Inside The Maverick Mind

Ep 21 | Nicola Venetia Steele | The Boutique That Belonging Built

• Afanti Media • Season 1 • Episode 21

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0:00 | 1:11:47

She started with £5, two puppies, and a husband who'd just left. That's not a crisis - that's a maverick opening line.

Nicola Venetia Steele is the founder of Venetia Steel Boutique in Bridgend, South Wales - a woman who turned dyslexia, redundancy, hand-me-downs, heartbreak, and a garden shed into one of the most distinctive boutique brands in Wales.

But this isn't really a story about clothes. It's a story about identity. About what happens when a little girl grows up feeling overlooked, underdressed, and underestimated - and turns all of that into style, grit, commercial instinct, and fierce self-belief.

In this episode, Nicola talks about:

• Growing up as the youngest of four, excluded and in hand-me-downs that didn't fit

• Turning up to school in her uniform on wear-your-own-clothes day - because she had nothing else

• How dyslexia became her greatest business superpower

• The mentor who gave her wings - and the lesson that changed how she handles people forever

• Building from a kitchen table to a garden shed to a standalone store

• The dream that told her to sign the lease

• Why she built a boutique specifically for women over 40 who feel invisible

• Losing her dog Zosia - and what that taught her about love and priorities

• Why independence has been both her greatest strength and her greatest cost


CHAPTERS

00:00 Introduction - "£5, two puppies, and a dream"

01:10 Were you born a maverick or did life force you to be one?

05:30 The Fiat Panda - what freedom really looks like

10:30 Wear your own clothes day

14:00 Fashion as control, confidence, and belonging

17:00 How dyslexia became a superpower

22:30 The mentor who changed everything -Linda

28:00 Dreams, instinct, and signing the lease

33:00 From kitchen table to garden shed to boutique

38:00 The redundancy - and protecting her team

43:00 Building Venetia Steel Boutique

50:00 Women over 40 - visibility, style, and confidence

56:00 Zosia

1:02:00 Maverick Maxims - quick fire

1:08:00 "A maverick is someone who..."


ABOUT INSIDE THE MAVERICK MIND

A podcast hosted by Emyr Afan exploring the minds of unconventional thinkers, builders, and creators. Each episode goes beyond the business story to ask what really drives the people who refuse to play it safe.





SPEAKER_00

I had five pounds, two puppies, and my husband had left me, and a dream I couldn't afford to ignore. That to me is a maverick opening line. My guest today is Nicola Venetia Steele, founder of Venetia Steele Boutique in Brigand, a woman who turned dyslexia, redundancy, hand-me-downs, heartbreak, instinct, and a garden shed into one of the most distinctive boutique brands in South Wales. But this isn't really a story about clothes. It's a story about identity, about what happens when a little girl grows up feeling overlooked, underdressed, underestimated, and turns all of that into style, grit, humour, commercial instinct, and fierce self-belief. From turning up in school uniform on Wear Your Own Clothes Day, to creating a boutique where women over 40 can feel seen, styled, and powerful. Nicola's story is about survival without becoming bitter. It's about using fashion not as vanity, but as confidence, control, and belonging. Nicola Vinicius Feel is our guest. Let's get inside a Maverick Mind. Good afternoon.

SPEAKER_02

Good afternoon.

SPEAKER_00

Good to have you in the chair.

SPEAKER_02

Thank you. Thank you for inviting me.

SPEAKER_00

You're very welcome. Two Brigand Kids.

SPEAKER_02

What more do you want?

SPEAKER_00

Sadly. Let me start with the question that feels right at the heart of your story. When you hear the phrase maverick mind, do you recognise yourself in that phrase?

SPEAKER_02

Yes and no. Um no, because I think a maverick is somebody who is really comfortable and they're out there with themselves, and yet, as I told you, I lost a job because someone said I was too much of a maverick and I couldn't be controlled, so I didn't get the job.

SPEAKER_00

Well, it's not a bad thing to be a maverick. I think you did all right. Were you born independent, or did life force you to become independent?

SPEAKER_02

I was born independent because I didn't have a choice. I'm the youngest of four. There's a big gap. There's 12 years between my brother, nine, my sister, and my sister above me in five years. And I'm very different to them. I look different. I am different. And I think it was a case of shut her up, keep her quiet. And no, I learned to be independent because I wasn't included, so I didn't have a choice. I never had my own clothes. They were either my brothers or my sisters, and we were different sizes. My sisters were very small and petite, and I was more I was £104 born, so I was not a small child. So I was quite a big child, and when you've got hand-me-down from petite girls, and we're different colours, they're very, very dark. I was strawberry blonde. I looked ridiculous. I was embarrassed.

SPEAKER_00

There's that Fiat Panda story, saving for it, putting down the deposit, needing your mum to be guarantor, her saying no, your dad stepping in, Byron, your husband at the time, paying for the driving lessons. Was that the moment independence became non-negotiable?

SPEAKER_02

No, I was independent at five. I used to cut people's gardens. I mean, this is in the 70s, wash people's cars. I'd make I'd make pebbles and go around selling them on doors because I wanted the money. So even from a very young age, I would be independent. So the the fee at Panda, I had saved a thousand pounds. Now bear in mind, at this point I'm probably 19, so it's quite a long time ago. And I saw this 750 Panda red, called it Rupex.

SPEAKER_00

Of course it was red.

SPEAKER_02

I put my deposit down and I thought, I'll get a loan. And I was on about £85 a week. So I went to the bank and said I'd like a loan. They said no. So I thought, hang on, I've put my thousand pounds down, I'm gonna lose all my money. So I went home and said, Mam, um, I need a thousand pounds. The bank said no, could you guarantor? Absolutely not. I said, but I'm gonna lose my money. Well, silly girl, you shouldn't have put it down. And I thought, I don't know what to do now. So I said to my dad, Dad, Dad got down in the car, we went, he guaranteed me and my mother's like, you make sure you pay that back. I think it was £85 a month. I wasn't not gonna pay it back, but when you're on £85 a week, I suppose £85 a month is a lot of money. And I learned to drive and I passed my test in that car.

SPEAKER_00

Excellent. And you've got a red car in the car park today, as well.

SPEAKER_02

Yes, red is my favourite colour, my first car.

SPEAKER_00

What's so important about red?

SPEAKER_02

It's powerful. It's noted, you'll notice red. Red stands out. Red is very lucky. Red is a colour you don't miss it. You notice my car is red in the in the car park. If it was black, you wouldn't have noticed it.

SPEAKER_00

Quite true. What did that first feat panda actually represent to you? Was it a car or was it freedom?

SPEAKER_02

It was freedom. So I I learned to drive at 17, but I didn't pass my test till I was 19. Three times to pass my test, and on the final time I hit the curb going back, and I thought, oh, here we go. Why was so frustrated? Why is it taking so long? So I drove normally and thought, okay, I'll carry on. When I got back to the test centre, he said, up to the point you hit the curb, you were rubbish. I went, was I? He went, Yeah, you would have failed. He said, but after that, he said, you were a pro and I passed.

SPEAKER_00

Overthinking it, see?

SPEAKER_02

Overthinking it. And I was so annoyed when I passed. I drove the car back, and I remember going out and I went round the coast in this 750 and I was so proud. And my friends had had cars where their parents had bought them, and they were much nicer than my cars, and they were all like proud of them. And I was so proud of this car because I had bought it, and even though it was nothing special, to me, I was proud because I bought that. I saved for that. It was my car, nobody'd given it to me.

SPEAKER_00

But you felt invincible.

SPEAKER_02

I did. I oh, I was everywhere shaking myself down the motorway in the car. I couldn't go up a hill because it'd be like this.

SPEAKER_00

One of the most powerful moments in your story is wear your own clothes day.

SPEAKER_02

Yes.

SPEAKER_00

And you having to turn up in uniform because you didn't really have anything else.

SPEAKER_02

No.

SPEAKER_00

Why has that memory stayed with you?

