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Creating handmade, colourful rainbows as symbols of hope, Victoria Burke started Ashfield Macramé as a creative outlet. Over the past year, her work has received an overwhelming response. Telling her story in Woanderlust this month, Victoria discusses the ups and downs of starting your own business whilst struggling with perfectionism, and the guilt of dedicating time to follow your dreams when also being a mother.

The professional translator and mum-of-one decided to give macramé a go in early 2020, when the first in a series of lockdowns was introduced in Dublin. Victoria explains: “I could already crochet, knit and weave because my mam taught me how when I was a teenager. But I had never tried macramé, and it’s so trendy right now. I made a few different wall hangings and found it so therapeutic. I also decided to make a rainbow for my boy’s room and I just loved making it. Playing around with the colours and sizes is amazing, it actually cheers me up.”

Despite having fallen in love with the craft itself, Victoria was not happy with the results at the beginning. “The first few items I made weren’t that great. It was mainly because I hadn’t found the right materials yet and didn’t have enough experience. But I kept at it until I got the results I was looking for.” After being encouraged by her husband and best friend to start selling her creations, Victoria decided to open an Etsy shop. “My wonderful husband and my bestie kept telling me to just do it and see how it goes, but I wasn’t even thinking about selling my creations at first because ‘who would buy them?’. I am so grateful to them for doing that. I remember when I got my first order, I was over the moon.”

Victoria kept comparing the quality of her products with the work of others, and was consistently disappointed with her results. “Being a perfectionist meant that, like many creatives in Ireland and the rest of the world, I underpriced my items. I wasn’t even paying myself the minimum wage. But as I sold more items and started getting positive reviews from my lovely customers, I started believing in my work and fixed that issue. So if there’s any advice I could give to people who want to start selling their creations it’s this: please don’t sell yourself short, pay yourself well.” 

Furthermore, Victoria emphasises the importance of community and support in growing your business, as well as gaining confidence. “Try to connect with other creatives in the country, there’s such an amazing Instagram community in Ireland. We all support one another through orders, comments, likes, shares. All of that helps a lot.”

Being the mother of a two-and-a-half year old son, Victoria is no stranger to multi-tasking, compartmentalising tasks and working late nights to complete orders. “Being at home with your child when you’re running your own business is very, very hard. A few of my fellow creatives here in Ireland have three or four kids and they’re my heroes. I only have one and I get interrupted every 5 minutes, if I’m lucky. I daydream about having a whole 3 hours to ‘myself’ (to work) every day when my boy starts preschool in September!” 

Spending time and energy working on a business of your own, and going after your dream, is nothing but easy. Dealing with self-doubt, procrastination due to not knowing where to start, and the ever-so-present imposter syndrome are but a few of the hurdles many of us have to overcome. Throw motherhood into the mix, and guilt will be at the top of the list of feelings that will try to keep you from achieving your goals. Victoria explains: “Trying to work while your kid is pulling from your finger trying to get you to play with him makes you feel very guilty. Ah, mothers. We can never shake off that guilty feeling, can we?”

Having quit her job as a professional translator in order to spend more time with her son, Victoria emphasises the importance of looking after your mental health. “I love having my boy with me all day. I quit my job because I wasn’t spending enough time with him and, when we did get to hang out, I was too stressed out to enjoy it. Now I’m with him all day and in such a good mood. Looking after our mental health is more important now than ever.”

Victoria emphasises that the success of Ashfield Macramé has a lot to do with timing. “I don’t think that having a business would suit everyone. It wouldn’t have suited me 5 years ago but it does now. I think the key is doing it because you love it. If you don’t, then you’re going to hate replying to emails on a Sunday morning or staying up until 1 am working on orders. In my case, I usually can’t wait to sit down at my desk with my cup of coffee and start working. It’s the first time it’s ever happened to me.”

There are no shortcuts when starting a business of your own. Even so, hard work provides value in itself when you love what you do. Being a mother and the owner of a successful business, Victoria speaks from experience when stating that: “If you’re a mammy like myself and are thinking of starting your own business, my humble advice is, if you’re proud of what you do or make, and it makes you happy, give it a go! Your kids will be proud of you for following your heart.”