Building a Business Your Way: Sam Thurlow’s Story

 I’m Sam, I run a business support agency helping business owners grow their business with less of the overwhelm and stress through admin, marketing, design and strategy. I have had a weird and wonderful route to running this agency. I started a business straight out of graduating from my graphic design degree in 2016 and failed. I was so isolated and scared to admit the failure, but that experience led me to start collaborating and even started my love of public speaking when I started to tell the story. I then took a role at a marketing agency, in which I became the account director and learnt so much about the world of marketing and pitch decks with Seed and Series A companies. I loved the work but wanted to work with smaller companies in a more creative way. We were living in the channel islands at the time, so I quit and came back to the UK with 1 VA client. Quickly I took on more, and realised there was a need to combine my skills and experience to offer admin, marketing and design in one place backed by experience, not just as a generalist. From there I grew the agency into a small team, decided to get a PGCE and in 2024 suffered a severe burnout where I lost my vision. I spent 6 months focused on recovery, in which time I found habits to recover and avoid burnout relapse but also grew my company 3x its size. Now i’m focused on sharing my story and finding ways to make support accessible even for founders who can’t yet afford to outsource expert support.

I was a massive overachiever when I was younger, and still struggle with the perfectionism people pleasing today. That was a big factor in the cause of my burnout and an aspect I have to be very wary of now as I work on scaling my business without burnout. But it’s this passion and ethos behind what I do, to help other people, that connects the most with other founders. The authentic passion to help them means I’ve built some amazing relationships with clients and my team, and its what makes me enjoy what I do.

I fell into this business through the failures, and opportunities through my early career. Once I started to find my feet in this role and realise the need for combining these roles, I became inspired to do more and grow the business to help more people which has been the driver for everything I have done in the last 5+ years.

Absolutely, this is something I’ve struggled with over the years. In my early business journey this was really relevant and a big challenge. As I failed in my first business journey, having taken the risky route of starting a business straight out of University, and this massively impacted my confidence for a long time. I remember feeling so out of place networking in that first business feeling like I had to show up in a particular way, looking like a ‘proper’ business person. It’s only been in the past few years as I’ve gained confidence to show up authentically as myself and to do things in a way that work for me even if it’s not following the ‘shoulds’ we all hear about running a successful business, that I’ve truly seen my business start to grow.

This has been a big challenge for me. When I lost my vision at the start of 2024 I finally realised this needed to be more of a priority. I’d spent years cycling through burnouts only accepting this wasn’t sustainable when I finally broke. Over 6 months I worked on wellbeing and recovery, focusing on strategies I could put into place to prioritise this more… and they worked for a while. Recently, I’ve found this difficult again as a mum of a toddler still trying to run and grow the company, a lot of the strategies I had in place no longer fit my routine. The strategy that continues to work for me have been recognising the early signs of overwhelm and taking small moments of calm for myself. Often this can only be a minute or two now, but those moments matter too. The one most important thing I have done to help with this is my owm mini retreat, I took myself to a cabin in the middle of nature and had a few days alone to do only what I wanted in the moment. This was the most impactful thing I did to recover from burnout but also probably the most impactful experience I’ve ever had for myself. It gave me the quiet to experience what was important to me, without any external influence and to truly connect with myself again. It’s been the cornerstone to my recovery and now I find mini ways to continue this experience when I need it, including time in nature and mini versions of my retreat again.

There have been many people over the years who have provided invaluable support, from friends and family who have cheerleaded me and supported me to mentors, collaborators and partners in the business world who have provided advice, opportunities and support over the years. They are as important to me as each other as each person who has been a part of my journey whether big or small has all contributed to what I have learnt, who I am today and where my business is now.

I have been part of a range of organisations and communities over the years, there is no one specific community to note. What I have found though is finding the right places, that surround me with the right kind of people is what’s mattered most. Sometimes that changes over time so communities and spaces that have been essential to me at one point in my journey may not be at another point in my journey. But from each I have made relationships and connections that last and allowed me to curate a community that support me as we continue to grow.

To find what matters most to you. Each time I become overwhelmed, it is because I have lost sight of what I want and what feels right to me, the overwhelm can shadow my true gut instincts and I lose sight of what matters most. Often, when I connect back with this again I am able to focus on what matters most, delegating, putting systems in place and gaining support in the other areas even if I don’t yet feel ready. And that’s when things click and align.

I massively rely on books for my self care, I find that these are often the spark I need to get some clarity, reignite the passion when motivation is waring due to stress and re-focus and prioritisise. I have a whole list of books that I love, and a set of tools that help me juggle it all and stay sane as a business owner mum, but some of my favourites are Brene Brown’s Gifts of Imperfection, James Clear’s Automic Habits and Chris Bailey’s Hyperfocus. Although if it’s for self care specifically, Do Pause by Robert Poynton is great at making me slow down.

 It won’t always be easy, but it’s entirely possible. No one succeeds the first time, I don’t believe in overnight success but you’ll learn and open doors to opportunities through the ups and downs. You don’t have to do it alone, there is support out there designed to help you build a business you can be proud of, communities ready to cheer you on and a world of excitement awaiting you.

A bit of both! I am an extrovert at work, love speaking with clients, networking and even public speaking but in my spare time I love having some alone time with my book or latest craft project… or even taking myself out to lunch!

Early bird or night owl?

Night owl… always!

 One word that describes your entrepreneurial journey?

 Odyssey

I offer admin, marketing, design and strategy in one place. There is no blueprint for business, so I help you create yours. I work with clients needing systems and processes, or diary management to those needing a marketing strategy or done for you socials. We build websites and create beautiful brands, and mentor small business owners to grow their business and pull all these aspects together. Every retainer and project is different, we work completely uniquely to what you need to grow your business.

I also run Business Bliss; the membership providing expert support without the expert price tag. It’s a place where small business owners bring the things they’re stuck on and actually get them done… with expert people there to help. Free trial available www.incollaboration.co.uk/membership

I can be found at www.incollaboration.co.uk and https://www.linkedin.com/in/samanthathurlow/