BITESIZE #81 | Jo Malone: Bad times are not forever

Our chat with the irrepressible, inspirational and incisive Jo Malone (ep45) was one of the most moving interviews which we have been lucky to do on High Performance. 

Jo is a household name and one of the world’s most successful businesswomen. There aren’t many people who haven’t had a product of hers in their home at some point. 

Her quiet wisdom, including such golden nuggets that tough times don't last forever, is one which we regularly revisit. Jo's interview contains some priceless lessons. You can listen to whole interview here: https://pod.fo/e/bbdc9 

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In this episode, Jo Malone, a renowned businesswoman and founder of the iconic fragrance brand Jo Malone London, shares her inspiring journey and valuable life lessons. Malone emphasizes the importance of resilience and adaptability in the face of challenges, urging listeners to take a lateral approach and find opportunities for growth even during difficult times. She stresses the significance of avoiding life-changing decisions on bad days and highlights the role of positivity in shaping one's perspective.

Malone reflects on her decision to sell her business, Jo Malone London, to Estée Lauder, which initially seemed like a dream come true. However, after battling cancer and experiencing a shift in her mindset, she realized that she had lost her sense of purpose and connection with the company. Malone acknowledges that while the decision to leave was made with a logical head, it was emotionally challenging as she had to bid farewell to her "best friend" and the thing that brought her alive - creating fragrances.

Malone's story serves as a reminder to embrace change and adapt to life's unexpected turns. She encourages listeners to find fulfillment and happiness by exploring new paths and perspectives, even in the face of adversity. The episode emphasizes the importance of self-awareness, resilience, and the ability to find opportunities for growth and renewal.

