Lisa Smith - Art Therapist to Ginger Baker
“You can’t start a business unless you just…start! Have a go and then evolve it in a way that feels natural for you. You don’t need to take giant leaps or risks.”
“I’m not stuck with a bad boss or a work situation that doesn’t suit me. I love holding the power of my future fairly and squarely in my own two hands.”
Overview of earlier career.
Lisa followed her passion into an industrial design degree before travelling, doing a couple of ski-seasons and relocating to Hong Kong to teach both English and Design. By the time she wanted to return to UK, she had become disheartened by the design industry and re-trained in Art Therapeutics before spending many great years working with children with learning difficulties in schools.
While doing work that she loved, Lisa also met her husband who was in a similar field and they decided to relocate back to his stunning homeland, the Lake District.
The trigger for change?
“The only real trigger for my change was a lack of enough therapeutic work to sustain me in the local area.
I’d always baked for friends and family and enjoyed it. So, I began to bake cakes for a local café to supplement my income until I could build up enough work in Art Therapy.
It was early 2000s and the British food scene was really exciting. Farmers’ markets were booming and there were endless opportunities for individuals to get involved and offer their products to new interested, excited customers.
After 18months of making cakes for the local café, I decided to take fate into my own hands and bake for myself.
There was no big life change or any grand plan…it just gradually happened. There was no conscious decision about my future, I just knew that I would enjoy working for myself.
So, I did.
I began my business in my kitchen, 13 years ago.”
First steps?
“I baked an awful lot. I trailed myself and my cakes around so many farmers’ markets and promoted the business everywhere. People liked my products and bought more. Over time, I began to gain traction.
I just loved the feeling of being creative. I loved getting stuck in with my own hands. I found it really rewarding doing it for myself, in my own way. Just slowly and steadily growing the business.
In my family, I’m surrounded by individuals who own their own businesses, so I wasn’t that daunted by going it alone. Even though it felt like business ownership was in my DNA, I still needed to learn lots along the way.”
What Lisa has learned?
· “I realised that creating something that gives others pleasure is important to me.
This is one of my great drivers. There is emotion and comfort built into my cakes, more emotion than there ever could have been in any nuts and bolts creation from my design days.
· Have confidence in your products and yourself.
In those early days, I worried too much about if I would be taken seriously. I didn’t have enough confidence about being a business owner and felt intimidated. I could have eased my pain by asking for help. My confidence developed slowly, over time.
· Seek out help early.
There is so much help out there, but in the early days, I didn’t take advantage of it. I was too caught up in worrying about what others were thinking or just feeling anxious that I was doing it all wrong.
· Try to get to grips with the business behind your business earlier than I did.
If I were to start again, I would approach it differently. My approach was to start with the best product I could come up with and worry about the business behind it later. I’ve since met other creatives who often come from corporate backgrounds who have imbedded a good business structure from the beginning. I didn’t really grab the business by the horns in the early days.
· Do business your way, instinctively.
There isn’t a wrong way to do business even if it seems like it when you start out.
· Be transparent about yourself and your business.
I am known in the local area for being very open to having conversations and to helping others out. For that reason, I have good relationships with journalists and other business owners. That has meant that I have accidentally secured lots of different little bits of PR, here and there. I enjoy helping others out. What goes around comes around.
· You can’t start a business unless you just…start!
Have a go and then evolve it in a way that feels natural for you. You don’t need to take giant leaps or risks.
· Try not to give yourself such a hard time.
I gave myself an awful hard time in the beginning thinking I was doing it all wrong but in fact I was doing everything just fine. There are many ways of doing business. You just have to find one that suits you.
· Don’t waste time waiting for the perfect moment.
Decide the right moment to start for yourself and just take it. Then see what happens. If it doesn’t work, you can tweak it for the better and then keep going.
· Speak to as many people as you can to avoid re-inventing the wheel and to get some reassurance that you are on the right track.
This will help you tweak a business earlier rather than later when you have invested more.
· Resilience. If you are creating any personal business, you’ll need to have plenty of resilience and expect it to be tested regularly.
You’ll need to build up your reserves so that you are strong enough to pick yourself up, dust yourself down and keep moving onwards. My resilience reserves have certainly been tested in recent years. The floods of 2015 wiped out my business premises AND wrecked my home. But I started again. I also spent last year undergoing cancer treatment.
· All good things start small
My little business began in my home kitchen but we have grown and developed over 13 years and now have a fantastic team of eight.”
How it feels on the days when Liz knows she has made the right decision?
“Gosh, it’s the best thing ever!
I love being in control! I feel empowered by my personal control. This is my own creation. I’m responsible for everything. If it doesn’t work, there’s no one else to blame.
I don’t have anyone else but me to point the finger at and that is very freeing. I’m not stuck with a bad boss or a work situation that doesn’t suit me. I love holding the power of my future fairly and squarely in my own two hands.”
Regrets?
None!
Find out more about Lisa and her Ginger Bakers
Website: www.gingerbakers.co.uk
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ginger_bakers
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GingerBakersKendal/
