Why I switched from a career in chemistry, as a life-long aspiring doctor, to becoming an inexperienced entrepreneur in the crafting world...
For as long as I can remember, I had always wanted to be a doctor when I grew up. I didn't come from a family of wealth nor one of any doctors, or anybody in the medical industry for that matter, so I'm not quite sure why I was so set on this as my career. We struggled financially throughout my childhood and adolescent years, living in a single-parent household without any steady flow of income. This constant underlying pressure is what I think made me strive for a career that would bring me financial stability and eradicate any future money-stress.
I worked really hard throughout school, taking extra subjects for my GCSEs and only ever having one day off (begrudgingly) when I broke my wrist. All my efforts founded on the goal of getting into medical school and building the career I'd imagined since childhood and strongly been encouraged to pursue. Being talented at academia had become a large part of my identity, so much so, I hadn't ever considered that I might have other passions that would give me greater daily fulfilment and joy...
When the time came, I applied to Cardiff Medical School and made it to the interview stage. To my greatest disappointment, I didn't make it past this stage, which was a huge blow to my self-esteem and confidence that I would live a life relieved of my current financial stresses. Instead, I decided to pursue a longer path to the same end-goal; post-graduate medicine. By doing a 3-year-long Bachelor's degree in Biology or Chemistry, I would be able to apply for post-graduate medicine as a 4 year course, rather than the standard 5 years. And so, I applied for a few different applicable courses in Cardiff University and was granted a space on the Chemistry course.
By the time I left for university, I had cut all ties with my mother after a turbulent few years at home. It was time for a fresh start without any of the pressures and stresses of my life up until that point. As the years went by, I was enjoying my time in this new environment, but felt my ambitions of becoming a doctor fading into the background. I was starting to realise that I enjoyed academia as an interest or a hobby, but had no passion to pursue it as a full-time career. Instead, I was drawn to the world of business and crafts.
As we went into lockdown, I was studying for my degree remotely, from my home in mid Wales with my partner. It was during this time, when jobs weren't readily available, that I bought a sewing machine with my student loan and started the first of my business ventures, making handmade cuddly keepsakes and selling them locally. As my workload in university increased, the business was sidelined for a while, but eventually became my main focus in May of 2022, just before graduating from university, and has been my full-time job ever since.
Now, just under a year on from when I started pursuing the business full-time, I'm so relieved that I changed career paths in light of finding something I was passionate about. I'd always had a keen interest in the business world, watching Dragon's Den religiously, but had never before allowed myself to consider a future that didn't involve medicine. Starting the business was a huge risk, as I invested all I had into it with very little knowledge on being a successful entrepreneur. Due to countless days of hard work, often waking at 6am and working until 2am the following morning, I was able to get Little Perfections off the ground and begin its success story.
The reason I've been able to stay motivated and committed to the business is because of how much I enjoy it. I enter a state of flow every single day: some days are harder than others, of course, but I'm able to pull myself through the tough times by remembering how far I've come to reach this point and the vision I have of the future. Taking this risk has given me the greatest reward of being my own boss, allowing me the flexibility to keep my brain active with academia as a hobby, whilst being creative each and every day through Little Perfections; developing new products, designing the website, creating orders and so much more.
I know that this is just the beginning for Little Perfections and I'm so excited for the future; to continue growing as a person, making mistakes and learning from them, using work as my creative outlet, and becoming a happy, mindful, successful entrepreneur. If I could offer any advice to somebody unsure of what they want to pursue, try as many different things as you can! Discover your passion so that you can find a way to incorporate that into your working life and it'll never feel like a burden again. It's also completely normal and okay if your passions change - sometimes it's hard to know whether you truly enjoy something, or if you've been conditioned to think you do.
Hopefully, these insights into my life and the decisions I've made to change the course of it will be of help to some of you and perhaps even inspire you to make a change in your own life, to maximise your daily joy and fulfilment at work.
Bye for now!
Ffion
