Jody Daunton And Rachel Taylor

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Another Escape Jody Daunton and Rachel Taylor CulturallyOurs Podcast

Season 02
Season 02
Jody Daunton And Rachel Taylor
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Show Details

In this episode, we explore Lifestyle, Travel and Entrepreneurship as I chat with Jody Daunton and Rachel Taylor, the creative duo behind Another Escape. Another Escape is publication that celebrates outdoor lifestyle and creative living. Jody and Rachel share their entrepreneurial journey in launching Another Escape into what it is today – a high quality lifestyle publication, which is generally read by people who are curious, creative and outdoorsy. 

Jody and Rachel are not only business partners but also life partners. They themselves love the outdoors and being in nature any chance they get. And so to be doing something together as a way to inspire people to foster connection with nature, considered ways of living, environmental stewardship is the best of both worlds for them.

Show Notes

Karthika interviews Jody Daunton and Rachel Taylor, the creative duo behind Another Escape. Another Escape is publication that celebrates outdoor lifestyle and creative living. Jody and Rachel share their entrepreneurial journey in launching Another Escape into what it is today – a high quality lifestyle publication, which is generally read by people who are curious, creative and outdoorsy.

The Transcript

Karthika: Welcome Jody and Rachel, thank you so much for joining me on CulturallyOurs. I’m really very excited to be chatting with both of you today and cannot wait to dig into your entrepreneurial journeys

Jody: Thank you for having us. Its a pleasure to be chatting with you.

Rachel: Thank you so much for having us.

Karthika: Absolutely. So before we begin, could you guys take a couple of minutes and just let us know a little bit about sort of who you are, where you’re from, just to help set the stage for this conversation.

Jody: My name is Jody. I’m a freelance photographer and creative director. I live in Bristol, which is in the southwest of England and I spend a lot of my time either behind the camera or a computer screen, working on creative products. When I am not doing that, I am generally hiking, and spending time in nature.

Rachel: I am Rachel Taylor and I grew up sort of all across the UK. I traveled quite a bit as a kid. But we’re currently in Bristol, which is a really cool city and the southwest of England. It has some really great access to good outdoor spaces. So we’ve got mountain ranges, lots of great coastline as well. So that’s really good because I’m pretty keen outdoor enthusiast. But day to day, I’m the editor of Another Escape.

Karthika: I’m really jealous because when I look outside my window, I just see flat land and corn field. So what do both of you do today? What’s your business all about?

Jody: So today we run Another Escape together. It is an outdoor lifestyle, creative culture and sustainable living journal that tells stories of passionate people who are inspired by nature and essentially Another Escape is a high quality lifestyle publication, which is generally read by people who are curious, creative and outdoorsy. And we ultimately aim to inspire people to foster connection with nature, considered ways of living, environmental stewardship. And a sense of fulfillment in our everyday lives. That’s kind of it in a nutshell.

Karthika: So is it like a magazine? journal or a book?

Jody: Yes. Sometimes calling it a magazine does a disservice. It’s printed on really nice thick matte paper stock, and it’s kind of like a book magazine hybrid. We need to start calling a journal, I think, cause a lot of people think magazine and when they see it and they’re like, no way, this isn’t a magazine. But I think that’s kind of how we pigeonhole it.

Karthika: No, I love it. I have it and I’m a huge fan of it and maybe I shouldn’t have said magazine, I should say coffee table book because it sort of sits on my coffee table and I love referencing it. Now is this something that either one of you sort of went to school for or did you know you would always get into this sort of indie publishing space?

Rachel: Well, I think both of us have a background and specialism in visual storytelling. So Jody studied photography at university. I studied illustration and then focus more specifically in communication for editorial. But in terms of independent publishing, this was completely new for us. So I think it was quite a romanticized idea of getting into publishing at the beginning because we were really keen storytellers. We love creating content. And it felt quite natural to want to compile that into sort of an anthology or something that we could put all those stories in one place. But in terms of us going to school for that and learning, the business side of things, no, that wasn’t something that we did and we just sort of had to find our own way with lots of learning curves.

