The Coven Girl Gang; illustration by Florence Given

Ever felt lonely while building your empire? Need some more babes to hype you up with your side-hustles? Well, perhaps Sapphire Bates has the answer for you with her sisterhood of witches – introducing ‘The Coven Girl Gang’ – a newsletter, online community and a coinciding Facebook group dedicated to supporting and championing women with creative businesses.

A self-described “tattooed, Bill Murray and flower obsessed woman”, Sapphire runs her own business alongside this new creative network; a floristry business titled ‘The Flower Arranger‘ where unique arrangements meet flowers with sass. As someone who is already a part of the Facebook group, I can only describe Sapphire as someone with grit, determination and a can-do attitude. It was immediately clear to me that I wanted to ask her more about herself and her “hustles”. I hope you can learn something from her – this gal know knows what she’s talking about!

The Coven Girl Gang; Sapphire Bates, Founder

Hey Sapphire! Okay, firstly, you’re a super BUSY bee. Can you tell me a little bit about yourself and all of your hustles?

Hey! OK, so asides from busy… I’m Sapphire, I’m 23 and I do a few different things that combined together make up my ‘job’. My main business The Flower Arranger is now two – I can’t believe that is how long it has been going for, it doesn’t feel like that long.

I  run a community with women called The Coven which supports powerful and creative women in business. We have a newsletter that goes with it which I write that champions these women through interviews and articles.

I also mentor people, helping them to start their business/grow their business/build a strong brand/work on their social media – pretty much anything they need to know. I freelance for other companies both flowering and more recently writing too. I also have a flower school launching in March. Phew. I think that’s it. *rolls eyes*

The Coven Girl Gang; “Those who are not afraid of failure are the ones who go the furthest”

Even busier than I thought! I’m part of ‘The Coven’ and I was blown away by the amount of support within the group. What inspired you to set it up?

Two main things led me to create The Coven. Loneliness – starting a business can feel so lonely, you can spend days on end on your own only talking to your dog. The Coven creates a space where women can openly chat about what they are up too, the good and the bad. It is nice to have somewhere to go when all your friends are down the pub or out for dinner and you are stuck indoors working on your hustle.

Secondly, the need for knowledge to be shared. Creative people are often so focused on the art they are creating or the creative element of the business that they are passionate about that they avoid the business side – because it’s boring or scary. It is some important to learn these business skills, things like accounting, marketing, managing staff, scaling a business – the list is endless. The more you know the further you can take your business.

It’s lovely to see women supporting other women and one of ‘The Coven’ guidelines basically disallows any form of criticism that isn’t constructive. I also talk a lot about positivity creating opportunities. How important do you think positive vibes are in business?

Really important. I strongly believe in the law of attraction… you attract what you want. So if you think and act negatively you are literally allowing negative things to come into your life.

Positive vibes will bring good things your way. Some witches believe that whatever you put out into the world comes back to you threefold so with that in mind the more you support others and help where you can then more will come back to you.

The Coven Girl Gang; “You cannot be a powerful and life-changing presence to some people without being a joke or an embarrassment to others.”

‘The Coven’ allows for virtual conversation but also provides opportunities for gals to meet up in real life. Any exciting plans for 2018 that potential members could attend?

So many exciting things coming in 2018. Membership is set to launch in March and from there we will launch the #businessbabe campaign. A series of exciting panel talks and workshops to help you build your business. I can’t say too much just yet.

As well as all of this, you’ve also set up a newsletter featuring inspiring women in business and articles written by members. What do you think is the key to a good newsletter and ensuring people actually hit the subscribe button?

Because it is my own newsletter I find it hard to say why it works – people read it is all I can really say. If somebody else asked me about their newsletter I would say strong content is key – make sure you really know what your newsletter is about and what your readers want from it. There is no point writing about cars twice a month if your readers aren’t interested in cars. They say a newsletter should be: Give, Give, Give, Ask, Give, Give, Give. Give your readers things, information they want, answers to their questions, free stuff just for them and only sell to them on occasion – that isn’t why they read your newsletter.

I’m still massively learning with this one – I’ve never written a newsletter before and I’m taking notes as I go!

The Coven Girl Gang; Instagram Quotes

And finally, where do you see ‘The Coven’ going in the future?

Worldwide! I’m not sure how far The Coven will go but I hope that I can continue to connect with lots of amazing women and help as many as possible to grow their businesses.

PREACH! If you feel like you could do with joining an empowering girl gang you can join The Coven on facebook here. Just ensure you answer the questions so they know who you are!