business

Meet the Founders: Do It For Yourself Podcast

This week we talk to Manchester-based creatives Laura Frances Heitzman and Foxanne about navigating freelance life, female friendships and working in North.

Lovely to speak with you both, can you tell us a bit about yourselves, what you do and how did you meet?

L: I’m from Manchester, I’m a freelance illustrator, mural artist and designer. I currently work from home, but I’m hoping to get into a really cool studio sometime soon.

F: I’m also from Manchester, I’m an artist, illustrator, designer, just an all round creative gal. I always find it weird to introduce myself, if its creative, I’ll give it a go! I currently work from a studio and my little doggo studio assistant, Luna, comes with me.

L: We met online through Instagram. We slid into each others DM’s!

F: A few weeks after meeting on Instagram, we realised we both lived down the road from each other, such a small world!

Laura’s Feminist Calendar inspired by the people and places of Manchester

The podcast sounds like a great idea, how did you come to the decision to make one?

L: Well, we realised we had so much to talk about. We were always talking in depth about the creative industry as we are both freelance designers, problems we’ve faced and great things that have happened to us. We also had loads in common and talked a lot about our lives and realised we were having a LOT of deep chats, so we thought why not have these conversations on a podcast.

F: We wanted to try something new together and we feel like we could help people who are just starting out in the industry. We’re both very open, sometimes too open haha! With being very present on social media, I’ve gotten used to speaking to an audience on my Instagram stories, but I felt like we had a lot to say so long-form content felt like the next step. I’d wanted to start a podcast for a few years now but after a deep FaceTime chat with Laura we both thought it would be nice to do it together.

What would you like listeners to get out of the podcast?

F: When I’m in the studio by myself I stick podcasts on so I feel like I’m not by myself. Working for yourself can be quite lonely. I find educational podcasts super helpful, but sometimes it can be very info heavy, I struggle with my attention, I can’t casually listen to informational podcasts, I have to actively listen to them. But I wanted to create something that is Laura and I waffling about our lives and our careers with little educational tips that people can subconsciously take in.

L: For me, podcasts help me to feel less alone whilst I’m working at home by myself because being self employed can be really lonely. It would be really lovely to know that we could be that for other people in the same situation. We want to be as honest as possible, and for people to know that they will get full transparency when they listen to the podcast so it can be comforting to know that it isn’t all rosey and we have ups and downs too.

What have been some of the positives and drawbacks of making a podcast?

L: For me, I feel like the biggest drawback is the time it takes to plan, produce and edit etc. Its very time consuming but it’s definitely going to be worth it for sure. I’d say the most positive thing is being able to connect with so many people. We’ve already connected with lots of creatives and business owners, and that list is only going to grow, especially when we get more guests on board.

F: Following on from Laura, the content creation and the planning is very time consuming as we produce, film, plan edit, schedule everything ourselves. Me and Laura are chatting everyday on voice notes about our lives or the podcast. Because we spend so much time together now I really think it has helped our friendship blossom. Crazy to think we only met each other in real life less than a year ago! The positives are definitely meeting so many people through it. The community we are already building through our podcast honestly makes the long nights and frantic FaceTime calls worth it. I couldn’t of chosen a better friend to go on this journey with.

What individual perspectives do you bring to the podcast?

L: We both have different design backgrounds. I studied fashion design at university whereas Foxanne studied contemporary art. I worked in the industry as a designer working for a supplier for two years before going freelance, and Foxanne went straight into freelancing so its great we have those different experiences.

F: Laura creates sassy illustrations of powerful women in fashion, which she then sells products in her shop, whereas I focus more on typography and funky random illustrations and I work with a lot of businesses on their branding, product design, surface pattern design etc. With us both coming from different starting points, Laura with her fashion and me with my painting and contemporary art I think we both give different perspectives. I’ve never worked ‘in industry’ so I find myself invalidating my skill which we’ve found a lot of freelance artists who have never worked in industry feel the same way too. It’s great to have us both share our own views on things.

A design from Laura’s newly launched Feminist Calendar

Outside of that, what are you both currently working on?

L: I’m working on some new products for my shop. I’m also booking in for lots of markets around Manchester too, I want to make sure I have at least one booked every weekend because I love meeting customers and other small business owners, its great to get that social element to the job. I’m working on some t-shirt designs with a new brand that’s soon-to-launch in the next couple of months, I cant wait to share what we’ve been working on soon. I also have a potential mural design in a bakery which is really exciting.

F: I’ve recently shut my online shop after two years to focus on client work. So scary yet so exciting. I’m currently working on my rebrand for my business and I’ve got a few branding projects for clients on the go plus repeat pattern designs for some international clients. I’m also trying to learn how to create art for me again, a big switch up in styles is happening. Its all go go go in the world of Foxanne at the mo!

Both Manchester-based, what are some of your favourite things about the city?

L: Where do I start! I just love it here. It’s a very friendly city, I’d say. Most northern cities are I think. There’s a very arty vibe in Manchester which I love, the street art is incredible. There are loads of really cool independent businesses here. The Northern Quarter is my favourite, there’s so many cool bars, restaurants, coffee shops, vintage shops and boutiques there. I just love it, its amazing.

F: I don’t think I could ever move out of Manchester, when I have days out in different cities by the end of the day I just want to get back here. I love the people, omg the people are so nice! I think Laura has summed it up nicely, there’s something for everyone. There’s so many people from all sorts of walks of life and we all have lobby chats over a nice cold pint of craft beer.

Laura, you recently created illustrated calendar depicting a range of women in different parts of the city, do you find Manchester an inspiring place, creatively speaking?

L: Yes, I feel like every time I walk around town I feel inspired. Like I said earlier, there’s so much street art and there’s so many fabulous people wearing fabulous clothes too, everyone is encouraged to be an individual here. I love the architecture too, which is why I really enjoyed creating the illustrations for the calendar.

How about you Foxanne?

F: Manchester forever inspires me. Manchester celebrates art like no other city (imo). Nothing ever stays the same, I’ve lived here all my life but each time I go into town I always see something new.

Where do you think are some of the best creative places to hang out or work in Manchester?

L: Again, the Northern Quarter is my favourite overall place. In terms of specific places, I love Feel Good club, Foundation Coffee House, Chapter One Books and Ezra & Gil are my faves to both hang out in and work at too.

F: Kiera and Aimie who founded the Feel Good club are amazing. I used to go to the Freelance Fridays they used to host when they had less than 10k followers. What they have built is amazing and if you are in Manchester do go and visit! Everywhere in Manchester is so inclusive and so calming, I suffer with social anxiety but whenever I go anywhere in Manchester I feel like people get it? Myself and Laura have our face-to-face meetings in Sale Foodhall, they always have cool independent food places and they allow doggos. So my little Rescue staffy luna comes along.

What’s next for you both?

L: We actually just released a podcast episode about our goals for 2022. Personally, I want to focus on growing my mural and window art portfolio this year, along with growing my shop and working on a consistent income for myself so I have more stability.

F: I’m really manifesting big things for 2022. This is a big goal of ours but we would love to do a live show of one of our podcasts and have a panel of guests on. How cool would that be????!! Personally, I plan to work with some big brands and add those to my portfolio, I would love to go back to my routes of painting and do some murals, but 2022 is going to be about making money, making friends and building a community we can be proud of.

You can listen, like and subscribe to Laura and Roxanne’s podcast here, and check out their work here and here.

Olivia Hanlon: Founder & CEO of Girls in Marketing

Name: Olivia Hanlon

Job title: Founder & CEO if Girls in Marketing

Career path: Before setting up Girls in Marketing as an e-learning platform and community, I was working as an SEO marketer for a property company. Whilst it wasn’t what I wanted to do for the rest of my life, I truly loved SEO and I was determined to find other marketers with the same passion for this industry as I did.