Karthika: Oh, I can imagine. Now you didn’t go to school for this, but yet you kind of moved into this space. Can you talk a little bit about what that process looked like? How did you guys decide that, you know, okay, one day we going to own a magazine, we’re going to be entrepreneurs with a publication. What was that thought process like?

Jody: I’d say it was pretty organic. So areas of study leading up to it were very visually led. So it would have been a natural progression to do freelance work, which is quite a daunting thing I guess to do straight out of university because you’re probably trained to do your area of expertise so you can take a picture. You understand photography from like a technical standpoint that maybe not so much from the standpoint of I’ve got to speak to clients, I’ve got an invoice, negotiate, I’ve got to deliver the imagery. It can be a little bit patchy when you’re at university. So, in terms of becoming an entrepreneur, it wasn’t necessarily something that we set out to do, but it kind of was birthed out of a passion for telling stories in a way that we could collaborate together. So, initially we were working on the magazine as a side project and this was way back in 2012 and it was just a way to satisfy a creative thirst. We kind of satisfied with a freelance work, but there was something missing and I think the magazine was the perfect vehicle to kind of explore stories and narratives that we’re kind of closely aligned to our own value. So we saw the magazine as the best sort of tactile object to condense these stories into an interesting reading experience. And initially we started with about 750 copies of the magazine and, it suddenly became real. Until that moment we were making this thing that we did not look at it as a product until it arrived.

Jody: And when we saw that palette, it was a little bit unnerving, you know, it made it real. We’re just like, oh no, we’ve got 750 magazines, which is a very small amount compared to what we print these days. And you know, the next thing we’re loading up suitcases and we’re both on a train to London and we’re pretty much, you know, like a door to door salesman but for stores. Turning up to stores and having this object that you’ve worked really hard to create for six months and it’s quite daunting I’d say. Going up to someone in the store and literally being like, this is what we are about, this is what we’ve made. Like would you be interested in setting it? And you know, having to learn another steep learning curve on commission percentages and the whole seller retainer model. And I think it’s just one of those things that it was kind of naive but kind of organic in how it came out of two creatives wanting to collaborate on telling stories in an interesting way.

Karthika: I can absolutely understand. I mean, when you said that pallet, it’s almost like I was envisioning that pallet in my head because until you see that product, until you touch it, feel it, hold it in your hand. It’s not real. It’s like it’s all in your head and suddenly it’s out here in the world. You know, it’s like having a baby. I have two kids so I can kind of have that analogy.

Jody: Yes we sometimes refer to it as a child, a creative business baby. A labor of love.

Karthika:  Now this question might come across a little odd, but I want to ask it in any way because having a print publication when you hear sort of print is dead and you know, why are you guys doing this? But you guys went ahead and you did it. And now there are lots of magazines or coffee table books and journals out there in the marketplace. So how competitive would you say has the market space become from sort of when the time you started to now when you guys are more established in this arena.

Rachel: This is really interesting thing and like you said, it’s changed quite considerably probably over the last maybe 10 years or so. And we were really fortunate when we started up because actually it was on the rise, the beginning of independent publishing becoming quite as big as it is now. And I think sort of in terms of the competition today, there are a lot of voices out there. A lot of magazines that are kind of trying to tell their stories, but they’re also very specific in different niches. And I think that that’s come about really from almost a reaction to what’s happening happening on digital and social media. So people are finding much more easily these days, communities of people that they share interests with and they’re banding together. And this is kind of giving rise to this kind of offline dimension where actually you can find out about things online, but then you can create a really niche product offline as well that kind of complements that community and those people.

Rachel: So yes, there’s a lot of publishers out there and a lot of people working within independent publishing. But I think that there is the space for that because people are saying lots of different things or telling different stories. I think because we had to go on that journey of learning who we were as a publication and in really ensuring what our editorial voice was the message that we were giving to our readers and because we sussed that out quite early on, we have this very committed community around us now who understand that and support that and really relish in the stories that we were telling. I think for us there’s sometimes this danger of people comparing us to adventure journals cause there’s quite a lot of adventure inspire journals coming out probably in the last five years. And I think that’s also maybe a reaction to what’s happened on Instagram. There’s a lot of adventure travel inspired sort of content on Instagram these days. But I think our message is quite different to that as kind of our stories aren’t really about conquering summits or gnarly rivers kayaked and things like that. It’s very much about how can we live closer to nature? How do we get outdoors more and how can that impact our wellbeing and also the wellbeing of our planet and environmental stewardship. But to go back to your question, I think yes, it is quite competitive, but I do think that there’s space for lots of different publications telling different stories.

