Sarah Lynn – Sweets In The City, Sweetly Winning The Apprentice 2017

Entrepreneur Interviews » Interview with Sarah Lynn

Welcome to our Interview with Sarah Lynn on Gallantceo.com

What did you take away from appearing on The Apprentice other than winning it and the money?

The Apprentice teaches you a lot about your strengths and weaknesses – both in business and as a person.

It strips you back from your normal life and support network, your cheerleaders in life, and it tests your skills in challenging and time restrictive circumstances.

I learnt to be a little tougher, more direct, and that some things that come naturally to me don’t to others… so it gave me confirmation that I definitely have the qualities of an entrepreneur. It also highlighted to me how lucky I am to have the incredible family and friends I do in life, because having them gave me perspective during the difficult moments in the process.

Your company Sweets In The City is doing sweetly what stores are you currently in and do you have any plans to expand the business?

I am very proud to have Sweets in the City products listed in beautiful stores such as Harrods, Selfridges, Waitrose and Harvey Nichols.

We have huge plans to expand further, developing the web offer we have that allows customers to personalise our gifts – www.sweetsinthecity.co.uk adding additional non sweet gift items to the portfolio for a complete gift package.

We have also now created and launched our vegan sweet bag range -called Sweets in the City ‘Duals’. The plant based recipes pack twice the flavour into the sweet for a double-taste sensation, one being layered on the outer shell and another injected into its pectin centre.  

As always, I am very excited and motivated about everything that is to come!

You’re seen as a figure-head and an advocate for women, can you tell us your own words; Are successful women entrepreneurs different from men? 

I think women, now more than ever, want to live their best lives and invest in themselves in the same way that men do.

This can take many forms and I am inspired by the women in my life, whether they are staying at home looking after their children, running a small enterprise from home or building a global brand. I love talking to women about business and am always particularly inspired by other working mums like me who are creating a life that fulfills them and managing the daily juggle.

Hopefully my position as an Apprentice winner will allow me to talk about this more and have a positive impact on women and mum’s in the workplace.

If you could eat dinner with 3 people living or deceased who would it be and why?

There are so many people I would love to talk to and learn from, but for a fun and insightful meal tonight I would opt for Michelle Obama, Jose Mourinho and Meghan Markle.

It would be great to hear about Meghan’s plans for the future and how she plans to use her new Royal profile for humanitarian gain, Jose is a master of his trade and Michelle is an all round inspiration.

It would be a long dinner with all my questions!

What advice can you give to small business owners on a budget, regarding how to take their business to the next level?

Having been a small business owner with financial commitments and on a budget I know how hard it is to make the leap to the next level. My advice would be to work hard at building solid foundations for the business and good organic growth, to be able to show an investor the model works.

Even if the numbers aren’t huge at the beginning the right investor will see the potential.

Who do you look up to and aspire to be like as an entrepreneur?

Of course it has to be Lord Sugar for me! His way of doing business and his raw and real no-nonsense style is something I admire hugely, and it was the opportunity to get his investment that made me apply for The Apprentice.

I feel like Lord Sugar’s business journey really shows that if you want something badly enough and have the work ethic and entrepreneurial skills to go and get it – then it’s possible.

There is nothing more inspirational than that!

Has your upbringing played any part in your success?

I had a happy upbringing. I lived all of my early life in a flat on the 8th floor of a London council block, with my mum and sister.

My Dad and Mum separated and I saw them both work really hard to make the most of themselves and be the best they could be.

My mum had two jobs and juggled single motherhood, which only now being a mother of a 5-year-old and 1-year old do I really understand how hard that must have been.

My Dad was a great inspiration to me, as when I was about 6 he began to build his own packaging business so I was always around him watching him doing that.

I think seeing how hard they both worked and how much they both struggled at times in different ways definitely helped me want to succeed.

For press, media and speaking enquiries contact; info@sweetsinthecity.co.uk 

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Winning The Apprentice 2017