That’s when Girls in Marketing was born! In the beginning, it was a side project alongside my full-time role. Eventually, our growth meant I could quit my nine-to-five and run Girls in Marketing whole-heartedly – with the help of a few freelance SEO clients I had on the side.

Having weekly and monthly focusses is really important as a business owner so that you can stay on track. I have autonomy over my working week; something I never had working for someone else. I love being able to provide other people with opportunities and helping to train new marketing talent too.

I wasn’t expecting my career path to land here; I just rolled with the punches! Sometimes the best things happen when you just go with the flow. To anyone out there worrying about where their career is headed or what they want to do, try to have faith and know it will all work itself out.

Ideas & Planning: There are so many complex productivity models out there that several business owners swear by. I recently read Grace Beverley’s Working Hard or Hardly Working, which is packed full of helpful methods to successfully plan any task or business concept. But the truth is, my process of planning ideas doesn’t use anything new – I just do what works for me and tailor my workload accordingly.

When coming up with a new business concept, I schedule a meeting with my team almost as soon as the thought enters my mind. It really helps to air out the strengths and weaknesses of a larger project like this in order to move forward. I really value other people’s opinions, so sharing my ideas is the first step when it comes to planning.

I will then put together a flowchart of how I envisage the project to run and what the overall process looks like (basically the bigger picture.) After that, I will go into further detail using a Google Doc before entering everything into a monday.com board. This helps the team to collaboratively see what tasks need doing and the due dates for each item.

If I’m working on a small project or task, my best advice is to act quickly. Don’t let yourself overthink the plans too much. Instead, just take that initial step to getting it done and you’ll see your ideas come into fruition much quicker.

Finance: At Girls in Marketing, we carried out vital research around salary insights in the marketing industry as so many companies protect what they financially offer their employees. There is also a huge issue around the gender pay gap, as well as the gender seniority gap, something that Girls inMarketing aims to tackle through accessible marketing education and resources. Far more men maintain senior roles in marketing and are the decision-makers, despite the fact it is a largely female-dominated industry.

Our research showed that over half of the women who participle feel as though their monthly paycheck doesn’t reflect their experience level or responsibilities. Typical marketing salaries completely vary depending on your position within the company, and the size of that company, but according to Glassdoor, the average marketing salary is around £33,0000 with a starting salary of £21,000+. As a small business owner, there are other financial factors to consider. From marketing tools and hosting platforms to equipment expenses, tax and other businesses fees, things can get extremely expensive. It’s important to be calculated with what you’re spending, and pay an account or accounting software to help you with your bookkeeping. Girls in Marketing offers a membership, which means we have hundreds of monthly transactions so it’s incredibly important things are kept in order, and we find paying a professional to do this is much more efficient.

Networking: Personally, I joined a programme for business owners and leaders located in the Liverpool region in 2021. The Shift programme by Gather was fully-funded and gave me a chance to network with other business owners in the area. I found it incredibly inspiring to hear other people’s stories and talking to others made me reflect on our services and offering, which is a crucial part of development and growth for us.

I don’t schedule networking sessions on a weekly or monthly basis, and the Girls in Marketing community allows me to regularly communicate with marketers and freelancers but I always jump at the chance to attend an event if I can. It’s the best way to get creative ideas for other people and propel your business into success!

Work Environment: When I worked in my nine-to-five role, the office culture wasn’t inspiring or uplifting. As I started to build my small team and find an office of my own, I knew I wanted to create an environment for people that I had dreamed of.

We have a very relaxed, creative space for people to work and we always carve out time for discussions about new projects.

I’m so thankful to have built a community of 170,000+ marketers across social media and be running the business of my dreams. If you want to join us, take a look at our website or follow us on Instagram.

Getting to know Eleanor Churchill: fibre artist

Most business owners will tell you that the first year in business is the hardest. Creating a product is just the start; being able to align your own values and capture an audience in the depths of social media is no mean feat. Where ordinarily support and sales may spring from in-person networking and browsing customers, for the businesses starting in lockdown, their entire base has been enclosed within the four walls of home.

Eleanor Churchill, a fibre artist based in Manchester, is now the owner and designer at Ellamé Designs. What started as a way to keep her plants away from her cats and to decorate a newly purchased home, has led to an influx of macrame orders from eager shoppers. But, Eleanor’s business seems to have popped up at the right time – not only are her customers making a space for themselves that’s practical for working and comfortable for living, Eleanor’s seen a huge shift in her own wellbeing through its creation.

Could you tell me a bit about your background first of all?

Eleanor Churchill, Owner of Ellamé Designs

Yes! I’m Eleanor (Ellie) – I’m a fibre artist, drummer and cat enthusiast from Manchester.

Of course, we have to hear more about your feline friends…

Sure! I have one very fluffy ragdoll called Avalon, he loves eating peppers. He’s also the size of a small dog. My other cat is a European shorthair called Jefferson Bootsie Collins (Boots), he’s an absolute terrorist to be honest, but incredibly affectionate and cute. It’s lovely having them as work companions.

How did you go from a genius hack to setting up your business?

I’ve worked in Digital Content Production in various places including the BBC and Hull City of Culture 2017 and I fancied a change. I worked a couple of very different roles whilst at the BBC and the one left me feeling a bit deflated as it was in Production Management and to be honest, it was draining and a bit boring. I preferred my time working on CBeebies and in my previous Digital Content roles. Because of this, I ended up being even more creative than I was and I tried out making a plant hanger for the first time; it went well, so I made more.

I eventually moved on to wall hangings, and everyday accessories which led me to setting up my Etsy shop. I worked a full time job and came home to work on my macrame every night, most lunches were spent in the post office! I found the response to my work overwhelming and by October last year I left my Content Producer job at the British Council as I felt ready to take the plunge.

How did it feel to receive your first commission or sell your first piece?

The first time I sold something was actually on Facebook marketplace, I couldn’t believe somebody wanted to actually buy it! The first time I was asked to do a commission I actually felt really confident because I’d been knotting away for so long I felt comfortable doing it. It felt great though.

How have you found the physical act of crafting and making during the pandemic? Has it contributed to your wellbeing?

Yes, so much. I can be a very anxious person at times even when I don’t necessarily show it. Macrame helped me relax when I felt stressed in my last BBC role, it gave me more of a sense of purpose a little like my drumming does and it helped keep my mind from overthinking about everything. I’ve certainly had my dose of anxiety over lockdown, but if I didn’t have my business keeping my brain occupied I’m not sure what I would be like right now.

How do your products make a difference to people’s spaces now we’re spending so much time living and working in the same area?

It gives me a lot of satisfaction knowing that people are buying my products during lockdown especially. Their home is their personal space that I’m helping to make a brighter one for them. Whether it’s a guitar hanger, wall hanging or even a small plant hanger, I like the thought that someone will be looking up at it everyday and it could make them smile.

What challenges and successes have you faced developing a new business during the pandemic?

It’s been a year since I first started selling my products and I’ve already gone full-time with it, which to be honest I didn’t think would happen this early. So I would say that’s a success.

The challenge I had was working a full-time job to support what I was doing in the early stages as I was literally working all the time, day and night, I was very tired but I just persisted with it and knew I could succeed in it if I kept trying. I did a lot of research into Etsy as well, I don’t think a lot of people realise that it’s pretty much a big search engine so it operates differently to how they might think it does. In order to sell on there it isn’t enough to have great products, you have to understand its thinking and how to get your products seen. I find stuff like that really fun though, thankfully!

If you had free reign to create one mega bespoke design for a northern business which would you choose and why?