SPEAKER_02

You wear your own clothes, you had to pay a pound. Well, I didn't have the pound and I didn't have any nice clothes to wear. So I thought, right, I've got two options here. I either turn up in my own clothes and be laughed at because I forgot, silly girl, or I turn up in clothes that are not trendy or fashionable, and I get made fun of because they're awful. And I thought the uniform was the best option, and that's what I did. And yes, they picked on me, but you know, I'm a little bit chopsy, I can look after myself. And I just laughed it off, but it it was because I had no clothes to wear.

SPEAKER_00

Did fashion become a way of taking back control?

SPEAKER_02

My cousin Helen, so she used to bring all her hand-me-downs, and my sisters would go through them first when I was a bit younger, and I used to love it. So I'd go through the bag, and she was so fashionable and fantastic, and I adored her. So when her bag came, after everyone had gone through it, I'd go through and I'd make things. So I'd maybe cut up a jacket and I'd sew buttons on or bows on and I'd customise my own clothes. You could see that I'd done it myself, I was a kid, but it sh I think it showed initiative and it was different. And even my friends' parents would go, Nickler dresses unusual. But you could see, you know, I didn't I couldn't afford them, so I made them.

SPEAKER_00

But clothes are not trivial in your story at all. I think clothes meant belonging, confidence, dignity. And then there's the lavender outfit at the Sunday disco. The blouse, the pedal pushers, the daps. Do you remember that first outfit that made you feel like yourself?

SPEAKER_02

I remember going to it was Ponty Market.

SPEAKER_00

Of course.

SPEAKER_02

Went to Ponty Market, absolutely. And I had these, they were lavender pedal pedal pushers to here. I think they'd a little pull on the side, and I had this I hate to say it was this nylon, probably electric bits coming all off me, ruffled blouse. I thought I was fab. And I had these white daps, but they had laces, and I thought I was amazing. So this rugby pop and crisp disco, every Sunday I wore the outfit every I wouldn't wear it in the week, I'd keep it for best, and I'd wear it until the point, obviously, I was growing up, I couldn't fit in it, and I wasn't even aware that other children had different clothes to wear every week. I loved it so and I was so proud of it. Obviously, people commented, you're wearing that again. I'd be like, Yeah. But to me it was perfect, and I loved it because that was the best I was ever gonna have because I didn't have anything else, but I loved it.

SPEAKER_00

Was your fashion instinct there before you had any professional language for it?

SPEAKER_02

Yes, I remember, and I'm about eight because we're in junior school, and we had to make our own t-shirts, and we had a stage because we were gonna model these t-shirts, of course. Even though being dyslexic, I wasn't good academically. Creatively, I was there, so my t-shirt was fabulous. I can't tell you what was on it because it's a long, long time ago. But I remember being on the catwalk and I was swishing my stuff, and of course, I was so dramatic. I had round of applause. I think I went down like three times because I was loving the attention, but I was creative and my t-shirt was great. Yes.

SPEAKER_00

Let's talk about the way your mind works. When did you first realise your brain worked differently?

SPEAKER_02

Do you remember digital watches? Well, of course, I could tell the time on a digital watch, but I couldn't tell the time on a normal watch. And I was in a swimming pool once. I was there with my cousin Helen, and they were kids, and they were trying to point to me to tell them the time. And I was going, you know, trying to make it, I couldn't see it. And Helen said, Well, they want to know the time, and I'm like, I I couldn't tell, and she went, You can't tell the time. And I went, I can't tell the time. So I'm I'm gonna be out 10, I think, if I'm honest. Couldn't tell the time. But when she explained and she did it in a very uh physical way that I could see it, then I could do it.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. I think language is an issue with me because I couldn't speak English till I was eight, so you've got an excuse because your Welsh is your first language.

SPEAKER_02

I got no excuse.

SPEAKER_00

What happens to a child when adults mistake difference for stupidity?

SPEAKER_02

That's debilitating. As a child, I can remember having reading lessons. So after the class, I'd have to go to these special classes, and I can remember having to read to this third teacher, and I used to get my B's, D's, Ps back to front. So she showed me how to do it. But I'm gonna tell you a story, and this this is very recent, in COVID, and I'm writing envelopes to thin things off, and in the post office they'd go, is it a B, P, nine, Q? And I'm like, I don't know. I unless it was a capital Q, up until six years ago, I didn't know what a lowercase Q looked like because it looked like I can't even think if it's a nine and what it is. I couldn't see the difference. It looked the same, and that's very recent, which is embarrassing.

SPEAKER_00

No, it's how your brain works.

SPEAKER_02

I couldn't see it. I still struggle.

SPEAKER_00

Well, yeah, I think that's natural. I mean, do you think dyslexia made you more visual, more instinctive, more creative?

SPEAKER_02

Absolutely, and it's not until I became older that I realize it is the best gift I have ever been given because I work harder, because I have to work harder. I see things people just don't see. To me, certain things are really easy, and I think, well, common sense, really. Even though I'm not academic, on a visual, practical sense, and this is this, I'm gonna tell you this story. So we had some rails brought into our store, and uh an engineer was to take the rails upstairs, you know what runner rails are. Anyway, I got in the store and the rails were still downstairs, and I say to Michelle, Well, why aren't the rails upstairs? Can't do it, we've got to take them all apart. I said, That'd be ridiculous. I said, just turn it upside down.

unknown

What?

SPEAKER_02

I said, turn it upside down. And she went, We had two blokes here, couldn't get them up the stairs. No, upside down. But as as a dyslexic person, you are constantly looking to solve the problem. Because a dyslexic brain is phenomenal when you use it in the right sense.

SPEAKER_00

But those who've gone to your boutique, everything's laid out very visually. Yes colours in a group.

SPEAKER_02

Yes.

SPEAKER_00

But it's instinctive to you.

SPEAKER_02

I don't know. Well, when people come in and they go, Oh, it's all in colour, I think, what were you expecting? Because to me, that's the way you shop. If you're looking for navy, you're gonna go to navy, you're looking for red, you're gonna go for red. And you're not gonna mix colours that don't work. I'm very good at holding a colour in my head. So when I go buy-in, if I'm going up to Manchester to buy, I can go to 30 warehouses and I will know in my head what I've bought in every single warehouse so I will get something to match. So that's where my buy-in is different because I'm bringing all different things together, which I've learned is a talent.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, I would say so. How did you turn something that once made you feel less capable into a business strength?

SPEAKER_02

So I had the most amazing boss. When I worked for a jewellery company, I was an area manager, but I'd gone from a counter girl to running this these 54 stores. But to me, it was easy because I'd just been doing it on a smaller scale and I just brought it into a bigger scale. Going into the stores was was simple. Anyway, Linda, who is still in my phone as boss, she started, and I can only describe her as the devil wears Prada, but she to me was God. She just saw something in me that no one else, and she gave me my wings. She would push me, she was hard on me, really hard, but she pushed me. And we were opening an account in Ireland, and myself and another lady was going, because we'd already had our areas, but we were going for this job. Anyway, I got the job, and this other lady who'd gone for the job said to me, Oh, you only got that because you'd make a fuss. If you didn't get the job, you'd kick off, and Linda said, Oh, I'll have the job. Oh no. So I'm knocking on Linda's door. I need to speak to you. I don't want that job. I'm handing it back. If you gave it to me, because you thought I'd kick off, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

SPEAKER_00

You were kicking off.

SPEAKER_02

No, yeah. She looked at me through her glasses like this. Sit down. So I sat down. Well, if you don't think I could do the job, and she said, How dare you? I'm like, what? She said, How dare you question my judgment? And I'm now going, woo, woo. She said, You got that job because you're the best person for that job. And you were always the best person for that job. But you've just made yourself look that big because you've let someone light your views because they didn't get the job. She said, Let that be a lesson to you. And I cried, and I was like, I'm so I was embarrassed because I questioned her. And she said, Get out. She said, That'll never happen to you again. And it didn't. I learnt my lesson. So I don't let people like my views. Now I just go, okay, it's fine, doesn't matter. I can't approve anything because the job was mine. What did I have to prove? Nothing.

SPEAKER_00

I love that story. But you do need a champion, somebody that sees something in you.

