People often ask me what’s difficult about running your own business. One of the things I miss the most about working in a corporate environment is working with other people on a daily basis and having like-minded colleagues. In fact, something that has been integral to the success of Your AJency (and my own mental health!!) is being able to find a community of like-minded female business owners. When I moved from the USA to the UK last year, I hadn’t prioritised finding a new community and I really noticed the effects of not having a great business community on-hand. But, thankfully after about 6 months of living in Altrincham, I finally found my tribe with an inspiring network of business women who I connect with regularly and its all thanks to Karen and her Passion & Purpose Club.

The Passion & Purpose Club is a group of amazingly, ambitious women who are there to support each other and lean on each other when in need, but it’s a community with a difference. Led by successful photographer Karen, The Passion & Purpose Club seeks to shine a light on the amazing female-owned businesses across the UK. The reason why this network is like no other? Well, one of the other bigger challenges when showing up as often as I advocate you do, is actually having enough of the “right type” of photos - so at Passion & Purpose, not only do we get to have inspiring conversations and connect with like-minded women, but we also get the chance on a monthly basis to have high-quality photos taken, capturing us doing what we do best. This is a total winning combination and could suit so many of us female business owners. With such an ingenious idea, I couldn’t think of a better person to welcome to the Moments to Motivate series. I also love that Karen and I share the goal of getting female founders the visibility that they deserve and I can’t wait to share her story with you.

So without further ado, it’s time to meet Karen….

In my community there are people who are just at the idea stage, perhaps just launched or have an established business.  Tell us a little about your journey and what prompted you to take the plunge to start With Passion and Purpose. 

I spent the first 15 years of my working life in advertising, which I loved but gradually over time, I got quite burnt out and disillusioned by it. So, I went in search of what my passion and my purpose might be. It took me a while to find it… and it’s still developing!

After advertising, I freelanced for a little bit as a marketing consultant. I spent four magical years working at Macmillan Cancer support which I absolutely adored because I got to work in lots of different roles there. I worked in fundraising and corporate partnerships and lastly in the innovation team. Whilst I loved it, I was still struggling to find what really lit me up.

I took up photography which I’ve always loved throughout my life, even as a kid. Initially it was as a hobby, something that would distract me from work for a bit and then I guess as they say the rest is history. Some clients started asking if I would do some photography for them and then I started doing some work with an amazing networking group that existed about 5 or 6 years ago, called Girl Tribe Gang and very quickly I began working exclusively with women and helping them tell their visual stories. 

And is that how you discovered your why? We always talk about how important it is as a business to know your reasons “Why” so would you say helping women is yours?

Ultimately, yes - my why is to help more women’s voices and talents to be visible. I think that means a lot of things. It can mean visibility for groups of women that traditionally haven’t had their voices heard, all the way through to working with women that are following their passion through work, and want to share more of that with the world. That greater visibility comes both from challenging the status quo that has traditionally silenced women but also from ourselves and how we can block it from happening. Visibility doesn’t always come very naturally to us, particularly as women because I think sometimes we put other people first, or we feel like we’re showing off. So yes, ultimately my why is wrapped up in that- helping more women to be heard and seen. 

We are big believers of giving female-run businesses the visibility they deserve too. It's hard to launch and run a business on your own, pretty much impossible in my opinion. Who and where have you sought the necessary support?

There’s no denying it’s a very lonely life, running your own business or at least at the beginning. The beginning is also the hardest because it’s when all your doubts are creeping in and it’s where you’re learning so much. When I set my business up back in 2015 I thought all I needed to be good at was the service I was selling, little did I realise I needed to be my own marketeer, my own ad agency, my own accountant, my own website designer. There are just so many different skills to learn.

Finding that support, particularly the support in a mental and emotional sense  came when I started attending networking events. The networking events that I’d been to previously were really horrible, kind of clunky, very masculine environments that I didn’t enjoy and then along came Girl Tribe as I’ve mentioned and my network started to grow.

