The King’s Trust – Launching a business and charitable work.

. The Prince’s Trust Business Enterprise Course

. Inspiring and Supporting Young People

. Collaborating With Kelly Hoppen For Fundraising

. Live TV Experiences and Full Circle Moments

I’m Fay Martin, founder of Fay’s Studio. In this post, I delve into how I started my greeting card business by enrolling on the Prince’s Trust (now King’s Trust)business enterprise course. Follow my journey one step at a time through the blood, sweat and tears of being an entrepreneur whilst dealing with the challenges of living with 2 chronic auto-immune diseases Ulcerative Colitis and Coeliac Disease. Join in the ups and downs of a being solopreneur, and get lots of tips and tricks on how to evolve and pivot your business in an ever-changing and challenging retail landscape.

You might be here to get some info on my brand whether you’re a retailer, a designer, a start-up or you have a chronic illness and need to find something relatable, I hope you’ll find it all here.

This post goes out to those who are starting out in the work environment. Or perhaps you know someone who is young and a bit stuck on where to go for help when it comes to their first steps into business or even those needing a little extra direction for getting onto a course to help get into work or build on their confidence after a tough time.

I don’t think there’s many people today who would say their youth was easy and finding work wasn’t a struggle or that they didn’t have to do jobs that they really didn’t want to do. My first job was a dance teaching assistant, so I was pretty lucky there as I loved it, but after that I either did bar work, I worked in a bakery, and fashion retail, and a nursing home, so I got a real insight into the world of work and what I did or didn’t enjoy about all of those roles. I picked up skills along the way which I could apply in life, what I learnt from work in my youth was that I liked that very moment when someone pays for a product or service. My very first job actually I must have been 8 or 9 and my parents had fruit trees in the garden we used to bag up the glut of plums and I used to sit at a little table on a very quiet country road that led into the village with a little Tupperware pot of money and sell bags of plums to passers by, I think I had a little sign which said 1 pound for 6lbs of plums, and loved it as a kid, I think I grew up just loving coins. I used to have my own garden shed, and I used to play shop and have imaginary customers and a little till. In those days going to the sweet shop and getting real pleasure from the transaction of choosing sweets from a jar, watching it being weighed, and that friendly transaction between customer and retailer. I think that tradition is still maintained in Japan where the cash is placed into a tray and transferred from customer to vendor has a respectful way of handling the money as you present it and exchange it from one party to another. It says I worked hard for this money, here it is and the vendor takes it gratefully because they are working hard for that money and you both thank each other for your part in that transaction. I’m sure these days the effortless beep of the transaction feels like no money has been accepted or received, that there is no interaction between  customer and vendor and it’s so impersonal and meaningless. I think this further adds to our disconnect in life, we rely less and less on interaction, I find it a bit sad. Ok so I’m digressing a bit, but what I’m saying is that maybe it is a lost skill, it’s really hard to make customers feel seen and appreciated these days without that meaningful interaction, does it also make us less grateful to one another?

So where can youth today turn for help into work, to learn these skills, perhaps they struggled in school , and didn’t get to college, training or apprenticeship. In my experience, even as someone who had done well through the education system you never know what’s coming around the bend, and how an adversity might land you without work, so that’s when I went looking for help.

In 2008 when I first heard about Prince’s Trust – now the King’s Trust, all I knew was that they had a 3 day business enterprise course. I hadn’t studied business in any way so I needed to get some advice on how to get started and I thought the Trust sounded like exactly that, something which had potential and perhaps the links I needed to get my business off the ground. I guess I didn’t know what I was letting myself in for, in a good way. I had no idea about the opportunities that were coming my way, and the most unpredictable and amazing time I was going to be having in association with the charity. I would love to live these years all again so that I could really appreciate it for what it was, the best time of my life with doors opening in all directions and was such a whirlwind.

I would definitely recommend you look into the Prince’s Trust Enterprise Course if you are a business start-up and not quite sure about how to get going. Invest in the opportunity whilst you can as there is an age limit to who can apply and receive help. Plus, when you have completed the 2 to 6 day course, which depends on your location, you are then invited to a Dragon’s Den style meeting where you present your business idea and initial plan. From there, it is decided whether you have a viable business and if you are going to be offered further help including the start-up grant.

For me, it all started in Bristol where I underwent the 3 day course, the course helped me to produce my business plan which I also further developed with my allocated business mentor. The mentor is assigned to help you fill the gaps in your knowledge, skills and experience that you’re going to need. In my case it was to learn about how to forecast sales and an introduction to how a trade show works for a product based business. The most useful tool I found which I still use to this day was understanding the profit and loss and the sales forecast. At the time, I was guestimating how many cards I could realistically sell in a week or month if I have 12 agents and this many stockists, how many new products would I need to create, but in reality I was in for a big eye opener, as I have never had close to 12 agents at any given time, perhaps 4 maximum. Another really useful lesson I took from my mentor was something he once said to me, which was ‘there’s no point in winking in the dark’ which applies to when you start a business or have this amazing product it’s not amazing or making money if you don’t talk about it , promote it, market it, sell it, so I always have that in my head even when I’m having a lack lustre day, week or even a month of feeling unmotivated, winking in the dark with my products is so counter-productive.

