Running my own successful Creation Station franchise has been the making of me

Kirsty Hickson the owner of The Creation Station Driffield, won the award for Best Can Do Attitude at the ‘Release the Magic’ national conference as she has overcome challenges to make the most of her business.

“I knew starting a business would never be easy and you would think that with 12 years teaching experience behind me I would find it easy to put myself out to an audience. Well the truth is my comfort zone for so many years was to be the quiet reserved type, who very much kept myself to myself and out of the limelight, someone who struggled to talk to people I didn’t really know. Obviously this is not the attitude to have when running a business, so I had to set my mind to not only build a business but to put myself out in the community as a confident franchise owner. So taking the bull by the horns and taking the plunge I have thrown myself into every possible situation that has arose for me, not only to build my business, but to build my confidence and to thrust me out of that comfort zone.

From business meetings with other women,  getting myself in the paper numerous times, working collaboratively with my local councils, and taking on market stalls, I am willing and ready to try it all. I am now growing in confidence and also finding the contacts and business network that works for me. From simply contacting my council about a market stall, I ended up building a great partnership with them and worked for them throughout the summer to provide crafts at our local market. Through running crafts at the market I have met some fantastic community members and will hopefully be supporting a community art project in the town.

From the success I have had from working out in the community in my town, I have extended this to grabbing every opportunity to get out and about in my franchise area, from market stalls to events, to joining parent groups and meeting them for coffee and play dates where I can show them who I am and tell them what I do. This has boosted my business and confidence no end.

I still have a long way to go to build the business to how I would like it, but I have made the first steps by doing it, which as I say is completely out my comfort zone. What’s more is that I am absolutely loving the new experiences, meeting people, parents and of course the very reason I went into this, the children. I love running my own business so much, it has made me a more confident person, stronger and a much happier mummy and wife to my family. For all those reasons, I will not be beaten by the hard work. The Creation Station has most definitely been the making of me.”

To find out more about Kirsty’s fun and creative baby and toddler sessions visit The Creation Station East Yorkshire, Driffield on Facebook or The Creation Station Website. Kirsty will be launching new sessions at Woodend in Scarborough on 30th April so keep an eye on the website and Facebook for further details.

Do you want to maximise your full potential like Kirsty? Find out more about whether The Creation Station could be right for you by calling 01395 233022.