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Overcoming perfectionism in your business

Inspiring Women – Naomi Sisson

‘We have had some wonderful women featured in our inspiring women series, including Emma Kennedy, Jessica Huie MBE and Rachel Wood to name but a few.

Next up in our inspiring women series is a chat with the lovely Naomi Sisson, where we dive into her business life and inspiration, and the ups and downs she’s learned from running her business

A bit about you:

My name is Naomi Sisson, I am a fabric designer based in a village near Falmouth in Cornwall. Me and my family relocated to a lovely old Cornish house last summer where we are gradually renovating our 100-year-old house and enjoying our new adventure by the coast!

What is your business and what led you to start it?  

I run a fabric and homewares business called Seed Home Designs. I began designing fabrics just over 4 years ago when my youngest daughter began school. With a love of homemaking and a background in textile design I began to pull together a collection of flora and nature designs and sent them to be custom printed in the UK using eco-friendly pigment ink. Alongside this I took up an upholstery course as a way to apply my fabrics and then began to grow my business from there! I booked a trade show, and spent a year developing my own British-made homewares range. It was a lot of hard work and a few tears, but I got there in the end, had an amazing response to my work and picked up some lovely new stockists and have been growing my business from there!

Who has been your biggest inspiration in growing your business? 

My husband has been amazing! He has patiently coped with me being rather distracted from family life to get work done on time, mostly in the early days. He has always championed me on and encouraged me to follow my dreams. We have both made some adjustments for a better quality of family life over the last year and for me to focus more on my work. This came as a brave decision together to relocate to Cornwall, so far so good!

What’s your number 1 tip for anyone struggling to overcome entrepreneurial overwhelm and keep going?

I believe you need a point of focus outside of your business to come down from the overwhelm and busyness that running a business can entail. The anchor points for me are my family, husband and two girls that give me a reality check on what is important in life and also my Christian faith. I try to start each day with some quiet space for contemplation and prayer which helps to keep me anchored in day to day life. This is a place to let go of my worries and stresses and gain a quiet assurance and trust that God is with me.

What’s been your favourite mistake and what did you learn?

The worst mistake I made was in my first fabric order. I ordered samples from a company which I was happy with and subsequently ordered a large run of fabric. When I received it back the colours were completely different to the sample. They would not reimburse my money and I wasted a large amount of money at a very early stage of my business. I was very upset at the time, but I picked myself up and eventually found a much better company that would print good-quality smaller runs of fabrics for me at a reasonable price. I am now much more cautious not to rush into buying large amounts of stock without careful consideration and plenty of research, unfortunately, I learnt the hard way!

If you were to start your business again today, what would you do differently?

I would have let myself off the hook more in terms of other people’s expectations. It’s very easy to compare and judge yourself to how fast you are succeeding. My husband sometimes checks in with me if I’m getting a wobbly moment with the question: What does success look like for you? Forget what anyone else thinks. What makes you fulfilled? It took me sometime to learn how to get off the creative roller coaster of approval and self-worth and discover more of who I was created to be. I still dream but try to keep grounded; real relationships and family are so important. Find a strategy to not waste too much time on social media, see it as an amazing tool as it can also be your worst enemy if you don’t have a handle on it!

What do you love most about having your own business?

I absolutely love the flexibility that running my own business has to offer me especially with a young family. I also love the creativity it offers me not only in producing my own designs but also in in the development of growing a business, each week there is always something different to be working on. It’s so varied, I think I would be bored if I had to do the same thing every day of the week. I count it as a real privilege to have the opportunity to do what I do!

Where can people find out more about your business?

You can go to my website www.seedhomedesigns.com where you can find more about my design work, get in touch or find out about the events I am taking part in over the coming year. I also have a lovely online shop page where you can purchase my fabrics, homewares and gifts. If you are interested in finding out what I am up to through you can find me on both Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/seedhomedesigns and Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/seedhomedesigns

To find out more about Naomi check out the links above and don’t forget to check out some of our other fabulous inspiring women!
Below are just 3 of our amazing inspiring women, click the links below to learn about their business journeys.

Emma Kennedy
Jessica Huie, MBE
Rachel Wood

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