I needed respite. I did do a little theatre whilst at BBC Books – it wasn’t a compete break initially – but as time went on, I knew it had to stop, and so it did.
BBC Books led to BBC Magazines and then to an Ad Agency (all this was, ultimately, a short, but very intense period). All the time I was busy learning different skills: how to write, how to sell, how to communicate, how to throw pots and, most importantly, how to be myself! And through Tracey Smith I met Judith Miller of Miller’s Antiques and began working on her antiques guides. By now I was back in theatre with renewed vigour, acting in the West End and on national tours and doing radio plays and audio recordings. The journey I had been on had restored my sense of self, and I had been able to return to the stage.
Yet beneath all of this self-discovery, unbeknownst to me, the threads I had been laying down, the threads that would ultimately unite in craft, were still quietly ordering themselves, although not yet quite converging. They were, however, about to ...
Finally, in 2010, a chance conversation with Hatty Fawcett about a business she was starting saw all the separate craft strands suddenly intertwine. I joined her on a factfinding mission to the British Craft Trade Fair and overnight became the talent scout for online gallery Seek & Adore. All the work I had been doing over the years had been leading me somewhere, but it was Hatty who was the catalyst for the change in my life that has resulted in the position in which I find myself today. And it didn’t stop there. Working with Hatty forged relationships with countless designer-makers and presented opportunities to collaborate with The Design Trust, Arts Thread, The Crafts Council, Craft Northern Ireland, New Designers, Handmade in Britain (and many more wonderful organisations).
Making Goode, my own enterprise, is the culmination of many things: a lot of hard work of course, a lot of talking, writing, creating and reaching out, but its inception is ultimately all thanks to Hatty. Her leap of faith, over a decade ago, opened a secret door into an entire world! I had admired craft from afar but had never dreamt it would spark a second creative career, and yet here I am. So, Hatty Fawcett, thank you for instigating a career I love. And thank you serendipity!
If you want to learn more about Hatty Fawcett and what she does, visit her website: www.focusedforbusiness.com.
