How do you go from working as a publicity officer for Her Majesty?s Stationery Office, to running your own pub and then working magic on photos for a living? Sarah Thexton, 42, tells motherswhowork.co.uk just how she did that, along with caring for a husband and a six-year-old daughter.
What work did you do before you set up Photo Fairytales (www.PhotoFairytales.co.uk)?
Up until 2000, I worked mainly within theatre marketing and publishing. I had studied art and design, but fell into a marketing career following a spell of work experience. In fact, most of my career seemed somewhat ?accidental? – or at the very least, not particularly planned!
I went on to become a publicity officer and then marketing manager at two different major regional theatres. In the mid-90?s I changed career and started working in publishing, becoming a publicity officer in the publishing section of Her Majesty?s Stationery Office (HMSO).
Then in 2000, my career took the most divergent turn of all. My husband had worked in catering for many years, and we had always talked about the idea of running our own business one day. And so we ended up buying our own pub – a typical thatched country pub with open fires and beamed ceilings! The pub had been closed and ceased trading months before we took it on, and I needed to put all my marketing experience into increasing trade.
In the first year we managed to become shortlisted in the top three UK pubs in a national competition for ?Newcomers of the Year?, ?Family Pub of the Year? and ?Marketing Pub of the Year?! We continued working together until, after giving birth to our lovely little girl just two days before the end of 2002, I gave up work to become a full-time mum. Then, once Amy was in school full-time I was able to put PhotoFairytales into action.
How did you fund PhotoFairytales.co.uk business?
In order to fund the purchase of the pub, we had downsized our home and cashed in every penny we possibly could. My husband was still running the business, and I wanted to ensure that anything I did was as risk free as possible. I basically wanted to set up my business for as little as I possibly could – or free, which was even better! That was my mantra in the beginning, and remains so – I haven?t raised any outside funding at all. I have only used a tiny amount of my savings, less than around ?250 in total – a real business on a budget! This makes it hard work, of course, and I find I have to be constantly inventive. But it is such a rewarding experience to be able to think I have created something from virtually nothing – even my website was set up totally free.
What was the motivating factor for starting your own business?
I always wanted to go back to work eventually after having Amy, but felt strongly that I wanted to wait until she started school properly. I felt that those pre-school years were so precious, and it didn?t feel right for us to consider childcare. And so, as the time approached when Amy was due to start at school full-time, I began to seriously think about what I wanted to do. My main criteria was to find something that could work around both school hours and those of my husband?s job and provide a degree of flexibility, but not far behind was the need to find something that would be rewarding and challenging. I started thinking about the idea of running my own business as a way of being able to achieve that work-life balance.
I wanted to get back into work because, although I loved being a full time mummy, I felt I wanted to reawaken the other part of me that had been set aside after having Amy. It probably took a good year or more of thinking, planning, plotting, and talking before I started PhotoFairytales. Yet, in a way, this was probably a great way to start a business. Now I come to think about it, PhotoFairytales is probably the most planned my career has ever been!
I think becoming a mother is a great beginning to start from with your own business. It seems when you become a mum you hit the ground running from the second they?re born – never, never have I had to be so organised and forward thinking, so capable of thinking around corners or on my feet! From the moment Amy was born, as proud parents we took hundreds of photos of her every move. From time to time I would play around with these photos and create fun little images of her – perhaps peeking out of a rose, or transformed into a fairy. It was this hobby that sprung to mind when I started thinking about starting my own business.
So, I spent a good few months honing my skills and designing images and themes, and eventually had a collection of designs I felt ready to put on show to the world. Since then, my PhotoFairytales website has grown and I not only create digitally enhanced images from customers? ordinary photos, but also lots of other personalised gifts too, including fun spoof magazine covers and newspapers.
What do you enjoy most about running your own business?
