crafty fox talk: the nuts and bolts of running a creative business

as many of you will already know, last week I had been invited to speak at the latest edition of Crafty Fox Talks, run by Sinead and Stephan, the dynamic duo behind the Crafty Fox Markets! the Crafty Fox Talks cover a range of topics, a new one each time, looking at setting up and running an independent business. that they invited me to be a speaker was an enormous honour - and I'm so incredibly grateful for the opportunity to share my story.

there were three speakers at the event - myself and Caroline Rowland from 91 Magazine were telling everyone a bit about the journey that got us to where we are now, and sharing some of our tips and tricks we learnt along the way. it was a very open brief in terms of what I needed to cover in my talk, and I rewrote it about four times! I wanted to share my story, but in a way that was totally open and honest, not sugar coating it in any way as it has been a tough journey! as I am with any form of public speaking, I was incredibly nervous beforehand. when I got up to speak I realised my hand was shaking which was very embarrassing! but it was such an incredible audience, and they laughed in all the right places, and I really got into it. (please ignore the really awkward photos of me - I just wanted to prove to you all, and myself, that I was there!)

(all photos are courtesy of the incredible akamarthaloves)

the best part about the Crafty Fox Talks is speaking to people afterwards. working on your own all day is incredibly lonely, so getting to meet with so many like-minded people, who totally GET who I am, and what I do, and what I'm going through, is amazing. I had the BEST time. thank you to everyone who came, particularly everyone who stopped to tell me how much they enjoyed my talk afterwards. it was so encouraging, and I hope my words helped settle some of those fears and doubts that we all inevitably experience! I can't wait to do more talks like this - I love being able to share my knowledge with others and helping others grow their businesses. I will announce my new speaking dates once they are confirmed, but in the meantime I still have some spots available for one to one business mentoring at very reasonable rates. if you'd like to know more just drop me an email at ladybirdlikes@hotmail.co.uk xoxo