Wild Like Her - Cathryn Ball
As a Mum of three myself, I completely understand Cathryn Ball's mission in life (as outlined on her website) to try not to lose her identity in the craziness of life. And as a busy Mum who is also responsible for all of the running (marketing, merchandising, accounts and the lot) of her business, Wild Like Her, I wanted to catch up with her to find out how it's all going and a bit about the highs and lows. So we're thrilled to feature Cathryn and Wild Like Her as this, our 15th of 24 of the UK's more fantastic micro businesses.
In a nutshell, what do you do?
Wild Like Her is a womenswear brand on a mission to help women keep their playful identities alive through fun and fierce fashion.
I do everything from designing, making, marketing, social media, accounting to being a mum to three children! It’s a full time job, literally 24/7!
Who do you run the business with?
I run my business by myself from my kitchen table!
Women’s fashion is a competitive space! What makes you different?
Wild Like Her has a purpose – a mission to help women keep their playful identities alive. Our designs are fun and bold and flock is our main design material. Not only is it free from PVC or plasticisers it’s beautifully tactile and lasts longer.
Our base garments are organic cotton, ethically sourced and made to last. Our clothes are made to order, we do not bulk buy and sit on stock, we only make what our customers want.
What inspired you to start this sort of business?
Having three small children my business started out as a kidswear brand – bold patterned jumper / jogger sets with a focus on keeping kids looking cool whilst still being able to go for a ramble in the woods!
With a personal obsession with Mama Jumpers I designed a small collection to sit amongst the kidswear and it just took off.
So my business organically evolved into a womenswear brand and I’m loving it!
2020: What a year! How has your business been impacted by the pandemic?
With a complete rebrand and relaunch during lockdown and school summer holidays, it’s definitely been a busy year.
Business hasn’t really slowed as my customers have been after clothing that makes them feel good, soft organic fabrics and fun designs.
It’s definitely been a rollercoaster of emotions, not only as a mum but as a business owner too. My mission has been to send out happiness with each and every order and I feel as though I’ve been achieving that. It’s important to keep positive when times are hard.
What do you love most about running Wild Like Her?
You know that feeling when you’ve ordered something and you think it’s going to be great? It arrives and it’s so much better than expected… that excitement you get right there is what I want each and every one of my customers to feel when they open their orders.
So what I love most about running my business is hearing back from my customers. Their happiness is what makes my business tick!
And what are the toughest challenges?
Balancing everything! From cutting vinyl to doing the laundry back to responding to customer queries, then making sandwiches for the kids – it’s so incredibly hard to keep on top of everything and keep the balance.
This has been the toughest challenge for me but I do love a challenge and every day I work a little bit harder to make it work!
What’s one piece of advice you would give to aspiring entrepreneurs?
Prepare to work 24/7! Not everything is going to be perfect, expect to make mistakes but make sure you learn from them! Make sure your business venture is your passion as it becomes all encompassing!
Find out more
Thank you, Cathryn!
And if you want to find out more about Wild Like Her, you can check it out on the website, Instagram and Facebook.
