Starting in the depths of a recession
In mid-2009, Charlotte Nichols launched her first business.
The timing couldn't have been much worse.
"I started Harvey & Hugo as the global economy was in disarray," said Charlotte.
Yet fast forward 17 years, and Harvey & Hugo didn't just survive that rocky inception - it has thrived.
An award-winning PR agency, the Darlington-based firm has carved out a niche for turning its hand to any sector.
"In the past year alone, we've had clients ranging from multi-billion-pound data centres to crime writers," said the entrepreneur.
"We've even recently helped a sex worker promote her book!
"I doubt there's a PR agency in the North of England that has a client list as eclectic as ours, but that's what has helped set us apart and grown the business."
But the business isn't the only thing that's grown.
Despite representing Great Britain in water polo as a youngster, when Charlotte graduated from Loughborough University, she admits possessing a trait not ideally suited to the hustle-bustle of public relations.
"In a lot of situations growing up, I was very shy, and I'm not sure my teenage self would have imagined running a PR agency," she admits.
However, that agency was this year named in Prolific North's prestigious Top 50 PR agencies in Northern England.
And like Charlotte's beloved pet dogs, whom she named the agency after, the boutique agency punches well above its weight.
It made the list despite consisting of just six staff - the smallest agency to make the list, a fact Charlotte is immensely proud of.
When the shape of growth changed
"For years, the goal was to scale up and keep growing and expanding - but as a business owner, life can sometimes get in the way of those plans," she said.
"Having tried unsuccessfully for years to start a family, I even suffered miscarriages, but I've since had two beautiful daughters, and they naturally became the priority.
"It is hard to grow a business at any point, not least when you have toddlers at home, so I paused that and instead focused less on growing, and more on achieving consistent success for clients and letting those results grow the business naturally."
And they have.
TV and radio coverage, newspaper spreads and splashes - but regionally and nationally - along with success away from the media.
A full-service PR agency, Harvey & Hugo's small but talented team has helped clients rebrand, win major industry awards and grow their digital footprint.
The team's success has helped free Charlotte to carve out another niche for herself - and probably another one her super-shy teenage self would never have imagined doing.
The conversations people avoid at work
In 2023, Harvey & Hugo launched PRsonal - a business podcast hosted by Charlotte that was unique in that guests didn't really talk about work.
Instead, it aimed to cast a light on the conversations we don't really have in business - often because they are too uncomfortable.
It was a concept sparked by her first miscarriage.
“PRsonal’s premise has always been to discuss topics deemed off-limits at work – be it stoma bags or suicide – and the feedback we’ve had from the North East business community has been mind-blowing,” said Charlotte.
"It all came about when, during a miscarriage, I had to cancel a meeting. I explained why and turned out the person on the other end had been through one with their partner - and it just dawned on me how crazy it was that these conversations that are essentially the big moments in our lives are never talked about in work."
The show has been a hit from the start and has attracted an increasingly varied and high-profile list of guests.
"We've had CEOs, MDs and multi-millionaires - but also a dog shaman and even Jet from Gladiators," said Charlotte.
"The show works though because it never really spills into business talk. We address the real nitty-gritty, and nothing is off limits. The aim is to find the real story behind these people.
"And because of that, guests have told me that it is a real safe space for them to share what has often been really traumatic life events - and often publicly for the first time."
Built to adapt
The refreshing concept recently helped the show reach its 100th episode - a rarity in a world where podcasts often fizzle out fast.
And the fact that tenacity is so deeply embedded within the business perhaps shouldn't be surprising given it is named after a pair of terriers.
But it is a trait that has been there throughout the Business Central-based business's first 17 years.
"I didn't think we'd face so many hurdles, but they've been there since the start," added Charlotte.
"Launching the business during a recession probably wasn't the smartest move, but the business has always found a way to pivot and adapt in tough times.
"Everything from recessions to the pandemic had the potential to take down Harvey & Hugo, as they did so many others, but we are flexible and tough."
One of the key reasons the company survived those times was its award-winning Pay-as-Hugo service.
It allows clients to use Harvey & Hugo's team on one-off projects - meaning no lasting commitment or long-term contract.
Seventeen years on from launching in the depths of a recession, Harvey & Hugo remains proof that success doesn't always come from being the biggest.
Instead, it has been built on resilience, adaptability and a willingness to do things differently.
And much like those two terriers, the agency has never been afraid of a challenge - and Charlotte believes its best chapters are still to come.