Tribes of Kii

Some items from the first collection here, one of three the T shirts, poster, stickers, cards and tote bags ♥

Above is some stock from my first collection which I hear by name 'Hippie Jungle' you can see the full range at www.tribesofkii.co.uk. The site, by the way is absolute hell. I am the ultimate perfectionist and it has become a massive curse when getting my site organised as I am never happy. Currently most pages are locked to the public and under constriction but I am going to have to take a plunge and make everything live, I procrastinate... I will explain that further another day (post coming soon)

You can find all this available on my site, duh and also depop and possibly etsy (their commission is not ideal) 

And i'm off x

Until next time? x

Vlog - Busy Business

I'm sorryyyy, if i could post more i would because I love blogging, but time is like gold at the moment. so here is a video to explain  what's happening with setting up my business in th e past few weeks. As we speak I am editing another video so i PROMISE it won't be forever until i post the next one, Until next time x

Starting a business -Busy bee

One thing I want to commit to is this blog. It is a great motivation to be successful knowing I may just inspire someone who is reading or watching. So forgive me for not posting anything in almost two weeks, I have been so so busy! 

As you may or may not know I have moved into my office, began working on designs for the first collection and ordering in bulk plain stock ready for printing. As of this week I will be working on the designs for a second collection and hopefully begin printing stock. I am not allowed to use the printing studio unattended until I do a supervised one day course which is fine but I have to wait til a space is available on that course! sigh...

The website is complete and will launch as soon as I have photography and videography ready for the first collection which I am going to be doing all myself. This is all a massive learning process, I feel like how i did when I began doing my art and design course in college, my heads just about ready to explode with creative ideas, and one thing i love in life is learning how to do new things, so as stressful as this time is and as much I complain about not being able to sleep. I can truly say I am loving every minute, i am one busy, but very happy bee.

Now as you can probably tell, I like to plan, over plan and do everything by the book. I have used the quote 'if you fail to plan you plan to fail' before, but unfortunately, we humans can't control everything. Sometimes God gets a little bit bored watching everything go smoothly and decides to nudge you with his little finger. Well that is exactly what happened to me. Nowhere in my budget did I have money put aside for a new PC, as far as I was aware I would continue using my laptop. Little did I know that this laptop is not compatible with ANY software that I need to run my business. Lo and behold I had to dig into my pocket and pay £700 CASH for a new PC. Luckily the PC was on offer for a limited time only so I did actually get a great bargain, but that was one of the most painful cash exchanges of my life. Seeing that money leave my hands and go into that til gave me flu like symptoms I had a headache, I felt sweaty... I would say 'ok I'm over-reacting' but... I'm not. 

So... what do you do if over a third of your start up budget disappears before you can say 'wait!' The answer? You hustle. To every problem is a solution my friends, the worst thing you can do is get down, start panicking and give up before you have even tried to figure it out. We are living in tough times, and most people don't have someone who could just lend them that money back. Ideally avoid borrowing any more then you had originally budgeted for yourself, but maybe that might be your only option. I on the other hand just could not have that as an option. I hate owing money, I could ask my family, but £700! I mean, really? I could become a stripper, no one would know...would they?...hmm. OK so that's a joke but HOW ON EARTH AM I GOING TO MAKE THIS MONEY BACK! 

I only had one option, to sell my most beloved material item. My 40" HD, 3D, Smart TV.... I love that lil baby. So I sold it for £700, bought a second hand 40" HD for £150, bargain I know. So I just about managed to be back where I was prior to buying the PC, OK I am short by £150 but my business set up is now back in full swing. 

I would love to write more, I have loads of stories, like the two Nigerian men that tried to scam me for my TV, I will save that story for another post. Be sure to visit my blog again, I will be posting a video very soon

Anyway, 

Until next time... x

Vlog - IKEA spilt drinks and randomness

Check into my blog every Sunday to catch a new vlog video! 

