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Conversations of Inspiration

S12: Finding your niche, with Neal Whittington founder of Present & Correct

Conversations of Inspiration

Holly Tucker MBE

Education, Business, Society & Culture, Self-improvement, Entrepreneurship, Personal Journals

51.3K Ratings

🗓️ 12 July 2021

⏱️ 60 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

A lifelong obsession was ignited when Neal Whittington was given a £7 WHSmith voucher as a child.

Neal has since gone on to carve his own niche in stationery with his brand ‘Present and Correct’ and amassed legions of fans with his beautifully curated collections, mixing vintage with new, tapping into our nostalgia and our own ‘human-ness’ to connect beyond technology and screens.

In this episode, Neal shares his journey to leaving behind his day job as a designer and embarking upon a new path to turn his passion for pens, pencils, and paperclips into a thriving business.

Holly and Neal discuss the allure of a physical product at a time when our lives are dominated by technology, what it really means to have a ‘good life’ business, and how being niche might just be your superpower.

Enjoying listening to these unfiltered chats? It's worth following Holly Tucker MBE and Holly & Co on Instagram, and subscribing to our weekly newsletter on our website, where Holly downloads her thoughts, and exclusively shares small business finds and topical, 'ungoogleable' business advice.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

I might have mentioned it once or twice,

0:02.2

but as someone who is completely obsessed with stationary,

0:05.8

I knew my conversation with Neil,

0:07.8

who's the founder of Present and Correct,

0:10.6

would be one that resonates with all of us here

0:13.6

on this podcast.

0:15.1

I think the moment that he described the purpose of an eraser

0:18.6

will stay with me forever.

0:21.2

And it was actually just so him to say something like that.

0:25.2

You'll have to listen to the podcast

0:26.5

and know what he says,

0:27.8

but actually the way he loves his analogue world,

0:32.4

mixed with digital,

0:33.9

how he has formed a career

0:37.0

and a very, very beautiful brand

0:40.0

in what some would call niche

0:42.4

is again, testament to the bonkers ideas that we all have

0:47.5

and love absolutely can be our business of the future.

0:51.9

And guess what?

0:53.0

We get to do what we love and love what we do.

0:55.8

Enjoy this one.

0:57.2

I'm Holly Tucker and welcome to Conversations of Inspiration.

...

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