Around the same time I started doing yoga and Reiki and things like that which also exposed me to a lot of other like-minded women that funnily enough were all running their own businesses too. Now I actually run my own community, The Passion & Purpose Club! It’s amazing because now I have a business that brings in revenue for me, as well as giving me community too! It’s a proper pinch me moment of ‘I get paid to do this!’ Most of all I love The Passion & Purpose Club because it’s true to my passion of helping women be more visible and doing that as part of a community has incredible power behind it.

And have you outsourced any of your work to help you have more time to spend on the things you love about your business?

Yes! I’ve grown my own team in the last year with the appointment of Rosie - my VA and she’s incredible! I actually met Rosie first when she hired me to do her branding photography and we spent an amazing day together at her home shooting pictures and talking non-stop. We had so much in common so when it became time for me to bring more support into my business, it felt really natural to go back to Rosie. We had a bit of a false start when I panicked about the commitment of having to pay someone else regularly - it scared me! But thankfully Rosie stuck around long enough for me to come to my senses and now I cannot imagine life without her.

It is definitely scary at first but we agree that outsourcing parts of your business are so important and really help drive success for any business! We even wrote a blog about it!

How did you find your initial audience and stay true to yourself as a creative?

I found my audience initially through social media, namely Instagram. I guess the reason Instagram worked so well for me at the start was because it’s a brilliant way of sharing photographs which is ultimately what I do. But also I found it an amazing way of sharing my story, sharing the challenges I’m facing at any point in my business. Particularly when it comes to visibility, it has helped me build up trust with my audience long before they consider working with me.

There was a real turning point when I went on Stories one day, probably a good five years ago now at least and talked about how I personally struggled with my own visibility and how this goes back to being bullied quite badly as a child. I talked about how the bullying had taught me to hide, that when I was visible people would seek me out and not in a good way, so I learnt young that hiding and not drawing attention to myself kept me safe. So I shared this in a story on Instagram completely unplanned. There was no strategy behind it, but the connection that brought about was life changing. I had so many messages and people started saying how it had resonated with them and it REALLY grew and grew from there. I think by sharing very truthfully and authentically it helps me connect with people, and by the time they come to then work with me whether that was my photography, or through my community, that they kind of already know who I am.

We agree that showing up and being authentic is so important. It’s where real connections really start to form. We always advise our clients to show up as much as possible.

What’s the best advice anyone has given you in terms of being a business owner?

This is a tricky one because I could write a whole book on this, but I’m going to go with being true to yourself. There is so much work and emotional and physical pressure that goes into setting up your own business that you’ve got to be true to why you set it up in the first place. I’ve definitely had periods of time in my business, where the noise of social media or what a competitor is doing has driven my direction, and it’s always resulted in my business becoming more of a slog. When I bring it back to being about my truth and my why, that’s when my business has been most successful, and I’ve been happiest in it. You have to make a lot of sacrifices running your own business and those sacrifices can only be worth it if you are building your business in a way that is true to you.

So, so true! We also know that you’re a parent and certainly for us, that has helped shaped where we’ve taken Your AJency. How has it impacted you as a business owner? Have you got any advice for other mums setting up/running their own business?

I am a mum first and foremost as well as a business owner. I actually ran another business for a short while back in 2008 which I set up with a friend of mine. We’d literally just started the business up when I found out I was pregnant and I remember thinking at the time, “this will be a breeze. While my baby sleeps, I’ll do all my work and then when she’s awake, I’ll get to spend loads of amazing time with her!” Not to put off anyone considering having children but I’m sure any fellow mums out there will relate to the fact that that’s not quite how things work! So, I think my advice to other mums is two-fold.