Karthika: I love that and I appreciate you kind of highlighting that because gone are the days when we think about one size fits all. It doesn’t, we relish different things. We gravitate towards different things. And so having that sort of a community or a space where not only can we get inspired, but we can also kind of learn about other people who are doing similar things that interests us is huge. And Another Escape does this so well. So well done guys. Now how has the ride been so far would you say?

Jody: The ride has been fantastic. I’d say it’s been turbulent at times, but pretty enjoyable. I think when you’re starting a project like this and it’s so organic and you’re learning things that you didn’t expect to be having to learn. So I think being the owner and the co founder of your own business, you are having to wear many hats. So kind of jumping between different roles and there’s a lot of pressure, but I think it’s very rewarding and I think it’s definitely been a valuable experience. Even if Another Escape was to cease to exist tomorrow, we have got so many transferable skills and have really great network of supportive people that  we get to communicate with and share ideas and create with.

Karthika: Awesome, and Rachel how about you?

Rachel: I would definitely agree with the turbulence and the learning curves. And it’s been hugely interesting and impactful in our lives. Like even down to the things that we’ve learned from all of the people that we’ve met like that. I think then that’s something that we really didn’t expect at the beginning and I don’t know why because it probably seems like it would be quite an obvious thing getting to meet all of these amazing people, but you get such incredible insights into people’s lives you wouldn’t otherwise get. And sort of as a publisher, the responsibility falls on you to be able to try and tell those stories and try and communicate all of those ideas. But the wealth of knowledge and outlook and everything else that I’ve gained personally from it. I will always hold really dear and you know, despite all of the downs and those turbulent times that we spoke of, I think that it’s been a really incredible experience.

Karthika: Wonderful. Now I feel like as a people, as a culture, sometimes we don’t sort of celebrate the successes in life. We are so focused on what’s the next goal, what’s the next task? Especially for us entrepreneurs. So perhaps we can take a moment and sort of celebrate all the successes that you guys have had so far. You’ve been in business for now several years. So maybe Jody and Rachel, could you share some of your sort of proudest accomplishments either as what you do or as Another Escape?

Jody: Sure. I’d say initially the proudest and one of the proudest moments was probably the first stockists that said, yes, we will sell your products. I think, again, back to some of my comments earlier, it really made it real and I think it was that we are doing something that people are interested in. It’s not just a self fulfilling project as it was never intended to be. So it’s great that it was received in that someone was like, I will put that on my shelf and I will try and sell it for you. And you know, the rest is history with that regard of developing stockists and, and our distribution network growing. I definitely remember walking into that store and being really nervous and having butterflies and putting ourselves out there. And I think had that first store said no, it would have been a slightly different feeling. But that was definitely one of the proudest moments I can think of in terms of the history of the magazine. Rachel, you can talk about some of our more recent accomplishments.

Rachel: Probably after I would say that the quality of the product that we’re creating today, I think that we’ve gone on this massive journey over probably the last six years that we’ve been creating the magazine. And I really like the core focus has been on making that product as good as it can be. And then alongside that it’s been creating a community around that really finds an interest in the stories that we’re telling. And since very early on actually we were just saving a lot of emails from readers and followers and learning about like how the publication has impacted them, which was really interesting to hear and something again that we never really expected we would make, began publishing and that’s definitely been really rewarding. And so very humbling accomplishment. More kind of tangible ones I guess are when we got Patagonia on board as our publishing partner, that was something pretty momentous for us only because we really hold that brand in such high regards and we think what they’re doing in terms of championing environmental stewardship and the people that are sort of actively on the ground. I’m trying to make sort of the planet a better place both socially and environmentally, through a brand that’s essentially evolves around selling gear for the outdoors. And then also getting a Chinese edition, which was something that has been in the works for about two years and it’s finally last month it got published. So it got sent out to people in China, which was amazing. And I think that again like Jodie was saying with the stockist and also earlier with when we first received that print publication, when we saw that.