Being associated with the Trust gave me so many new opportunities, I would often be invited along to fund raisers, where I would take my products along and guests would come and talk to me about my business and how the Trust had helped me. Guests would often buy from me at the events, and they were also there to give further donations to the charity and hear more about the work. I was often asked to speak at these events, and admittedly public speaking was something new for me, being incredibly shy then, I think was better at in the beginning when I had less nerves, and then over time I got more nervous about it as perhaps I felt the pressure more, sometimes I would just break the ice with the audience first when I got tongue tied, and just said ‘you are all making me nervous’ and so it would actually make everyone laugh and ease the tension, because no one in the room was there to see me fail, they were there to be supportive of young people so I believe that was how I got used to speaking at events. I think my lack of confidence in group scenarios just came from being bullied quite badly in secondary school, kids used to block me from being able to get off of the bus and they would shout at me, sometimes I used to get off the bus 2 miles before my stop just so I didn’t have to deal with the bullies. In one case a kid spat in my face, so things had got pretty bad at school, and I kept quiet and to myself for a long time, and you carry it with you sadly for your life, you don’t want to open up to criticism or possibly a crowd going against you. So on a side note, if you’re a young person now and you’re lacking in confidence because this is happening to you, the sooner you report it the better it is for you, because as soon as I reported it, it stopped and I was able to move on.

I was once asked to speak at a girl’s college on International Women’s Day to talk about the Trust and how I started my business. In some cases, I had to conduct group discussions and lead the conversation, it was fun to be collaborative with students. A lot of times I was there to inspire and it felt really good to be able to give back to the charity and be out there inspiring others to do the same. I was definitely braver then than I am now, but it’s just a rusty skill and something you can brush back up on.

The Trust would also hold large fundraising events where they would buy my products in bulk, at wholesale prices and then sell them at their events to raise proceeds. I was involved in Million Maker’s and ‘Grab a Grand’ which was a nationwide event in which corporate businesses were challenged to raise the most that they could for the Trust and I think the competitive element of this challenge really got people engaged, and perhaps as an office team building exercise was a lot of fun for them too.

As time went on, I was nominated in the Prince’s Trust Business Enterprise awards and went to the Celebrate Success Awards as one of 3 finalists selected from 30 businesses.

‘Celebrate Success is The Prince’s Trust recognition awards, celebrating young people who have changed their lives and those who have played a part in supporting the work of The Trust.

A series of awards recognise young people’s success in the areas of education, skills development, employment, enterprise and community.’

 

At this time I was also asked if I would become an ambassador for the trust as I had been getting involved in so many things, so I went to the induction, where some public speaking training was given, and I then took on the role which was such an honour. The training was held in Suffolk, at Leiston Hall in the grounds of the ruined abbey, there were 20 Young Ambassadors there, and we shared a dorm. The location was like a film set. It was also really humbling to hear other young people’s stories, how they had overcome some quite severe adversity already, and it was certainly a very quick way to bond with a group of others in a same boat scenario. There were heart-breaking stories of homelessness and bereavement, and at the time we all felt the lack of support for young people, and little to no business support. At the time Prince  Charles had sent a video message to us all to thank us for continuing to support the work of his trust.

We had a sort of ‘passing out parade’ where we were each presented with our ambassador business cards, an ambassador badge pin to be able to wear at events.

In November 2010, my first event as an ambassador took place at a high school in Bristol. It’s fair to say that I did feel a bit of pressure walking in to a class of teenagers, to do myself and the trust proud and to represent my business too. It was a little nerve wracking to stand in front of a class of 30 15 year olds, but actually the majority seemed very interested in what I had to say and gave some good feedback to my questions throughout the lesson.

There were lots of talented pupils at Fairfield as it was a specialist visual and performing arts school, and many of the pupils I spoke to were keen to start their own businesses when they were older. I met students who aspired to be fashion designers and computer game programmers.

Most of the pupils weren’t aware of the Prince’s Trust so I explained what the charity does, and who they can help. The pupils seemed interested to know that the Prince’s Trust can help people into business, or into careers in music through the ‘Get Into’ programme. The Prince’s Trust also helps people who are under achieving at school, have come out of care, who have a history of alcohol and drug abuse, who have been homeless or in trouble with the law, and those who have been unemployed for 6 months or more. There are many programmes that help children from 11 yrs to adults of 30 yrs. I believe it used to be from 14yrs of age, but I guess they’ve moved the goalposts because of where we are today.

