I am 27 years old, live in Llandrindod Wells with my partner in life and business, Matt. I moved to Wales last summer after living abroad since the age of seven. I met Matt working for a Bushcraft company for kids and moved to Llandrindod to settle down. It became apparent pretty quickly that due to the lack of opportunities in my field of work (Forest School / Early Years) I'd have to make my own job.
In October of last year I gathered a group of lovely people to form a committee for a small charity organisation called Local Roots. Our aim being to "foster a love for nature and community." This structure enabled us to apply for a grant to buy equipment and other basic start up costs, allowing us to begin running Forest School sessions. Nine months down the line our little business is going really well. We are fully booked for our After School Club and even have children on the waiting list! So far we have delivered sessions to local schools as well as nurseries and home educators. We got very busy very quickly, so much so that Matt had to quit is full-time job and give me an extra hand!
Local Roots is going well but it certainly didn't materialise without its fair share of snags and hardwork. In the beginning I went through a lot of hours of research, many many meetings, jumping hurdles and lots of trial and error. Next month our committee will disband, meaning that Local Roots will turn into a business partnership between myself and Matt. But every cloud has a silver lining. This new structure will allow us the freedom to be more flexible and profitable in the long run.
In addition to Local Roots I am also following another passion: natural skincare. Together with a friend we have been developing a line of natural skincare products to stock in shops as well as our mobile "Fresh Face Deli" that offers fresh, made to order face packs, serums and scrubs mixed up and bottled on the spot. Our brand is called 'ku.tIs (latin for skin and spelt phonetically). We are getting safety assessments done bit by bit, saving scraps of money here and there to invest in labelling packaging and insurance for our new business venture. 'ku.tIs is in very early days and we are just starting to test the waters at local markets and events but so far having great response.