Karthika: Thats amazing. To go from that first sort of stockist to now being, in Chinese and now any other sort of language is just an the next step. So congratulations on that. Now like anything in life we have ups and we have downs. So what is some of the challenges that you guys have faced and how do you sort of overcome them either individually or as a couple?

Jody: I’d say probably for us it will be work life balance and being a couple, we spend a lot of our working days together, working is quite intense in the magazine and then having that switch and being a couple again has been tricky over the years, but we kind of balancing that off by, either going for a midday run and kind of reminding ourselves that our lives shouldn’t revolve around just the work. You have got to make time for things and passions are outside of that. And for us, we are quite often going out for an early afternoon climb together where we’re both working together but on a kind of outdoor activity rather than a particular request or an aspect of our business that we might not have an answer for that given time. So I think that’s kind of been, for me, one of the trickiest things to overcome. But as we’ve kind of developed the business and it’s grown and we’ve been able to outsource things, it’s become a bit easier. But we do have to remind ourselves sometimes when we are just making food, not to check our emails and just to have time for ourselves. I’m definitely guilty for that too, sometimes I cannot help myself.

Rachel: Yeah. I think it’s also quite difficult because we went from, publishing a magazine about getting outdoors and do need to feel the benefit of that. So to suddenly find ourselves behind the screen a lot was almost at odds with the message that we’re sending out. So we have to, for ourselves, it was about having a word with each other and being like, look, we need to make sure that we have balance in our life and we’re going out and still doing these things that we love doing. And particularly at the beginning. I think that for many business owners and entrepreneurs, that can be quite a challenge because when you start on an endeavor like starting up a new business, you feel like you have to pour so much of yourself into it to be able to get it off the ground, to get it working and functioning properly. And it’s almost like if you don’t give all to that, you feel like you would be shortchanging your business, and potentially the future of that business. So this balance that we’re getting is maybe a luxury of being a bit further down the line, but it’s something definitely that we have to constantly work on and continues to prove challenging when there’s pinch points in the business, say around publishing time or whenever. That’s probably for both of us the main challenge.

Karthika: No, you’re absolutely right. I mean, we feel like we have got to do everything. We have to have our hands and our head in every aspect of it. And yes, initially maybe because of resources or time or whatever you feel like that has to be you, but great that you guys have kind of figured out a way to sort of balance it out and be outsourcing or just take it that half an hour to just step outside. Especially where you are considering you have mountains and the ocean and all that beautiful scenery. Now how is the sort of entrepreneurial or business landscape in Bristol? You talked a little bit about community and you talked a little bit about being a creative hub. So I’m guessing that there is sort of some way that you can interact with other business owners. Could you talk a little bit about that aspect?

Rachel: Yes sure. Bristol is full of lots of small businesses and lots of entrepreneurs being creative and also a sort of niche areas and industries and they’re definitely feels like a community for that. And you can participate in that as much as you want. And even just going to small events, whether it even be specific to your industry, I think that you can feel easily reinvigorated with that kind of entrepreneurial spirit and creativity. And I think that’s important. But in terms of as a city, Bristol, you can just walk around the streets and there’s sort of street art everywhere. There’s lots of independent cafes and bars and restaurants and people who were clearly putting themselves out there and a sort of entrepreneurial way. And I think that that you can respect that as well. So you feel like the camaraderie by just being in the place. I think on sort of more a publishing level, there’s a core group of independent publishers that support one another. We do regular meetups, we swap stories, we drink quite a few pints and moan. But it’s really good to kind of see different perspectives of independent publishing and understanding how a business can come work slightly differently, helping each other become more functional and effective in what we do. So there’s a really great community and you can participate in whichever way you feel works for you.

Karthika: Sure. Now what about like government programs and non-for-profit organizations? And the only reason I ask is because here in the states there is quite a lot of like support for small business owners, from local governments to the federal government. So I’m just curious, is that something a thing where you guys are?