Another time I spoke at a boarding school assembly of 300 girls. I told them about my business, and how they were all being asked to start up their own small enterprises as part of their lessons to help raise money for the prince’s trust. The girls had to go away and work on their ideas. The Trust fed back to me that the girls had been really inspired and I was invited back to further help them develop their businesses.

Not much later, my role as a Young Ambassador for the King’s Trust took me to the Bristol office of Ernst & Young, to mark the 100th Anniversary of International Women’s Day. I was invited to speak as an ‘Inspirational Woman’ who had been through the Prince’s Trust Business Enterprise programme.

Ernst & Young had raised thousands of pounds for the Prince’s Trust when they got involved with the ‘Million Makers‘ scheme that ran across the country. They too had their own Entrepreneurial Winning Women Programme to help accelerate the growth of women-owned businesses, and each year did something special to mark the occasion.

I always felt nervous before speaking to groups, but everyone was really friendly and keen to find out more about me and my business. As they had invested a lot of their time, energy and money into supporting the Prince’s Trust, they had real enthusiasm, and were keen to ask me lots of questions. It was great to be an example of success nurtured through the Business Enterprise programme, and to show that the Prince’s Trust are such an important charity to raise funds for.

 

Celebrate Success Awards                                Million Makers at Ernst and Young              The Red Dinner in Clifton, Bristol

In March 2011, I was invited to speak at an event where Rob Law MBE the founder of Trunki was speaking. If you know ‘Trunki’ from Dragon’s Den, Rob was rejected from the Den as Theo Paphitis broke the prototype, but Rob went to the prince’s trust for help in business, which always makes a crowd laugh, as he later went on to sell Trunki for a reported £12m.

It was after this event that I was contacted by the Trust to be told that I was being nominated for Prince’s Trust Young Ambassador of the year, and you guessed it, another awards ceremony was to follow.

In late October 2011 I was invited to speak at a dinner at the Palace of Westminster, I was whisked off down to London, and we were escorted through to a very grand dining room which overlooked the thames. At midday 40 guests arrived, I think smaller groups felt even more nerve wracking for some reason. I was in amongst all kinds of people from tv producers from Channel 4, to Lords, probably the weirdest dinner I’ll ever get to have, but my speech went well despite nerves, and the audience were really engaged, I had 10 minutes to speak, and my hope was that they would grasp how just £1000 helped me to get my business off the ground, alongside all of the support they continued to give my business over the years.

Monday 14th May 2012 saw the launch of the Prince’s Trust new national campaign called ‘Tomorrow‘. Tomorrow embodied the vision at the very heart of The Prince’s Trust, that they believe every young person should have the chance to succeed. The campaign championed the young talent of Britain and paired 6 individuals with a well-known mentor in their field of business.

I was really fortunate to have been selected for the campaign, and was chosen by Interior Designer Kelly Hoppen MBE to collaborate and design some home products together to help raise funds for the Prince’s Trust which we would go on to sell exclusively through Kelly’s QVC shopping channel.

The campaign was featured in the Sunday Times Style on 13th May which kicked off the launch.

Kelly and I first met at the photo shoot for the campaign, at the Rankin studio in London. Rankin is a renowned photographer, founder of Dazed & Confused magazine, and has photographed the likes of The Rolling Stones, The Queen and Madonna. Film crew were onsite to take footage throughout the day , and interview the 6 Ambassadors and the 6 celebrities, Kelly Hoppen, Rankin, Zhandra Rhodes, Liz Earle, Gizzi Erskine and Wayne Hemmingway. So of course, the 6 young people were into, photography, design, cooking, fashion design and skin care .

The Tomorrow campaign highlighted how difficult things had become for me a few years prior and how I felt as another young person in the queue at the job centre. I was interviewed about the Tomorrow campaign and what we were aiming to achieve in our collaborations, and by working with Kelly, demonstrating how I could transfer my design skills to a product, I hoped to inspire other young people into creative businesses and to raise money for the charity.

I was really excited about working with Kelly, as she was someone who also has a really distinct style. Kelly has spent years developing her unique and recognisable brand. I was able to learn a lot from Kelly and her business, and I was really looking forward to our design and production meetings and our involvement with QVC.

The campaign really engaged the national media, it was featured in Hello Magazine the Sunday Times, etc, so my face was plastered in the Metro and other papers.

My first design meeting with Kelly Hoppen took place on 15th May at Kelly’s gorgeous studio based in Notting Hill. The entrance to Kelly’s studio was just as stylish as Kelly herself with beautiful tall trees and a long garden table leading up to the entrance where the design school meets throughout the year.

