EP79 Interview Episode: Eva Sonaike: Exploring Heritage At Home

Some designers create beautiful things.
Others create work that carries a story.

And today’s guest is someone whose work does both.

In this episode I talk Eva Sonaike, a London-based textile and interior designer whose work is instantly recognisable for its bold palettes, layered patterns, and joyful energy. But what makes Eva’s work so compelling isn’t just the colour — it’s the narrative behind it.

Born in Germany to Nigerian parents, Eva’s work is brimming with colour, confidence, and a real sense of cultural pride.

Her collections celebrate the richness of West African culture while translating it into contemporary interiors in a way that feels modern and elegant. In the conversation, Eva refers to The Yoruba culture she draws from, which is known for its rich visual language — bold colour combinations, rhythmic pattern, and textiles that carry meaning as well as beauty. In many ways, you can see that influence in Eva’s work: confident colour, layered prints, and designs that feel alive with story and symbolism.

Before founding her own design brand, Eva worked as a fashion journalist. But finding a gap in the market for homeware that reflected her heritage when decorating her own home, she began with a small collection of cushions which quickly grew into a brand stocked by some of the most prestigious retailers.

In this conversation, we talk about colour, about how heritage and identity shape the spaces we create, and about why our homes should tell the story of who we are. We also explore something I think is incredibly important; how design can help us create spaces that feel grounding, meaningful, and deeply personal in a world that often feels anything but.

Eva brings such warmth and honesty to this conversation. I think you’re going to feel incredibly inspired by the way she sees the role of home in our lives. 

I interviewed Eva in her colourful and creative London studio, so take a peek on over on my YouTube channel to see some of her incredible work and grab some inspo on how to make your own home feel grounding, vibrant and expressive, hit that play button and we’ll see you inside. 

This is my conversation with Eva Sonaike.

You can find more on Eva here:
Website: evasonaike.com
Instagram 

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Hi I'm your host, Tash South I'm an Interior Designer and Renovation Consultant, and I'm here to help you design, renovate and style your home better. Let's create your dream home together. 

Each episode of How To Renovate is short, but brimming with practical advice to help you manage your renovation project with confidence and success.

Grab some more renovation advice & free resources and become part of the South Place Studio Renovation Community at
https://www.southplacestudio.com/freebies

Everything I teach about renovation falls within my Five Pillar Process for A Successful Renovation, to learn more about the process, head to
https://www.southplacestudio.com/pillars 

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Transcript

Meet Eva And Her Design Roots

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hello, my lovely listeners. Today I've got a real treat for you on the podcast. Some designers create beautiful things and others create work that really carries a story. And today's guest is someone whose work does both. In this episode, I talk to the lovely Eva Shenaika, a London-based textile and interior designer, whose work is instantly recognizable for its bold palettes, layered patterns, and joyful energy. But what makes Eva's work so compelling isn't just the colour, it's the narrative behind it. Born in Germany to Nigerian parents, Eva's work is brimming with colour, confidence, and a real sense of cultural pride. Her collections celebrate the richness of West African culture while translating it into her contemporary interiors in a way that feels so modern and elegant. In the conversation, Eva refers to her Yoruba culture. The Yoruba are one of the largest ethnic groups in West Africa, primarily from Nigeria, and with a culture that places a deep importance on colour, symbolism, and textiles in a way of telling stories and expressing identity. It's a tradition where fabrics, patterns, and colour combinations carry so much meaning. And in many ways, you can see that influence in Eva's work. Confident colour, layer prints, and designs that feel alive with story and symbolism. Before founding her own design brand, Eva worked as a fashion journalist, but she found a gap in the market for homeware when she couldn't find anything that she wanted to display that reflected her heritage when decorating her own home. She then began with a small collection of cushions which quickly grew into a brand stocked by some of the most prestigious retailers. In the conversation, we also talk about colour, about how heritage and identity shape the spaces we create, and about why our home should tell the story of who we are. We also explore something I think is incredibly important. How design can help us create spaces that feel grounding, meaningful, and deeply personal in a world that often feels anything but. Eva brings such warmth and honesty to this conversation. And I think you're going to feel incredibly inspired by the way she sees the role of home in our lives. I interviewed Eva in her colourful and creative London studio. So do go and take a peek over on my YouTube channel to see some of her incredible work and grab some inspiration on how to make your own home feel grounding, vibrant, and expressive. So join me now. This is my conversation with Eva Shanaika. Welcome, welcome to the podcast, Eva. I would love to start where I always start with all my guests, is please tell us a little bit more about you, about your background, about your childhood, and how you came into this world of design.