SPEAKER_02

It was her. And she's still in my phone. She's probably, I'm going to say 76 now, but she's still in my phone as boss. And when I go in a tricky situation, I pretend I'm her. I pretend I think, right, what would Linda do? Okay. I'll position myself the way she and sometimes I do my glasses, but I'm her. And I know I can do anything if I'm Linda because she had faith in me. And I had faith in her.

SPEAKER_00

That's a lovely story. Before we get into the practical side of building a life and a business, I want to ask you about something more instinctive. You've spoken about having very vivid dreams, and in some cases, dreams that almost seem to manifest the vision before it happens. What is your relationship with dreams?

SPEAKER_02

I'm in my shed at this point, and I'm about to sign the lease for the store in Caroline Street. Now it's for three years, and I've got to pay that lease for three years, whether that store works or not. And bear in mind now we're just coming out of COVID with High Street is falling apart. So I was panicking, but in my dream, I'm in the car, and my boyfriend at the time, he's driving at speed on this pier. And I'm like, stop the car, stop the car. And we are now heading towards the water. The car plummets down. He takes his beat off. I could see him swimming up. And I could see these sharks, I'm frightened of sharks. These sharks are all swimming around me. I couldn't get the belt off. He's gone, and I'm like, I'm gonna die. I'm gonna die. So I got the belt off and I start swimming to this light. But the light is going smaller and smaller, and in the end, I die in the dream, and then I'm watching myself. The sharks are all going around and I'm watching myself. It's a bit like you know that James Bond moment when she's going down, and I'm looking at myself, drown. I think, I've just died, and I wake up and I think, oh no, no, no, I didn't die. I didn't drown. The sharks didn't eat me. I watched old me. I watched old me die. Ah, this is a different version now. The relationship with that person didn't last much longer than that because it was all about trust, and the trust was in my head. I mean, it sounds so dramatic, but I also knew that signing for that lease, I faced my fear. What could go wrong? Because I faced my fear in the dream, I had survived, and I knew that shop was gonna work, and it did.

SPEAKER_00

They say that dreams are often the brain's attempt to process past trauma and you know, interrogate difficult emotional experience. Clearly, if that's how you see it.

SPEAKER_02

That's a really hard one to answer because I'm not an emotional person. I'm very reserved. Anytime you'll get emotion out to me will normally be with dogs or animals. That's when you'll get it, and I can't hide that. But I expect to be let down by people, so it's never a shock. I think, oh, okay. I'm never shocked with it. It's an expectation of people, of all people in life. So I'm never surprised if that makes sense.

SPEAKER_00

So you're not very trusting then?

SPEAKER_02

I don't trust anyone. No, I don't trust anyone. No, and I could I'll tell you that because I've had the biggest kick in the bum.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Very late very lately.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, between your upper and everything else. It makes you incredibly determined then.

SPEAKER_02

I'm determined and I'd sometimes ruthless, where I won't back down. I'm either very much or whatever, just leave it there. But once I firmly believe in something, I won't move on it, and I am very, very stubborn. It's not a trait I like, but it's self-preservation. And if I'm backed into a corner, don't ever back me into a corner, because then normally I'm very easy going. That's when I change, and that's where you'll get a very different person come out, and I won't back down.

SPEAKER_00

Interesting. Well, you're in a corner now, but you're looking This is alright, the lights are on me. Tell me, what's with the sharks?

SPEAKER_02

The sharks. So as a kid, I watched the Jaws film. I think every person in the 70s who've seen that film is frightened of sharks. I have seen Jaws, I'm gonna say a thousand times. I've even got a t-shirt with Jaws on. The shark is is my fear, and I watch Jaws, hoping every time I watch it, I'm gonna be less scared of sharks and go in the water. Still scared of sharks.

SPEAKER_00

Do you think some people build with spreadsheets and others build with vision?

SPEAKER_02

I definitely build with vision. I know my business inside out. I can walk around my shop and I know the markup on every single item. I know every item that's in there, I know where I've bought it, I know what it's cost me, I know what's gonna make for me. It's all in my head. And I'm the only person who needs to know. I'd why write on a spreadsheet for who? I know. Doesn't make any difference, does it?

SPEAKER_00

There's another part of your story that feels very maverick, the sense that identity wasn't handed to you neatly. You've written about Don the blacksmith with real tenderness, the horseshoes, the sweets under the pillow. What do you remember most vividly about him?

SPEAKER_02

So Don was a family friend, he'd been I'd known him all my life. He'd come and visit my mum and he'd bring me sweets and we'd laugh and and he would play with me and he'd spend time with me, and I'd go to the yard where the horses were. So the fur I'd say it was the first male role model I had that actually was in even interested in me and paid me any attention whatsoever.

SPEAKER_00

You've said you felt a bond with him before you knew the full truth. How do you explain that now?

SPEAKER_02

I look like my mum. I need to say that. I am the spit of my mother, there's no question on that. But then my sense of humour was very much like Don's, which is probably why we got on so well, because we were the same. I can remember my mother brushing my hair, and I'm saying to my mother, Am I adopted? I'm so stupid. Why? Because I don't look like anyone. My sister would say, You're different, you're not like us, you're not one of us, you don't belong here. People would say, I don't know where she comes from, she's not like the others, and this this was a theme all the way through my childhood. So you do start to feel awkward, and I was excluded from my family because I was different. So I did a DNA test and it's relief, and it answered loads of questions, and there was a half and half.

SPEAKER_01

I'm so sorry. It was relief to know, but then I felt so disappointed. I didn't belong. And I didn't belong.

SPEAKER_00

I'm so sorry. It's okay, but I'm sad that you had to piece together your own identity. You shouldn't have to do that.

SPEAKER_02

It was great knowing, but I it made me feel more alone than you can ever imagine. Because I thought, well, that's it then. I don't belong. I'm not part of them. I can see why I'm different, and it made me feel more my own. If I'm really honest, I probably withdrew more thinking, okay, I'm I'm different, and I'm gonna embrace that difference, which I have.

SPEAKER_00

But it's also put a strength in you to be independent, to be fierce, to be, you know, self-preserving. I think you have to be when you're an entrepreneur.

SPEAKER_02

Definitely. I think my upbringing gave me the opportunity to stand on my feet because there was no other option. Your family is supposed to love you and protect you, and they don't. When you don't feel safe as a child in your own environment, you become very self reliant and you become very strong because it is survival. You don't have a choice. And no child should ever be made to feel like that. I mean, I used to look at other people's families, and I'd love to be in other people's houses because their mums would be making cake and they'd all be having a lovely time, and it was all cutches there, and I desperately want. Did it desperately wanted that.

SPEAKER_00

One of my favourite parts of your story is the 11:30 lunch room. That strategy, everyone else wanted the prime lunch slot. Yeah. You took the earlier one because that's when the women came in and bought.

SPEAKER_02

Yes.

SPEAKER_00

That's not just hard work, that's instinct. How did you spot that pattern?

SPEAKER_02

So when I used to work in Howells, we used to have half past eleven, half past twelve, half past one. Everyone needed half past one lunch. Because everyone's on lunch at half past one, and I and the girls were like, Oh, what do you want to go on, Nicola? And I'd go, half past eleven. And I'd always go on half past eleven. They thought, you know, oh, they'd they're being the Queens, you know how clever they. But I knew when they were on lunch at half twelve and half one, so was everyone else. So all those customers, I was like, Well, thank you, thank you. My sales rocketed. So I loved a half past eleven lunch because I was there for the key time to make my money and my commission. I had the best account.

SPEAKER_00

That's hugely instinctive.

SPEAKER_02

I was I must have been about 21. Yeah. And then we'd have afternoon break. I never had an afternoon break. I'd let them go because their counters were unmanned. So then if you're looking at three o'clock and you've got other people maybe on the way to the train on the buses, they're all walking through, and I'd be like this. Great. All mine.

SPEAKER_00

It's built inside you, isn't it?

SPEAKER_02

Of course it is, yes.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

I did really well. And I I I realised that I'd a knack for sales.

