This story is about…
Female Entrepreneur: Shari Royle
Location: UK
Company: Diselfrog.com
Industry: Gifts
She was motivated to start her business because: At the tender and formative age of 20 years old I was involved in a horrific car crash which destroyed the right hand side of my pretty face robbing me of my looks, my sight, my smell and my taste, I broke my spine badly and damaged my brain. My injuries were so severe that I was read the last rites and not expected to last the night. My incredible spirit and determination pulled me through the initial accident and despite the incredible trauma to my body both physically and mentally, I began my long fight to regain my life. I have endured 29 operations, and had some extremely invasive bone grafting from my skull in 2006 to give me a cheek and eye socket.
Age range: 40s
Tell us about your business…
I have always longed to have my own business, so I decided in 2009 to start one.
Dieselfrog.com is a friendly and fun place to shop with a navigation system that is easy to use. We offer quality gifts, some unusual and some that can be personalised with a name and message in some cases. We pride ourselves on really great customer service, our customers are the reason we are here after all!
What is a day in the life of you like?
Always fun and often creative, I am good at spinning plates as most women are these days!
What have been your biggest challenges so far with running your business?
One of my biggest and most enjoyable challenges is learning how to run the back end of an e commerce website! It’s a great feeling to know that if you need to do anything to the site you have the ability to to it without having to call your IT expert all the time!
How did you overcome these challenges?
I had to learn great patience which I do find difficult and also take things a step at a time, I pick things up remarkably quickly so it wasn’t so much of a problem.
What have you found to be the most effective way to get new clients?
have found networking, social media and the press extremely beneficial to our success.
What advice would you give to other business owners?
Never give up!! If you believe in your business keep going and remember why you started it in the first place!
How do you keep motivated through difficult times?
Believing that ANYTHING is possible and that there really are no boundaries in life, it’s often us humans that create obstacles where there aren’t any!
What’s your favourite quote?
‘What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger’
{For my personal reasons of having been face to face with death this is my favourite!}
Who inspires you?
James Partridge the founder of Changing Faces and my two incredibly talented cranio facial surgeons Niall Kirkpatrick and Naresh Joshi without these 3 men I wouldn’t be smiling today!
Do you have a business philosophy?
I believe that in my business there are no rules, only Morals, Conscience and Ethics.
Get in touch…
Website: www.dieselfrog.com
Twitter Name: @Dieselthefrog