unknown 2:47

Perfect.

SPEAKER_01 2:48

First of all, thank you so much for having me, Tasha. It's absolutely amazing. We've known each other and now sitting here together with you on your wonderful podcast. So I'm Eva Schnaike. I love interior design. It's really interesting that you come back to my childhood because I think as a creative or a designer, we um are often influenced by our surroundings as children, and I was majorly influenced. So my parents are from West Africa, Nigeria, but I grew up in Germany, um, in Freiburg, in a really small town in the south of Germany, and um I think from an early age I was surrounded by both um really kind of strong Nigerian, West African Yoruba culture, but also by German culture. Um my dad dad was an art historian, so art and design um was very very prominent in our life. My mum was a pediatrician, but I think she was a kind of always called an undercover interior designer. Right. Because her interiors, our house, is absolutely stunning. So growing up in an environment like this, which uh with two very, very strong, almost opposing cultures, I think really fed my um love for design, my understanding for design, um, and yes, my my obsession with design and colour and pattern, etc. Having said that, I then pursued a different career. I moved to London in the late 90s to study. I studied journalism. Um actually I was really keen on fashion journalism, I loved fashion as well. Okay. Um, so I have a degree in journalism and then I did my master's in fashion journalism. So I was always very much influenced by fashion. Um, but then in my writing career I always wrote about fashion, about design, about art. So that was always part of the narrative.

SPEAKER_02 4:32

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 4:33

Um, working in fashion and especially high fashion for I think I've worked in fashion for about six years, I came at some point to the uh conclusion on the sand that I wasn't creatively fulfilled. And I had this dream of um working in interiors, but I didn't really know how and why and how I could kind of transfer. And um it started really simple. Um I had my first child, I was living with my husband, um, still living with him, but we're living in this flat back then, and I uh didn't like his flat, so I just redecorated the flat. I was looking for cushions for a house, I couldn't find anything that I liked. I want something that reflected my cultural heritage, my West African heritage, which was also my husband's heritage, okay, and at the same time something which is really high quality, well designed, linear, but you can um translate that into like a modern African-inspired. But uh I I don't like the word luxury interiorism, nothing on the market, so I did research. I was a journalist, I was I'm very good at researching, so I researched, I researched internationally. There was no brand that catered for that market. So I took things into my own hand and started the brand, not knowing what I would let myself into. And it grew from there. Um first season we were Liberty Suffrages and FedEx on Street. So it was clear that there's a gap in the market, and um, now almost 18 years later, I mean I worked in fashion for some um years after, but almost 18 years later, where we are one of the leading African inspired Textile and the Tira Brass.

Storytelling Through Pattern And Colour

SPEAKER_00 6:12

That's amazing. What an amazing story, as well. And and it's so great to hear about you know your movement through that, and also your really, really interesting combination of the heritage that that comes into your work. Thank you. And so um your work seems to be so deeply rooted in personal and cultural narrative as well. And I just want to ask, how much of your own story do you feel shows up in the patterns you create, and also how did your background in journalism perhaps influence how you bring the stories through into the those patterns and into your work? And just yes, how have how have your Nigerian and your German heritage influenced the way you think about colour, pattern, and space?

