At S&S we are all about empowering women and have always believed that we rise by lifting others. Our mission is to help female led businesses thrive. 

We are launching a no cost, bespoke mentoring program that will drive confidence and trust and banish the oft felt loneliness of being a sole founder.

We spoke to Ellea, Co-founder of 100 Acres, about her experience with the S&S Foundation.

Describe your products in a few words

100 Acres is a British Botanical Perfumery creating beautifully fragrant, rich, natural products for bath, body & home.

Inspired by the idea of having our own 'hundred acres' of heavenly English countryside to run around naked in, each product is a bottled incarnation of this very dream. Bursting with a high concentration of natural herb, flower and fruit oils, not only does a 100 Acres product leave you smelling and feeling incredible - it'll whisk you away to your own 'hundred acres' of heavenly English countryside every single time you use it.

How long have you been in business?

I joined the business as co-founder
and in 2019 and am the primary person growing the business day-to-day, and
we've been growing year on year since then. Our key growth area for now is
direct-to-consumer, but we also work with a select handful of beautiful hotels
and estates across the countryside. It's such a joy to work with like-minded
businesses.

Share one of your successes 

Our greatest success so far I'd say is our rebrand and relaunch in late 2023. It really signalled the beginning of a new era for us. Our products were lovely before, but now they'd rival even the most beautiful product in any bathroom and while we absolutely believe that it's what's on the inside that is most important, our formulas are of such high quality that our brand appearance could only ever be high end to make the business work. It's satisfying (and I think also crucially important) to know that your product on the outside reflects the incredible quality of what's inside, because this is what the customer sees first. While I'm a proponent of just getting things done and not being a perfectionist, I do think that with your product, you have to be 100% confident in it. Knowing you have this nailed down acts as such a brilliant enabler for the rest of your efforts, be it marketing, customer service, etc. I'm also incredibly proud of the fact that we've tangibly integrated charity and sustainability into our business, thanks to our partnership with Rewilding Britain.

What are your challenges? 

There are many challenges that we've experienced as we grow and I think this is made even harder when a business is so ethics driven because we have more than just finances to consider. But our primary challenge at the moment is streamlining our operational side to ensure we always have stock on the shelves, while also striving to create our products in small, sustainable batches. It's a balancing act but we're getting there. 

What made you enrol in the S&S Foundation? 

Stripe & Stare has always been such a North Star for me - seeing their incredible growth and success as a business while keeping ethics and sustainability at the forefront I find incredibly inspiring. They've proved that you can build an amazingly successful business, while doing good for society and the planet. I also think their marketing has been amazing effective, forward-thinking and I admire their strong connection to their customer and community.

How has it helped and what have you gained from it? 

The support and guidance we've had so far has been fantastic. This is the first business I've grown - while I view this as a strength in many ways (it means you just plough on and figure things out!), a lack of experience can certainly be challenging, and so having experienced perspectives (that have achieved what we want to achieve) is invaluable and I don't think is something you can buy. They've brought clarity, helped to map out a clear path forwards and offer a sense of broader perspective that you can lose when you work in your small business day in, day out. They've also helped in an incredibly human way  - being able to share the ugly bits of the business and not feeling as if you have to have everything polished and perfect I think means the support is far more valuable.

And finally, we know nothing great was ever achieved in uncomfortable knickers, so what's your go to shape? 

I just adore this tagline! We always say that we hope our products make people feel like they're running naked through the countryside...I'm thinking we should change it to getting people running through the countryside in S&S knickers?! I love a Brazilian Knicker but to be honest, would wear anything made with Stripe & Stare's gorgeously soft materials!

To apply or learn more about the S&S Foundation click here