How to - Keep organised whilst setting up your small business

There are two main reasons why you, or at least I want to stay as organised as possible from the get go. One is to preserve my sanity and two is to help massively reduce the risk of money slipping through my fingers. I have friends who have recently started a small business and have not been as organised as I am and they seem to be doing perfectly fine, but I am a 'worst case scenario' type of gal. I like to know that if something was to happen or mistakes were made, there's a clear record of everything that has been done. This way things can get sorted quickly and there's a lot less to stress about. 

The first thing I did when setting up the business is create to-do lists. I sectioned these lists into four groups, or 'stages'. I titled them appropriately and made a short description of what each group was for to ensure I was putting the correct tasks in each list. I'll explain. The lists included;

• Stage one - 'foundation' - before you can say you have a business 

This list involved all the things that need to be completed before a business can even be run. They included setting up a business account, sourcing funding, buying a laptop ect. 

• Stage two - 'production' - Before you can begin producing any stock

This listed all the things I would need to have ready before I can begin printing my products. It included everything I would have to source and booking in time to create collection ideas.

• Stage three - 'trade' - before i can begin trading

This list like the rest does what is says on the tin. It included having a logo ready, making sure all legal was covered (public liability ect.) 

• Stage four - 'final prep' - work hard, hope for the best and congratulations.

This list is for when everything is complete and all that's left to do is make money and be successful. This list included creating rhythm and routine calendars to ensure i am making the best out of each day and networking.  Currently I am on stage three.

See below for image

The next thing i done was organised my desk top and PC in general. I make sure any work is saved in specific locations so that they are easy to find. I keep personal images and files separate from anything relating to the business. And of course I make sure that my desktops background has my companies logo. It seems like such a minor thing but it really will help reinforce you into 'work-mode'

See below for image

So next and most importantly was organizing my budget. This is the one part of this post which i would encourage everyone to do or you will lose track of your outgoings and live to regret not being more organised. So to do this I simply created a spreadsheet in excel. I split the table into three sections. 

• Things that i need to buy to run the business 
• Things that i need to buy to print the stock
• Personal expenses that i need to successfully run the business. e.g. a car.

I then created a column beside each thing that needs to be purchased. I use this column to highlight whether or not this purchase has been made as you will see in the image below. Red means it has been fully paid for, orange means it has been partially paid for, green means that it is ready to be paid for (e.g. the item is in eBay basket awaiting payment) and yellow means it hasn't been paid for.

see below for image

You don't have to be good at making spreadsheets!

Excel has been a lifesaver. There are bucket loads of templates free from excel that you can use to organise any information you have. Simply open excel, then you want to go to file> new. And you will be taken to this window. (I am using a 2010 version of excel in-case yours looks different) 

Under 'office.com templates' you click the option that is most appropriate for you. For creating lists select 'lists and to-do checklists'> business lists> and then the one that I find the most simple is 'to-do list' however you have an option of others if you prefer. Your Mac or PC will take a second or two to download the template then you can use it and save it easy peasy. Go to 'format as table' to change the color scheme, if it bothers you as much as it does me.

OK, so now you're all mostly organised. You want to make sure you have a backup system in place. Whether you are backing up on USB... dropbox, just make sure you are! So that's the technical side of staying organised. Next you want to make sure all your physical letters and paperwork are well organised. The simplest way to to this is grab a bunch of plastic folders and some white labels, and file everything away accordingly. Make sure you are keeping your personal letters separate from your business. And where necessary, make photocopies. 

Well that's all folks! I hope this post was helpful and not confusing. Any questions feel free to ask and as always....until next time? x

Update video - fun questionnaire

Starting a Business: The Waiting Game

God... It has been four months now since I began working towards setting up a business. I am in the final stages but believe me it still feels like it could all be a dream. Weeks go by where the most I have been able to do is register as self employed, or Google equipment that I may need but can't actually buy just yet. Sometimes I feel like I am lying when I say I am setting up a business because a lot of the time I find myself sitting around dreaming, am I kidding myself or... is this actually happening?