SPEAKER_01 6:58

Yeah, I think it's really interesting because I feel first of all, I am a journalist, um, I'm telling stories. I was I mean, my and I feel like people say it's such a big move from journalism from writing to what you're doing now. It is not really, I'm still telling stories. I think I still tell stories not through words but through my design. So I think on the storytelling base, it's relatively similar. I I can tell stories, and that's what I do with with the designs. They're very, very representative of myself. People say you should never design for yourself, but I do design for myself. I do very much design for myself. But I don't like it. If I don't like it, it will not go out. And I think every piece that I design should um be able to live in my home. But I also feel that um every designer, every creator tells stories through their experience, through their cultural background. People see my work sometimes and say, like, oh, I can see that or maybe they're more so like, oh, it's it's African, but it's different, I don't know what it is. I think that's me, and that's reflected in my work. So I think that's something really. Um, when it comes to colour and pattern and space, I'm Yoruba West African, uh, and people often say, How do you work with colour? We know how to work with colour. I don't even often think about it's a colour wheel, you literally don't know the colour wheel. I hardly use the colour wheel. I I have it there, yes, you know you can use it, but I don't really use it. I know which patterns work together. If you want to come to my wedding, we had a Nigerian wedding in Germany. Um, it was like we had about 200 guests from Nigeria, um, and often they're colour codes in Nigeria. You can wear this colour, this colour. I said, like, you know what, I want people to wear whichever colour they want.

SPEAKER_03 8:38

Oh wow.

SPEAKER_01 8:38

The colour combinations, what we do in especially specifically Yoruba culture, it's within us. So I feel very naturally combining colours as well as patterns. I mean, I um obviously there are certain rules for patterns, you know, which all work together. But even designing patterns, I think I am just for me, the designing aspect in my business is the most gives me the most freedom because I can do what I want and what I like and tell my story through my designs. Everything is hand-scatched, everything is hand-drawn by me. So every little detail you see here is hand drawn. Um so that's I think maybe just my talent or what I'm born to do. And then space. I think that's a really interesting question because space is really important. How I think that's where my German upbringing, um living in Germany, you know, um you know, being taught by my dad, who you know was an artist story where we you know we we we traveled so much, we looked at spaces, we looked at museums, we saw especially cathedrals, medieval cathedrals. I mean, I've done everything under the sun you can imagine in Europe. Uh and um so I think that was trained through that my understanding of space. I think you need to, when you design textiles, you need to understand how do they sit in the spaces that I'm designing. So, yes, all it's it's it's also I also did like a um I caused it KLC, so obviously that helped as well. Right. But in uh in uh everything is a mixture of learning, understanding, storytelling, researching of a journalist and so many elements that have to come together in interior design and design as a whole, isn't there?

Yoruba Influence And Hand-Drawing Process

SPEAKER_00 10:22

That I don't think many people realise how much goes into it. Yeah, okay. So that brings us really nicely onto the next point, which is creating a sense of belonging. And it's something I've been exploring in my own work one. It's about how our childhood experiences um might have been childhood trauma and what we bring into adulthood and how we can make our homes to help us heal from that. And so I I just wondered um kind of what do you think we can do at home to add to that sense of belonging, especially now when the world is really feeling quite turbulent and overwhelming. What do you think we can do within our homes that most strongly contribute to creating that sense of belonging for us?