There’s a really lovely bar I like to drink at in Manchester called Wolf at the Door, it’s a pretty boho kind of place with heaps of plants and I love the interior, it’s really cosy. Upstairs they have a large piece of art that covers the whole wall and I remember thinking I would love to create something that huge for that space when I was last there. Perhaps something geometric and modern with some of my metallic rope.

You can find Eleanor @ellamedesigns on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter and Instagram.

We have to collaborate to survive

Words: Lucy Foster

Not many of us expected a global pandemic and even fewer foresaw the impact it would have on hard-won gains of working women. But as the nation pivots to adapt to the new economic landscape, one business hero is clear on how it should look.

“Facing the floods is one thing; you get on with it and you know what measures you have in place to deal with it. You get through it. But this situation is just something else. I have no idea.” Alison Bartram, 57, owner of Hebden Bridge’s Heart Gallery is musing on the impact of COVID-19 and the West Yorkshire town’s chances of survival as a shopping destination. Catastrophic floods in 2015 temporarily closed many local businesses – Alison, herself, had to shut down for six months to deal with five feet of waste water in her gallery that sells artisan jewellery, ceramics and contemporary art – but as yet, the legacy of this year’s nationwide lockdown is still to be revealed.

And no one, it seems, can give a definite answer on how it will all play out. But current forecasts don’t make for comforting reading – particularly for women. According to research from The Institute for Fiscal Studies and the UCL Institute of Education, nearly 50% of mothers are more likely to have lost their jobs, quit or been furloughed. There are warning cries that we are heading back to the 1950s, such is the expectation that women will pick up the bulk of the care and domestic work. And when the furlough scheme ends and the inevitable widespread redundancies come, it will be women – the ones who have taken the back seat, who have been absent from the Zoom calls in order to pick up the slack of home schooling, cleaning and feeding – who will find themselves facing the workplace guillotine.

Not only that, hospitality and retail – sectors which both employ a disproportionate number of females – are the two industries that have been hardest hit. A recent report by global business consultancy McKinsey has stated that while grocery and online retail has, not surprisingly, increased during lockdown, this increased expenditure has not managed to outweigh the number of closures in non-food retail – clothes shops, homeware, or galleries, like Alison’s. Accommodation and catering are next in the firing line, services vulnerable because it’s difficult to see how they can be performed remotely or with strict social distancing in place.

Rethinking the future

Anyone skimming such reports would be forgiven for thinking the worst. But unprecedented times can give way to unprecedented thinking and one figure who has been a vocal advocate of a fresh approach to business is Kate Hardcastle MBE, known also as television’s Customer Whisperer. Kate, 43, founded business consultancy Insight With Passion (IWP) in 2009 after a stellar career in marketing, which saw her turn around the fortunes of bed manufacturer Silentnight during her time as its head of marketing (“I developed a leading international online retail business in 2004, so still very early in that respect, and that gave me a lot of knowledge about how to help businesses transform,” she explains), train in strategic alliances at global business school INSEAD and win a seat at the boardroom table by the age of 30.

Her time working across Asia in global sourcing – sometimes being the first Caucasian woman many of the factories had seen – and learning both about international business, but also more functional skills such as manufacturing techniques, has meant that she can overlay the operational with the commercial and find common ground. It has proved to be an extremely fruitful mix. “What’s unique about IWP is that I can use my experience in operations, international trade and buying, for instance, and then apply them with the customer-facing side so we find a bridge,” Kate explains.

Kate Hardcastle MBE, Insight with Passion

IWP is, in essence, a transformation business that works with clients across the globe to restructure their current set-up. By reimagining the relationship with the customer (and by walking the shop or factory floor in addition to driving strategic changes), Kate and her team pride themselves on getting to know each organisation they work with and its supply chain and customers, finding creative, workable, and ultimately successful, solutions.

Insight with Passion also looks to transform businesses by also using Kate’s training in strategic alliance and partnerships – often bringing together complementing businesses with similar target audiences to help ideas and projects thrive. “The idea of working together collaboratively has always been our direction when many others would do the opposite,” she says. “We do things differently and it works.”

The facts support this statement. Kate has won countless awards and accolades (including Yorkshire Business Woman of the Year in 2018, the same year she was honoured by the Queen for her services to business) and IWP’s in-built corporate social responsibility (CSR) programme, Access For All, which requires her employees to give 20% of their working hours to start-ups and charities free of charge, is also making waves.

Access For All means that micro-businesses and not-for-profits – often founded by women – get exposed to expertise allowing them to grow and develop, which might otherwise cost them thousands – perhaps best framed as a B2B mentoring scheme. We hear a lot about sending the ladder back down and anyone having heard Kate’s keynote speeches or seen her talk knows she’s a champion for women in business. Access For All is her walking the walk, not just paying it lip service.

Of course, it’s notoriously hard to measure the monetary value of guidance and mentorship but Savannah Roqaa, 24, knows first-hand how useful a guiding hand can be. The Leeds-based make-up artist and part-time nanny found herself stripped of half her revenue stream as social distancing became paramount and to fill the time, began baking, leaving brownies or the ubiquitous lockdown favourite, banana bread, on her friends’ doorsteps.

What happened next takes some believing, but to cut a long story short, Savannah, with the help of various friends’ kitchens, fortuitous sharing on some Leeds United players’ Instagram accounts, and all-night cake-making sessions, has found herself sole founder of a highly successful baking business – The Savvy Baker – all within two months. But it hasn’t been without pitfalls.

“Leeds Council called me and asked if I’d registered the business at Companies House. And I was like, ‘Companies what?’” recalls Savannah. “Tax. Packaging. Premises. I’ve literally no idea.” So when Sara Hassan, 33, Kate’s protege messaged Savannah offering help to start mapping out a long-term business strategy, it couldn’t have been more welcome. “I was just bobbing along so when Sara came out of nowhere… no one has ever done that before, just offered help free of charge. Not unless there’s been an underlying agenda. And it’s so welcome because I think you can have a brilliant idea and a successful business, but make one mistake and it can quickly go south.”

Similarly, Kate – a proud Yorkshire woman who lives outside Wakefield with her husband and three children – has previously given an enormous amount of her time to Welcome to Yorkshire, the county’s regional tourist board. Working with her during that time was Laura Kirk, 34, former Head of Membership, whose job it was to put together free events and workshops for her members to add value to their annual subscription fee. Kate’s sessions focusing on the customer experience – given free of charge as part of Access For All and delivered the sole intent of helping businesses improve their customer offer – were attended by marketing managers of Yorkshire’s big attractions along with proprietors of the smallest seaside B&Bs.

“When Kate spoke you could see people ferociously making notes and action points,” says Laura. “A lot of the businesses simply wouldn’t have had access to that sort of support otherwise – free help for which they’d normally have to pay hundreds of pounds. And Kate broke it down into achievable points, so attendees could go away and implement a couple of changes, then perhaps a couple more. It was practical and inspirational. Kate’s guidance was invaluable.”

Access For All

Corporate social responsibility is often regarded as something only the largest of organisations can accommodate and even then, the amount of time given over to socially conscious programmes is often minuscule compared to IWP’s remarkable pledge of 20%. It’s common to find that employees are given three days a year to volunteer or that a certain amount of monthly revenue goes to a local charity.

“For micro-businesses and start-ups, there really is a need for pro-bono help,” explains Laura, who has seen first-hand how tourism and hospitality ventures can thrive with the right advice. “I’m not sure how all businesses would be able to afford the 20% that Kate has built into her Access For All model but she makes it work.”

Kate and her team have spent a lot of their Access For All quota in places like Hebden Bridge, assisting small independents find their feet again after the floods. “I’ve definitely followed Kate’s mantra and implemented things that she’s said in the past,” says Alison. “She talks about passion a lot and I fully believe that the businesses that survive are the ones where the owners are passionate about what they do. She’s always had that passion and always been really positive.”