Every Sunday night I try to go to bed nice and early. 'Things will probably start to get busy from this week, everything will be sorted and I'll have to get to work!' I think to myself, grinning from ear to ear. Then I spend all Monday and the rest of the week waiting for the postman to deliver those all important confirmation letters, and running to my phone every time I hear an email notification, only to find out it's yet another 'important update' from Google. No Google, new games for Easter is NOT important! *slowly exhales. God I hate waiting, I do. I'm a 'see it, like it, buy it' kind of girl. I decide I want something and before you know it I have it. I'd say I'm a go getter, however my gran much prefers to use the term stubborn, or 'ya too fass!'. (Some Jamaican Patois for you) But hey...to-may-to, to-mah-to. 

Working as a visual merchandiser for the past 5 years has taught me the art of analytical thinking. There is always a best order in which to do things. A lot of it comes down to common sense, and then of course priority. Until major things are in place, I shall continue to play this good old waiting game. Sure there are lists long of things I could do in the meantime to help occupy my time rather then sleep in til 12pm because at-least three days of the week I literally have nothing to do. But I am wise enough to know that once everything is finally set in place the work load I will have to take on will most defiantly be immense, especially as I am not willing to have any help in the early days, I don't trust people to do things properly... OK so maybe I am stubborn, just a bit. Back to my point; there will be no time to re-do anything so remaining patient and executing the plan you have drawn up for yourself is quite vital.  

One thing I have been doing recently which has been depriving me of my beauty sleep is building my own website. Originally I had planned to pay someone to do it for me, but Mr Budget said no. For anyone that is planning on building a DIY site for your business, unless you want a botched job, poor quality site then be aware that it is a painstakingly long process and as my fellow new entrepreneur and friend Alex said 'Trust me, it isn't easy getting use to all the software options ect. and because it's your baby the design will have to be exactly how you in-visioned it. It's going to take ages but when you get it, it's worth it.' He's so right. It is your baby, it's your business and livelihood. Who knows, you could be sitting on a multi-million pound company if you execute it properly. Call me spiritual but I am a believer in setting good foundations for anything you do in life. That being said you need to keep your attitude in check, think of the cup as always half full. 

I think most people in western society are like me, we want things as quickly as possible. We're a spoiled nation and one of two things can result from a person that has this mind-set. Either you build a strong work ethic because you are so focused and passionate about getting exactly what you want in life. Or you are so expectant of things being handed to you that you are less than willing to work for it and deflate easily in the face of rejection. You're the person that has worked every job, never longer then a year and all in completely non related fields. One minute you're a salesman, then a painter decorator, and oh look, you just got a job as a dog handler... the phrase 'Jack of all trades, master of none' springs to mind. I won't lie I have my moments where the world is a horrible place and I completely give up, we all do. But for the sake of fate, sometimes you just have to snap out of it. All this waiting will be worth it, not long now before I can finally call myself an entrepreneur. 

Setting up a business so far has been a long process. I think I expected things to go a lot faster, I thought, once I have my business plan perfect, the ball will start rolling. Looking back on my experience thus far there is one thing I would do differently. I would have put myself into part time employment. I was under the impression that I would be weighed down with work during this time, and made the decision to commit my energy solely to setting up the business. The good thing is that everything I have done so far has been done to an extremely high standard, because I have had the time to do so. However, I know myself enough to know that those days where I have had nothing to do were unhealthy. I would advise you, to make sure you are working during this period of setting up a business. It could be a part time job or voluntary work, anything to make sure you are out the house and doing something constructive. Ideally you want to do work with fixed hours so you can plan around your shifts and one where you can easily walk away when your business' workload suddenly begins to get hectic. 

So to all you potential entrepreneurs out there, be prepared to play the waiting game, and surround yourself with positive energy. If you read my blog regularly you'll know that I don't half love a good quote, I'll end this post with one of my favorites; 'When things don't happen right away, remember, it takes 6 months to build a Rolls Royce, and 13 hours to build a Toyota.'

Anyway, Until next time? x

Vlog - Studio Viewing and Celebrating!