SPEAKER_01 11:07

Yeah, I think sense of belonging is so important. I think right now, more than ever. As you said, the world is quite um turbulent as a is a mild word, and when you come into your home, you want to close that door and kind of distance yourself from this turbulence and come into a safe space, into a space where you reflect it. So for me, the home is more important than ever. My personal home is more important for me than ever because it creates a um almost a I don't know what's the word, and I wouldn't say a haven, like like a safe space, sanctuary where you can come home and where you can let go. And I think that's why I sometimes I'm very critical to interior design because people come to me or to under other interior designs are like I saw this in the magazine, I saw what you're doing, create that for myself. Yes, but I think it's really important that your story, your personality, your experiences are reflected in your home. So creating something which is really really tailored to yourself is really really important. So for me as an interior designer, if I put my interior designer hat on, I always sit with my clients, and again, I think maybe my journalism hat comes in as well. And really do it almost like an in-depth get to know you into you, who are you, what makes you tick, what did you like as a child, what was good in your childhood, what was bad, what would you like to bring into your home, what would like you what do you not want to have surround yourself? And I think creating that finding yourself and being really true to yourself, my own home is a perfect reflection of that. I think it represents me and my family. It's not just about myself, it's about me and my family to the core, who we are, what we like, the for me, the German and Nigerian elements are represented there, the colours, the patterns that we like. Um so I think it's just as a whole, you can obviously start in one room, you can start in one corner, you don't have to take the whole project on in one go, which may be to someone who's not a designer, maybe quite daunting. But if you start in one small space, be it in your bedroom, be it in your bathroom, it could be anywhere, where you create something that represents you, that um kind of reflects who you are, um, that makes you happy. I think it's really about happy happiness, not about creating a show home. There's so many amazing top interior designs with booklets, sofas, and everything. But you come inside, the design looks amazing, or inspired by a hotel you went to. But is it really you? So for me, the best spaces I've seen are spaces where I come inside and I can exactly know that's the person and I'm in that the this person's home because I can feel that reflected in their design. It can be through small memorabilia, small items, pictures, colours, patterns. Um I think that's the way of what it's a really tricky question because um for me it's quite clear what that entails, but I think some people may feel overwhelmed and then often opt for grey or opt for really, really simple solutions to have a hole that looks like everybody else's home.

SPEAKER_00 14:05

Yeah, and you're so right, you can start small, can't you? You could start with something that's a little curio that you brought or reminds you of something or means something to you, or you picked up on your travels, or you know, if you're from somewhere else, something you bring into your home, so we can start small and grow from there. Yeah, yeah, I do think that having objects or patterns or whatever from that reflect your heritage in your home.

SPEAKER_01 14:30

It could be art, it could be anything, you know, and it's it's it can be really simple, it doesn't have to be anything majorly complicated, you don't have to have an installation from like a well-known artist, whatever, but it's sculpture. It could be something really small, it could be uh, you know, a fabric that you like, or something that you brought from wherever you're from. Um you're from South Africa. There's so many different patterns and um items from South Africa that I'm sure are in your home where you feel a little bit of annoying.

SPEAKER_00 14:55

And that always sometimes you bring something small in, and then that inspires something bigger. Yeah, that might be the colour, and it might be something else. So, yeah, that's a really, really great answer and a great place to start. Um, so let's talk about your work next, your beautiful work. Um, I love just how you represent your um or how you represent African design as a whole in this kind of quite modern and quite almost upmarket way. It's I find it quite unusual, and I guess that's why you found this niche in the market. Yeah, but um for those listening, talk to us about your work, talk to us about your process and your philosophy and what you're up to at the moment. What's new, any new collections coming up?

Designing Homes For Belonging

SPEAKER_01 15:39

Yeah, so what do I do? Oh gosh, it's really difficult. I'm really bad at pitching myself. So I went to like an event, I'm not gonna call the name, but you have to pitch yourself. I'm bad. Um I do what I love. I design um what comes from my heart, I design what is within me culturally, and I think there was a market because I definitely wanted something of um high quality, upmarket designs um which can go into elevated interiors, I would say, and speak to a broad range of people. The ethos is colour, African, West African, specifically Yoruba, um, heritage, and um storytelling. So I think that was really important for me. Um I design, um, we have a whole collection which is it's all for the home. I started much broader. I started the lifestyle run. I had bags and makeup bags, no, we really narrowed it down to cushions, wallpapers, proofs, furnishing items, um, lampshades, the rug, so everything for the home to create that space that for me is so important where you from this turbulent world come into and can be at ease, your century. Um, and it was important for me to create something which has a very distinct, I call it West African um aesthetic or narrative because there was nothing on I would say the premium market that spoke to me. So that's what I do. We've been designing since 18 years. I started off actually in the beginning, I started off buying in the um African wax fabric, the Dutch wax fabric, and used to um make cushions with that, but very soon realized I could not distinct distinguish myself from other designers. Everyone can buy these patterns and make cushions or whatever from it, and they're also not suitable for furnishings, the poofs you're sitting on, they're all um you know according to like the standards we need in a chair design.

