Meghan Markle is ‘the first person there with a mop’ when crisis strikes

Duchess turned entrepreneur Meghan Markle revealed she’s not afraid to “get messy” and why her acting background has held her in good stead after leaving Suits.

Meghan Markle has revealed she is intimately involved in all aspects of her business describing herself as “the first person there with a mop” when things get hairy.

“It can get messy and the best founders are not afraid to get their hands dirty,” the Duchess of Sussex said on the latest episode of her podcast Confessions of a Female Founder.

“And I don’t mean play dirty. I mean, when it’s ‘clean up on aisle five’ time, you are the first person there with a mop.”

Meghan was in conversation with Heather Hasson who founded comfortable and stylish scrubs company FIGS after realising medical school was not for her.

”The whole point for me, and you’ll probably speak to this too, is when you see something that is an easy solve in the everyday, that’s not complicated, that’s not fussy, how do you get your hands involved and change the way of thinking surrounding it so it doesn’t feel daunting?” Meghan said.

The Duchess explained how she used this rationale to combine the powers of take away and the fresh produce from the garden of her mansion in California to create a quick but elegant dinner.

“I see vegetables and I see takeout – because I don’t have time to cook every day – and I go, ‘Alright, but how do I still make this flattering and beautiful and present well and something that people find appetising?’” Meghan said.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle took time out from their work to attend Beyoncé’s LA concert. Picture: Instagram

The Duchess also spoke her prowess with appreciating all aspects of her business – a skill learned while studying theatre at Northwestern University.

“I was a theatre major and part of the program was that you couldn’t just do the acting.” Meghan explained.

“You had to do soup-to-nuts every part of what a production would entail, which I actually think is incredible training for when you’re running a team, because you appreciate what the sound person does and what the lighting person does,” she said using an American term which means from beginning to end which is derived from the courses eaten at the start and finish of a full course meal.

Meghan Markle enjoys spending time in her garden. Picture: Instagram

“But wardrobe department and sewing was part of it too, so I am comfortable with a sewing machine.

The Duchess explained how she applied this knowledge to starting her lifestyle brand As Ever.

“The types of minutia that at the onset you kind of have to be across every single granular detail. For me, I don’t know how to not have love in the details,” she said.

“As I’ve been building As Ever, oh let me tell you, it is just a constant state of recalibration.

“There’s joy in that but we are always in motion. If you’re a founder yourself, you know exactly what I mean, because we’re moving at work speed, problem solving, filling gaps in real time, scratching a million tiny, tiny things off of your to do list, but not in that fun way like a lotto ticket.”

Originally published as Meghan Markle is ‘the first person there with a mop’ when crisis strikes