Insights from Katy Simpson, Founder of Noble Isle

We asked our favourite luxury brand founder, Katy Simpson from Noble Isle for her thoughts on home working as she is a pro, having worked from home for the last twelve years. We asked her to share her insights on her work set up, how she keeps motivated, how Covid-19 is affecting the business and what new products is she launching.

Noble Isle is an exquisite luxury British bath & body company. All their products are made with a fine fragrance, natural locally sourced British extracts, vegan friendly and are made in the British Isles. You will be able to spot their products in Virgin Atlantic, Liberty’s of London, Fortnum & Mason and The Savoy just to name a few.

1. Katy, tell me about your home working set up?

I have been working from home for the last twelve years so it is second nature to me and working in a corporate office would now be totally foreign. I have my own office space and am totally set up to handle all business needs and issues from home. I treat every working day just like stepping into any office – on time, smart/casual attire, proactive attitude ready to start the day. Attitude is everything when working from home.

2. What does a typical day look like?

I start my day with strong coffee and emails, we work internationally so we often receive emails through the night and into the early morning. I have many calls and Skype meetings with my team and customers throughout the day. As I run the business, my day varies from product development, sales, future planning and orders to general HR and management jobs – there is no typical day, which makes it all the more interesting.

3. How do you stay motivated?

I find it easy to stay motivated as it is my brand and therefore every job I do is about building it and making it stronger, better, constantly improving it. The workload is normally outrageous, so I just have to get my hands dirty each day and every day passes so quickly as there is so much to do. I walk for half an hour with my dogs at lunch to clear the head and get some fresh air and that helps with my energy for the afternoon/evening shifts. I always make sure I exercise after work to clear my head of stress.

4. How do you keep in touch with your team?

Through emails, phone calls, Skypes and we meet as a team at least once a month and then individually about once every two weeks. I find Skype the best tool as you can see people and read their facial expressions.

5. Do you have any advice for keeping on top of everything?

I am a naturally organised person which is key to keeping on top of things. I am a note taker and list writer and this keeps me on top of all the jobs. I rewrite my priority list each week and keeping organised it critical. I also need to work in a neat and tidy office, so I end the week with an office declutter.

6. How is Covid-19 affecting the Noble Isle business?

Greatly. Most of our work is with the hospitality and retail industry and obviously these areas have been greatly affected. However, we do have an e-commerce business which has had a very strong year and is continuing to grow.

7. Anything new with the business you would like to share?

In January 2020, we launched a #GreenMonday campaign as we have changed all of our formulations to a more natural base. We also have a new fragrance launching in October – Scots Pine – which will be a great new addition to the range. We are planning our Christmas Gift Boxes collection and there are some new candles to look forward to.

8. We love your hand wash right now – which one is your favourite?

My favourite Hand Wash at the moment has to be Sea of Green, it’s a fresh, green verdant coastal fragrance and reminds me of being on the coast - which seems like a dream right now. Our Hand Washes have natural antibacterial properties, are non-drying and contain natural cleansers to help remove germs and bacteria. The WHO have advised that washing your hands for 20 seconds with soap is effective at removing the virus.

The natural PH of the skin is between 5.6 and 5.9, with water being neutral at PH 7, this makes our skin slightly acidic. All of our hand washes are PH 5, this means it keeps the natural balance of your skin, prevents dehydration and doesn’t drastically alter your skin’s natural barrier to bacterial flora.

It is also important to keep hands moisturised from the excessive hand washing, as cracked skin is an easy entry point for bacteria.

If you are interested in the science of why soap is so effective:

Soap contains fat-like compounds called amphiphiles, which are similar to the lipids found in the covid-19 virus membrane. When soap comes into contact with these fatty substances, it binds with them and causes them to disconnect from the virus. It also forces the virus to disengage from the skin.

More information on this can be found here: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/03/coronavirus-soap-covid-19-virus-hygiene/

Thank you Katy for taking the time to answer our questions.