Ros Turner belongs to WiRE - Women in Rural Enterprise, an organisation supported by the Prince’s Countryside Fund. She explains how, with their backing, she has launched her own business
‘I run my business Little PJS from home in Bedale, North Yorkshire. I sell mainly children’s nightwear. I do this through my website and through events such as country fairs which are great for meeting customers and getting feedback on products. I am a mum of three small boys. They help me by modelling the clothes but they also keep me busy as a mum. It means I work on my business part time but it grows each year and helps to keep me sane. I also help out as a network leader for WiRE (Women in Rural Enterprise) here in North Yorkshire.
‘WiRE has been amazing for me since I joined. The members are so supportive of me which boosted my confidence greatly and that in turn, my business too. Their advice is invaluable as are the friendships that I have made. I feel that at a WiRE meeting I can tell the other member when things are tough in the business or share a problem with them without feeling that I am being judged at all; and many of them offer advice. I’ve discovered that WiRE members are very good listeners and very good at sharing. I also have learned a great deal from many of the speakers who come to our monthly meetings.
‘I started my business by going along to local meetings after being told about WiRE by my husband and have never looked back. But things haven’t always being easy and I haven’t always been so confident.
‘Before becoming a mum and being self-employed I had worked in the legal world and then as an operations manager for a telecoms company and was a confident 30-plus woman. I had one little boy and then after the birth of my twins in 2007 I was made redundant whilst on maternity leave, 12 weeks after our smallest twin had died. My confidence in life just disappeared completely.
‘At the end of 2007 I became self-employed with another business and went to my first WiRE meeting in York and I have never looked back. I came back from that meeting buzzing and really looking forward to going back to my next meeting.
‘Time has moved on and another little boy arrived in 2010 - my business has changed now to Little PJS but the one thing constant in my working life is WiRE. It is fantastic for any woman in business. It is great when working on your own to take two and a half hours a month out to meet up with other women in business and share your ideas, worries and hopefully learn something useful that you can then use in your own business as I have in my business.’
Ros Turner’s Little PJS is based in Bedale. Call her on 07711 706642 or 01845 565042 or visit her website littlepjs.co.uk
Women in Rural Enterprise (WiRE)
Women in Rural Enterprise is a national organisation supporting rural women who own or want to start a business and provides business support and start-up advice. The Prince’s Countryside Fund grant supports their Network Leadership Programme. This aims to develop 12 new network groups in key rural areas and in particular develop the leadership skills of network leaders who are providing the ‘on the ground’ advice. The end result is that new network groups and well trained leaders will have a positive impact on rural communities, helping grow businesses and support a vibrant rural economy.
For more information contact Polly Gibb, Director - 07870 562318 / polly@wireuk.org or go to wireuk.org