SPEAKER_02 17:30

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 17:30

Uh so I started designing my own designs, they're all sketched by hand by myself on a nice sketch pad, everything is sketched with pencils, and we read it into Photoshop, adjust the colours and um work on the colours. Colours take a very long time because I'm a perfectionist, I want it to be exactly the way I want it to be, and it's really important for me to for it to be right. Um, everything that goes on has to be ticked off. If the colour is 1% off, I will not um release it. So sometimes it takes a little bit longer. Um yeah, we have a range of um home decor, home soft furnishing items um in the selection and sell these globally all over the world, work with interior design firms from small residentials to big global uh procurement companies in hospitality, residential. We did um some amazing collaborations and work with the end customer who wants to have a nice cushion to update you know their sofa comes like that.

SPEAKER_00 18:30

Yes, no, your work is gorgeous. And for those only listening to the podcast, do go and have a look at the YouTube because we are sitting in Eva's studio right now with all of her amazing designs, cushions, poofs, rugs, lamps. So do go and check out. Please do so, you'll love it.

SPEAKER_01 18:48

Um I forgot after we've got a new collection coming up, which is really exciting, and it will launch in late March, early April. It's a very subtle but beautifully coloured linen um collection. So we're going into linen fabric, very elegant for um drapery with some beautiful cushions. Um like a double-sided design, it's really simple but very impactful. I'm really excited to share it.

SPEAKER_00 19:08

It sounds gorgeous. I can't wait to see it. Yes, you'll see it now.

SPEAKER_01 19:12

We'll give you a preview.

SPEAKER_00 19:13

Oh, great, I'll get a preview. I love that. Okay, Eva. So, next I would love to talk to you about um confidence, personal style, and taste. And I find again in my own work working with my own clients, I find that sometimes people really struggle to define their taste or try and put together a style that they feel represents themselves. And you know, sometimes I feel that's kind of a deeper cultural discomfort, and perhaps they struggle a bit with expression and identity, and I sometimes encourage them to look to their heritage and just do a bit of background, you know, on their own heritage, their own history, what there might be there that they can find and use and and kind of link to their home design. And so you've told us about your core values of African culture, colour, and craftsmanship. But from your experience, how can someone start kind of trusting themselves a bit more when they're decorating their home? Especially if their style doesn't quite match to what they see online. We kind of covered a little bit about this in the previous question, but I wondered if you have had any further advice for someone trying to establish their own style for their homes.

