In today’s episode of The Resilient Retail Game Plan, I speak to marketing professional and web designer turned illustrator and small business owner, Natalie Bent. After working in head offices at large retailers such as Marks and Spencers and Woolworths and tiring of the corporate world, Natalie, inspired by her daughter, set up Little Scholars Playground in lockdown with her husband, (who works in the aerospace industry), with a mission to create inclusive books and learning materials to encourage girls and young children to develop a passion for STEM.

In this podcast we discuss the value of STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) to the ongoing development of young children and how important inclusion, diversity and representation is, especially when it comes to early years education as ‘you can’t be what you can’t see’.

We also discuss some of the logistical and financial challenges surrounding manufacturing, the importance of setting boundaries when it comes to your personal time and how feedback from selling at markets can prove essential to improving your products.