Hey all! This week has been a great week already, finally I am starting to feel like I actually AM setting up a business again and not just a business blogger. The past couple weeks have been a waiting game and as of yesterday the hard work really begins. I will continue to try and share my story and give advice as much as possible because I really love helping people. I hope you enjoy this but i'll never know unless you share, comment and subscribe. Until next time!! x

Starting a business young - Why social networking is now your best mate

Authors William Strauss and Neil Howe would describe my generation as the millennial generation or Generation Y. We were privileged enough to grow up surrounded by technology and have access to everything this crazy giant world has to offer. Channel 4 has just started a series called 'shut your Facebook' about social network junkies and the impact it has on our lives. If you haven't watched it yet, defiantly take a look. Talk about addicted! When starting a business social networking, as the title reads is your best mate. But with everything in life you have your pro's and those annoying cons.  

Most of us are on at-least one social network and can't help but showcase ourselves and watch what the next person is doing. The negative side of all this exposure is that we are the perfect target for criticism and stereotyping, and not necessarily from the older generation but from each other... Now let's be honest, we are a jealous bunch and with all that ugly green stuff floating around it's very hard to find support when deciding to do something as risky as starting a business young.

Most likely, your parents are not going to give you the Mexican wave of approval you were hoping for. They are old school, they hear business, and think money...savings..."Honestly Peter, you can barely afford to put petrol in your car, how on earth are you going to start a record label. And clean your bloody room for Christ's sake!" Oh poor naive parents, when will they learn the internet is not just for shopping on Asda and liking Facebook pictures of cousin Sophie's new baby.

It seems so obvious when I say that social networking is a must have when starting a business today but I do believe people still do not yet understand how powerful it really is. I have a handful of people in my personal life that know I am setting up my business. When I tell them to check out my blog, they cannot quite seem to grasp how a blog and a screen printing business have any relation. I believe selling yourself is just as important as selling your product. Now of course there's a massive elephant of a risk when deciding to put yourself on display, people may not like you, they may even hate you. BUT... if you are well received, then the impact it will have on your business could be phenomenal. 

I have to say I don't think this theory I have can be applied to just any business. If you are setting up a lifestyle brand, becoming a tattoo artist, maybe a fashion or makeup brand, or something in the music and art industries. Then most defiantly I would say get yourself out there as much as possible, and to a point that you feel comfortable with. The reason it is successful in these lines of work is because these fields create communities, and within communities you can create a fan-base as appose to a 'customer'. It is the kind of work that is ideal for collaborations and knowing the right people really will put you in the fast lane towards success. But let's say you are planning on repairing laptops, or starting a cleaning agency... the idea of selling yourself as a personality just seems extremely unnecessary. Your focus should be selling your product and/or service.

Be warned that if you do choose to abuse social networking as a way to market yourself. Then the time you spend doing it is going to be a lot more than you may think. There's a reason all the best known YouTubers end up quitting their jobs and running there YouTube account full time. So try not to take on more than you can handle, you don't want to get into a situation where you become overwhelmed and begin slacking, you will quickly lose your hard earned fan-base because as they say 'consistency is key'. More importantly you don't want to deprive yourself of the little sleep you have available. The first year of being an entrepreneur will be long hours and hard work so don't stay up til 6am replying to tweets, as addictive as it will become remember where your priorities lay.

My FOUR tips for your social networks

#1: You need to be easy to find - Keep all your names the same if possible, whether you are using your personal name or companies name on your social networks. People don't care enough to play detective just to send you a tweet. If you find yourself unable to use a certain name because it's already taken then after swearing out loud and fighting the urge to punch your laptop, make sure the name you want is incorporated somehow, even if it means using_loads_of_ugly_underscores_ like this...

#2: You are not as important as you think - Remember you are a start up company, and even if you do find yourself gaining a hundred followers a day in the early days. You are not a God. Respect your followers because they, without even knowing it, are one of the reasons you will be successful. So follow people back, reply to compliments, re-tweet a fan showcasing your work, basically don't be a twat.