Start Small And Honour Heritage

SPEAKER_01 20:32

Yeah. I think that goes really deep into psychology right now because I feel um coming from a fashion background, I think it starts off the middle. I find it really interesting because sometimes, yeah, I went, I wasn't in an event, I was speaking at an event, there was this lady, I think she was a florist and she had this beautiful um floral patterned dress on. I think she had like red hair, she was somewhere from um outside of London, and we were discussing, she's like, Oh, I've got this little powder room, and I really would like to put up a floral wallpaper with a really kind of kind of uh vibrant design. Oh, but is it not too much? Is it not too and I was just like, Look at you, I mean look at how you're dressing, but there's often a um I think discrepancy between what you're wearing of who you are and what you put in your house because it requires a lot of confidence to be bold in your design, bold in your in your home. Um such a large scale, I imagine people find it scary. What you wear is it's quite small, they can change it or it's yeah, what you put in your team. But I I I feel I you know people say I never judge a book by its cover, and I really I don't want to judge people at all, but if you see someone the way they're dressed, if you really want to find out more about the person, if you come to their home and see how they live, the thing that says so much about a person. It's a really difficult thing because it's it's it's a step by step approach. I feel I feel um I have grown, I've obviously. Very confident when it came to interiors and to fashion. I remember I was 13 years old and I wanted to have an old kind of antique Black Forest chest um for my birthday. Very, very specific. And I remember I took my dad around, there were loads of old kind of retailers in the Black Forest Wake Club, um, farmers who sold their old chest of drawers or something. I went, I mean, I think my father went metal almost, you know. I still have it in my hallway in my house, it's a very prominent position. The other thing I wanted was I wanted a specific light blue colour for my bedroom, it didn't exist back then, so I got my dad to mix it for me and found someone to mix it for my bedroom. I remember exactly. So sometimes um for me, it was something from a very early age. I was very clear on my fashion style and my design style, but I think you grow into it, and it's really getting to know yourself, being brave, thinking outside the box and seeing what makes you happy. Not everyone has to have an eclectic home. I mean, my home is not you know extremely eclectic with um it is actually quite eclectic, but it's not like I don't have like purple walls or something. I do have purple walls. Um I uh it's eclectic, but it's all I have light beige um recently walls where I then use pattern and accessories to introduce colour bit. So I think it's a real um journey within yourself. Yes, but I think it's really important for people to grow this confidence and um with interiors the same as fashion. I would say if you don't like the colour, if you don't like the pattern, you can change it. You know what? It's not it's not like gonna be there forever. You can change it. So um try, I think step outside your comfort zone.

SPEAKER_00 23:39

Yes, experiment a little bit.

SPEAKER_01 23:40

Experiment a little bit, yeah, and see how it makes you feel. I think it's really important because in the end of the day, uh home should make you feel safe, happy, at ease. I and I know this feeling every day. I mean I have different doors, my bedroom, my kitchen, my kind of we have a big open plant space. And I said I'm so happy, I'm at the happiest when I'm at home because the space fascinates me. I feel so at ease, and that feeling is the best.

Building A Premium African Aesthetic

SPEAKER_00 24:10

It is the best. It is the best. So next, Eva, I would love to talk to you about um about inspiration. And I remember when I was researching for our interview today, I looked at some of your other interviews you'd done previously, and I remember that back in 2020, the dreaded COVID times, um, I won an award for Anamara and Tira's blog award. Um, and when I look back at it, I remembered you were on the judging panel, and I'd completely forgotten about this. And I think now, you know, back then blogs were such a huge source of inspiration, they're really big back then. And I wondered now, where do you think, you know, how has that shifted, and where do you think people are now finding inspiration for their own homes and for their own style?

SPEAKER_01 25:05

Yeah, that's interesting because I remember blogs were really, really big. Um, I still like blogs, I still read blogs. I mean it's a little bit old school, but I think sometimes you get a little bit more um information, a little bit more um uh inspiration out of them. But obviously, social media is massive. Um, there's obviously loads of inspiration on kind of the general social media forms. I mean Instagram, Pinterest. A lot of people refer to Pinterest, I think. Um I like these, and I don't want to, you know, don't kind of dismiss these. Travel is massive. I think I love traveling. Um, but I wouldn't even go further, I would say meeting people. I'm inspired by meeting different people. I mean, I was in um Abu Dhabi and I met two lovely ladies from South Africa there, and they were so inspiring in the way they dressed, they carried themselves, the conversations we had, and they come from a different part of the world, and I am very much inspired by things like this. So I think it's inspiration is everywhere, anywhere. I mean, I can walk through. I mean, I was in Germany the other week, I walked through like a German town, and I saw a little pattern on a door, which I found so inspiring, and I will utilise that um in one of my designs or parts of it where I see so inspiration is really everywhere, it's a really generic question. You just have to open your eyes and see it and be open to it. I think that's really important. If you want to start as correct, you know, I mean, I think social media is a is a great way forward, but you could walk down your high street and see. I mean, I walk down my high street and I see or like a down a road when I go on my walk and I see a front garden with a fence, and the fence has a nice, like kind of intricate 1930s pattern, yes, and I take a picture of that, and that could give me an idea for a design or even for a layout in a home. There's so much, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 26:59

