“I am passionate about weaving and heritage crafts. I create hand-woven soft furnishings, accessories, scarves and wraps, all of which reflect my creativity. With practical business support and mentoring from The (King’s) Trust, I now have a solid foundation for my business. I love the fact that my passion is now my business.”
Rosie-May, aged 27 from Cambridgeshire is the founder of – Mays Wonderfully Woven. Rosie-may hand-weaves her fabrics to create bespoke products, while also teaching hand-weaving, demonstrating and selling her creations across various heritage artisan craft markets. Rosie-may opened her business in the autumn of 2021 following completion of The Enterprise programme, and Test my Business Idea grant.
Rosie-may said: “As everything went into lockdown, job interviews and internships I’d lined up all fell through. So, I started to look into The (King’s) Trust Enterprise programme in early 2021 after a recommendation from a fellow hand-weaver, who had completed the programme.
“Once on the programme creating a business plan was the first hurdle I had to overcome. I’d never written a business plan, it was a big challenge initially, however with support from The Trust it enabled me to properly dissect my business idea, explore all the complexities and realities of starting a business, including how to price products, workshops and how to market my offer. It was definitely a huge learning curve, I learned so much!
Once I opened my business I was assigned a business mentor – Cathy. Cathy has been brilliant! With her support she has helped me to structure my pricing, considering my overheads and the time it takes me to produce each item in real time. Excel spreadsheets have become my new friend – perhaps a close work acquaintance at the very least! With Cathy’s guidance I can focus on what is important in terms of growing my business, as well as explore and expand on parts of the business I truly enjoy. This includes offering group and private weaving workshops as well as offering bespoke products directly to the client.
In addition to my business, I also work part time at an Academy as an Art / Design Technician and Teaching Assistant. This gives me some financial stability with a consistent income and experience with lesson planning, material management as well as different approaches to teaching while also supporting students on their educational journey.
Running your own business can be challenging at times, remaining resilient and properly managing my time have been some of the biggest challenges I have faced. However, some of my most rewarding moments have been engaging with customers over my weaving loom. There is often this wow moment where they are so curious and engaged. They truly value the time, materials and care that have gone into crafting my pieces.
Looking to the future I have an exciting large-scale commission for a client, to supply the interiors for a newly restored Georgian house in Ely, Cambridgeshire. It will include the hand-weaving and making of cushions, throws, runners, lampshades, headboards and curtains. Moving forward, I will also be offering group and 1-1 day workshops, building up to 6-8 week courses.
My mentor Cathy has been instrumental in my success and a huge support. With her help I have been able to utilise my degree, grow my practice, learn a lot and have so many new experiences. Cathy has helped me achieve a work life balance and to be realistic with expectations for myself. She has been so supportive, helping me focus on my future, next steps and how to get there. When we talk through my goals, I feel like they are achievable, she gives me the confidence to believe I can do this! I have built up so much resilience and determination throughout this process, I now believe that I can achieve my goals. It will happen!
I have recently been awarded a Start-Up grant through The Trust and will be using the funding to invest in more collapsable weaving looms and supporting equipment in order to offer group hand-weaving workshops. The cost of these materials is significant and not something I could afford to do at this time without the support of The Trust. It will make a huge difference in terms of cementing my business and really focusing on the core values of my practice – championing traditional crafts and re-connecting value with quality materials and longevity.
For anyone considering The (King’s) Trust Enterprise programme I would say jump at the opportunity! The level of support and opportunities this will create is amazing! There is no judgement, you can go through the course and access the support at your own pace. Simply take every opportunity you can and keep going!”