#3: Know your limits - Again if you are setting up a community driven company, then selling yourself is quite important. But that picture of you throwing up in Camden last weekend probably doesn't need to be on your instagram account. And the racist joke you saw on twitter that had you in stitches, yeah how about you don't add that to your favorites. Be true to yourself of course, but be respectful. I'm not saying you must never share anything controversial, because maybe that's what you are all about but be smart.

#4: Don't sell yourself out - Earlier I used the phrase, 'selling yourself'. But a quick disclaimer, I mean our personality. You absolutely want to gain as much views as possible but don't do things just because that's what people want. You are, for example, just starting a make-up brand and want to get noticed. Is that half naked picture of you really necessary? Maybe you were raised and always have been a faithful Muslim and suddenly just because you're getting a little viral fame, oh now you want to upload pictures of you drinking and with women all over you because, that's what people want. Don't be silly. The reality is that the internet as powerful as it is, is just a virtual world. And just like this blog your fame could be deleted and you will be forgotten about overnight. So remain true to yourself.

OK. So just to recap, the cons of social networking may be trolls, spending hours trying to keep all your accounts up to date and criticism. The pro's are, viral fame, creating a fan base, having access to similar people in your field of work and all round success. I think the pro's outweigh, if its something you think you can handle. 

Need some inspiration???

Below I have links to some of my favorite people on social networks and a short description of what they do. Enjoy!

________________________________________________________________________

Miss Tanya Burr!

This beautiful British girl Tanya Burr, born 1989, started off as a fashion and beauty YouTube guru and now has her own makeup line selling in Superdrug! And yes, I love it.

Tanya Burr's Twitter account Tanya Burr's Website Tanya Burr's YouTube Tanya's Instagram

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Coco and Breezy

I have written about these two Diva's before. Aged 19 they packed their bags and headed to new York where they designed and sold sunglasses. Along with their original designs, social networking helped them become the success story they are today. 

Coco and Breezy's website Coco and Breezy's Twitter  Coco and Breezy's Instagram  

Coco and Breezy's Tumblr 

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Jamal Edwards

I'm pretty sure this guy's best friend is YouTube.  Jamal Edwards is the CEO and Founder of SBTV and a role model to so many budding entrepreneurs. He set up his company aged 15,  has more then 50million YouTube hits and was the face of Google Chrome. If this doesn't inspire you, shoot me now.

Jamal Edwards Twitter SBTV Website SBTV Youtube  Jamal Edwards Facebook

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Susie Bubble

Susie is a British born Chinese blogger.She started her blog in 2006 and now runs her blog full time and is writing for Elle Magazine, The Daily Rubbish and Dazed Digital! Well done girl.

http://www.stylebubble.co.uk Susie's Twitter Susie's Instagram Susie's Facebook

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Be sure to subscribe and share this on Google+ if you want more posts like this. Anyway, Until next time...?? xx!

Get ready with me - smart look

Thought i'd add a bit of fun to my blog and this 'get ready with me' video should defiantly do the trick!

My personal style is always casual but if ever I need to switch it up for a professional environment then this look is defiantly something I would rock. Luckily for me I am setting up a art based business so I will rarely have to worry about looking smart, dungarees and baggy T's aaaall day, mwahha xx ENJOY!

The best inspirational speech ever

Don't click play just yet...

So, I don't know if you can tell from the title, but I LOVE this speech right here... can we just talk about it for a second. I'm being dead serious when I say I could listen to this ten times a day and still feel like I can move mountains.

This motivational piece was introduced to me by a good friend of mine, I was having one of those days where I was feeling super crap. I am so happy that I heard it. This isn't just for someone setting up business, whatever it is you want to do in life, whatever YOUR definition of success is, if ever you feel discouraged and need a kick up the ass, this speech will surely do the job. 

Just enjoy this and listen, but really listen to what he's saying because it truly inspires me and I want it to do the same for you. So without further ado... ladies and gents, I bring you the best inspirational speech you will ever hear, by Eric Thomas. You may now press play

Enjoy 

How to - write a strong business plan

Hey all. If you watched my YouTube video titled 'starting a business - where I'm at so far' then you will have heard me mention how strong of a business plan I had, and as promised I am going to share my tips and advice on getting your business plan just right...