Kate, again, has shown she’s ahead of the curve here because for a long time, CSR was merely considered a nicely polished trophy on the corporate mantlepiece. However, increasing amounts of research are pointing towards it being a vital component of customer trust and relationship-building, and equally a surefire way of attracting young, ambitious talent. In 2011, a survey by Deloitte found that 70% of millennials listed their company’s commitment to the community as an influence on their decision to work there. For Sara Hassan and Laura Kirk, and their peer group, giving something back to the communities in which they live and work is as important a part of their job as is their monthly wage.

And let’s not forget that despite the hardships of the last few months, there has been a renewed and welcome onus of the power of community; shopping locally or just checking in on neighbours, offering services and sharing goods, be it a bag of self-raising flour or a dozen hard-to-come-by eggs. And while many are keen to cherish and nurture this focus on community action, it remains to be seen if it can transcend the everyday and move into business, with organisations incorporating the community in their plans, collaborating and partnering with like-minded ventures to share skills and resources.

Certainly, Alison, who as well as running the gallery in Hebden Bridge is chair of the Hebden Bridge Business Committee, is adamant that everyone contributing to improving the town freely and willingly and therefore encouraging a greater trade, is the only way small independents – and therefore high streets – rejuvenate after COVID.

“We’ve got to work together to survive. By that I mean not just the business community but also the community in general,” she explains. “In the past, businesses were happy in their own bubble but now our survival – and the survival of the town – depends on us collaborating and partnering up. And people staying loyal to local, as they have in lockdown.”

And it’s this approach – the strategic alliance approach that Kate was advocating 15 years ago, the sharing of skills and data and budget – that might just prove the most successful and sustainable way out of the COVID slump. And hopefully her attitude to giving back, and helping the little businesses survive and thrive, will spread too. As Sara so succinctly says: “Working alongside Kate to deliver great work and good deeds is really inspiring. And she proves on a daily basis that success always leaves room for kindness.”

Getting to know Rachael Kennedy: Owner of Grönn Eco Salon

Words: Helen Brady

Rachael Kennedy is the owner of Grönn, one of the only eco hair salons in Greater Manchester. Grönn is self-described as:

‘North Manchester’s own cosy and luxurious community-minded Eco Salon with both hair and tea made with love.’

Rachael started her own micro business in 2011, working for herself but within other salons. She used this time to learn from others, understand what worked and what didn’t, what she would do differently, and how to avoid the mistakes others had made. Rachael shared what it is was that made her decide to finally take the plunge, “I’d been building up to getting my own salon for probably five or six years. Primarily the reason for opening the salon was needing to create some stability for my future. I turned 40 and decided it’s now or never! My parents lent me £3000 and that’s how Grönn was born.”

Rachael went on to explain why it was important to her to set up an eco, green business, “I’d say over the last 15 years, I’ve definitely become more environmentally conscious, becoming a consumer, making sure I knew were everything was coming from. I’ve always had a loathing of plastic bags, things like that. They’re just my real sort of staunch core values and I wanted to make sure my business mirrored those.”

She continued, “The mission and philosophy at Grönn is that we do fantastic hairdressing, but we don’t impact the planet while we’re doing it. I didn’t want it to be just scratching on the surface of being green so when you drill down further into the business commodities, you’ll also see our green credentials showing through. We’re with Ecotricity, which is the only wind powered, vegan society approved electricity and gas company. It was important for me, if I was going to do this and do it well, it really had to match my values and so I could hand on heart say I work with green integrity.”

With increasing national awareness and support for all things eco, a growing trend for going green, and consumers becoming ever more aware of what products they’re using and where they’re coming from, Rachael explains that there has never been a better time to run a green business.

“I think there’s been a massive shift in people finding eco conscious businesses, green products, natural products because I think we’re more aware now than ever about what we’re putting into our bodies, what we’re putting on our skin and how it’s effecting the environment. When I first opened Grönn, people used to ask ‘What’s an Eco Salon? I don’t understand’ but even in those five years it’s been a real upward curve in demand for eco conscious businesses and that just makes my heart swell. There’s a massive increase now in people wanting to do better and behave better.”

Grönn is situated in Bury, which may seem like an unusual first choice as home to a forward thinking eco business but Rachael explains why it was important for her to set up her business here, “Coming back to Bury was like coming home. I’m a Bury born northern lass from Lancashire and it just felt right. I did much of my hairdressing training and apprenticeship in Bury as well.”

After initially starting her micro-business in Chorlton, Rachael made the move back to Bury in 2016 to open her own premises, bringing with her a legion of eco-conscious, loyal clients. Nearby, Ramsbottom is quite an eco-conscious, forward thinking market town with a growing green community. Plentiful, a plastic free refill store, is based on Ramsbottom High Street.

The current world crisis put an abrupt halt to countless businesses and their 2020 plans, with many small business owners being the worst affected. Rachael shared how the initial shut down affected both her and her business,

“At first I felt a little lost and panicked. I started responding to the crisis in a similar way to other businesses around me but then I thought ‘Why am I doing that?’ The entire reason I set up Grönn is because I wanted to do things differently to other people. So, once I remembered that, and went back to doing things my way, I relaxed, and the business is still solid and still strong. I have a very, very loyal clientele. We’ve kept in touch via social media, sending out marketing to them, emailing, keeping in contact any way possible.”

Rachael went on to explain that after the initial shock of the situation, the unrequested break meant that she could take time to do some of the things building up on her salon to-do list. This includes a refresh for the building both indoors and out, so when the salon opens for business again, customers will have a refreshed surrounding. Rachael has even contracted a Vegan Builder to carry out the refit!

“We’ve been closed for 12 weeks. We actually closed before the officially guidelines because I felt increasingly uncomfortable that I may have been adding to the problems by remaining open. It’s been a tough three months for everybody but I’ve got new clients booking in everyday for when we do open with appointments.”

To Rachael, a sustainable business is also about how it operates, and she believes this approach has helped her bridge the COVID-19 crisis. She said,
“I always wanted to ensure that the business has been able to run independently so to me that meant never taking out bank loans or business credit cards. I wanted to be able to pay for everything and make it as sustainable as possible. In the past I have had a little bit of debt trouble so I wanted to make sure that whatever happened, and if for any reason on a rainy day, I could make sure that that business survived.”

Grönn is hoping to be back open for business on Saturday 4 July 2020.

Here are three more of Rachael’s top tips for shopping eco and supporting local in Greater Manchester:

Earth Friendly Rocker is run by Lauren, a loyal Grönn client. Earth Friendly Rocker is based in Affleck’s Palace in the Northern Quarter and opened in September 2019. Lauren believes rocking out should not cost the earth! (Quite literally!) and she plants a tree for every purchase you make from them.

Veauty – An online vegan and eco beauty store run by another Grönn client, Kate Coop. Kate is soon to be opening a bricks and mortar refillable shop in Darwen that will be plastic free and entirely vegan.

1 Tree Cards – Rachael stocks 1 Tree Cards at the salon. They are 100% recycled paper and printed using only vegan vegetable-based inks. Plus, they come with a flower seed token inside as well!

Getting to Know Anita Smith: Sew What Manchester

Words: Amy Callaghan

It’s no secret that the fashion industry has more than a few skeletons in its closet. From dangerous working conditions for low-paid (but high-skilled) workers in clothing factories, to the £140 million worth of clothing that goes to landfill each year, fast fashion is one of the most exploitative and damaging industries operating today. And yet, the majority of people will turn a blind eye to this in favour of picking something up at the H&M sale or snagging a cheap new dress for a night out on Missguided.

