Hey you…

Thank you for showing interest in the person behind The Small Business Expert. It’s always interesting, isn’t it? There are sometimes these little unanswered questions that can make such a difference to our inner peace once they are answered - for example, you’ll see a funny-looking house in a bizarre location, maybe on the edge of a cliff, and you’ll think to yourself “Who could possibly live there?” It’s very similar when you want to know what makes a business tick, by looking at the person behind it you start to understand why they chose to live on the edge of that funny-looking house on the edge of the cliff.

Well, hopefully, here you can scratch that itch!

The best way to predict your future is to create it.

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The best way to predict your future is to create it. •

Name: Louise Barnard-Owen

Occupation: Marketing Director

Chosen Subject: The Life and Times of Louise Barnard-Owen

I was born in Bedford, Bedfordshire in 1993, but I grew up on the Isle of Wight.

There have been many more uphills than downhills, but one consistency that has kept me going is my ability to make the best out of a bad situation - to get creative and get hands-on whenever there’s room for improvement.

  • No, I’m a big believer that uni isn’t for everyone and it wasn’t for me. I went straight to work from school.

  • Business Studies, Fine Art, Photography, Film and Drama

  • I started the business in 2017 but started in the industry in 2016.

  • Because I don’t do fixed contracts, business owners are free to come and go as they please. So the number that I’m working with changes each month, however, I have over 70 that I keep in regular contact with

  • Yes, I am drawn to businesses that are mindful of their impact on the planet and actively strive to do better. Therefore I’m unlikely to work with businesses that are negatively impacting the planet.

I never knew what job I wanted to do. I had a lot of interest in a lot of things, how are you meant to pick one? Social Media was barely a thing when I left school. Websites were just something to do with Steve Jobs? I didn’t know how they came to be, and “marketing” was corporate and a no-go. When it came to working though, I wasn’t shy about it. I started working when I was 12 years old and worked part-time during summers and weekends doing all sorts of random jobs, from being a groom at a riding school to being a waitress to being a cleaner at a Bed and Breakfast. So when it came to leaving school I got stuck in finding full-time work. Again, I worked in a variety of different roles, but eventually, in 2016 I started to believe that a career could be possible. I knew I was good at writing, speaking, merchandising and keeping on top of trends and popular culture, so I started looking into internships in magazines. The only thing I could find outside of London was a marketing apprenticeship at a magazine, at least it was a foot in the door. I quickly realised the classes being taught in the apprenticeship were outdated and irrelevant, social media wasn’t even a topic. It started to become clear to me that I knew more than I realised and that it all came quite naturally. And, so, in 2017 I finished the apprenticeship and started my business.

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