The truth behind starting a small business during the covid-19 pandemic in 2020.
Being 15 months into Laura Elizabeth Design and the first week in January 2022, I want to start documenting how the last year of running a small business has been. September 30th 2020 the date I told my mum to remember because I knew I had sparked an idea for something. Unfortunately, a shared date, as she enlightened me it was in fact her wedding anniversary that day too, but we had to quickly laugh that off as my parents have been separated for maybe 12 years or so now so I think I can claim that date for myself!
So, 30th of September 2020 I had taken up scrap booking with some 'free prints' photographs for about a month as a lockdown hobby, some very popular paperchase scrapbooks and gel pens were being bought amongst my group chats for a couple of weeks to keep us busy.
I was sitting on my bed scrapbooking and essentially doodling on the corner of the photo envelopes. Doodling was something I was always very fond of, every school book was destroyed with corners full clusters of shapes and florally things. I wish I could look back at them now but if you know me or my family those books are well gone.
I then took the doodling to my longterm out of school job at a restaurant. Notebook and pen to take orders..loved it! My friends for sure know my mini pen doodles when I talk about them, I'll definitely try and find some evidence.
But from that doodle session one evening got me thinking of how to create prints. Now, I was studying Interior Design at the time, that didn't give me any leg up in graphic design, illustration, print design, I had literally no idea. I found an adobe app and started messing around for the evening. I think I told 3 people that night to remember the date (jokingly), but I also knew nothing had ever interested me enough to say out loud before so that this could go somewhere.
The next days daily ritual walk to spar for an insomnia coffee with my eldest sister clarifed in my head I was so into this whatever it was to just explore a little. I nearly felt obliged to tell people sooner rather than later as it is so out of my comfort zone and random and I wanted to start acting on it as soon as possible. So on the 11th of October I sat in my kitchen with my friend to tackle the caption for my first instagram post,' Exciting project coming soon' I don't even think I knew what that project was, but it was coming apparently!
Laura x