Daisy Morris: The f*ck it moment

1 Nov

INTRODUCTION

Daisy is the Founder of The Selfhood and a digital and social media strategist working with fashion, hospitality, and lifestyle brands.

The Selfhood is an online platform helping to debunk industry myths, break down jargon and make digital feel human.

After graduating from Bournemouth University with a BA in Fashion Communication in 2015, Daisy has gone on to work with Skinnydip London, Be At One, Bill’s Restaurant & Puttshack.

This interview took place via video call in October 2020.

We absolutely love your values and everything The Selfhood stands for. Why are the pledges you make towards diversity so important to you?

The Selfhood actually started as a uni project six years ago, the project was centred around championing diverse creatives. I was really lucky to interview some of the most incredible people of all ages, genders, backgrounds, religions and beliefs, ranging from milliners to ex-punk rockers. We simply cannot create excellent work if we’re surrounded by people who think, look and live the same way we do ourselves.

“We simply cannot create excellent work if we’re surrounded by people who think, look and live the same way we do ourselves.”

At what point did you realise the value of building The Selfhood as a community and platform, as well as a business?

Only recently to be honest, when I first started the business I was so deep in trying to understand how to work on several projects and with multiple clients at once that my own personal work was put on the back burner. In the peak of lockdown I did some serious soul searching into what I loved and where my future was and realised that helping other people was so important to me.

It wasn’t until I started putting more time into The Selfhood and people started messaging me and saying they had achieved big wins through following our work that I thought, “yeah, we’re on to something here”. It sounds weird but I genuinely get butterflies when people message and tell us we’ve helped them with their business or confidence.

You’re a self-professed data geek and pride yourself in the approach of marketing-made-easy, but how does that impact the way you run your business and look after clients?

I’m really transparent with my clients about the way that we work, they know that before work kicks off there’s a process of really understanding the depth of their demographic and market, along with analysing our efforts heavily and continuously from all angles throughout projects.

I think it works really well, the feedback is great, they get all the bullshit and jargon debunked while understanding what people are responding to on a granular level at the same time. Sometimes I have to reign it in because I can get so geeky with it - most people are here for it though.

What’s the most challenging project you’ve ever worked on?

I started working on a project and it very quickly became clear to me that it wasn’t aligned with The Selfhood's values, so I stopped the work immediately. Thankfully we weren’t tied in to a contract at that point.

I learned a very good lesson, if your gut tells you something is off at the beginning, don’t even entertain it.

What are your top tips for turning social media followers into clients or customers?

Be you. Always. Don’t try and mould into your competitors, don’t talk about or post what you think people want to hear if you’re not feeling it. Give, give and give before you ask to receive.

“Give, give and give before you ask to receive. ”

Despite being a one-woman business, collaboration appears to be a big part of your day to day! Whether that’s working with designers to create content, or hosting workshops with industry! Do you ever miss working as a part of a larger team? Or does this collaboration fill that gap for you?

Honestly? Yes, and no, some days I miss the buzz of an office full of creative people with a lot to say and share. That being said I have an incredible network of people I speak to almost daily and am always collaborating with on projects. My sister also recently joined the team and it’s been so incredibly refreshing to have someone to talk about projects and ideas with, we’re also working in a fun co-working space which has massively helped especially with lockdown, working from home was driving me mad.

What are your top tips for networking on social media?

Don’t hold back! A lot of the time people don’t reach out, out of fear. It can be something as simple as saying “I love your work, particularly ‘x’ project - I would love to hear more about what you do!”. Also to slightly contradict myself, don’t send out blanket messages, LinkedIn is terrible for that. Be specific about WHY you want to network with that person.

“Don’t hold back! A lot of the time people don’t reach out, out of fear.”

When did you know it was time to take the plunge and go freelance?

I had been thinking about it for ages and one day I was at work and I’d had a shit day, I’d started listening to the ‘How I Built This Podcast’ and listening to loads of success stories from cool brands. I listened to the Airbnb episode that morning and had a fuck it moment and handed in my notice the same day, no savings, no proper game plan, it worked out though.