Nature has so much to give. I know it's it's it's so lovely just to walk, I find same as you, and just notice things because quite often we're all just on our phones, we're looking down and we're answering an email as we're walking, and sometimes just taking five minutes to stop and look up all the time. Or in London, actually, physically look up towards the sky when you're in central London. There's so many details, like on the tops of the buildings, things you don't even notice when you're just walking at street level.

SPEAKER_01 27:27

So many details. So that's one thing, and for me, obviously, for my designs from Nigeria, Lagos, West Africa. When I'm in Nigeria, oh my goodness, I'm always saying I'm like a sponsor, I absolutely have everything. There's so much inspiration, even some of the buildings, people consider them ugly, some of the 1950s building. I always I mean this whole collection with the wallpaper behind you, yes, it's all inspired by fences, the the the kind of fences in West Africa because there's so much. So I think it's just keeping your mind open to what's out there and taking this in, um and translating that exactly. It could even be fashion. I mean, I um less interested by fashion styles, but colour combinations, textures, yes, there's so much to see. So I think it's just being open to it and really going back to base and use your eyes, your ears, your senses, and take it all in.

SPEAKER_00 28:16

Exactly. And I think and then also just linking it back to how that makes you feel and what what you notice, how that makes you feel, and if you like it, how can you how can you bring it or use it in a different way or do you use it in your own home? Yeah, amazing. So your work is so globally inspired, yeah. It also feels incredibly personal. Do you think our modern homes are now becoming more culturally blended? And do you feel people are craving more meaning in their homes now beyond things simply just looking nice?

New Linen Collection Preview

SPEAKER_01 28:48

Yes, I absolutely um agree with that. I feel that there's a major shift. I think five, six years ago um till now, I think culture or identity, I would call it identity, um, your own personality, um history, story, whatever you want to call it, is much more important. Not just in um no in in in your home, um however you live. I think we've we've had all of that. First of all, we have all too much, we have access to everything. You can now buy um interiors on a budget, on a high street store, and you can get some everything is there. So I think you're the only way to distinguish yourself from the rest is to infuse it with your own personality, character, cultural, heritage, whatever this may be, it doesn't necessarily have to be um that. So I think it's more important than ever, and I find it amazing, I find it great because we need to move away from all of this generic design where you know you you get into your designer to design something which doesn't represent you. But I think it's important to work with people who can really dig into who you are, or if you can't do it yourself, who are you, what do you want, what makes you happy, makes you feel great and safe and represented and heard in your home and create that for yourself.

SPEAKER_00 30:12

Lovely, beautiful answer. Um which also brings me really nicely on to the next one. So I've always wondered, um, with designers and makers like yourself, if someone buys one of your pieces and lives with it for a while, maybe even decades, you know, moving house with it and so on, um, building memories around it, maybe even passing it on. What do you hope that one of your pieces would give someone over time?

SPEAKER_01 30:45

Joy. I think I can really simply say that because it could be anything. I think it's giving people joy and happiness.

SPEAKER_03 30:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 30:54

I think I seriously come home every day into my house, which reflects me, represents me and my family, and see my pieces, and they give me joy. Yes, and they give me happiness. It's very simple.

