Lucy is a ray of sunlight, with 2 new businesses in 12 months she is living the dream – after a crazy career in teaching Lucy has now settled into a brand new lifestyle that works for her and her family. Here on Huddle she tells us all about the journey that has brought her here.
So Lucy, first of all tell us what brought you to Huddersfield?
We moved up to Huddersfield almost three years ago, searching for a place to put down roots with our family and finding our own space halfway between my brother and Tom’s (husband) sister. As soon as we came to visit the HD8 area, we noticed the friendliness of the people around us with everyone saying, “Hiya!”. I got called ‘love, chicken and duck’ within a day and fell in love with the cheerful, openness of people.
Whereabouts do you live and what do you love most about it?
We live in Scissett and I love that we can live in a little community with other families like ours, where we can walk to school and our friends’ houses but also are right next to the countryside. I love to go for walks and we can walk from our house across the stream (and sometimes in it) and through the fields and it just feels like we have escaped. It’s like we walk right into the book, ‘We’re Going on a Bear Hunt’, except without the beach and cave at the end… Oh, and without the bear.
What does your ideal weekend look like?
My ideal weekend starts with picking the kids up from school on a Friday and having ice lollies in the garden, maybe playing a game of monopoly (we are currently obsessed). We take the kids to ballet on a Saturday and church on a Sunday, which we love. The best weekends though, for me, are when we do something spontaneously… surprise BBQ and have some friends over or decide to go swimming as a family.
Tell us a bit about your career to date
I am really proud of the achievements and the career I built myself in the teaching world and it was hard and still is hard to leave behind. I became a Year Group Manager by the age of 23 and then built up to becoming an Assistant Headteacher in a specialist SEMH setting. During my career, I also led a satellite provision and I really felt my team and I were a family. They were the most important team I have had in my life. Whilst on maternity leave with my children, we also fostered as a family. We looked after four children over a period of three years and I still think of them all the time and wonder how they are doing.
What is your new business?
I left teaching due to the trauma I was experiencing within an SEMH setting and I was hurt emotionally and physically. I was extremely anxious and was flinching when my own children went to hug me. I knew I needed to heal and I picked up my paintbrush having not painted in years. Painting became my therapy. When I painted, I got to escape whilst still being in the moment. So when my husband asked me what I wanted to do, naturally, I wanted to share this with others who might benefit. I remembered going to a Sip and Paint with my mum and sister a few years back and how whole I had felt being able to paint and connect with them and so ‘Fizz and Finesse’ was born. I run sip and paint evenings in venues around the HD8 area and I absolutely love seeing people go from, ‘I can’t paint’ to ‘I didn’t know I could do that!’.
Having enjoyed starting one business from scratch, not even a year in, I have just started another! Everyone kept saying to me, “You should paint weddings.” After a conversation with Emily (The Yorkshire Violinist), where I blurted out that typical phrase, “What if I’m not good enough?” and got the exact response and support I needed, I went home and had a go. I have been practising painting friends’ wedding photos and have now painted my first wedding live. My brand has formed as ‘Love, Lucy’ and I now offer ‘Forever Frames’ (painting the married couple) and ‘Pocket Portraits’ (live guest illustrations). I can’t believe how everything is growing and how exciting my life is now.
What does success look like to you?
I see so many posts on Instagram that read, ‘I replaced my teaching salary in 3 months,’ or ‘Earn 1K a month selling Birthday Cards made on Canva’ and let’s be honest, a part of you always thinks… wow… that would be success. The reality is… my business is definitely NOT earning me the same salary as the leadership level 8 that I earned in teaching.
But what I have learned is that I feel most successful when I am sat watching my kids’ school shows or cheering them on at Sports Day (or should I say cheering their team colour). Success to me now is being able to be there for my kids and be happy. My son, who is 5, once before I left teaching asked me at bed time, “Mummy, why are you hurt?” because he saw one of my bruises and it was a wake up call. Now, I beam as they come running out of school towards me and when they get home they see a new painting on my easel and often say, “Will you teach me to paint that one?”
I feel successful every time someone says to me at a sip and paint, “I can’t believe I just painted that,” or “I’ve really enjoyed myself, I never get to do this.” Knowing that my work now brings people joy and doesn’t even feel like work to me is more than I could ever have expected.
Your favourite bar or restaurant in Huddersfield?
My favourite bar would have to be The Secret Garden in Kirkburton. I love the feeling there because it is both cosy and also full of natural colours and I find it calming. Jodie, who runs it, has also been so supportive. I ran my first ever event there with her and so it will always hold a special place in my heart. When we both talked about doing a Highland Cow painting, Jodie took me to visit her mum’s Highland Cows and I painted one of them. She went above and beyond and everyone who frequents The Secret Garden loves her.
Give me three words to sum up Huddersfield…..
Chatty, creative and home