Where to start? I know it?s still early days, but I have to honestly say that I enjoy every part of it. I love the fact that I wear so many ?hats? – from creative designer, to marketing expert, to admin executive – I even (quite!) enjoy the book keeping side of things! It?s hard to get bored when you run your own business. I love the fact that I do have the flexibility to work around family life too – if it?s a sunny day after school I can take my daughter to the park with her friends, or down to the beach for a picnic. Due to the nature of my business, I can catch up on work later and I don?t have to work specific hours. I would never be able to do that if I worked as an employee.
Running a business can be a mixed bag sometimes. What have been you highs and lows so far?
For me, the ?low? is when the orders aren?t flowing enough! I have to remind myself that it is early days, and I am working on a budget, but it can be tough when you have a great product or service and people don?t seem to be taking notice! I try to push those negative feelings aside, and throw myself into more marketing and networking – and when that work gets results that is a great feeling. I experience a ?high? every single time I get feedback from my customers. I?m so proud of the fact that I have received such wonderful praise, and it always astounds me that people take the time to write and tell me how pleased they are with their order. I still – still – get butterflies whenever I send a piece of artwork off to a customer for approval, but I don?t think that?s a bad thing – I want to make sure what I send is as good as it can possibly be, and I never want to lose that feeling. Oh, and when I ask a customer how she found my site and I get told ?my friend recommended you? – that?s a very, very good feeling!
How have you managed to stay on top of your career with the demands of motherhood while running a business?
When you run your own business it can be so easy to become blinkered – I know when we started running our pub that is exactly what happened. We were working so hard at building up trade that we forgot about why we were doing it in the first place. I think it is important to maintain perspective – do you live to work, or work to live? When you run your own business those boundaries do get a little blurred, and especially in the early days you will work for more hours than you get paid for. I simply try to be flexible – in both directions. If the sun is shining, work stops after school for a few hours and I catch up later in the evening. If I have a lot of orders and work to do, my family have to accept that too. It helps to have your family behind you and for everyone to understand that there won?t always be home-cooked food on the table every night, or an empty washing basket, unless we all pitch in. Basically, it?s all about compromise, flexibility, seizing the moment, and keeping focus. Oh, and keeping tabs on the calendar on the kitchen wall!
How has running your business impacted on your relationship with your partner and children?
I really like the fact that Amy is being brought up in a family where mummy runs her own business. She is now six years old, and I want her to grow up being confident in the knowledge that she can achieve the things she wants to. She takes such a keen interest in my work (she was the inspiration behind it after all), and she will often peek over my shoulder and offer opinions on my work – and I have to say, I listen to her because she has some great ideas!
My husband is very supportive, too, and it helps that he runs his own business. We can understand and empathise with dilemmas and situations that occur in one another?s businesses. It has taken him a while to understand that I?m now working and so he has to take back some of the responsibilities around the house (I?ll be honest, that was a hurdle!), but we?re getting there.
Any tips for expectant mums, or mothers who feel that you can’t have a successful career and a happy family life at the same time?
I think you need to take time to work out what your priorities are, and what you want to achieve. Yes, working for yourself gives you flexibility, a great sense of achievement, and can offer a degree of satisfaction and fulfilment that very few jobs can. However, it can also be hard work for little financial reward in the early days, so you need to be committed and to have the ability to keep up the pace from day one.
More than anything, I think you need the support and understanding of your family. My main goal as far as my daughter was concerned, was not to have a negative impact on her life – I don?t want to prevent her from being able to have friends round for tea, or to not be there to walk her home? from school or help her with homework, and I believe I?ve pretty much achieved that.
I have always been a very house proud person, and I like our family life to be well run, organised and comfortable. I like to have meals that are cooked from scratch and an empty washing basket! In the early days I did find myself getting stressed that I wasn?t achieving all that I used to around the home – but I remember that I?m human and can?t be in two places at once. If I can put up with a little dust anyone can, and it does my family good to take out the rubbish or put the hoover round: it?s character building!!