Not everyone takes a blasé attitude, however – there’s an increasingly popular movement known as ‘slow fashion’, which prioritises buying less, buying ethically and buying to last. Slow fashion encourages a whole range of sustainable habits, such as buying secondhand from charity shops and vintage stores, investing in high-quality handmade pieces from independent businesses, and learning to mend clothes yourself instead of replacing them. We’re pretty lucky in the north – the sustainable fashion movement has real momentum here, and there are loads of charity shops and vintage stores to favour over chains.

There are also plenty of independent businesses that place sustainability at the heart of their service. Anita Smith, founder of one-woman business Sew What, is a Manchester-based designer and maker, who champions vintage, sustainable fashion. All her pieces are handmade – she generally designs vintage styles with a modern twist – and she also offers a range of sewing and style services to help people make more sustainable fashion choices and fall in love with their wardrobe again. We had the pleasure of speaking with Anita about starting her own business, slow fashion, and sustainability on a budget.

Can you tell us the story behind Sew What?

I was a teacher before I started my business, but I did fashion design at uni, and I wanted to combine the two somehow. I got a bit disillusioned with teaching and wanted to get back to doing something that was more creative and more fulfilling for me. I wanted to share all the skills I learned at uni, and my love for fashion – but not necessarily trend-led fast fashion – and combine that with teaching people how to sew, so they could learn to love it as much as I do. That’s where the idea came from, and I just went from there. I started with a studio at Islington Mill in Salford for a couple of years, and then moved into a shared studio, still in the mill. It’s a separate building with loads of other people that I already knew – it’s so good being in a collective space with other creative people, it means that you’re constantly being pushed and supported.

You mentioned wanting to share your love of fashion, but emphasising slow fashion over high street fast fashion. Can you tell us a little bit more about this and why you feel it’s so important?

Essentially, I love making my own clothes. I got into it in the first place because when I’d go to high street stores, there just wasn’t anything there that was exactly what I wanted, or the fit was all wrong. Also, looking at things and knowing how long it takes to make something and how much skill is involved, I couldn’t justify how little the prices were. For them to be that cheap it means that whoever’s making it isn’t getting paid properly – the maths doesn’t work. That’s how I really fell out of love with the high street.

It’s a mindset change, I think – it takes people a long time, because we’ve all grown up not thinking about the impact fast fashion was having. Now there’s a real momentum going and people have started to realise what effect fast fashion and the high street is having on the environment and people in the industry.

That’s where the slow fashion movement came from. Slow fashion is about taking the time and being a bit more thoughtful and a bit more conscious about what you’re purchasing, and buying quality rather than quantity. It’s about buying from businesses that are really transparent about where they’ve got their fabrics from and who’s made it. It might be that it’s a complete one off – you’ve had something made especially for you. It might be that there’s a really small batch. There’s something about knowing you’re going to walk down the street and you’re not going to see someone wearing the same thing as you that makes clothes so much more special. So it’s a mindset change of trying to think about your style, and what you want to wear rather than what you’re being told to wear by the high street.

Slow fashion has a bit of a reputation for being less financially accessible. Do you have any tips for people who want to shop and dress more sustainably, but are on a tighter budget?

I think it goes back to the idea of investing in something. Rather than buying five things that are really cheap, you can save that. Just buy one thing that’s better quality, that actually fits and fulfils the need that is there. What is the gap in the wardrobe? Save up and invest in that.

At the same time, you’ll hear people saying they can’t afford sustainable fashion, but they might shop in middle-range stores like & Other Stories or Cos. They are not cheap places to buy from, but people still don’t think they can afford sustainable clothing. There are cheaper brands out there that are sustainable – it does exist!

Part of it is also about trust. People have to trust that they will still get the quality products from small independent companies that don’t have all the marketing and publicity. It takes a lot of work to stop yourself buying lots of little things, and saving up for something, and trusting that that’s going to stand the test of time. Maybe we’ve all got used to Primark prices and sale prices. There are sales on all year round now, so it’s part of our psyche that we believe everything is cheap. And it just shouldn’t be – that’s not the real cost of things.

Can you tell us about the process behind designing and creating a bespoke garment?

I generally collect things from a vintage aspect, because essentially all the fashion that’s in stores references vintage fashion. Right now the 70s are back in, when I was growing up the 80s were cool again, the 60s are always in fashion. So I generally look back at clothes that I would love to wear now, and do a modern take on them. I’ll use a modern fabric, and adapt it slightly so it doesn’t look costume-y. You can make things look more modern just with the fabrics or the print that you use.

I do things that I think my customers might like and that will fit in their wardrobes but won’t go out of fashion. I also get commissions, where people say they really like something from my website, but is there any way it can be made with sleeves, or without a zip down the front, or with a collar rather than a pinafore neck. Making something specific for a customer is a real privilege – it’s an honour that someone trusts me to do that.

What’s your favourite thing about being based in the north?

The fact that I can afford to have a studio! There’s something very specific about being in the north where it’s almost like people haven’t quite realised how incredible the creative network is here. There’s a bit of a lack of other makers but it’s just because people don’t expect to find you there. It’s really nice to find other creatives that are in Manchester or Leeds or Sheffield – you can connect more with them because they’ve not done what everyone tells you to do and gone to London. People are really proud that they’re here, and they support other northern businesses. The support network, and how positive people are towards each other is just wonderful, an absolute dream.

And finally, as people are spending more time in the house at the moment, do you have any suggestions for steps we can take and things we can do at home to start to sort out our own sustainable fashion habits?

The fact that people aren’t going out means that they might start to realise that they don’t need to buy. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with going out and treating yourself – it’s not a shame thing and no one should feel guilty about it. But it might make people reconsider how much they own and how much they actually need. Maybe they’ll take a bit more time to consider – when we are set free! – that they don’t go out and immediately buy, because they have all this stuff at home that they can’t wait to wear again.

Or, they might find that they’re wearing things in different ways. It’s the best thing when you see your wardrobe in a different light, and you start to wear things together that you never would have before. On Instagram, Erica Davies has started a prompt – #ericamademetryit – challenging people to wear things they’d never normally wear. People are so excited about going out once a day, or going to do their weekly shop, they’re wearing all these crazy things. Now they’re wearing a fabulous 70s maxi dress that they’d normally save, because they’re desperate to wear something other than joggers – they can start pulling stuff out and getting it on!

I also hope it makes people realise that at a time like this, it’s the smaller independent businesses that need help. I’m sure everyone’s seen that ASOS and Boohoo are still forcing people to work, and they’re having sales to encourage people to buy stuff they don’t need. They’re not bailing their workers out; they’re not helping anyone apart from themselves. Little businesses are desperately trying to make sure their workers are OK, making sure customers get their products on time, and doing things for free for the NHS. I hope people take note of that after this is all over and really try and change their shopping habits to support the little guys – they’re the ones that need it.

You can find Anita on Instagram @sewwhatmcr and on Twitter @sewwhatmcr. Sew What’s Facebook is here, and the website can be found here.

Interview edited for length and clarity.

Libby Ayres: Painting with synaesthesia

We’re always blown away by the natural talent and original flair of artists, how they’re able to put on canvas an image formed in their mind. Libby Ayres, a freelance artist currently based in Manchester, takes it one step further. Libby has synaesthesia, a phenomenon which enables her to experience sounds as colours; using wax as her medium, she takes songs and manifests them into the physical.

Generally something which enhances her enjoyment of music, Libby’s synaesthesia makes it very easy for her to notice changes in people’s tone of voice, experiencing it with everything from traffic to the tapping of keyboard keys.