SPEAKER_00

I think so. Well, clearly. During your career, before you went on to your own dream, were you always watching people and reading behaviour?

SPEAKER_02

Always. I'd watch my boss, Linda, I'd watch her behaviour, and as I said, I would embody her. There we go. Her body language straight away. I would be her. And if anyone was particularly good at their job, I'd watch them and I'd listen to their dialect, what they say, what use they I would like mimic them a little bit, their phrases, because I thought that worked. I like that. And then I'd take different pieces from people I've met and I would steal them to be this salesperson, but I'd watch women and I'd think that's not good. And that's really how it started, because I thought that's rubbish, I could do better than that. I know that sounds awful. When I first started, I was a bit stiff because I was trying to speak correctly, and and this is whatever, this is this isn't velvet, this is velor, this is stretch. This I was trying to do a bit like a Marcus and Spencer's thing, which is not me. And then as I got more comfortable, it'd be like, right, girls, this is what I've got off the shoulder, it's washable 30 degrees, stick it on a hanger, you don't have to iron it. And I became myself. And by becoming myself, that's how it worked. So I stopped mimicking and I just became me. Because the person I developed after watching people for years and years and years was good enough to show.

SPEAKER_00

But you've got that routine, the whole hands uh open walk shoulder. Why do you do it the same every time?

SPEAKER_02

It's continuity. So you know.

SPEAKER_00

I know I'm in TV.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, except but but people wouldn't, it's continuity, so you know when you stick in a welcome to Venetian Steel Boutique, it's also a catchphrase. I get asked in Tesco's, say it, say it. Or women will ring me up and they'll come in the shop and it's the first thing they do. So I wanted to make a catchphrase that sticks in people's heads. Now, whether you like it or not, it's there. So if you're gonna make fun of me and go, oh, welcome to Veneticia Steel Boutique, great. You're remembered. I've won.

SPEAKER_00

Looking back at the 53 stores with a map and a highlighter and the Honda cord, what was that era like? Were you proud of that version of yourself or exhausted by her?

SPEAKER_02

I was so proud. Imposter syndrome, like you would not believe. I was I was the she handed the keys to this car. You know, I did a KA before that, and Honda this that in that era, this Honda cord was massive and a big leather seat, and I was a bit like, check me out. And I was going to Manchester, Norwich, Colchester, Ipswich. I was travelling the whole country.

SPEAKER_00

You're bossing it.

SPEAKER_02

I was I thought I was fat, like these heels, like these tight dresses. I the best, best in love. I'd find hotels I liked, and I thought, well, I'll be staying there tonight then. And it became my social life and it was my identity, and I did really well. I did really, really well. There were three areas, and mine was very always top because my standards were high. I was really fair, but I probably wasn't the easiest because it had to be right. But our area was always top, and I was happy with that. When we were being made redundant, we'd known six months before, and I'd been told, you cannot tell your staff, you cannot tell them, and I'm like, no, okay, okay. So we were coming out, and there were other jewellery companies coming in, and I thought, I can't, I can't do this to them. So I would say, if another company came in and you were to go for a job, not saying you should go for the job. I think you should go for the job, and they'd be going, What? If, if, you know, because then I know I hadn't said it, okay? So my team were all picked off. They all got jobs.

SPEAKER_00

Well done.

SPEAKER_02

They and I was so proud. So I made more work for myself because I had to go around the next three months closing down all these stores. But we were all called to London, and the lady from the States had come over to issue them news that they were losing their jobs. So I had all my team, and I said to the girls, You look surprised. Like, you act shocked.

unknown

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02

So when they delivered the news that we were being made redundant, it was, oh, oh, oh God, oh, oh no, oh no, oh no. And I'm like, my boss shot a look at me, and I was like, Mmm. So she comes over, she went, get them out. Take them to the pub, get them out. So I took them all out. What? And I had to come back, and I they all went home and I crept in, and there was this this lady now from the States, huge HR, fantastic, and my boss. And I thought, well, I can't I'm I can't lose my job, can I? So we sat there and she said to me, Did you tell them? I said, I didn't indirectly tell them. I think they may have guessed. And the American lady said, Well then you. She said, I watched you walk in and I watched you with your team. You sat in the front, you went up, they all went behind you and you stood there proud looking after your team. Everyone else was in a state of panic. You stood there, she said, You did you didn't do the ethical thing really. I shouldn't have done it because no one else. She said, But you did the right thing. Your team were all behind you, she said. Never seen that before. Oh my god see her again. She said, But well done for that, because you love them and you could see they loved you. And I was so proud of that moment. It's something I remember because I shouldn't have done it. This is a maverick moment. I shouldn't have done it, but there was no way I was gonna throw them under the bus. I wouldn't have done that.

SPEAKER_00

No, I don't think it's in your nature.

SPEAKER_02

It's not, it's not, no.

SPEAKER_00

Not the girl that got thrown under the bus in the first place.

SPEAKER_01

Absolutely, absolutely.

SPEAKER_00

There's a fascinating contradiction in your story. You clearly loved beauty and glamour, but you struggled with receiving help. Yes. The Jessica Rabbit dress is the perfect example. Byron, your previous husband bought it for you and you took it back?

SPEAKER_02

Because I was a brat.

SPEAKER_00

Okay.

SPEAKER_02

So I'd see, I was working in Howells and I'd seen this Jessica Rabbit velvet dress, and the dress was stunning, and I wanted the dress. And I'd gone on and on and on, I want the dress, I want the dresses, I'll come in and get it for you. So this one day, this Saturday, that he was supposed to be coming in to get the dress. I'd gone upstairs and the dress had gone. And I'm like, oh, great. So he'd picked me up from work, I had a bit of a suck, and I'm like, Well, the dress is gone. You know, I wanted the dress, the dress was gone. He didn't say anything, and I'm getting more annoyed, and I was getting upset about it. Well, you don't love me. If you love me, you promise you said. Anyway, got home. The dress was hanging up on the wardrobe, and not just the dress. There was a dress and shoes and bag. He'd gone in the day and bought it so I'd come home and be surprised. And I upset myself so much because I'd become a brat, I had to take it back because I couldn't wear the dress, because all the dress now represented was me being a bit smaled and I couldn't do that, it's not me, and I had to go back. I feel uncomfortable when someone is generous to me because I think, well, what do you want? And then I feel I need to pay back. So if you're giving something to me, I've got to give it back. If you buy me something nice, I've got to buy you something back. Because I would feel awkward. Receiving, receiving, receiving is not my nature because I'm not used to that. So I'm uncomfortable with it. If someone is helpful to me, I'm like, oh, what's going on here then? Well, what's your angle? What are you after? So I'm not trusting of that, and I do find it uncomfortable. I would love to be one of these women that get looked after, picked up, dropped off, so I've booked a table. I'd love to be that. But I'm the one that goes, Well, I'll pick you up, I've booked a table. So I take the masculine role, and it's the very thing I then dislike in somebody because I think, Who be the, you know, you be the man. I feel and I'm at fault every single time because I do it every time. Every time. Oh, get it, I'll pick this up. Um my worst enemy, and it's the very thing I don't want to do, and I can't stop doing it.

SPEAKER_00

What did Byron understand about you that other people didn't, do you think?

SPEAKER_02

Byron was my best friend. Um, Byron will always be the love of my life in a in a different way. So I was um 18 when I met Byron, and Byron had the most amazing family, and I loved his family, and he was kind to me, was slightly obsessed with me in the beginning, to be honest. And I loved that his attention, and he was amazing with me, he was so kind. He was he'd meet me in work and bring me my favourite sandwiches, and that meant the world because he actually took note in what I liked. If you'd asked my family what's my favourite sandwich, they wouldn't know. If you asked my family what colour eyes I've got, they wouldn't. My mother thought I had brown eyes. They're very green, but she thought they were brown. And Byron took care of me, he nurtured me, and he he definitely had my best interest at heart. And we had an amazing friendship, and I respect him immensely, and we've been through an awful lot together.

SPEAKER_00

But you're not together anymore?

