Have you ever tried to reassure yourself that ‘things will calm down soon?’ Author Zoë Foster Blake has, and she presents Kit, a talented hair stylist turned startup founder navigating family drama, workplace disasters and relationship crises.
Introducing her book, Zoë includes a Venn diagram: founder, novelist and person who has sold (and bought back) her business.
“The crossover struck me as too unique not to exploit. I write fiction, I’m a proven entrepreneur who has been in the wild, weird world of starting (and selling) a business with (extremely public) lived experience for over a decade, and I’m still in said business. Felt like good fodder to me,” says Zoë.“On a less personal level, the cult of the founder has never been stronger. People are fascinated and inspired by the rise, fall, success and failure of people who start companies and the crazy amounts they’re sold for. Also, everyone is a founder. With the ability to sell online, the barrier to entry vanished and everyone began making, marketing and moving products. A book talking to founders, about founders, by a founder felt timely. We’ve had bad girl lit, mad girl lit, sad girl lit; now we have biz lit.”
“Kit, our founder in Things Will Calm Down Soon, is your classic fish out of water… only the fish is a creative, and the water is a boardroom full of suits with decades of experience speaking gibberish. The feeling of being utterly incompetent and out of your depth, yet responsible for a brand, a company, people’s livelihoods, and tens of millions of dollars, is a unique one, and with Kit’s journey we feel that absolutely.”
I particularly enjoyed how Zoë shared business insights in a fictional format, based on her own real-life experiences. This made Kit’s startup journey relatable, when she couldn’t find the perfect product and wondered if she could make it herself. From spreadsheets and staff meetings to product launches, influencers and a parade of potential investors, Zoë creates a compelling narrative.
“If you were the type to use costume-based analogies, you could say this is a business book wearing a fake moustache. I’ve learned a lot and felt compelled to share that in a fictional format which is lively, energetic and modern, rather than dry, prescriptive or instructional. There are lots of useful insights in here if you’re hunting, but they’re subtle enough that even if you don’t give an EBITDA about mergers and acquisitions, you will still very much enjoy the ride. You know, like how we didn’t care about Formula One until Netflix made it fun and sexy.”
Zoë Foster Blake is the author of seventeen books. In 2014, after a decade spent as a beauty journalist, Zoë created a skincare line, Go-To. Follow Zoe online.
Reviewer: Andrea Molloy
Atlantic Books