Behind their business

We would love to introduce to you some amazing local business owners, which some of you may already know and hopefully love. These business owners have started their own businesses for different reasons and from different lifestyles. So it just goes to show you don’t have to have a specific person or have a specific life to start on your own journey and encourage, expand your dreams.

We met a lovely lady who started her own business and has gone on to help other female business owners, to help and support each other too…

‘Hi, I’m Katie and I live in Thame with my Husband, Rob and our two sons, Daniel and Jonah. Not forgetting our two daughters, Lola and Tootsie! (Bunny and tortoise!) I’m an Illustrator, Content Creator and Small Business Supporter and I LOVE what I do!

My first business started as a hobby, as many craft businesses do.
After having Postnatal depression when my second son was born, I was left with anxiety and was having anxiety attacks every day. I needed to find a hobby that could help take my mind off them but I needed to be able to do it from home when the kids were in bed.
Rob suggested I give card-making a go, so I bought a few supplies from Hobbycraft and I was immediately hooked!
I wanted to do all the things, stamping, watercolours, alcohol markers, embossing – you name it, I wanted to try it! So I did! 
Six months later, in September 2019, I had a huge pile of cards so I decided to try to sell some and share them with more than just friends and family. And that’s when Mama Bear Creates was born!

My business has changed massively since the beginning. I started with stamping and colouring, cutting and sticking and as much as I loved making the items, I knew if I ever wanted a viable business it just wasn’t going to work. Spending 6 hours on a card then being paid £3.50 for it wasn’t going to pay the bills.

During lockdown I started seeing videos on social media of people drawing digitally.
Now, I never thought of myself as a creative person but I kept watching these videos and I knew I wanted to give it a go.
I saved up and bought myself an iPad and Apple pencil and taught myself how to illustrate. A couple of years on my doodles feature in my whole shop and Mama Bear Creates is the home of colourful illustrations, stationery and accessories. The world of illustration has opened up so many new things for me and there is so much I know I can still do in the future. I love looking back at pictures and seeing how far I’ve come in my business and I’m excited for where it will go.

I’m not sure if I can choose a definitive favourite! When I drew my mushi recently, that was definitely a favourite but then I updated my ghost and created a new pattern for it and now I think that’s a favourite too! It’s like choosing a favourite child haha! In terms of products, I am LOVING my new range of earrings and you can never go wrong with a notepad! Now I just need to work on expanding the collections with more designs.

Thame Art Crawl 2023 participation

I have to admit I was REALLY nervous about taking part in the Art Crawl.
This was my first year and as a digital illustrator I have this little Imposter Syndrome monster on my shoulder telling me I’m not a real artist so who am I to take part in such an event? I very nearly backed out of applying but I’m so glad I didn’t. I loved being part of a local, community event and I loved that my work was in a shop window for a few days! 

When I bumped into people and they told me how they had seen my display and were like “I know her”, it made me feel very grateful and proud.’

We think it is fantastic that Katie has decided to help other current or aspiring female business owners, by creating a separate supportive venture.

‘Thank you! I absolutely love what I’m building at the Small Biz Society. It’s very early days and started earlier this year when I decided to set up a local accountability group. We meet each month and talk about our wins (and our losses) and set goals for the month ahead. 

I started this because I have LOVED the small business community I’ve become a part of since setting up Mama Bear Creates and I love meeting other women and bouncing ideas off them about business. 

We have a Facebook group where we can connect and support each other and in September I launched my podcast (also named Small Biz Society). In each episode I talk to a fellow female entrepreneur about their life and business, whether they’re a Mum juggling kids and a job as a hobby or they’re running their business full time with a team underneath them. I find it such an inspiration to hear their stories and I feel really lucky that women want to share them with me and my listeners.

I have BIG plans for the Small Biz Society! I’m currently working on a brand new website where I will be launching a membership as well as some courses and smaller ebooks to help businesses with things like content creating. So for now, make sure you’re in my Facebook group/following me on Instagram ready for when I launch! I have a 30 day of content ideas freebie available right now!’