For anyone with synaesthesia, it affects each person differently, making Libby’s work entirely unique to her. Here she discusses her painting process, how she formed her signature style, and why synaesthesia makes painting a gift as well as a talent.

For those who aren’t familiar with synaesthesia, are you able to describe what you see when you hear sound?

My elevator pitch is that synaesthesia is a neurological phenomenon where a stimulus to one sense causes a reaction in another. For me, this means when I hear sounds, I see colours.

Although I describe myself as being able to “see” what music sounds like, it’s a bit of a deceptive term and I only use it for simplicity. It’s more accurate to say I know or experience colour when I hear sound. The colours aren’t floaters in my vision and they don’t impede my ability to see. It’s much the same way you know when you’re experiencing deja vu; you know exactly what’s going on and how it fits together, but it’s not tangible.

There are many kinds of synaesthesia, and the strain of it I have is called chromesthesia. Some people get it the other way around, that when they see colours they hear sounds, and some people experience links between colours and numbers, or letters and colours. At art fairs, and online, people often come up and tell me about the synaesthesia they experience. It surprised me at first because I didn’t realise it was so common, but I love sharing stories. I like the way people who experience number/letter to colour synaesthesia talk about it; “Wednesday is red”, “M is green”. It simply… is. For me, sound is colour.

I don’t see myself as an artist, perhaps because I can’t draw or paint things realistically in a traditional manner. But also I see what I do as something closer to a language than a painting, because it feels more like a translation than an interpretation. I am taking what I experience and putting it on canvas, aiming for it to be as accurate as possible.

Did your synaesthesia inspire you to start painting or do you paint as a way to express your synaesthesia?

I think this question is a bit chicken and egg, as the two come hand in hand. The first painting I did was because I had cheap and easily accessible materials, and I wanted to try and put down what I was experiencing, to see if I could make the intangible tangible. At first it was very demoralising because what I painted looked nothing like I expected it to. I’d got the ratios of colours all wrong and I didn’t know how to transpose this impalpable image to a physical canvas.

I struggle to hold all the details of what a song “looks” like in my head. If you play me a song and ask me to tell you the colours on the spot, I could probably only pick out a few. What I like about painting is being able to get those main colours, generally the background, down, so I can turn my focus to the more intricate parts.

Painting process. Photography by Jessica Howell

What does your painting process look like?

If it’s a song I’ve not heard before, which is often the case with commissions, I listen to it for hours beforehand. The same way you can’t look directly at the sun, I find it incredibly hard to sit down, listen to a song and pick out the colours on a first listen. Not only is the pressure immense, there are also so many small parts you miss on your first or even fifth listen. So I tend to put it on a speaker whilst I’m cooking or working, then listen on headphones, sometimes for hours until I feel I know it inside out.

When I paint, I like to sit down and paint in one go. Because of this, I don’t like to start until I’m confident I’m ready. On bigger pieces, I’ll do a miniature beforehand. So the paint doesn’t drip or run when it shouldn’t, I have to place the canvas flat on the floor and work around it.

I use purchased frames, I don’t build my own, but unwrapping and stretching the canvas is effectively the warm up before I start painting. Finishing is a lot harder than starting; I struggle to know when to stop, when adding more detail is just adding clutter.

When I paint, I have to listen to the song on repeat. If I know it very well I can put it on a speaker, but generally I need to have my headphones on to hear properly over the heatgun. I can’t paint from memory. In fact, very often, shortly after finishing the painting and taking my headphones off, I’ll see it and think, “Hmm, shouldn’t that have been a brighter red?” and I’ll have to listen to the song and remind myself of why I chose that colour.

Using wax sets you apart from many artists. Why is wax more suited to you and your style?

Except for drawings that got stuck on the fridge when I was a child, I was never into art before I started painting music. I’d only done one painting before I started this project, and that was barely a painting at all. I sellotaped a row of pastel coloured wax crayons to the top of a 9×12″ canvas, propped it upright, and blasted them with the heat gun until all the colours melted and ran down the canvas.

It was doing that painting that made me realise I wanted to paint with wax. Or maybe it’s more accurate to say that I wanted to start painting as quickly and cheaply as possible, and that piece made me realise wax crayons and a heat gun were a perfectly viable medium.

I’ve tried painting with watercolours and oils and never had the same amount of success. I’m yet to connect with another medium like I do with wax. I quite like that now I have six or so years experience working with it, so I know how it behaves and how to manipulate it in a way I would have to relearn if I changed tack.

Perhaps it’s a bit individualistic of me, but I pride myself on the fact that I’ve had to teach myself it all. There’s no guidebook to melting Crayola until it looks like a song – or if there is, I haven’t read it. For the first few years I didn’t use any ‘professional’ artists’ tools like palette knives to manipulate the hot wax, I used old debit cards and membership cards. Sometimes I still use them but… they also melt, so they can’t get too hot. I only upgrade to traditional artists’ tools when I feel that what I’m using isn’t the best tool for the job, so to speak. The heat gun I use is Bosch.

There is a type of painting called encaustic painting or hot wax painting, where you melt beeswax and add pigment to it, but I don’t know if that definition is broad enough to include what I do.

I see what I do as something closer to a language than a painting, because it feels more like a translation than an interpretation.
Libby Ayres

Every so often someone tells me I “should” be using acrylic paints instead, but I don’t like what I make being seen as inferior because I use cheaper materials. I think the quote unquote world of art is past art being made using the most expensive materials, and it’s now more about the piece itself. I think Tracey Emin’s My Bed reflects that, and it was first exhibited over 20 years ago.

Experimenting with acrylic is certainly on my list, but it’s not at the top. I’m more interested in what I can create with mediums like collage or spray paint.

From left to right: *(Sittin’ On)* *the Dock of the Bay* by Otis Reading; *Clementine* by Halsey; *January* by David Walker

Which song has been the most difficult to paint and why?

When I just started painting, I found every song hard! It took me a few years to be really satisfied that what was on the canvas accurately reflected what I experienced.

Logistically, two stand out. I found Vital Signs by Frank Turner a pain – literally. It was quite a big canvas and it needed a variety of coloured dashes along the diagonal. One of the disadvantages of painting with hot wax is that to make sure the paint doesn’t run when you don’t want it to, you need the canvas to be flat. That meant I spent about four hours squatting over the canvas to get it right. I still hurt the next day, but it was worth it.

The other piece that springs to mind was a triptych of There’s No Such Thing As A Jaggy Snake. It was the first triptych I’d painted, and it remains the only one, and deciding both the logistics and how to divide the painting over three canvases was tricky.

Whenever I get a commission to do a song that I’m very fond of, I find it especially hard. A good example is Lua by Bright Eyes, which is from my favourite album, ever, I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning. I delayed and delayed doing this until I couldn’t anymore. I put too much pressure on myself to get it right the first time. Sometimes songs I love are the easiest to paint, sometimes they’re agonisingly hard.

As a freelance artist, how would you like to develop your art and business?

The problem I face at the minute is that it’s not very accessible. At fairs or online, there’s a lot of preamble to explain what synaesthesia is before people really “understand” the paintings. As you’ve mentioned, painting with wax is unusual and I want to better understand the art of the possible in using it as a medium. I’m trying to get into painting landscapes. Growing up I visited a lot of small galleries in Wales and Scotland where the walls were filled with local artists’ work, almost always landscapes of the nearby coastline or moors. I think that’s a world I want to move into.

Equally, there’s so much I could do with synaesthesia beyond painting songs. I could move into the world of painting people’s voices – or laughter! – or how cities or the countryside appear to me.