SPEAKER_02

No. I met him at 18, we were engaged at 19, we were married at 21, we had the most fabulous wedding, fine organised it all, paid for everything. He would say, What do you want? I go, This, he'd like, it was all done. He was so kind. I must have been about 26 where there was a few cracks appearing. We'd moved to this beautiful house outside Cowbridge. I'm like 26, and I've got this four-bedroom detached house. I'm thinking, you know, who do I think I am? And we had an amazing lifestyle. And Byron then had a I'd say change of lifestyle. And it was very hard for him, and we parted. So I ended up in a bedset. He was living the life he couldn't live before, he was now living it to the full. And I have no issue, or I don't begrudge that, good for him. So I'm living in this bedsit. I had two dogs, I had two puppies. So I put all my stuff in storage and I move into this flat. Only one room was livable, which I painted it, and I I couldn't afford a bed, so I I literally bought a plastic mattress and covered it, and it looked nice. It looked really, really nice. And I lived there for six months. It was the hardest and best time of my life. And I remember the RSPCA come knocking on the door. We've got complaints. I said, Is it the dogs? Yes, that you've been leaving the dogs. This is quite funny. You've been leaving the dogs in this flat and you're out all day, and I was working away. So yes, they did have to stay in this flat. The only other option I had was to put them in kennels, and they were too young, it would have their personalities. I said, Come and have a look at these dogs. She comes in and she walks in the hall and she could see all the food and the pads for them, and she's like, okay. And I opened my bedroom door. These two pups lounging on the bed, all this faux fur around in cushions and loving it. I went, they look abused to you. No. She said, okay. She said, You're not from round here, are you? I went, no. I said, My husband has parted and I waited for my house to build. She went, I've got to stay here for ten minutes and we'll just talk about anything, and you just fill in the form. And I was annoyed straight away. This letter, I stuck this, probably terrible grammar. I put this letter downstairs on the communal door saying, if anyone has a problem, this is my number, you come and speak to me. I was fiery, you know, it's my dogs. How dare you? Anyway, I move out of there. My house is built. I had five pounds to my name because the checks are all bouncing, and I lived like that for a week because I was so skinned and I was so proud. I couldn't tell anyone, you know, I'd gone from this beautiful house, this fabulous lifestyle, to now moving in my house and I had nothing. Absolutely nothing. Then, you know, 25 years on, I did various jobs. I was doing the job I loved and I'd my life was back. I had a really nice lifestyle. I was very, very fortunate. And I'd gone for a job in Carran Millen. And I remember saying to the area manager, I said, Right, do you just want me to oversee it or do you want me to make money for you? She went, Well, make money. I said, You want me to? I said, You're not going to like what I'm going to do. I said, But I will make you money. Within a year, we took that store from a standard store to a store of excellence. And we were waiting, week, winning week, week, week, every week. We'd be the highest in this, and we it just went on and on and on. But I didn't know any different because it's my nature. The staff hated me, most of them left, and I brought in a new team. But I was only there for a year because it was maternity cover. But to me, I could either coast for a year, which is not in my nature, or I could make it work, and it worked.

SPEAKER_00

I have to bring in come down with me because it's one of the most gloriously unfiltered parts of your public story. The dog's baby teeth, the ashes in boxes, the lipstick kisses, the banoffee pie coming second, despite saying you couldn't really cook. How on earth did that happen?

SPEAKER_02

I was in between jobs, so basically I was unemployed, and I thought, oh, I don't mind doing that. So when they come to interview me, when they come to interview me, I seemed like a normal woman, and they're like, okay. And then they said, So how many dogs have you got? I said, Well, dead ones are alive. And they went, What? I said, I got two alive. I said, and I got a couple of dead ones in boxes if you want to see them. And they were like, Oh, we like this one. And of course, they're like showing the teeth, and they're like, Okay. So I got on, I explained to them. I said, I can't cook. I really I know one dish, but I came second. And up until, and I'll be very careful, up until the last, I was winning, but then the gentleman on there and I sort of had a few words and fell out a little bit, and he gave Andrea, I think it was it nine or ten marks, I can't remember, and she won. But up until that point, I was winning, and I can't cook.

SPEAKER_00

Did you feel judged at all on the show?

SPEAKER_02

Oh yes, absolutely. Now, this is before social media had all kicked off, and I think it's on YouTube. Yeah, and rightfully so, I was bright orange, my boobs were up here, I had these ridiculous heels. Yeah, of course I was judged. Some of the comments on there are not the nicest. So I just thought, oh, I don't care. And people will say to me, Oh, you can't be that thick skinned, you must get offended. Tell that seven-year-old child that's been left in school, that goes home to a family, gets shouted at and picked on, verbally, physically, you know, given a slap. Tell that seven-year-old that when she's in her 40, oh, she's gonna care what people think, because she's not. And there we are now. I don't care.

SPEAKER_00

Do people often get you wrong when they first meet you?

SPEAKER_02

Yes. Sometimes women don't like me, and they've said this. They'll look at me and go, does she think she's she's always made up in her clothes and her hair, and she's obviously full of herself and she spends so much time on her appearance. How I look is my job. I couldn't do my job if I was there in a pair of tracksuits and hair all a mess. I couldn't do my job. So this is why I look this way, because presentation is so important. You would not stop and be looking at my pictures to buy a dress if I didn't make an effort. But when women do get to know me, they all say you are so different. You're nothing like I expected. I'm grounded down to earth. A bit odd. I know I'm a bit odd. So yeah, people, when they get to know me, completely different person. But I am always judged.

SPEAKER_00

At what point did the kitchen table become a business and the garden shed became something bigger?

SPEAKER_02

I start off on my kitchen table, and I can remember the first things I bought were these big fur capes, and it was £500, and I I had this interest-free credit card, and I thought, oh well look, if it doesn't work out, I've got some nice dresses and clothes. So I bought these capes, people would buy it, so I was packing up on my kitchen table. It started to do so well. The person I was with at the time said, look, let's get a garden shed. And this wasn't a shed, this is a cabin. It was fabulous. I was so excited. I'd have appointments through the week, Monday to Friday was appointments, and Saturday, 11 till 5, open house just turned up. To the point my accountant always do things properly. My accountant said, Right, you're gonna get in trouble now because your council are gonna be, you're gonna have parking things and you're you're hitting this threshold, Nicola, you're gonna have to start paying VAT. And I'm like, I didn't know. He said, You we we're gonna have an issue with that. He said, So I'm just telling you because I've got to look after your interest, you need to limit this in the limited company. So I oh okay, then that sounds nice. I'm a director now of a limited company. Yeah, not realizing all the implications that go with it. Um, and that is when lady came into my shop and said, Why don't you have a standalone store? I said, Oh, they're so expensive and I know the overheads. And she said, Oh, there's my number, and this is I think it was a net, not a nephew, a brother-in-law, give him a ring. Now there was this shop in Brigend, so he gives me a really good deal. I think it was three months I didn't have to pay, and then I had a reduction. And I am grateful to this day. I am so grateful because if he hadn't trusted me, there's no way I could have done it. And I opened that shop in two weeks. Looking back now, I would never have that timescale, it's too small, but I did it. And they were queuing up the road, and I it was like wow, and it flew, and it flew, and it flew, and it flew. Then this one day, it was a Saturday, and I I looked over tiles like this. I could see this bow in the ceiling, and I thought, I don't look right. And with that, it came down. There'd been a leak upstairs, and I thought, oh no. Half my shop now is cornered off, so I can only sell from half of it. And I'm thinking, how long, you know, all these things in my head, I'm starting to panic. And I think we're gonna be going into Christmas soon. I can't. And then I had a second dream.

SPEAKER_00

Of course he did.