Jody: I think it’s definitely a thing. There are initiatives and stuff, but I think because we hadn’t planned to have Another Escape as a business when we started it, we didn’t necessarily look into that. So we’ve always been kind of self funded out of Rachel and my own pocket until we brought on a sponsor such as Patagonia to help support us. So really for us, we didn’t work with NOGs or that side of things in a business sense. There is definitely a lot of help out there, but because of the way that we started our business kind of unintentionally, intentionally as it were, it doesn’t kind of apply to us in that kind of a sense.

Karthika: Sure. Now through Another Escape, you guys highlight stories of a lot of entrepreneurs, a lot of creatives and that focused on outdoor exploration, creativity. Can you share some lessons or takeaways from these sort of entrepreneurs that you’ve kind of heard from them and what is sort of the common themes that perhaps are there between those narratives?

Rachel: So I think spending a lot of time with entrepreneurs can make you quite self reflective on your own business. And I think some of those key takeaways have been, and especially that are personal to us, is to kind of take your time to build something meaningful, and don’t be so hard on yourself and not necessarily getting everything right or doing everything as fast as you think that you should be. And sort of that kind of virtue of being patient. But yeah, I think doing things well and taking your time and building a sort of a lifestyle out of what you do. And those have been some of the key things that we’ve learned. And in terms of the narratives that you asked about in line with the topics that we cover, we’ve learned a lot about the natural environment. A lot about ecology and stewardship and how those can tie into your everyday life as well.

Jody: There is impact also too right Rachel. I’d say that looking at businesses that have respect for the impact on the wider world, it’s not necessarily just through the environment that like socially or culturally. And I think it’s about being mindful of those. You’re not just making a product. It has a bit of a ripple effect. You know it’s kind of has us question the way that we produced a magazine, the paper stocks we use, the printers that we use.We use an amazing printer in London, called Park Communications and they have won print awards, environmental prints of the year awards. So it’s working with businesses can share your values and your sensitivity to the impact on the wider world. I think that’s definitely something that’s been imparted on us. It’s something that we’re always been aware of, but I think seeing how other people articulate the idea and understand their position within that it’s definitely had a lasting impact and definitely something that was a key takeaway.

Karthika: Thats amazing. Lets talk motivation, mindset, growth. So how do you keep yourself motivated and excited for the future, especially when the going gets tough.

Rachel: I think probably because we’re in it together that’s really important. We spoke before about the problem with keeping the balance between work and life. But I think because we have sort of the support of one another that’s really great in keeping us motivated and I’m not actually sure that we could do what we do if we didn’t have that support. But in terms of the business, I think we have like lots of really big ideas and we try to keep a long term vision and that naturally comes with our editorial publishing schedules. So we’re naturally thinking about a year to a year and a half in advance. That sort of long term view keeps the momentum and motivation going. And even when we feel quite bogged down with something, we kind of know that there’s so much that’s coming up that will excite us. So many stories that we might be working on that keeps us in a really good mindset. Or at least it kind of keeps us motivated to want to be in a good mindset and to feel creative. I think because we have to wear lots of hats for the business and do lots of different things, when something’s really bogging you down and you can just go, I’m not going to do marketing today, I’m going to work on content planning, or I’m going to think about how we can speak to our community better or something like that. So that flexibility in job roles can also help us stay creative and motivated.

Karthika: Oh, I like that approach. Let it be for a moment and then come back to it when you are energized and rejuvenated. Now you know I am going to ask this question because the two of you are a couple and are working together. So how is it working together and who really calls the shots?

Jody: So I’d say there’s not really one of us calling the shots in our personal relationship or business relationship, it’s been a collaboration from the offset. I would say that we do lend our skillset slightly better towards different roles within the business. So for example, Rachel is the editor and I’m the creative director. But within that Rachel does more marketing and I do more distribution. And I think that’s kind of down to what we’re comfortable doing and the roles within the business that we’d like to do. Rachel is very articulate with words. I’m a rambling mess, but I have such a passion for creativity and storytelling that I often handle more the crazy direction of the magazine. So it’s definitely a bit of a balance and we figured that out as we’ve gone along. But really we are a couple that are doing a project together and we kind of articulate that as a supportive unit. So its very organic and I wouldn’t say either one of us wears the trousers.