Another problem is that the vast majority of people are interested in a specific song for a commission. I can only think of one occasion where I’ve painted the same song twice. That means there’s no substantial market in prints, which have a higher margin. I feel there’s a culture of shying away from discussing money in the world of independent artists, but it’s a tricky topic that deserves light shining on it. We make something and deserve to be remunerated for it, but there’s often a discrepancy between the worth of a piece in the eye of the buyer and seller. Some people tell me I’m charging far too much, some people say I should be charging much more.

At the start of the year I worked with a band, Blood Like Honey, to create the cover for their single Rooftop Beach. The projects I like best are when I get to work with someone on something and this was one of those.

There are many avenues I would like to explore with both synaesthesia and wax. If nothing else, all this time cooped up indoors is giving me an opportunity to investigate some of them!

Interview: Jessica Howell

Thought Bubble’s Lisa Wood on the comic art industry

Thought Bubble is the largest comic art festival in the UK, taking place across Yorkshire and based for the first time this year in Harrogate convention centre from 4th – 10th November 2019.

This year Thought Bubble will host artists whose work is known and loved all over the world, with guests and exhibitors attending representing Marvel, DC, Black Horse, Image, The Walking Dead, Rick & Morty, Star Wars, Nickelodeon, Netflix, The Guardian, New York Times, and countless more.

Leeds-born and based Lisa Wood founded Thought Bubble to bring artists together, with the festival now moving into its 13th year, celebrating all of Yorkshire with their move to the new North Yorkshire based site. As well as founding Thought Bubble, Lisa is an internationally acclaimed comic book artist, currently working on Scarlet Witch for Marvel and All Star Batman for DC. She also recently received the Bob Clampett Humanitarian Award from San Diego Comic Con for her community work with Thought Bubble – all achieved from her rural Yorkshire home.

Here Lisa tells us of her start in the industry, her motivation for a far-reaching festival, and the future of Thought Bubble.

How did you get your start in the comic art industry?

I’ve always loved art. As a child I used to go to Batley market with my Dad to pick up my weekly comics which I loved getting! That’s definitely where my love of comics came from.

After that I went to Bradford university and studied Art & Design there. I dabbled in some freelance illustration after that, but because it’s so difficult to start a career in freelance illustration, and art generally, I was working other jobs around that time.

I trained as a 35mm projectionist at an art house cinema, alongside that I was working part time in several comic shops. One of those comic shops was Travelling Man, it was there that I decided I wanted to set up Thought Bubble – that was back in 2007.

The festival is in its 13^th year now and it’s just huge! It’s amazing to see it grow and grow each year. Alongside all of that, I started drawing comic books about eight years ago which has become my main profession.

What was the first comic art project you worked on and what has shaped your style since?

I kind of did a few different ones all at the same time… the first one I ever did was during Thought Bubble: through the festival we set up an anthology and collected stories from our guests, selling the anthologies and donating the profits to the children’s charity, Barnardo’s. I did a short comic book in that with film director Stuart Gordon who is probably most well-known for the film, The Animator. That was published by Image Comics and the first comics work I did.

Very quickly after that I did the cover for Elephant Men as well as about five pages of interiors for Elephant Men #54. That was around the time I set up social media pages and started sharing my work on Instagram, Tumblr, Twitter etc. I was posting illustrations up on there and ended up getting work from people like DC from that. That was my first big bit of comics work, working on DC’s Vertigo.

Getting started in Leeds, did you ever find that you had difficulty reaching out to the comic art community?

Not really, while I was working at Travelling Man I was surrounded by a lot of people in the comics industry, a lot of writers and artists. I think we’re quite lucky in the North of England to have a lot of people working for the big American publishers, that’s made it quite easy to speak to people, to find friends, and get them involved.

I think the only drawback we’ve had regionally has been getting publicity for the shows. We’ve found a lot of the press is very London-centric and so they don’t tend to cover things in the North so much. In terms of getting the actual comics industry involved though, that’s been no problem, from the beginning we’ve had so much support!

What was your main motivation for the creation of Thought Bubble and how has that motivation been realised over the years?

When I set up Thought Bubble 13 years ago, the main thing I wanted to do was to use the medium of comic books as a learning tool, to help young people and adults with literacy issues. I wanted to put on free workshops and create a stronger support network for them.

I struggled with dyslexia growing up and left school unable to read or write properly. My experience of education was quite bad in that regard. The way I really learnt to read and write was through comic books and it showed me what a powerful medium it is and the impact it can have on young people with these problems.

I love to read now but I don’t feel like I’d be able to do that if I didn’t have those comics at the beginning. I really feel comics are a medium in their own right, an incredible medium for adults or anyone to read now. That’s why I set up Thought Bubble, it was that community aspect. That’s also something we’ve been able to grow with support from The Arts Council, The Charlie Adlard Foundation and comiXology.

How will the move from Leeds to Harrogate make the convention more accessible for a wider Yorkshire audience?

It opens up opportunities to more people in rural areas around North Yorkshire, it’s much easier to get to for those people while remaining very easy to get to for people in say Leeds (where we’re still based).

The projects you have developed through Thought Bubble have been far-reaching and so inclusive of diverse groups and backgrounds. How would you like to continue supporting people through the festival?

We just want to continue doing what we’ve always done! We’ve put together some more ambitious funding applications to various organisations to help further our outreach work and constantly getting in touch with new organisations and working alongside existing partners. Those existing partners include some really valuable organisations like Leeds Autism services, asylum seekers & refugees organisation and Leeds LGBT organisations.

We work very hard each year to bring as diverse a group of guests as we can, that’s something we’re going to be working very hard on in the next few years.

Which comic character would you say you share the most traits with?

Uhhhhh! That’s a really hard question… Not a comic book character, but one I feel could be adapted very easily is Napoleon Dynamite. I feel more similar to him than any other fictional character I know…

For more information, including a full line-up and to buy tickets, see the Thought Bubble website.

Storylines Interior Design: How to make your home office work for you

Ilkley-based Interior Designer, Caroline Ann of Storylines unites beauty and function to create dynamic and stylish residential and commercial spaces whilst supporting local trades, artisans and designers. With so many of us now utilising our homes as a workspace, Caroline lists her top five ways to make a home office work in our favour.

Working from home is such a joy. The flexibility. The (relative) freedom. No commute. No 9 ’til 5. But is your work space everything you deserve it to be?

It’s far too easy to neglect your home office space, but the reality is you probably spend rather a lot of time there. One of the benefits of working from home is that your work space should be as comfortable and personal as the rest of your home. So, here are a few tips to make your office space work that little bit harder for you.

ALLOCATE A SPACE

This sounds obvious, but make sure you allocate a space. No more dining table or sofa. This is even more important if you can’t dedicate a separate room to it. Whether it’s a little nook, the spare room or a space on the landing, make sure you claim it for your own. It helps stop the work/home blur and ensures you have a proper space to focus in.

INVEST

Sometimes you have to make-do, but if you can, invest in the important pieces. You spend a lot of time sat at your desk, so it needs to be comfy. But don’t feel you have to be restricted to conventional office furniture. As long as it offers the comfort and support you need to sit there for long periods, be as creative as you like. There’s also plenty of design-led ergonomical furniture now, so shop around and find something you love. Don’t compromise.

BE PRACTICAL

Good designs work aesthetically and practically. This is all the more important in a work space. Storage is key, but that doesn’t mean you need to stick to the traditional office filing cabinet. Be realistic about your storage and filing requirements though. You might love a minimal look and think you can make do with limited storage provision. But if the reality is a “minimal” look with papers all over the floor, it doesn’t look or feel so great. Good storage doesn’t need to be expensive. Be creative; try adding some rustic wooden shelves for texture and to avoid a corporate feel.