SPEAKER_02

The second dream. My dad's been dead 20 years, and I had this dream. My dad was in my house, in my bedroom, and I woke up and he was there, and he was there as I remember him, and I'm like, Oh, Dad, I need to talk to you, because I thought, oh, my dad would come in, and it was if he hadn't died. I thought, oh, you can just sort all this out now, and we'll be fine. And he said to me, I can't stay. And I said, Where's Mam? He went, Oh, she she hasn't come. And I thought, typical, I know, I know, sorry. He said, Um, can't stay. He said, but you'll be alright. He said, You'll be okay, Michael. Don't you worry, you'll be alright. Couldn't get back to sleep then. It was so vivid, I was upset because I thought, oh, I haven't seen my dad for 20 years. And I was having it was a Thursday and I was having my haircut. Now, on the way to the haircut is no not gallery where I'd had my magazines framed and all the rest of it. And I had stuff I needed to pick up. So I was early and I thought, oh I know, I'll go and pick up the frames on the way to have my hair done. So I'd go in and Alison said, Oh, we put up for sale. What? Oh, it's up for sale this morning. She said we'll just put up for sale. I said, I'll buy it. I said I'll I said I'll buy it. Now I only saw half this shop, okay, because it was blocked off the other half. She went, You better have a look. So she showed me around, I'm like, yeah, okay, great. And then we went on the side door. And then we went round and the stairs. I was like, the stairs, we went upstairs and saw it all. And I thought, wow. I said I'd be back. I ran down to the estate agent. I ran down and I said, um, I'm buying note in our gallery. I didn't have anything in place. And then like I said, oh a deposit, and I said, I've got a mortgage. I didn't, obviously. And they said, Well, we haven't even listed it. I said, I know, I take it off. I want it. That's it. Then I'm ringing Peter, my accountant. I said, Peter, I'm awfully sorry to put this on you. I said, But I I've just bought a shop and I need a mortgage. And he's like, Have you got a deposit? I said, Yeah, I've been saving for the last I sav saving for the last five years. I said, I've got my deposit. It was a big deposit, because I was safe. I said, I just need a mortgage. He went, Alright, okay. So I'm working in my shop while I'm trying to get the mortgage, dealing with a solicitor. This is stressful now. But anyway, get it. I got the keys and I went in there and I cried. It didn't look like it looks now. And no disrespect to the people who had it before. But I cried and I thought, wow. Wow. That's all I can say. So we were going to open in the March and my lease I'd paid up until the February in my old store. So I'd paid up, thinking right secure that I'm going to stay there till February. But I had to obviously open in March. So I'm paying for both. And it was a stressful year. And I apologise if I get emotional on this one. So it's 2025. I've bought this shop. I'm paying for the other shop. I'm paying for staff. I've got two council taxes going on. I've got two rents going on, or mortgage and rent. I've got uh electric. It's all going on. Then my dog dies. And that was my world just. fell apart and I knew I just knew and it was the Easter and I rang the vet and I said I've got to bring her in. It's about eight o'clock. So took her in and I said, Right. She's eating, she's drinking, she's pooing, she's peeing. There's nothing physically wrong with her, but I know that dog. And she's not well. I know. So they took her in and then the next day she rang me and she said, Okay, there's a problem with the liver and we can do chemotherapy. I said what do you mean chemotherapy? She said oh there's tumours in her throat and I said no no no I'm coming to get her now. So I went in she was all excited to see me and I'm like oh god and I say to the vet how long have we got she said if it bursts she's gonna be in pain but I said okay I'm gonna take her home and I'm gonna book she's not be it wasn't happening there. So I took her home and I arranged for the vet to come out. That was the Tuesday and the vet was coming on the Friday phone to work I'm not coming in. I don't care I'm not interested or phone me I don't care what the problems are it can wait. This is important. And I took Sosha to Porthcorn and I did a video with her and she she looked fine that you couldn't see anything was wrong but I knew we're on time. And we did a video for Hope Rescue to say look she's going to all the places if you could put something in Sosha's name we'd be really grateful. In a day she raised three and a half grand in her name so the Thursday the Friday had come and the vet was coming and this is quite funny. So I'm in the back room and I got bird I got piped bird music going on I got all the candles left this is in the afternoon. She stretched out in the sun and she's beautiful she's she was my soul I've never loved anything like I loved that dog. Oh god so they did it they must have thought I was mad because I'm howling and we're talking not pretty crying and we're talking real sobbing and Matilda was there because I wanted Matilda to know that she hadn't just left so she knew could she have had an operation could I have saved her? Was I thinking can I not afford it because of the shop and I had to go back to my vet and I said can we just go through this? Can you just check and see was there anything I could have done and he went no the kindest thing you did and what he said to me it's always better to be too soon than too late and it took a year a year before we could get to this point and God I missed I loved her so much but on a positive Matilda was never the favourite dog Matilda was now she is now oh my god Matilda is now the favourite dog and Matilda is getting all the love she should have because Matilda was me. She didn't get that attention because so she did and I feel guilty about that but Matilda is getting everything now and I think it was fair but she's Matilda's now 14 years old so we're like I'm going off so we got by in the shop I'm so sorry I'm so sorry I knew that would happen. It's a lovely story thank you for sharing this dress is the Socia dress so we do these and every Socia dress that is sold we donate a pound to Hope Rescue in Socia's name. So she's still very I'm so sorry she's still she's still there so I buy the shop my dog dies and then I fall out with my husband because we were we still married and we have a a falling out and I'm gonna be very careful how I word it I don't think I deserved what he did and we had a misunderstanding I think is the easiest way of putting it and he said to me I've changed my will you're out of it we're done now bear in mind I bought the shop I'm stressed my dogs died and then my best friend is like I've changed my will I'm not having nothing to do with you and I thought right that's it we're getting divorced not the best time to do it we had a few different arguments about things um we will see things very differently that's all I'm gonna say but what I realised is as much as I would always have his best interests at heart he didn't have mine he didn't because I wouldn't have done that to me knowing everything that was going on if he became spoilt became a brat he was messaging me things now my work is connected my phone is connected to my work phone so my work colleagues are seeing everything he's sending me I'm assuming he's drunk and Michelle said to me why you let him speak to you like that I said he's always the same she said that is not acceptable so I'd rang and say stop messaging me because Michelle is reading all this you're sending and we had a massive argument and I did start divorce proceedings and the last time we spoke he rang me and I let it go and I went absolutely mad and I offloaded all the things I've done to protect him all the situations he's put me in I've had people come in my shop and say unkind things to me because of his behaviour and I've always risen above it risen above it I didn't deserve that and I think because the last year was so hard I thought I don't deserve this I'm in your corner you should be in my corner now you've just thrown me under the bus. So my dog dies by in a shop money's going out like you wouldn't believe and I'm paying for a divorce but the conversations we were having weren't nice and I thought if you're thinking like that now and bear in mind my business is was small I thought in five years' time when last grown I'm not having this conversation with you. For you to speak to me and have these ideas I'm not gonna say what you've said I know I need to be divorced from you because now you're you're a danger to me. So you've back me into a corner and you've put my livelihood and my business now at risk with what your your thought process and I just can't back down for that. So we'll never speak again. And it's taken me till now for me to realise my only regret and I don't regret anything because I think you learn so much from mistakes my only regret I wish I got divorced 25 years ago because I wouldn't be in this position now. And I would have probably moved on met someone and my life would have been very different. It definitely held me back and that is that was so stupid on my part I wish I hadn't done that.

SPEAKER_00

There's a lot of I they say hindsight's a wonderful thing.

SPEAKER_02

It's not it's a cruel thing sometimes but it was the making of you yes no doubt but I've changed now the last year I've completely changed as a person so I won't speak to my husband by the time this goes out we will be divorced I probably won't speak to my family again that that that is severed as well because I think when you're having a really stressful time and we're not just talking little things I mean the business was hard moving everything across it was really difficult. When there's no one just saying Nick are you okay? Do you need any help? Nobody only the people I'm still friends with now. My family didn't bother and I'm not going to open certain things because I don't think it's appropriate but you realise they're not on my side and I've cut them out. So I'm now completely on my own. But again that seven year old kid she'd be proud of me.

SPEAKER_00

She'd be really proud I think she is but also you've been a part of the community of women you've been through what you've been through and you understand where they're completely a lot of them come to the shop because of your story as well.