Karthika: I love that. It sounds like you have found that balance in the roles.

Jody: Yes, eventually.

Karthika: Lets talk specifics for a change. And I say this because a lot of times people hearing the podcast want to get specifics so that they can relate to their situation too. So I will ask a series of questions and whatever you are comfortable sharing we can take it from there. How long have you been in business and how long of that have you been profitable.

Rachel: So we’ve been operating as a business for about six years now. In terms of profitability, we’ve always run at a profit, which has been pretty amazing despite sort of our initial investment that we put in ourselves. But in terms of income, we do definitely supplement that with our freelance work which we run alongside with what we do. It is a bit of both.

Karthika: Have you pivoted in what you do in terms of products or services since you first established your business? And if yes, how does that pivoting process look like for you?

Jody: So for us, I say the pivot has been creating or beginning to create a content creation agency. So naturally creating stories and telling different kinds of narratives for the magazine kind of developed in style that we’ve kind of worked on over the last six years. We’re now using our skill set to tell brand stories and to communicate brand messages for third party businesses. So that’s been kind of a natural progression for us. And the magazine is a perfect calling card for that because I think a lot of the businesses that we would like to work with that naturally their values align with our own. They can look at Another Escape for either inspiration or as an example of the type of storytelling that we could do for them. And I think that’s definitely been a fantastic natural pivoting point for us.

Karthika: Do you employ other people? Or is it more freelance type of work? And if you do employ people what does that process look like?

Rachel: We don’t employ people, but we do work with a network of freelancers from around the globe and we’ve now established quite a core group of people that we really trust and we love to work with and they really get what we do and what we’re about as well. So naturally there’s quite a good support system there and it’s quite a collaborative process working with them and that’s kind of come about over sort of that whole process of publishing for six years. So some of the contributors that we’re working with today we’re involved in some of the earliest editions that we’ve put out, which is pretty amazing. So ideation, creative and editorial direction, we split quite evenly and we work on collaboratively. For me personally, a lot of my time is spent on content production, editing and marketing.

Karthika: That is amazing. It is really important to have a core group of people who get your vision and are able to bring that out in the world to align with what you are expecting. Now where do each of you invest most of your time? Is it in ideation, financials, sales, marketing or perhaps a bit of everything.

Rachel: Ideation and editorial direction is quite a collaborative effort. A lot of my time is spent in marketing, content creation and editing. Right, Jody?

Jody: Yeah, I’d say that’s fair. Like we mentioned earlier about who calls the shots since it’s very collaborative. But I would definitely say that I helped more the distribution and that side of business development. And I also would probably say I do a little bit more freelance work than Rachel does. But that’s only because she does quite a lot on the magazine on a daily basis. I do too, but mine comes in peaks and troughs say sometimes I’m really busy with the magazine and another time more busy with freelance work.

Karthika: Sure. Now how important would you say social media is to the business? Or are traditional forms of marketing like ads, word of mouth etc still king for your business?

Rachel: I think social media and sort of online marketing, digital marketing is completely necessary for business like ours and is the primary way that we reach new readers and people who could potentially be interested in what we do. So I think it’s hugely valuable. But I think social media has become kind of a bit contrived. So it’s about thinking how you can use it creatively and how you can tap into communities that actually care about what you’re doing. I’m not necessarily for like for like and rubbish like that. I think it’s about using it as a tool and sort of an authentic way. And we coupled up with some sort of newsletter campaigns as well as sort of the more traditional stuff is making sure that we’re in stores and making sure that we’re placed in the right kind places where people can find us. There are two different types of places that people are finding us. Some people are finding us within those kind of concept stores and libraries and whatever else. And then other people are finding us online. But I think it’s important to nurture both sides of that. But in answer to your question about social media, yeah, I think is incredibly valuable and important.