LIGHTING

Good ambient and task lighting is essential for work spaces. Ideally an office space will have plenty of natural light but if that’s not the case for your space, think about how best to create a light, bright space. Recessed downlights can be a simple solution, and then you can play around with some plug-in options. Find a funky desk lamp, and have fun with some feature lighting too. Work the industrial vibe with simple wire cage pendants or be playful with string lights. There are plenty of plug-in wall light options too which work well.

ADD TEXTURE

It’s no secret that I love sheepskins but there’s no easier way to add softness, warmth and texture to a space. Just adding a rug makes a work space more homely, more personal. It’s also a great way to zone your workspace or add a touch of colour or pattern. Even just adding a throw over your office chair makes it just that little bit more inviting.

MAKE IT PERSONAL

No one wants to work in a sterile space. Make it personal; style it up. Add a photo gallery wall or frame a couple of those pictures your little one brought back from school. Buy that cool stationary and add some plants. It’ll brighten up your office, and your day. And if it helps to justify it, remember it’s for work!

Getting to know Clemency Jones: Designer & Maker, Formes

Featured in Issue Two of NRTH LASS, Formes is a modern and artistic brand with a focus on the wearable everyday white tee. The brand’s Leeds-based Founder, Designer and Maker, Clemency Jones doesn’t believe in fast fashion; instead, she concludes that clothes should take time to make and be timeless to wear. From an environmentally progressive supplier and solvent free ink to zero waste, Formes is in-house, local and kind to our planet. It’s also extremely kind to our bodies – the iconic tees are comfortable to boot.

Sharing those initial steps in the pursuit of an ethical brand, from the conception and design, to the development she hopes to journey on for her brand, Clemency Jones proves why she’s one to watch, and one to get behind.

NRTH LASS: Why did you decide to set up your own business?

Clemency: It actually started from the products – I was drawing on t-shirts for myself before I thought of it as a business. I only started selling them because there was an art fair coming up that my friends run in Leeds – A Print Fair Called Skint Fair. They’d put me down to have a stall, so I needed something to sell! I made a batch of 12 t-shirts, all hand-drawn with fabric markers, and they sold pretty well. This gave me the confidence to try and pursue it a bit more properly; I decided to create a whole brand around the t-shirts, started screen-printing, and it grew from there. In a more personal respect, this all started while I was off work due to stress and family issues. Having a creative outlet was vital for me; a project that was totally mine and that I could work on steadily was immensely beneficial to my mental health during a really difficult period.

NRTH LASS: What was your background before Formes?

Clemency: At university I studied History of Art with Museum Studies, but had also worked as a stylist and in the wardrobe department for TV and commercials, I really loved both but couldn’t see myself pursuing either long term. Post-Uni I had the common ‘what now?!’ crisis, and I worked in retail for a bit. I think this mix of experiences was quite educational; even though at the time I felt a bit lost and unable to stick to one thing, in hindsight I’ve been able to see how both large businesses are run and how independent creatives make a name for themselves.

NRTH LASS: Why have you chosen to focus on plain white t-shirts?

Clemency: White t-shirts can be worn by anyone – I think they’re the antithesis of elitist clothing. They are practical and easy to wear, for many different people in many different contexts. For me, there seemed to be no point in creating something that was aesthetically pleasing but that people wouldn’t wear again and again. It’s also about using a known favourite to create something different, infusing an artistic element into an everyday item. I was fed up with high-street fashion, but can’t deny its widespread appeal and popularity. I wanted to harness the adaptability of high-street fashion, the fact that items are easy to wear and designed for the everyday, but also create something with a bit more personality and individuality. But unlike most high-street items I intended to make something sustainable, ethical and long-lasting.

It also boils down to practicality for me as the maker; plain white t-shirts are a great canvas to work on, perfect for screen-printing, and it’s now easy enough to source good quality organic cotton t-shirts that are ethically produced.

The combination of an artistic sensibility and a commitment to functionality is at the heart of Formes; I consider my products to be creative workwear.

NRTH LASS: Where do you draw inspiration from when creating your designs?

Clemency: My love of modern art feeds into Formes a lot. Originally my designs were inspired solely by the works of Matisse – I think his ability to create astoundingly evocative images with such simplicity is incredible. Now my designs are inspired by modern artists of the 20th century more broadly, in both concept and formal result. For example, I looked at the sculptural forms of Barbara Hepworth and her use of negative space, which resulted in my Empty Spaces t-shirt, while the inspiration for my Brushstrokes tee was the creative process itself, and the irony of replicating the unique marks of a brush through the repetitive medium of screen-printing.

I am constantly referring back to art history books for inspiration, but tend to sit down with nothing in front of me and try to fill pages of a sketch book with rough drawings. Influences come through organically, and often it is only once I have picked out my favourite rough designs and refined them that I realise what has particularly inspired me.

NRTH LASS: Who is your favourite designer and how have they inspired you?

Clemency: I don’t think I have one favourite designer, my wardrobe has always been mostly made up of second-hand items – I think it’s the God of Jumble Sales that I look up to most! Second-hand clothing has definitely influenced my brand as I’m used to adapting pieces and fitting them into my everyday – which is essentially what Formes does with the plain white t-shirt.

NRTH LASS: How would you like Formes to progress in the future?

Clemency: I want it to grow organically; Formes is very much a slow-fashion brand and I really take it at my own pace. Sustainability and ethics are at the heart of Formes and any progression needs to be based around that. I’ve recently branched out from t-shirts to produce some multi-purpose pouches with our signature Eyes motif screen-printed on, and with these I’ve also experimented a bit with colour, using techniques like a split fountain and some neon inks. I mainly chose to do this because I found some gorgeous natural organic cotton pouches from a great supplier, and there were some interesting pots of neon ink leftover in the studio. Using stuff that would otherwise be thrown away and combining it with high-quality, sustainable goods really appeals to me.

I’m thinking of doing some long-sleeved t-shirts next, and maybe some other colours. I’m also hoping to have a couple of new stockists in the UK and abroad soon, which would be really exciting.

NRTH LASS: Why have you chosen to stay local to develop your business?

Clemency: Keeping everything local has been an incidental consequence of doing almost everything myself and needing to keep costs down. I became a member of Leeds Print Workshop when I wanted to get back into screen-printing, and the support I found there was brilliant. I now print all of my products at my mate Joe’s studio in Hope House. He runs No Brand, an independent screen-printing service from his studio, as well as a brilliant t-shirt shop in the Corn Exchange. He’s taught me so much.

Leeds has an amazing sense of community, and it has been integral to the starting of my business – I owe a lot to the city and all the creatives in it!

NRTH LASS: What’s the best advice you’ve received during the setting up and running of your business?

Clemency: It’s not so much advice, but I have frequent reminders from the people closest to me that this is my own project and I can take it at whatever pace I want. I’m working to my own deadlines and there is absolutely no reason to get stressed about things. As soon as I start to feel stressed I take a step back and remind myself why I started Formes and what it means to me. I’m the boss and if things take a little longer than planned, that’s ok.

NRTH LASS: What would your advice be for anyone looking to set up a similar venture?

Clemency: To just start creating and test out ideas on your friends and family, listen to their feedback and start small – at first I had ideas of doing a crazy amount of designs and products, but honing my ideas down to one collection of four designs really helped me to forge my brand’s identity. Similarly, right at the beginning I filled a page with words associated with the brand I wanted to create, before doing anything else. This made me feel really confident in knowing what Formes is and what it stands for.

Also, lead with your strengths and work on everything else in due course; I love designing and making, and that’s what fills me with joy and excitement. The business side of things has always been a bit daunting, and if I’d focused on that I would have stopped before I’d even started. I made sure I was proud of my products first, and now the rest of it doesn’t feel like such hard work. I’m currently taking an online business course so that I can do myself and my products justice.

Image credit: Jo Crawford and Bean Studios