SPEAKER_02

A lot of them don't know the whole story and I think when they see it and hear it I have got a book coming out terrible plug there's more in it. When they they realize to identify with someone and go well she's had a bit of shit going on in her life and yes she still shows up every day she still shows up yeah so that can inspire just one woman to think I can do this. Then there's Tom Godsall and the naming of Anisha Steele where did the name come from when I decided to do my own business Tom used to work with me as my visual manager. Tom would be like my son Tom is so lovely. And we it's in COVID now so we're allowed to meet at certain parts and I met Tom down the bay and I said I wore an outfit I said what do you think of this? Oh it's nice I said well I could sell this yeah you could I said I'm thinking of opening a shop all right yes Matilda May and he went what yeah Matilda May I'm with Tom yeah he went no he said it's a dog's name I said I know no he said Venetia Steele I said that's my name he said how many Venetias do you know I said I know my mother he went there we are no one else is going to have your name and it's your name it's Venetia Steele. So Venetia Steele was born because Tom chose the name and he also the the font it's Apple Billionaire's dream I think he designed the logo so Tom did that for me and I am very grateful it wouldn't have looked like that and it wouldn't have been called Venetia Steele if Tom hadn't done it. I think it's a great brand it is you must have compliments for it sounds like something from LA to be quite frank not Bridge I'm not loads of people say where's the name from where's the name and when I say it's actually my name you can see I'm like yeah you can see their faces a bit like oh but but yes and people come at they people think my name is Venisha sometimes they'll say oh I have Venetia but my name is Nicola but it's Nicola Venetia so you're focused intentionally on women over 40 and helping women feel visible again. Yes.

SPEAKER_00

What does style give a woman besides something to wear?

SPEAKER_02

Style gives personality and confidence style I think when a woman gets to 40 45 they go through a change of life and everything changes. Our hormones are just going mad and we physically change our face changes we some of our features go quite masculine because of the hormone thing and there is nothing out there for a woman over 40. It's really really young or it's these cheap sights which they they can't get away with it because the fabric's so thin you're gonna see every lump and bump it's like squirrels fighting in a sock do you know what I mean it's not a good look so there's nothing out there and I am that woman so when I'm looking I think I can't wear that I can't wear it. So this is why it's four women 40 40 45 plus we have got a lady who's 99 so they can come in a shop and they can buy things that suits them it's all washable none of this dry clean stuff because you'll never wear it when it's dry clean you just won't wear it. Size appropriate we do a lot of no sizes so they're non-size and the reason for that you'll have a woman who's a size 8 will be wearing a size 12 because she thinks she's a 12 but then you'll get a woman who's a size 16 thinking she's a 10. It doesn't look right. So if you've got one size what I always say if it fits it fits if it doesn't it doesn't does that make sense I try as well to do lots of different colours because we've all got different colour hair and I just want there to be something for everyone and I don't want a woman to have a wardrobe full of stuff you're never going to wear. There's no point. Out of a hundred items she's only going to wear 20 so she's wearing 20% when she comes to me whatever she's buying she comes in the following week there'll be a jacket to match the end of the month there'll be a skirt to match because while I'm buying dyslexic talent this is a talent and I know it is now I know what's in my shop what I've bought so I'll know oh that'll go with that. So they can come in and there will always be something that's going to work for their wardrobe. So it's a working wardrobe and what I absolutely love right there's no better feeling in the world is when a woman comes in and says that her husband has complimented her because men don't notice and when the man goes you look nice what a lovely dress that's what I want and it happens all the time I had a lady last week who came in and she said she was in a restaurant in Rome and she had a man tapping on the window went to her because she looked so good. And we we're talking women now we're talking everyday women 40 like I said to 100 so we're not talking supermodels here we're talking the average woman on the street getting that attention it's priceless.

SPEAKER_00

And what would you say to women who feel invisible?

SPEAKER_02

That happens to all of us so we get to that age and we we all see it. Where we're younger you get looked at all the time and you get to an age and people stop looking and I never want a woman to feel invisible ever. Not even invisible to other women so you don't have to be visible to men but I want my ladies to go in a restaurant and another woman to go I love your dress she's not invisible anymore and that's what I want. Also because when she's saying I love your dress where'd you get it Venetia Steel I'm going in that shop. So I want them to feel amazing because they are my biggest advert. They are a walking advert for me and I will not sell to somebody if it doesn't suit them there's no way they're having it because someone's gonna go that's awful when they look amazing they're doing my job for me and it is so important.

SPEAKER_00

But you don't stop you don't rest in your laurels how often do you post to get that imprint?

SPEAKER_02

Every day every day I post half or seven in the morning sometimes it's five if I'm up early half or seven in the morning half twelve in the afternoon half seven in the evening seven days a week without fail and it's over we've got three Facebooks an Instagram and a TikTok with without fail. But only I will do that so I take complete control and ownership of it. You can tell in store if I've not posted or it's not gone through those sales dip. But as soon as something goes up it spikes thank goodness for social media then it was the making of me without it there's no way that to start with I only sold on social media and it works because it's so simple you've not got to remember your passwords and your codes you just send us a picture we'll send you a link and it's yours. But also people will go I want to try that on where else can you go and try things on and do you remember how you being served yeah that's what we're like Mrs. Look I don't know I think I'm the one is it Henry I think I'm him Mr Humphries that's so it's a shop you can come in physically see try on sit in it look at it I don't know anyone else that does that and in a way that we do it. I mean there are other shops but you get looked at you get judged you think I'm wasting my time we don't do that. As soon as you come in hiya hi yeah I'll be with you now I'm just doing this everyone is welcome and everyone is treated the same if you're buying a £25 scarf or you're spending £500 because you want a new outfit you are all treated the same there is no difference.

SPEAKER_00

What I like about your shop is that it's very well priced it's not too expensive it's it's relatable.

SPEAKER_02

I never want a woman to feel she can't afford a nice dress. So this is £65. And now there will be some people going that's ridiculously expensive there'll be others going that's cheap. I think it's middle market it's affordable I never want a woman to think I can't afford to look nice. You can everyone can afford and it's washable like I said so you don't got dry cleaning bills. So that's why I price it our price it our scarves are £25 our tops and jackets will go 38 for a top 45 for jacket 65 for a dress so we have got price points so when you come in the shop you know what to expect there's no oh can I afford it what's it going to be you're gonna look at a top and go it's probably 38 quid or 45 the jacket's 45 or the dress will be 65 you'll take two if you like exactly you know when you're coming into the shop you know the price point. I've been criticised for that because people have said of your price points why are you so rigid with them? You remember them the fact you're asking me that question there we go there's your answer.

SPEAKER_00

Coming back to social media Matilda's a bigger style as you are right now.

SPEAKER_02

Oh isn't she just I was in Pembroke doing I was staying at my friend's um holiday letter I was in a coffee shop with Matilda and I could see these women looking over and I thought it's me here we go so she went I've got to ask is it and I was going she went is it Matilda is it Matilda we follow her on social media my stomach and I thought honest to go can we have a photo with her and I'm like yeah of course you can and Matilda was a bit like where's the treats?

SPEAKER_00

Oh here we go again and these women were having photos with my dog and I just thought it's lovely but I did think it was about me no no no no no it's not about you not about me it's all about Matilda she gets stopped in the street she does in terms of business have you thought about scaling when he said steal do you get people saying this or are you going to go down the sort of online retail route?

SPEAKER_02

We do online. Yeah no increasing that the last year as I said has been really stressful and we are doing exceptionally well I'm gonna say within two months of opening I'd clear my builder's debt I cleared all the stock that I'd had on maybe 30 days because my suppliers were so generous I'd run up personal debt on my credit card. I cleared it all and it was a substantial amount of money that I owed. I cleared it all so no we don't need to it's working I'm happy with it I don't want other people coming in my business and trying to change the model because everyone will say why don't you have a website online doesn't work for us because I'm like oh foliin forms can't remember passwords don't know if I can send a picture to someone when I'll have that it works. So no it works it's unique we're not the same as everyone else and that's that's why it works. So no I have no no I don't want to change it I'm not saying that I wouldn't open another shop in another location but not at the moment I need a break no but I will if I was going to do it the stairs are definitely a feature the colours a feature and so are the railings so I would mirror that somewhere else. Yeah but it's it's not on the cards for now maybe in the future but it's not a no it's just not I just want to get my breath back.

