered for a particular date which was costing thousands of pounds and it had completely slipped her mind to put the order in for her timber. I told her I’d do everything I could to help. She agreed to email me all the details. I had a look and although it was a lot, I offered to work weekends and late nights to be able to get it done for her fast approaching deadline but I’d have to order the wood immediately. She said she’d forward a deposit. I emailed her the invoice within the hour and she confirmed everything again.
The deposit didn’t come through but the clock was ticking and I was so determined to help her, I went ahead without the deposit and ordered £15000 worth of timber. After a few days I chased up the email to see if there was an issue. She apologised and said she had just realised she'd made a typo and then hadn’t checked my confirmation email OR the invoice and that she’d realised now that she’d added a zero by accident. She only needed £1500 worth of timber. My heart dropped into my knickers at this point. I couldn’t believe it. I’d stupidly gone ahead, assuming because I’d sent emails confirming it (twice) and the invoice, that all was as it should be. The lengths and sizes for her job were super awkward and not our usual at all so I knew it would be a nightmare to resell. She wasn’t very gracious about it and actually quoted my own ts and cs back to me saying “until your deposit is paid orders are not officially in progress”… my determination to help out had meant I’d agreed to work masses of overtime and ultimately for what?
I’d put myself in such a stressful situation for zero gain, and now thousands of pounds out of pocket. If it happens now, I’m still tempted to offer to go ahead and order but I make myself remember that awful feeling when it all went wrong. I’m honest about our lead times with customers and we never miss a deadline through making false promises. More importantly I’ve given up offering to work overtime and miss out on family life. The noose of time is all too real when the kids are growing up so fast.
RS: How do you stay innovative and ahead of the curve in the your industry?
SS: I’d say my clients are great at keeping us innovative. Just now we are charring stairs that will be covered with a glossy epoxy resin for a beautiful bespoke design. We have charred doors, coffee tables, serving platters, shop signs, planters, pergolas … I’ll have a go at anything. The joy of being so small gives me the creative freedom to do these weird and wonderful projects.
RS: What advice would you give to aspiring (female) entrepreneurs who are just starting out?
SS: I’d say a lot of us girls (not all) suffer from imposter syndrome. I certainly do. I realise my strengths, I really do but I often feel like I’m juggling too many balls, dropping a few and all in all I’m “winging it”. I had the great pleasure of sitting at a posh dinner with an older, wiser and incredibly successful business woman once.
She had spent a lifetime running an empire and she told me that evening: “We’re all winging it dahling” She told me how many of her most admired contemporaries admitted the exact same feelings. If you’re too far in your own comfort zone then are you really pushing yourself? I started to see “winging it” in a more positive light after that.
I also personally love to be underestimated! It’s my number one driver. If someone tells me I can’t do it… I do it twice …(and take pictures) To me there is nothing sweeter! So sometimes it’s good to see rejection or an insult as an incentive.
Lastly, KNOW YOUR WORTH. Whether it's your time, or your knowledge, you charge for that girl! A lot of women especially in design spend so much more time than they charge for. They offer interiors advice to friends of friends FOC (free of charge)...Stop doing that. You're good at what you do and you should value that. Find a way to word it so they know to come to your studio to discuss it, or meet during work hours, or offer an intro package etc. Keep it professional so they know. Would you ask an acquaintance who's a dentist to quickly fill a tooth for you at home in their spare time?
RS: Can you share any upcoming projects or initiatives that you are particularly excited about, and how they align with your brand’s vision?
SS: Okay so we’ve done a grand designs project in England which is always exciting to do and it’s being filmed right now… There’s an incredible build going up in Kent with a design we’ve never done anything like before and it’s going to be put forward for a lot of awards so that’s big pressure. We’re going into one of my favourite restaurants in London so I’ll love going there to dine and pinch myself that our wares are in somewhere like that! Also those epoxy stairs could be awesome!!!
RS: What role do you believe collaboration plays in driving innovation and success in the artisan industry or design, as seen through Toasted Wood perspective?
SS: Collaboration is such an opportunity for growth, to evolve, to try new things. We are hoping to do some gorgeous things with a garden landscape designer which is something new for us. I love ideas! I have roughly a hundred a day lol! It’s knowing who aligns with your ideals and your brand and how to bring the best out in eachother that’s the key I think.
RS: Lastly, what legacy do you hope to leave through your business?
SS: I’ll be long gone while the buildings we have been involved with still stand. The oldest wooden building in the world was built in 711AD in Japan and still has its charred timber in tact. I love that our cladding is helping the planet like that. Lasting so long and locking all of its carbon inside is just such a feel-good factor for me. Our timber is a mix of carbon neutral & carbon negative. Renewable, sustainable and natural. That’s timeless.
Quick fire round:
If you could only listen to one song for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Shine on you crazy diamond - Pink Floyd. I would never tire of this!
Are you an early bird or a night owl?
Such an early bird. In bed by 9:30 most nights! So square!
What’s the last book you read that you couldn’t put down?
I’m addicted to books!! And for the first time ever in my life I recently got to the last chapter of this particular book and panicked that I’d almost finished it and immediately went back to the start!! Insane I know but I loved it “Lessons in Chemistry” by Bonnie Garmus.
If you could teleport anywhere in the world right now, where would you go?
Amalfi coast - if you’re paying can I stay at Villa Treville please?
What’s your Netflix guilty pleasure?!
Oh God I’m not sure I can admit to this one but “Selling Sunset” got me hooked.
I hope you enjoyed our first Design Chat, I was literally quite ‘blown away’ when I received the answers back! And now I wish I had interviewed Sasha face to face or over a few glasses of wine, I feel a Podcast calling… but my own imposter syndrome might currently hinder that.
I would welcome your feedback and if you have any questions for myself or Sasha, “fire” ;) away in the comments below.
*As a little something extra, if you're planning a renovation and considering Shou Sugi Ban, Sasha has kindly offered for you, to use my referral code REENA5 for 5% off your order. This is for a limited time only and will expire on 31/08/24.