[00:00.000 -> 00:03.880] Welcome along to another Bite Size episode of the High Performance Podcast.
[00:03.880 -> 00:06.200] This is our gift to you every single week.
[00:06.200 -> 00:11.400] It's the podcast that turns the lived experience of the planet's highest performers into your life lessons.
[00:11.720 -> 00:24.480] Check out the full episodes if you like, or just join us every Friday for one of these Bite Size episodes where we just share with you a clip from an amazing, inspiring guest who has joined us over the years on the High Performance Podcast.
[00:24.480 -> 00:27.320] Just a quick reminder, if you want more from us just go to
[00:27.320 -> 00:31.400] thehighperformancepodcast.com. There you can get tickets to our events, you can join
[00:31.400 -> 00:35.280] our members club, you can check out our store, you can watch the videos, there's
[00:35.280 -> 00:39.800] loads at thehighperformancepodcast.com. But right now let's give you something
[00:39.800 -> 00:52.380] special. Here's today's bite-sized episode of the High Performance Podcast. That's what I think we have to tell ourselves right now is this is not going to be forever.
[00:52.380 -> 00:57.000] And often when you go through challenging times, and it doesn't have to be cancer or
[00:57.000 -> 01:01.140] pandemic, it can be, you might have lost your job. There's a lot of people out there right
[01:01.140 -> 01:07.460] now that are struggling and they're struggling because they feel isolated and they feel that their dreams have been taken away
[01:07.460 -> 01:12.120] for lots and lots of reasons but what I would say to them is the place you're
[01:12.120 -> 01:17.100] standing right now is not forever. This pandemic is not forever. I think the next
[01:17.100 -> 01:20.300] year will be challenging but it's not we're going to start to see ourselves
[01:20.300 -> 01:29.540] step forward and forward and forward and forward until one day we wake up when we realize you know what it's behind us and I survived that but
[01:29.540 -> 01:33.380] it's how you is I think it's really important is how you survive something
[01:33.380 -> 01:38.440] and how you you you realize in yourself that if you start to look laterally in
[01:38.440 -> 01:44.260] life rather than just focus on one point it's okay so I have to stand still at
[01:44.260 -> 01:46.040] this moment in time, but
[01:46.040 -> 01:47.760] what can I move forward in my life?
[01:47.760 -> 01:49.040] What are the steps I can take?
[01:49.040 -> 01:55.000] Because if you move your life laterally forward rather than just from one perspective, you
[01:55.000 -> 02:00.080] have much more chance of feeling happier and feeling more fulfilled.
[02:00.080 -> 02:02.160] So what are the things you can move forward?
[02:02.160 -> 02:03.160] And you know what?
[02:03.160 -> 02:05.600] All of us will have something that you can move forward? And you know what, all of us will have something
[02:05.600 -> 02:06.800] that we can move forward.
[02:06.800 -> 02:09.800] And that one step of positivity
[02:09.800 -> 02:12.920] makes you start to see the rest in a different perspective.
[02:12.920 -> 02:15.940] I enjoy tremendously going and sharing
[02:15.940 -> 02:17.180] my life story with people.
[02:17.180 -> 02:19.720] And I've done it a lot in schools.
[02:19.720 -> 02:22.240] And I've always, one of the things I always leave them with
[02:22.240 -> 02:29.260] is never make a life-changing decision on a bad day. You know sometimes on bad days life gives us the results
[02:29.260 -> 02:33.760] and we had no control over it but never make that life-changing decision on a
[02:33.760 -> 02:38.960] bad day because the landscape of life will often change very dramatically and
[02:38.960 -> 02:43.880] you suddenly find yourself standing in a position and the whole landscape has
[02:43.880 -> 02:48.400] changed and you think to yourself if I hadn't made that decision where would I
[02:48.400 -> 02:53.160] be today? That's when regret steps in. That's a dangerous position for me. I
[02:53.160 -> 02:58.360] know that. When I start to feel regret I have to pick myself up really quickly.
[02:58.360 -> 03:03.600] And you have felt it because you've sold your business, Joe Malone, and
[03:03.600 -> 03:05.760] wonderful you get a lot of money into
[03:05.760 -> 03:09.000] your bank, lots of people would think there you go that's the entrepreneur's
[03:09.000 -> 03:12.160] dream, build a business quickly, sell it for a lot of money, but I've heard you
[03:12.160 -> 03:15.920] talk about your final day with Joe Malone being yours and you're putting
[03:15.920 -> 03:20.720] the bottles on the shelf and you're in the shop and you know you've made an
[03:20.720 -> 03:23.920] horrendous decision. So did you make that decision on a bad day?
[03:23.920 -> 03:29.760] No, I made that decision on a very good day, but life turned around and changed me.
[03:29.760 -> 03:34.160] We sold our business, so both Gary and I are business partners, husband and wife,
[03:34.160 -> 03:37.600] best friends, business partners. That's an achievement in itself, by the way.
[03:39.120 -> 03:45.560] On my part, yes. Definitely on his. When we sold our business,
[03:45.560 -> 03:48.380] we had this wonderful little gem of a British business,
[03:48.380 -> 03:49.400] but she was growing,
[03:49.400 -> 03:51.600] Gemma Lowe in London, Cream and Black Box,
[03:51.600 -> 03:54.080] was growing so rapidly.
[03:54.080 -> 03:56.280] And we were just running out of money.
[03:56.280 -> 03:59.160] We owned 100% equity of that company
[03:59.160 -> 04:01.920] and we were running out of it.
[04:01.920 -> 04:04.560] So every time you went into a new territory.
[04:04.560 -> 04:06.360] So I think Gary and I both knew
[04:06.360 -> 04:08.560] that we either had to borrow money,
[04:08.560 -> 04:10.360] we had to partner with somebody,
[04:10.360 -> 04:13.800] or we had to be, we needed deep pockets,
[04:13.800 -> 04:16.320] we needed people that understood distribution,
[04:16.320 -> 04:18.920] and we needed someone that loved the industry.
[04:18.920 -> 04:21.880] And when Estee Lauder, you know,
[04:21.880 -> 04:24.960] came into our lives on that, at that moment,
[04:24.960 -> 04:30.160] and it took a good it took a good 18 months of courting backwards and forwards and meetings.
[04:30.160 -> 04:34.080] But when they actually made the offer, it was, and I don't regret that decision,
[04:34.080 -> 04:38.560] I don't regret selling to them at all in any way, shape or form.
[04:38.560 -> 04:43.040] And for the first couple of years, it was a dream come true.
[04:43.040 -> 04:45.880] We were two kids who had had nothing,
[04:45.880 -> 04:50.400] sleeping on a piece of blue foam from home base as our bed.
[04:50.400 -> 04:52.180] And suddenly there we were,
[04:52.180 -> 04:54.540] probably secure for the rest of our lives.
[04:57.120 -> 05:01.800] But halfway into that kind of first five years,
[05:01.800 -> 05:04.520] that's when I was diagnosed with cancer.
[05:04.520 -> 05:06.120] And I took a
[05:06.120 -> 05:11.360] year out and I fought it and when I came back my mindset was in, I was standing in
[05:11.360 -> 05:16.520] a very, very different position. I had no sense of smell because of the chemo and I
[05:16.520 -> 05:20.520] thought that was never going to come back. I was wrong, very, very wrong there.
[05:20.520 -> 05:25.480] I'd lost my confidence, of course I had, you know, half my body was
[05:25.480 -> 05:31.100] missing, my hair was gone, I was in a very different place and I'd lost
[05:31.100 -> 05:37.040] who Jo was. I was wrong there, Jo was still there and I just didn't feel, I
[05:37.040 -> 05:41.960] didn't feel we were part of something anymore and I probably was right there.
[05:41.960 -> 05:46.440] That's a, you know, That's a sort of honesty.
[05:46.440 -> 05:50.400] I think, understandably, the business had moved on.
[05:50.400 -> 05:53.560] So when I made that call to leave it and walk away,
[05:53.560 -> 05:56.680] I made it with a very logical head,
[05:56.680 -> 05:59.620] and, but I knew that my life was,
[05:59.620 -> 06:01.680] I could feel my life changing,
[06:01.680 -> 06:02.960] but I remember that last day,
[06:02.960 -> 06:04.160] and that's what you're referring to,
[06:04.160 -> 06:08.200] when I turned the key, I asked to be the last person to turn the key in the door, and I
[06:08.200 -> 06:13.880] put the bottles on the shelf for the last time, and it suddenly occurred to me that
[06:13.880 -> 06:20.160] I'd sold a business, I was leaving a business, but in fact, that business was my best friend,
[06:20.160 -> 06:22.360] and it was the thing that brought me alive.
[06:22.360 -> 06:26.120] Creating fragrance was the thing, and it suddenly all dawned on me,
[06:26.120 -> 06:28.380] and that's the bit that I regretted.
[06:28.380 -> 06:30.480] Oh my God, what am I going to do tomorrow?
[06:32.240 -> 06:33.860] As always, thanks so much for joining us.
[06:33.860 -> 06:35.880] Don't forget, you can also get your hands on our book.
[06:35.880 -> 06:37.800] It's so much more than just conversations
[06:37.800 -> 06:39.160] about the podcast.
[06:39.160 -> 06:41.120] It is lessons to change your life.
[06:41.120 -> 06:42.880] So if you feel like you need a change,
[06:42.880 -> 06:44.260] and you're ready to embrace it,
[06:44.260 -> 06:48.920] you're ready to grow, you're ready to challenge yourself, get your hands on high
[06:48.920 -> 06:54.800] performance lessons from the best on becoming your best available from all good bookshops.
[06:54.800 -> 07:02.400] And we'll see you for another episode very soon of the high performance podcast.
[06:58.840 -> 07:00.900] you