SPEAKER_00

Right Nicola Maverick Maxims quick answers first instinct okay gotta have some water go were you born a Maverick or did you become one because you had no choice?

SPEAKER_02

I didn't have a choice I came into the world on the 18th of October at half past five in the morning and with double Libreum is very important at £104 with jet black hair jet black hair which then fell out and went blonde went white so I was different and right from the start I was different so I was born I was born a maverick wouldn't listen always thought I knew better than everyone else but I wasn't listening half the time what does independence cost you it's cost me all my relationships because I won't let anyone in it's easier to do it myself then they frustrate me and because I am independent I don't need anyone so the moment someone starts playing up again a little bit frosty with me I think oh they go done what's the best accessory a woman should wear oh confidence confidence and her smile you could be in the let's say not the best dressed your hair could be a mess but if you walk into a room like you own it with Bass Smile you've already won. You're there.

SPEAKER_00

What is the difference between being difficult and being determined?

SPEAKER_02

Difficult you're stroppy. Being difficult you're gonna find a problem to every solution you're you're just finding ways to be awkward. So difficult people frustrate me. I can't be doing that when you say should we just oh but what about this I think oh here we go and when I used to work properly work when you're in a team and they're finding all the problems while I just switch off and think oh I can't be doing that. So difficult is finding problems to solutions and what was the other bit determined determined determined is you're going to do it and I I say like blinkers when I was opening the shop for that year I had blinkers on I was not moving off that path and whoever got in my way move move move hence my relationship with my husband I couldn't cope with that I was I I was so driven I wasn't coming off my path and it was just everyone move out the way are you driven more by ambition survival or proving people wrong? I don't need to prove people wrong I don't care what they think I I'm not interested in that. Survival I have to survive because I'm on my own so I'm the one paying I'm the one paying the girls' wages I'm the one paying keeping the economy you know for in my own little corner I'm the one looking after the dog so it is survival because I have to look after myself because nobody's going to do it for me and I don't know anything different. What part of you have you had to protect the most my independence yes my independence where people have tried to sometimes take advantage of situations and misjudged me very much so for so that's where I've had to protect that and my independence I would protect at all costs and I at any level so that that's non-negotiable I will never put myself in a situation where I'm vulnerable or someone's controlling me in any situation and that could be work or personal it's not going to happen. So I I protect my independence probably one reason I've never had children because I like to be able to just up and go having a 14 year old dog never had an old dog and I love her to bits but it's restrictive it it is and she's taught me patience she's taught me patience and unconditional love because she comes first. Good on Matilda yeah the famous one who is your style icon and why it's gotta be Marilyn Monroe I think she she was a hundred on the 2nd of June the most I think the world's most beautiful woman she wasn't perfect if you look at her statistics today they'd say she was fat she wasn't fat she was feminine and the way she walked the way she held herself terrible upbringing again she created marriage So Norma was her name, but Marilyn was this character she she produced. And I can remember listening to a documentary on Marilyn, and she was walking with a reporter and they were walking through was it Palmount Studios? I can't think. And he thought, Well, nobody's taking any notice of her. This is really strange. No one's again. And she said to him, Do you want to see her? And he went, I want to see her. And she changed. And she did the wiggle and the giggle, and then she was on. But it was a character, and I think that takes courage, and what a clever, clever woman. So respect her. And like a hundred years old, and you still see her on paintings, even now, you don't get better than that.

SPEAKER_00

No. What would the eight-year-old girl in the lavender outfit think of you now?

SPEAKER_02

If I saw her, I'd go over and I'd give her a big hug because she didn't get hugs. I'd give her a hug. Well I have to say. You'll show 'em. You'll show 'em. You've got nothing to worry about. That lavender outfit off. It'll be the making of you. Because you're gonna have more clothes than you can ever imagine, and you're gonna have everything you want, and you'll never have to say thank you for it, and no one will ever laugh at you because you wear your school uniform to school because you've got no clothes, and you're a bit skint, because you won't care. And that eight-year-old that's been picked on and ignored, when you get to 55, you'll be so thick skinned, you'll just give her a hug and go, Don't worry about it, because you're gonna show them all. That's what I'd say.

SPEAKER_00

And if your autobiography came out tomorrow, what would it be called?

SPEAKER_02

Well, it will be coming out, maybe not tomorrow. Welcome to Venetia's Steel Boutique! That's what it's called. Is it? Yes, yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Oh why not?

SPEAKER_02

And my life story's in it, but it's not just an autobiography, it's also a styling book. So it's a how to dress for your age, your skincare, all tips for women, to have a to feel the best version of them. So that's what it's of. It's all all all around it. And the reason I put the autobiography in the front is so people realise my backstory and they don't just think, Who does she think she is coming up with all this stuff? So that's the reason I've done it.

SPEAKER_00

Well, good luck with that one. Thank you. I think it'll sell well.

SPEAKER_02

I hope so.

SPEAKER_00

What's the best decision you've ever made?

SPEAKER_02

The best decision was going in that shop on the Thursday, I'm just saying, normally I'll question things and I procrastinate and I'll think things through. I won't get it done. I put it off, split, I'll buy it. The best decision I've ever made. So you could say the best decision was starting the business, having the shed, going to the shop at my final icing on the cake, taking that shop on. And not thinking, not thinking about it, you know, 54 years old with this mortgage round my neck, I haven't had a mortgage for a while. So this mortgage round my neck, putting all my life savings in it, not really thinking it through, but just blind faith that I know it's gonna work, and it is.

SPEAKER_00

And what's the one thing that taught you the most, but that was difficult at the time?

SPEAKER_02

Family's not always blood. Your family can be your best friends and the people who look after you and spend time with you and want to be with you. So when they say blood is thicker than water, I don't believe that. I have amazing friends, I've got a soul sister which I adore, I could tell her anything, and I trust her. So I've got a close group of friends, which I completely trust. I wouldn't trust my family with anything.

SPEAKER_00

What I love about your story, it's about one store right now, and obviously you've got online as well. But what are the things that tell you I've made it?

SPEAKER_02

Brown sign. That's what tells me we've made it, and I've got an email that I need to answer. So we're looking for a brown sign on the motorway and in the town centre that will say Venetia Steel Boutique because most of our 20% of our business they're coming into Bridget and they're not local. So having a brown sign. How many people? You know, you can have BAFTAs, you can have your your stars. Do you ever want MBO or whatever they have? You know, OB. OB, OB, you can have brown sign. Oh, you can have a brown sign. And I want a brown sign, so I'm gonna answer that, you mile. You watch this space.

SPEAKER_00

And the mayors recognise you be gens on the app because you're there.

SPEAKER_02

We had a citizen citizenship. It's on my wall, is on my I, you know, make sure everyone sees it. David Emmanuel came to the stores where again a local man. Really proud.

SPEAKER_00

He should be. We always finish with this line, complete the sentence for me.

SPEAKER_02

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_00

A maverick is someone who dot dot dot.

SPEAKER_02

A maverick is someone who sees something, believes in it, and goes for it without being apologetic, without asking questions or asking permission. They just do it and they don't listen to no, you can't, because yes, you can. You can do anything you set your mind to.

SPEAKER_00

Thank you so much for the conversation. Honestly, it's been emotionally powerful, but also so uh relatable, you know. You don't have to be the big CEO of a multinational. You can build your business locally, keep it local, be true to yourself and find yourself as well, which is what I think you've done. Absolutely. So thank you. What I love about Nicola's story is that she was forced into independence early, but instead of becoming hard, she became creative, stylish, funny, loyal, and determined. Nicola turned shame into style, difference into instinct, being underestimated into fuel, and a garden shed into a business with real soul. That to me is the Maverick Mind. Not noise, not polish, but building yourself and then helping other women to do the same. To everyone watching, the world doesn't change by playing it safe. Sometimes the Maverick move is building your own room when no one ever made one for you. I'm Emi Ravan. See you next time on Inside the Maverick Mind.