You may be wanting to start a business from the comfort of your own home; baking cakes, cutting hair etc. and you may be able to fund your business from personal savings. If this is the case then I would suggest writing a business plan anyway. The reason I say this is because putting together a business plan forces you to break down what on the surface may seem like a simple idea, into quite complex segments. From my personal experience my original idea to what I produced after completing my business plan were quite different. This is because there were so many things I hadn't taken into consideration, some elements of my plan were impractical, some required too much funding... Had I been in a position where I could have started a business through my own money, I highly doubt I would have written a business plan and I defiantly would have found myself in a very horrible position six months from now. 'if you fail to plan, you plan to fail.'

I am lucky enough to have strong writing skills, which was defiantly a bonus when putting together a convincing plan, however this isn't a best selling novel we are trying to produce! So if you're not the next Shakespeare no need to worry. The only thing the person reading your plan cares about is whether or not your business has potential. So lets get started.

There are two routes you can take when writing your business plan. You can either do what I will call the 'business plan for dummies' pitch. This is where you explain exactly what you're doing in so much detail that the person reading it need ask no questions, everything is crystal clear. Or you can do what my business adviser calls 'the elevator' pitch. This is where you keep everything short, sharp and simple. The pitch you decide depends on who is reading your plan. If you are going through a bank or building society, they will usually offer you a template business plan. Make sure you check out their template before beginning your plan, this will give you an idea of what kind of plan they deem appropriate. If however you are going through a charity or organisation, they tend to prefer the elevator pitch, this is because unlike a bank these organisations are there to help you and not make money off you. So along with funding they will usually offer support, business advisers, workshops and events, all to assist you in setting up your business. Originally I wrote a 'business plan for dummies' pitch. After reading and re-reading, it just felt better to go with an elevator pitch. My business adviser later told me that the elevator pitch was defiantly the right decision because sometimes, too much information is not a good thing. However I will say that dummies pitch most defiantly taught me a lot more about my potential business.

The Elevator pitch

This business plan is short, sharp and simple. 

• Tell the reader what your idea is
• Who your target audience is
• What the outcome of setting up this business will be

Any questions that need answering in this style of business plan require direct answers. 

What prices will you charge for your services?

Good example: The average price I will charge for a cup cake is £2. 

This is direct and clear. 'the average' suggests not all pricing will be the same which is all the reader needs to know. Any more information is unnecessary. Remember a business plan is really just a guesstimate of what you think will become of the company so it is impossible to be accurate and your reader understands that. Also the person reading your business plan does this for a living, they may have 15 other business plans to read that day so the shorter the answer the better. 

Bad example: The average price I will charge for a cupcake is £2. The prices will change depending on the style of cupcake. A simple cupcake with just plain icing will cost £2, however if I have a jam filling in a cupcake I will then charge £2.50. Any cupcakes that are decorated (with sprinkles for example) I plan to charge £3.  

The person reading this is not trying to buy your product / service. This is too much information and not needed. All the reader needs to know is the average because again this is all guess work.

Below is the same template I used for my final business plan. Please feel free to use this as it done extremely well for me. Some extras I added to my plan included tables to demonstrate cash-flow and my customer profile. I felt it made more sense and was easier to read that information in the form of a table as appose to paragraphs. Use this template as exactly that, a template. Adjust it as you seem appropriate. 

Park Life and Afro's

Bringing the 70's back 

Ring game...check!

Leather, studs, and jelly shoes

This is what happy looks like, thank you LIFE

Starting a business - Where I'm at so far

In case you're curious to exactly what stage I am at with my business set up then watch this short video. Feel free to ask questions and keep checking for updates. The minute things progress I will be blogging or vlogging. Catch me on instagram (kmchaela1) and follow me on YouTube via my Google+ account. It's a brand new page but I'll be uploading whenever there's exciting news. As mentioned in this video I will be releasing either a blog and/or vlog about how I got my business plan perfect first time round and give you some great tips I picked up along the way!

