Episode 65: Sophia Webster
Spinning Plates with Sophie Ellis-Bextor
Kat Rulach
4.8 • 527 Ratings
🗓️ 23 May 2022
⏱️ 71 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Sophia Webster is a sought-after British shoe designer whose business took off like a rocket soon after she left college.
We sat at the kitchen table in her colourful house in East London and chatted over a cup of tea. Sophia described how her shoe designs have mirrored her own life, with her adding a bridal range and a children’s shoe range along the way. Also how her husband Bobby became her business partner very early on which means there is no work/life balance in their house - but she wouldn't have it any other way!
I was struck both by Sophia’s modesty and drivenness, as well as the perfectionism she brings to her shoe designs. I was also impressed that she makes very little of the painful health issues she’s experienced - endometriosis and post-natal foot problems.
Alongside her business, she is mum to three girls (including twins) and stepmum to a 16 year old son. And as we spoke she was heavily pregnant with her fourth child - so I was extra grateful for this chat at such a busy time in Sophia's life.
Spinning Plates is presented by Sophie Ellis Bextor,
produced by Claire Jones, and post-production is by Richard Jones.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello, I'm Sophia Lysbexter and welcome to Spinning Plates, the podcast where I speak to |
| 0:09.6 | to busy working women who also happen to be mothers about how they make it work. |
| 0:14.4 | I'm a singer and I've released seven albums in between having my five sons aged 16 months to 16 years, |
| 0:20.4 | so I spin a few plates myself. Being a |
| 0:22.6 | mother can be the most amazing thing but can also be hard to find time for yourself and your |
| 0:27.0 | own ambitions. I want to be a bit nosy and see how other people balance everything. Welcome to |
| 0:32.3 | spinning plates. Ow! Oh hello that's. Literally as I started talking to you, I just stubbed my toe on a stool. |
| 0:44.1 | That'll learn me to wander around, chit-chat in a way. Um, how are you? How's your wheat been? |
| 0:52.2 | I can't really lie. |
| 0:56.5 | I've actually had a really nice week because Richard and I went away. |
| 1:02.3 | Yeah. |
| 1:03.1 | We went to Italy for four nights, just the two of us. |
| 1:06.7 | We left on Monday. |
| 1:08.1 | We just got back. |
| 1:09.2 | It's Friday, Friday afternoon. So we're back for the weekend. |
| 1:14.8 | Yeah, we had just some time, just the two of us. So we went there Monday after the kids had gone to |
| 1:20.2 | school and then had all a Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, so three whole days there. |
| 1:31.3 | And there are bits and bobs we were getting on with while we were there, but we were also just chilling and eating spaghetti and drinking nice local wine |
| 1:38.3 | and enjoying the sun. |
| 1:40.3 | And I read a whole book, I know. |
| 1:43.3 | It was really, really nice and the reason I'm sharing it with you is not to boast, but to please implore you that sometimes it's okay to go away. It's funny. I've had so many chats along the way through these podcast chats about the guilt you can feel when you go away, whether it be for work, but actually also, probably even |
| 2:06.4 | more so when you're just doing it for fun. But actually, it's so important. And Richard and I have |
... |
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