Industry Talk is a new series of blog posts which aims to gather stories and pearls of wisdom from fellow creatives and indie businesses in a short, bite-size format.
Today we talk to Siân, the lovely owner of Robin’s Bobbins!
I’ve known Siân for a little over 6 months now. We met in the context of the Indie Roller Christmas Showcase last year when Siân posted an open call for interviews as part of the event and I said I’d do one with her (and the rest, as they say, is history). One thing I LOVE about Siân is her ability to challenge herself, to get out of her comfort zone and do ‘that’ thing. She is one of the people who keeps inspiring me again and again, and I’m honestly so honoured to be able to share a little bit of her story with you today!
Q - Who are you and what do you do?
A - I’m Siân, the creator of Robin’s Bobbins. I create colourfully fun costumes and personalised gifts for both children and adults. I aim to celebrate my love of colour, and bring imaginations to life, through my items. I am also a creative mentor and offer a range of courses to support small business owners to find their creative path and to stay on it.
Q - How did you get into making costumes and personalised gifts?
A - I never actually planned to start an Indie Biz. When I was pregnant with our second son I bought myself a basic sewing machine, purely for something to do, as I had lots of pelvic pain throughout all of my pregnancies where walking was really painful. I had no idea how to use it - I even had to read the manual to work out how to thread the needle! - but taught myself, and was soon creating basic costumes for our eldest son, Robin, who had just turned 2 at the time. I continued by creating items such as personalised baby gifts and basic superhero capes for Robin’s playmates until, one day, a friend said that she would like to buy one from me. I was amazed that anyone would want to pay for my creations but, 6 years down the line, and nearly 8000 sales and two sewing machines later, I’m still going strong!
I have recently embarked on a new venture of creative mentoring to support fellow small business owners to find and follow their creative paths and take their business to the next level of success, whatever that may be. I aim to make each session meaningful and purposeful: By helping creatives to set their own targets, and by working with them to outline potential steps they can take, I nurture my clients’ confidence to help them achieve whatever they set their mind to.
Q - What’s a challenge that you’ve had to overcome and what was the outcome?
A - Over the years I have noticed three sales peaks each annum: World Book Day in March, Halloween and Christmas. Preparing to meet the demand from each of these periods is a real challenge. I have learnt to manage this by continually working at the same frenetic speed by stocking up on any item I can during the quieter sales days. Last year I found that closing my shop, and coming off social media for the whole of August and for three weeks at Christmas, helped to focus my mindset and preserve my energy. I used this time to stock up on my non-personalised items whilst giving me some much needed headspace for growing my business.
Q - If you could give your younger self a piece of advice, what would it be?
A - To realise that I can control how I feel about myself but I can’t control what others may think. To empower myself to focus on me and not worry about what anyone else may think of me - I only have control over what I can control. To have the self belief to see that I am a confident and caring person who has lots of positivity to bring to the world.
Q - Now let’s bust some myths. What’s one thing that people tend to believe about your industry that is simply not true?
A - That it is not possible to earn a proper salary by simply doing what you love. Because you CAN definitely earn a proper salary by doing what you love!
Where to find Siân and Robin’s Bobbins:
Website / Shop: www.robinsbobbins.co.uk
Instagram: @robinsbobbins
Photo credits: ©Robin’s Bobbins