Foster care - My 'perfect' childhood story

If I could use three words to describe my childhood they would be, perfect, scary and lonely...in that order exactly.

I am one of 13 children, third born, all by my mother. I have three full siblings; a younger brother aged 22 and twin sisters, aged 21. We are of Caribbean heritage. Our mother is Jamaican, and our father is from Barbados. Both our parents families immigrated to London when they were children. My mother (as my gran describes her) was a lot of trouble, as soon as she hit her teens she went off the rails, and my father is not to be spoken of, he too was bad news. The two together were a ticking time bomb. My mother became addicted to drugs and of course an unstable parent, and my father was a violent gang member who to this day is behind bars, for murder and armed robbery. 

You may be thinking 'wow, what must it be like to have parents like that?' Luckily, I don't know. I was put into care aged two. At the time my mother only had four children, myself, my younger full brother, and my older brother and sister who are half siblings. My mum was pregnant with the twins when I was put into foster care, who again are my full siblings. My older brother and sister were split from us and adopted by my gran, she could not afford to adopt all of us so my brother and I were put into care and thankfully kept together. 

August 1996

Part one:Perfect

I remember absolutely nothing about the early days of my foster care experience but with me only being 2 years old and my brother one, I can only assume there was a lot of crying, but like most toddlers and babies, we probably settled in after a couple of days. 

Our foster dad was a carpenter. He was amazing, the best father a child could ask for. A tall grey haired Englishman, laid back and would always surprise us with small gifts and displays of affection. My favorite memory of him was coming home after nursery, I had barely seen him for a couple days, he greeted us when we entered the house and we were always excited to see him because he was the best. He told us to come into the garden. Our foster mum was smiling so I already knew it was going to be something good. There were two objects covered with white sheets. He took the sheets off revealing two rocking horses that he had carved by hand for us. 

"Is that for me?" I remember asking, I think I was about four years old, me and my brother were smiling and so happy.

"Yes, go on, have a go" my foster dad replies. I remember getting on that horse and falling in love with it, not that I cared for rocking horses, but because I knew it had been made just for me. 'so that's why he's been in his workshop so much'. I look back at the man my foster dad was and I am so amazed that someone could love as deeply as he did. We may as well have been his own flesh and blood. 

Myself, my brother, foster dad and another foster child 1993

Our foster mum was a warm hearted loving woman. She would cook us a meal every night, help us with our homework, do everything she could to make sure we were well looked after. Her style of parenting was very British and traditional, from Sunday roasts to tucking us in at night, after a story and a kiss on the forehead. I never saw her complain or be angry, except one day when I called her 'mum'. Something had happened at school which caused me to wonder why I didn't call her it. Our foster family made us feel so much a part of their family that I never really questioned our relationship before, as far as I was concerned there 'were' my family. That evening when I got home during a conversation with her I said it. "No Kierra!" she said with a stern tone and raised voice. "You shouldn't call me that! You must never call me that again!" I remember my eyes flooding with tears, she too seemed shaken and it was obvious from her facial expression that she regretted raising her voice. "OK?" her tone was a lot softer and comforting "You have to call me by my first name." she drops to her knees and hugs me. "Oh darling I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to shout at you..." 

That night my foster dad, super-dad, came into my room to make sure I was OK. It had been a couple of years we had been living with the family. At the time I thought my foster mum was mean for shouting at me but looking back, it must be so hard to love a child as much as they loved us and have them in your life for so long, knowing that at any given minute you might receive a call to say you have to give them back. In fact there were a lot of moments where I can look back and see how attached my foster parents were getting, at one point I am sure I remember conversations of them wanting to adopt us. If they had I would have been so happy, but then again I may never have had the opportunity to build a relationship with my real family...

