Hi Jamie, in this weeks team feature I’m introducing the amazingly talented Charlotte England who co-hosts our Taunton Dynamic Circle.
What do you like to do when you’re not working?
I love my job, so I don’t feel like I ever work! But when I am not helping grow small businesses, I am the owner of two boys (Freddie, 10, and Dexter, 7), one dog (Digger), one tortoise (Torte), and 5 Bantams (Duck, Deliah, Betty, Wolfie, and Chuck). I live in the middle of nowhere in Somerset with our family campsite business opposite, so love a long walk with Digger to clear the cobwebs. For my sins, I am also a Cub Scout Leader and School Governor, which I love being involved in. I’m also a massive fan of getting involved in local fundraising events. As a family, we love a kitchen disco with cheesy hits too. Every child should know the Macarena and Agadoo!
What’s your reason why?
There are various reasons why:
1) When I got pregnant whilst still in college at 17, I was told I had ruined my life! I was never going to let that person be proved right!
2) My Grandad introduced me at an early age to business. At 10, he had me selling pumpkins grown from a local farm shop at the apple fair in a wheelbarrow. I can still recite the facts now. He was always an advocate for small businesses, and he passed that love on to me. He was my absolute hero, and I want to follow in his footsteps.
3) Being a solo mum of two boys, when I got made redundant 6 years ago, I just knew I had to take the chance and start my business journey! I pick my boys up from school every day and cuddle and watch Disney films when they are ill. This is so important to me. I also want us to be free to do what we like when we like.
What is your role?
My role? A taxi driver for the children, poo picker for the dog, chef, cleaner, and house admin. Ooh, in business, I run The Marketing Barn – I am a growth accelerator and quantum leap facilitator for businesses using beautiful branding, sleek websites, and effective digital marketing.
Who do you work with?
I work with equestrian and agricultural businesses with 1-5 employees who want to accelerate the growth of their business, maybe they did their logo on Canva and their website on Wix, but now they realise they need to become more professional and have an option that can grow with them.
We also have some amazing start-up packages for people wanting to start out on their business journey.
What does this involve?
This involves really getting to know my clients, what their long-term goal is, who they want to work with their why! This helps us to get under the skin of our clients and be able to become part of their team and support them in the way they need us. My goal is for my clients to no longer need us as much they are so busy they need to hire an in-house marketing person.
What’s your daily routine?
As I have previously shared on Facebook, I am a complete night owl, so my day starts with pressing the snooze button, and then Alexa plays What a Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong. I then lay in bed and have snuggles with my two kids (and the dog) and write a gratitude list on my phone.
We then get ready for school and drive 5 minutes up the road to our local primary school, which was also my primary school, and then back to the office. I always enter the office with a big bucket of tea and then get to work on the three tasks I set for myself the day before. My favourite lunch is poached eggs on toast, and nothing beats my bantam eggs. Once the day is done, I go and collect the kids before a dog walk or after-school clubs. The time between 3.30-7 pm always is a bit manic! Between 7-8, the kids get screen time, so I try to plan my three tasks for the next day.
My boys are usually in bed by 8.30 pm, so I tend to put on some music and do some more work, or I quite often use this time to learn new things and work on different courses. At the moment, I’m working on Denise Duffield-Thomas’s Money Archetypes. It’s super interesting to learn about and work with your money habits and discover ways to market to different archetypes. If you want to find out your money archetype, you can do the quiz here – www.Denisedt.com/quiz if you do, please let me know.
How would your friends and family describe you?
I asked them as I wasn’t sure:
‘Strong, independent, very thoughtful of others and caring. An awesome mum, of course, and a marketing nerd.’
‘Dependable, very honest, assertive, fun and very kind’
‘Committed, hardworking, outgoing & most of all a fun-loving friend’
What’s happening in your business right now?
At the moment, we are really trying to push the benefits of rebranding and what this can do for your business, and how this is a great way to start your 2023 with a bang. Only 3 spaces left for our basic logo package at £299! After those spaces have gone the price is going up.
We are also looking at growing our team to support and nurture our current client list with their website hosting and maintenance.
AOB
Looking forward to meeting you all at Circle Networks, or I would love to connect via LinkedIn
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