Sarah Hellen

Sarah is Creative Director at Hawarden Estate Experience, Director of Craft at The Good Life Society, Editor/Creator of Jwrnal, and proud owner/mum to Mabli, a Fox Red Labrador.

Sarah’s creativity, positivity and work ethic are infectious.

Take it away, Sarah.

Photo by Kinvara Gladstone

Please tell us what your role in the business is?

Creative Director, Hawarden Estate Experience.

Where do you do most of your work?

It very much depends on my main focus at the time.

I tend to flitter about between our locations, so I’m either at the Farm Shop, The Glynne Arms, Hawarden Castle Pavilion, our campsite, out in the orchards or fields!

When I really need to get my head down I escape to my desk at our office building. There I sit next to my colleague Tony, who blasts his eclectic playlist and sometimes acts out Harry Enfield sketches.

No day is the same!

How many people do you work with closely on a day-to-day basis?

When I think about it, a lot! We have a team of around 50 people in Hawarden, I see some more than others depending on where I spend my day, but it really depends on who’s on shift at the shop and pub.

Everyone here is brilliant.

What is the biggest challenge that you face at work every day?

Hmmm, interesting. I think it’s got to be planning and organisation.

I have a lot of different streams of work, multiple projects, lines of communication etc. So I would say that my main challenge is organising my own time. I used to be awful at it but I am better now after taking some tips from colleagues, and starting to love my Google Calendar!

Talk us through lunch. A sandwich at your desk or a full hour in the park?

The team at the Farm Shop make a team lunch each day so I usually grab whatever that is. I have been known to eat at my desk, whilst driving (bad, I know) or usually I team it up with giving my dog, Mabli, a quick run through the field!

What is the biggest lesson that you’ve learned that you wish you’d known when you started your career?

Oh wow, so much! This one has really got me!

I’ve been mulling it over, and I think it’s a mix of having confidence and believing in myself. My inner hippy is coming out here.

Ironically, I have a tattoo on my wrist that says ‘Alles Gut’ which means, ‘All is good’. it’s right, it’s all good! It’s reminiscent of when I was cool and lived in Berlin, y’know. I’ve still not fully learnt this lesson, far from it, but I think my ironic tattoo has been telling me to chill out, have confidence, and all will be good!

Email. Friend or foe?

Friend! Definitely.

Recently I’ve been making efforts to use my email more efficiently. I have found it a huge help in my day-to-day working life. Communication is so key to what we do here with such wide and varied projects happening all at the same time. I find it really useful to organise my thoughts, outline projects and even delegate, which I know I am supposed to do but still find hard!

Interestingly, I have very recently turned off my email notification. This isn’t because I don’t want to know who’s emailing, it was more an experiment into how it would make me feel. I’m really enjoying checking it when I feel I need to (which is still quite often!)

Do you use a digital or paper To Do List? And how effective are you at getting everything done?

Digital, mostly. I tend to write scrappy notes on paper and completely admire those who keep beautiful notes and diaries!

I used to be a paper gal but now I find my Google Calendar, docs and notes on both my phone and Mac super useful.

Do you leave work at a set time each day?

No. I mean, roughly it’s between 6-7pm, but whether or not I leave work to go and continue working at home is a different thing!

How do you relax? Do you look after yourself properly?

Ha, see above!

I recently summed myself up in a phrase (you can steal it if you want) which is that my ‘body is off, my brain is not’. I’m particularly bad at taking time off and relaxing, but I don’t see it as a bad thing on the whole. I love my work and it truly interests me. I feel SO lucky being able to say that, by the way.

I know when I need to reset, and i’m aware I need to recognise this more. Ironically my ideal way of relaxing would be to do something physical, a project, building something - like renovating a boat!

I also just love spending time with my nieces, my mates, my dog! So it’s not all work, I promise.

How confident are you about the future of your business?

Writing this while coming out of the most challenging year, I’m so happy and relieved to say that I am confident about the future of our businesses in Hawarden.

We are thriving, and it’s a huge testament to the entire team here.

What is your secret time-wasting technique at your desk?

To be honest it’s probably annoying Tony (our Warehouse Manager) and going rooting around in our warehouse for fun things, or new things I’ve bought for the shop that ‘I’m not allowed to touch yet’ and he’s hidden from me!

Do you listen to music as you work and if so, what has been playing today?

I’m sat silently at my desk right now, so I guess no.

I usually find myself listening to music other people have on.