We lived outside of London in the country, the forest was our playground and everyone was so friendly. I think we may have very well been the only black children in the town! Whenever we were out in public everyone we saw would say hello to us, and people would stop my foster parents to tell them how cute me and my brother were. We never experienced any negativity or felt different from anyone else. My foster mum played a big part in making sure we felt right at home. The first few years she would struggle with my Afro hair, and I didn't help by making a fuss any time she tried to touch it. Black hair takes a lot of time and patience and one thing I am is impatient. At first she gave in and would just tie my hair in one or two buns after washing it. But it was never blow-dried or properly detangled. She then learned how to braid, twist and kanerow it, this woman would go out of her way for us, and she will forever be a role model to me. 

Playgroup December 1994

At home our garden was massive and well kept. Our foster parents had children themselves, who were all grown up or young adults. Their son was great, in fact all the family was. I remember he use to pick us up, throw us about (sometimes get shouted at for it) he would ALWAYS tickle us and l'd laugh but only as a reflex, I absolutely hated it when he tickled me. We would go on family trips, and spend time enjoying the outdoors together. We were not the only children they fostered, during our time with them many children came and went, some for a couple weeks others for months. A blonde haired little girl named Charlotte was the only child that stayed with us for quite some time. If I remember correctly we were adopted while she was still with us. But of all the children the family had us for the longest. I was nine years old when I was adopted and I remember the day like it was yesterday, but I will talk about that in my next childhood story post.

Family ferry trip September 1995

Being fostered defiantly molded me as a person. For one, I could NEVER discriminate or be racist to white people. They raised me. Britain is not just the country I was born in but it is my home, I consider myself British before anything else and will forever be loyal towards this country and it's people. The stability I had whilst in foster care was priceless, should I ever have a family of my own I hope that I can offer to my children what my foster family gave me. I love the simple things in life, they bring me more joy then any material thing could ever offer me and that comes from the way my foster family raised me to be. Family dinners, hand made rocking horses, and hugs before bed, I mean...there's nothing more satisfying. 

July 1996

I haven't had contact with my foster family in years but I plan to contact them again this year and document the experience. I hope that I become someone they are proud of, so they know they done an amazing job. Right now I am happily single, but should the day come where I find Mr right and get married, there's only one man I would ever consider walking me down the isle and that of course is my foster dad. There is so much more I could write about my foster care experience but I'm sure you don't have all day to read about it although I would happily share. So feel free to ask questions in the comments section if you want to know more. Part two of my childhood story will be titled 'scary'. I'll talk about being adopted, the culture shock of going from a white British family to a Jamaican household and much more.

Conclusion: 

The 'perfect' childhood and starting a business

As mentioned earlier one thing being fostered gave me was stability. If you can start a business and do it well then stability is something you will be able to offer your family. Although there are laws and company procedures to help protect employees against sudden redundancy, when working for someone else your job is never truly promised. At any given minute things can take a sudden turn for the worst. Don't get me wrong, being self employed has the same risks, even more so. The difference is you ARE in control. Sure there are legislation changes and an abundance of things that could very well have a direct impact on your company, and outside influences are something you cannot control. But if you want something bad then you'll find a way to overcome it and make it work. Being able to adapt is key. 

Eric Thomas is a renowned motivational speaker. I listen to his piece 'how bad do you want it' at least once a week. He speaks such truth and really makes you question yourself and your motives. 'most of you say you want to be successful, but you don't want it bad, you just kind of want it' I think this quote applies perfectly to the point I am trying to raise. When you choose to set up your own business the ball is in your court. Regardless of what is going on in the world around you, you have the ability to make sure you are a success. Don't just give up at the first hurdle, and don't be stubborn in your attitude towards self employment because guess what, it is going to be hard, at times you will feel demotivated, sleep will become a privilege, and you'll be lucky if you manage to squeeze in three meals a day. You don't have to be a business mogul to know that. 'Anything worth doing is hard work'. My foster father worked hard and my foster mum spent all her time being the perfect house wife, their dedication and consistency gave me and my brother an amazing early life. So when times get hard, don't dwell in self pity, think of all the people around you, if you can't stick at it for yourself then do it for them. And if you know you are the type to give up when times get too rough, then hey, maybe starting a business just isn't for you...

Anyway, until next time? x