Welcome to the series of episodes where we discuss a much avoided topic which is the fear experienced by independent business owners.

Today we are joined by illustrator Jennie Sergeant Designs. Jennie talks us through how she overcame her fear of going live on Instagram. Alongside many other fears she is feeling in her business and how she overcomes them by taking action.

Follow the fun and meet Brian the rainbow: https://www.instagram.com/jenniesergeantdesigns/

Find out more about the Indie Roller membership: https://indieroller.com/new-indie-roller-membership/

It's our final episode focusing on wholesale and today we go the other side of the counter to meet Hanna from @heavygretel

Heavy Gretel is a gallery and shop in Worthing, selling art, design and craft by independent makers and suppliers. They stock carefully selected work, with emphasis on hand-making. They represent their favourite contemporary jewellery, ceramics, textiles, prints, cards, plants, home-wares and interior decorations.

Hanna talks us through how their aim is to promote the work of independent creatives, championing their skills through regularly changing thoughtfully curated displays, telling the stories of objects - highlighting the power of making!

We get a real insight into the process of dynamic independent retailing!

www.heavygretel.com

Indie Roller member Hana is the face behind the purple bead shop in Nottingham and a life long magpie! She opened her first bricks and mortar 21 years ago to fulfil her dream of being a shopkeeper. She now sells beads, craft materials and haberdashery both online and in store with a love of sharing knowledge by teaching people new skills.

Hana reminds us that it's a human being behind the counter who is creating a story on the shop floor for their target customer. Her sage advice reminds makers to not take it personally if they're turned down from a retailer.

Go bananas for beads: www.mailorder-beads.co.uk

Get rollin' with a community of like-minded individuals: 

Paulomi Debnath is a textile jewellery designer and maker who creates sustainable statement jewellery & home décor with organic cotton rope and yarn. Paulomi believes jewellery has the power to bring joy to your day. This motivates her to design colourful & fun pieces that can make you glow with happiness.

Handmade by Tinni was set up in 2020, inspired from the bright colours of nature and amazing places it's founder had travelled to over the years and most importantly from the rich heritage of India.

In today's episode Paulomi talks us though her wholesale journey focusing on setting up marketplaces: Creote, Anchor, Abound and Faire. We discuss pricing, making it work for a handmade business and the pricing strategy learnt from the Indie Roller Process.

Discover Handmade by Tinni's wonderful creations:

Handmade by Tinni Website - 

Find out more about the Indie Roller membership: 

Amy from colourful jewellery brand Prickle People joins us to share her wholesale story from the epiphany of ‘hey....I need to get into shops!' to sitting on the doorstep waiting for DHL to pick up her boxes.

Amy decided last year that if she wanted to turn her Indie Biz into her full time job then adding in wholesale as a revenue stream was her strategy of choice. Fast forward 6 months and making jewellery to fill her stockist list of shops is how she spends the majority of her day.

We delve into utilising T&Cs as a selling strategy with minimum orders and incentivising higher spends with a free display stand and talk about lead times. Amy hopes that sharing her story will inspire others who might feel daunted to get going with wholesale.

If you’ve ever wondered how you would get started with wholesale then grab a pen and paper note down how YOU can make it happen. If you're an Indie Roller member it's wholesale month in the membership so download your workbook and follow the checklist to guide you. Enjoy!

Check out Amy's work: https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/PricklePeople

Sign up to The Spark to find out more about Indie Roller: http://bit.ly/IRTheSpark

Emily Fox from Skull And Cross Buns talks about preparing for her 13th Christmas of trading. The business usually takes 75-80% of their yearly trade in Q4 with people wanting to create perfect finishing touches for Xmas with their stamp range - so its a big deal for them.

Emily has learnt a lot over the years - what's worked, what hasn't worked and she's faced big decisions like temporarily shutting online stores when they couldn't keep up with demand, major machinery breaking and stock issues.

This episode shares many pitfalls Indie Biz owners can face and how organisation is key so you can enjoy the buzz of one of the busiest times of the year! You don't need to panic this Christmas. Get organised so you can have fun!

Follow Emily's work:

Join Indie Roller

Rebecca Lismer, AKA Pigeon, is the one woman powerhouse behind The Pigeon's Nest. She is a fibre artist, crochet designer and content creator, who wants you...yes you....to find the fun and make it FUNdamental in your day to day.

We continue the Christmas chinwag and encourage you to do it YOUR way. This includes starting prep as early as you want to and setting cut-off times that suit you.

Bex shares how she chunks down what want to do. Starting by gathering her own Christmas data at the end of January; making from February, getting her ducks in a row behind the scenes in August and marketing from September.

Cherry pick from Pigeon's workflow, add it to a timeline that works for YOU and know that communication is the magic ingredient.

Follow Pigeon's party of biz fun:

Nerrisa Pratt is the founder of Untld Project and she lives and breathes independent business as well as being a big-time craft enthusiast. She likes to stay busy and also runs The Bargello Edit, retro inspired craft kits brand for the modern maker. 

We start the episode by asking the question: What is Christmas in July?

Then relate it to indie businesses at the different stages from newbie to established.

Takeaways include:

✏️ How to reach out to magazines / journalists.

✏️ Time frame and key dates.

✏️ Planning and strategy.

✏️ Getting over the the fear of rejection to take action.

Have a notepad and pen at the ready whilst listening to jot down your action plan. So much good stuff! And this is just a fraction of what goes on inside the membership which in July is focusing on coaching our members to prepare for and have a panic-free Christmas this year.

We open up for new members on Tuesday 27th July at 9am when all our Christmas resources will be available as a self-paced content.

For now, enjoy this brand new episode of the #IndieRoller podcast. Woop!

Follow Nerrisa:

www.untldproject.com

www.instagram.com/untldproject

Camille Medina is a French illustrator who works from her home studio in Leicester. 

Her light-hearted illustrations aim to put a smile on people's faces, and she believes that illustration has the power to help people tell their stories, convey complex ideas visually, and beautify the objects that we use every day. 

Camille has worked with clients as diverse as the BBC, Jellycat, Templar Publishing, the  Natural History Museum, and the Leicester City Council. 

When she is not working on client projects you can usually find her working on a personal project, reading, or watching a film. 

Find Camille on Instagram -https://www.instagram.com/camillesland 

Camille's website - https://www.camillemedina.com

Indie Roller - www.indieroller.com

Kiran Patel is an artist working under the name of Illustrating Rain. Using the concept of translating the ephemeral nature of thought into a visual form, where the spoken words are silenced and the art imagery is tuned into the invisible forms of engagement; where emotions are aroused and intuition is channelled. 

Her work is driven through a desire to translate her inner experiences into a creative  expression and so through the medium of ink and pen work she documents her inner  awareness to create a visual language in the world of form 

She has exhibited throughout the UK and sells her artworks internationally. Her work has been used by Starbucks for their Spring China advertising campaign and her work has also been featured on the set of the US hit show Scandal. Kiran Patel wrote and illustrated her first book titled The Spirit of Creating to encourage and inspire others to embark on their own creative journeys.  

Find Kiran on Insta - https://www.instagram.com/illustrating_rain

Kiran's website - www.illustratingrain.com 

Indie Roller - www.indieroller.com