Finding Confidence And Personal Style

SPEAKER_00 31:08

They are very joyful pieces, just the designs, the colours, everything, they just kind of lift your mood a little bit when you look at them. So I think that's a perfect answer. And to a north, I would love to talk to you about balance, and I know this is something that a lot of particularly women struggle with. And you're you're growing a global brand, you're doing amazing, but you're also a mother, and you have a full family life beyond your business. And um, how have you approached that so-called balance between family life and work, building your company, and especially through different seasons in life as well? And I wondered, you know, in a practical sense, do you have any tips or which elements or systems do you use within your business or even within your home to help support you and help you achieve everything that you you do achieve?

SPEAKER_01 32:02

Okay, to be absolutely honest, we have no systems. I don't even know whether I have balance because um I um it's a really, really, really tricky question. I'm very blessed that I have a very supporting family and supporting husband. Having said that, um, we, my husband and I, we brought up our children here without our parents being present in the UK. So it's hard. You know, I mean, you know, my parents were in Germany, his parents were in Nigeria, they were coming here regularly, but uh Quint essentially where we were bringing them up by ourselves. So I think a really uh good, in our case, husband and wife um setup that we support each other. I mean, my husband has been there supporting me throughout the business, within the business, but also with the kids when I had to step away. Sometimes I had to say, I have to go, you have to sacrifice. I sacrifice on both ends. I'm always honest about that. I sometimes had to turn my back to the business to look after my kids, which is absolutely normal. The mother, you do that, you know, your kids come first. And I had situations where I had to say, you know what, the kids will be fine. Here we are, I'm going to a trade show on the other end of the planet, and I come back in a week, and you know, well, with nannies and everything, they will they will they will survive, they survive, and it was absolutely fine. So I think first of all, it's the support system. Um, and there's a there comes a time when you have to find balance. I'm not I'm not doing this since yesterday. In the beginning, I was working day and night on weekends. I had a full-time job, um, and I was doing this for I think the first three years alongside my full-time jobs where I was working lunch breaks, evenings, weekends. I don't do that anymore. Um, there's a certain time in the evening when I don't check emails, when I don't respond to emails over the weekend, I try, yeah, may do a quick check on a Saturday morning. Otherwise, I keep my um focus on my family and keep myself outside of the business mainly for my own benefit in order to find a balance. So that's really important. Holidays are still a challenge because even if I travel or wait for two weeks on a nice Greek island, my company still has to run, I still have to be there answering emails and everything. That's a bit tricky where I haven't found the balance yet. But I think it's really important for myself to know when to cut off, know when to shut off, know to do the things which are good for me. I like to go to the gym in the evening when I do my gym time, and afterwards the business is the business, you know, if it's if if you know having those boundaries are really important. Sacrifice on both ends. Obviously, family always comes first, but you know, sometimes you have to prioritize the business if it's not a life or death situation. And myself, yeah, myself as well, which is really important. For in the beginning, I was a young mother, and you know, running the business and having the kids, I didn't always prioritize myself where I um came to not burn out, but where I came really close to a situation where I was like, it's too much. So then you just have to learn to step away. Even right now, sometimes I just have to be really, really um radical and say, I want to step away and um do what's good for me. Do things I'll do a lot of things in between. They're good for me, you know, little things having, you know, going to the gym, having a massage, having a nice yoga session. I mean these I think they're important for me going out with my friends to find the balance, um, travel, you know, it's all all nice to do, but I think they're important to keep the balance and stay healthy.

SPEAKER_00 35:25

Definitely. Thank you so much, Eva. I think we can all, including myself, take a page out of that book, taking some time for ourselves and taking, you know, realizing when it's all a bit much. But I wanted to say a huge thank you today for joining me on the podcast. It's been an absolute pleasure speaking to you. And I hope we can do this again soon and chat maybe again about some of your new collections or whatever it may be. I hope we can have another conversation at some point really soon. Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_01 35:57

Thank you so much, Tess. Thank you for having me, and I'm gonna show you the new connection now. Thank you for having me. It's absolutely amazing talking to you, and I can't wait to hear more about the podcast and more about what you're doing. Amazing, thank you so much.