Seeing Kelly again was great, and I was made instantly welcome with a hug from Kelly and an introduction to her staff. Kelly’s studio is a busy place, yet the surroundings designed in Kelly’s cool style gave a very relaxed feeling.

Kelly’s main work room is a studio that any designer would die for. There were rows upon rows of neatly organised swatches of fabrics, and samples of stone and wood, and several tables where Kelly can create mood-boards for many projects at a time which she laid out for me to see.

We got straight to work discussing the overall project, and deadlines we had to meet. Kelly was very quick to demonstrate her design skills and expertise by drawing out some ideas for the textile products we would create, to be sold on QVC, and explaining how my talents would be used in the design.

We discussed the different fabrics, finishes and possible layouts for the design. It was good to make notes about the dimensions of the products and the types of materials we had to choose from.

We started illustrating concepts whilst the ideas are fresh in our minds. Creating a product has many stages, this was just the first of many, and there was some trial and error before the production stage. Kelly had so much advice to give and was always very confident in her decisions. We designed a throw and matching cushion with a crown pattern and sales of these went on to raise £25,000 for the Trust.

On Monday 25th June, on the Guardian Small Business Network web page, I went live with the host to answer any questions the audience had about working with a mentor, the importance of networking and to answer any general questions about starting a fledgling business. It was all go at this time, I was involved in so many things.

 

In July 2012, as though my nerves could take much more, I headed down to London to meet up with the Prince’s Trust and Kelly Hoppen at the Microsoft headquarters.

As part of the Prince’s Trust Tomorrow campaign, at the time MSN was hosting a live webchat with Kelly and myself.
I joined Kelly in an interview where we discussed our businesses, the Prince’s Trust and all the work and product design we had been doing for the very special Tomorrow campaign! 

When I finally went onto QVC live to sell the home products we had designed, I had already had some training at QVC about how live selling worked and how to behave on a live show. How much to get involved with the selling, but I think mainly I was there to answer questions and not to really give too much input on sales, it wasn’t like the apprentice where it was frantic, it was very laid back and Kelly lead most of the live demonstration, so I kept my cool but it was a very alien experience. In the past few years, I have gone on to appear on live shows on Create and Craft TV, again to demonstrate my work and answer questions about my processes, so I think QVC was a great experience because it made me more prepared and less nervous when coming round to doing it again. Another time I appeared on TV was an ITV show that used to run hosted by tv gardener Alan Titchmarsh, the show went out live, but we had a show rehearsal which again was such a strange experience, as celebrities were walking in and out of the green room and saying hello and welcome to the Prince’s Trust Ambassadors. So at this time, I was just used to everything coming out of the blue and having to get on with it, whilst trying to hide nerves. I think it does help me in business today because it made trade shows far less scary, I definitely love meeting the buyers, and these days because we are showing up all the time on video and lives, presenting isn’t too much of a problem for me nowadays. The trick with lives as well is just to present like you’re showing it to your best friend in your living room, and then it’s natural. If people don’t like the live, they just turn off right?!

Several years after my involvement with the prince’s Trust I met King Charles at Highgrove House, I had become a supplier to Highgrove after meeting a buyer at a trade show, and in completely unrelated circumstances went on to sell my greeting cards and gifts in Highgrove shops, so when they held their annual Christmas event at Highgrove House I met King Charles and was able to tell him that for me it was a full circle moment as I had been an ambassador for the Prince’s Trust and it was only because of the trust that I was there in that room that day talking to him, and I think he was so glad to hear that his charity was making a real difference. It was such a strange coincidence.

So overall, I think the main things I took away from starting my business with help from the Prince’s Trust is that you pick up transferable skills along the way, often I was expected to combat my nerves to undertake opportunities I would otherwise never have experienced and it was a great. I just couldn’t say no to any opportunity, because when else was I going to do this again! I would never have this platform again, so whether it is help with a business idea, or training to help get into work, or even if you just need help with confidence the Prince’s Trust excel in the youth charity sector and I think do the best work there is for disadvantaged young people. What’s funny, is at the time, I also didn’t count myself as disadvantaged, I had an education and skills, so the Trust really opens up to anyone they can help supercharge and I think that’s amazing. I’ve gone on to champion them because they just championed me all the way, and my local team gave so much support to me that they made me feel like the only entrepreneur in the world. I think above all, they allowed me to put aside all of my struggles and help me to achieve what I set out to achieve and helped me to forget myself, and get out of my own way, because if someone else believes in you, you are more likely to get going. So check out their website if you need it or want to help someone else, and also if you want to feedback to me or have any other questions about the Trust then just send me a message.

Thank you again for reading. I hope this post inspired you to share my experience with someone you know.