Jody: It’s kind of ironic almost, isn’t it? A physical print magazine that relying on the Internet to sell it. It’s quite interesting. I think this resurgence and this kind of renaissance in independent publishing has definitely been hinged on a lot of social media platforms. And our magazine is very visually led. We’ve got fantastic editorial rising in that. But I’d say that platforms like Instagram are really invaluable in terms of communicating the aesthetics of the magazine as well as being able to caption images or say an image from a story that we’re very proud of or it’s coming up in the new release and getting people excited and giving little snippets of what can be found in the print edition. I think that really gets people kind of hypes. Those are like our magazine, not just, not just anybody and everybody, but generally I think our readership. Yeah. I think it’s nice to share a little bit behind the scenes and kind of articulate and build a little bit of momentum up to release and also to communicate with our audience between issues is invaluable.

Karthika: Absolutely. And I think at the end of the day we are still people, right? There are still people behind businesses and when you share a little bit of that, the contributors and readers behind the issue, you start to build more connections. Social media is all about being social. Lets start to wrap this up a bit in the interest of time with a few more questions. What has been the most important part of your journey so far?

Rachel: Personally I think it’s been learning what I’m good at and what I most enjoy. And I think for me that’s content management and production. I think definitely the beginning, I was working really hard to be great at everything and I don’t think that’s necessarily sustainable. So yeah, I think that’s been the most important thing for me.

Jody: Yeah, the same for me actually. You can be a jack of all trades and a master of none, but I think being an entrepreneur it was just something that I refer to myself as a publisher.  That’s the kind of way that I look at myself, but I think that it’s about being adaptable but not spreading yourself so thin that actually jobs aren’t done as well as it could be done. That would probably be my learnings from this journey.

Karthika: Now if you could go back in time and start all over again, would you guys do this all over again? And if you could change anything what would it be?

Rachel: Oh my gosh! I think there’s plenty we would change, but that’s only in hindsight right. Would I probably go do exactly the same as what I did now? Yeah, probably because at the time we fought it was the best decision, but we definitely learn a lot of things the hard way and maybe I would ask for more advice. I wouldn’t be so proud to feel like I had to learn everything on my own. Would we set on this journey again? I would like to think so but you never really know do you?

Jody: Maybe we’d reach out to the government or other programs to get funded.

Karthika: You alluded to this earlier but I will ask it again. What do you guys like to do for fun outside of work and outside of the magazine?

Jody: So we climbed together quite often and we like to hike and wild camp and just kind of have a bit of a bit of a digital detox. Quite often we spend time with friends outdoors is usually a great antidote to the pressures that can come with running your own business. So for us it’s about spending time outdoors. I think that’s something we’re both really passionate about and it’s definitely reflected in the business that we’ve decided to run together.

Rachel: We naturally gravitate to places where you don’t get phone service.

Karthika: Thats a great way to detox right?

Jody: It is usually great until you get to a place where you get signal back.

Karthika: So just to wrap up, are you both living your dream? Or what comes next for you and Another Escape if its okay to share?

Rachel: So in terms of are we living our dream? We’re definitely working towards it and I think it’s going back to that work life balance that we’ve mentioned quite a bit throughout this conversation. And I think for us that’s looking at streamlining our processes within our business, looking to outsource a bit more so as to focus on what we’re definitely good at and what we enjoy and then ultimately spending more time outdoors doing what we love outside of the business and creating a magazine.

Jody: I think from a personal aspect, definitely. In terms of what lies ahead for the magazine itself, we’re just about to launch our new website, which has been something we’ve been working on for quite a while with an amazing web design agency called Series Eight. And the completion of our rebrand that we’ve been undergoing for the last 18 months, which is fantastic. It’s one of those things, like we’re very much of a slow and steady wins the race kind of aspect with the way we run our business. So that’s very exciting for us. We can’t wait to release that and see how it’s received by our audience. And I guess next along alongside that would probably be the content creation agency and seeing what opportunities come out of putting ourselves out there as creators of content for brands that are outside of the Another Escape canopy.

Karthika: Well! I am sure it is going to be fantastic. Jody and Rachel thank you so much for coming on today and sharing your journey with me. I enjoyed chatting with you both and getting to know you both and as well as Another Escape, which I am a huge fan of.

Jody: Thank you so much for having us. Yeah, it’s been a pleasure.

Rachel: Really Nice talking with you today. Thank you very much.

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