Firstly to any new mums that are running a business - you need to be kind to yourself because running your own business and having a baby is so hard. I didn’t realise back then how taxing it was going to be on me physically in terms of sleep but equally, the fact that you’re entering a completely new phase as a human when you become a mum is so taxing on your mental and your emotional health! To run a business at the same time is almost impossible but the way you get through is by being kind to yourself. Now my daughter is nearly 14, it’s still a juggle and really hard work at times but the key is knowing that “balance” doesn’t exist, well not in my opinion. Sometimes you will be ALL about your business, and sometimes you will be ALL about your family and that’s fine but to think you can be equally great, all of the time, at both times is a recipe for disappointment. However, if you care about things, clearly your kids, but your business as well, you’ll find ways through it, and sometimes it is just hard work and slog and other times it’s amazing because being my own boss means I can take time out and spend it with my daughter. 

Yes! It’s more about a work/life blend rather than a work/life balance!

You’ve been growing your business for a while now - what has been the single biggest thing you have done that resulted in growth? If you could only do one thing, what would it be?

The single biggest thing that has resulted in growth for me, and I’m starting to sound really repetitive, is just being really truthful and authentic in how I approach things. The more truthful I can be about what drives me, about the women I love working with, about the way I do business, about the way I promote my business, it all comes back to being truthful and authentic and that’s been the single biggest area of growth for me. When I launched The Passion & Purpose Club two years ago, it was off the back of posting a video on Instagram where I basically rambled on for a few minutes about having a bit of a rough idea where I wanted to bring women in business together to support each other, and doing photos at the same time to increase their visibility. That video resulted in the club actually happening! It brought in all of the first members and it was just me being truthful and talking out loud. So yeah that’s the biggest thing!

And is there anything you would have done differently?

I don’t know if I would do anything differently because everything I’ve done, even if it’s failed miserably has led to something else.  Maybe there’s things that I’d have done sooner or quicker but there’s not anything I’d cut out completely or change!

That’s a really good point that you would have perhaps done things sooner but not differently! A good lesson for us all. What was your background and do you think that has helped you in your business?

My background as I mentioned was very much in advertising and marketing. Those 15 years were incredible foundations for running my own business today. It taught me that to do some of the sales stuff, you’ve got to put yourself out there. I think it’s also helped me massively when I work one-to-one in my photography shoots because I’m constantly picturing how people can use their images. So for example on a branding shoot, it might be a simple as taking one photograph, then taking it from different angles or creating more negative space around a photograph so that I know they can use it as a website banner, but it will equally work as a social media post or, by doing something in portrait, that means it will work great on Instagram Stories. I’ve got all of these things in my mind while I’m taking these photographs which in turn means my client gets images that are great in lots of circumstances. I suppose my background also meant that I learned how to connect to people, how to get a conversation going, how to present myself and all of those things have obviously been useful in my own business.

What’s been your personal highlight for With Passion and Purpose so far? Success looks different for everyone, what is success for you?

For me a personal highlight has been the connections I’ve made through my business. Meeting like-minded women that thrive and struggle in the same ways is life changing and the majority of my friendships now are women that I’ve met through my work, so that’s the biggest highlight for me. I have financial goals and I have tangible goals around growing my community and my business but that connection to other women is a way bigger high than any of those other things.

That comes across at your Passion & Purpose Club events so much! We love working and supporting ambitious female founders and you have unlocked a whole community of them for me which has been game-changing! What’s next for you and your brand?

Next for me is expansion. And when I say expansion I don’t mean in like a global domination way! I’ve talked about that in the past, but I genuinely don’t see that now. I mean expansion for me and the community in respect of more diversity in the community, more different types of voices and more expansion for me in terms of learning, digging even deeper into “my why” and my purpose and how I can really have an impact with that, not just as a slogan or a strapline. I want it to be something that genuinely helps other women.

Expansion in terms of the UK would also be good. I’ve been really keen to take the club into some new cities which we have done. We’re in London now, we’ve been in Leeds for a good 18 months as well as Manchester and Cheshire but there’s some really key cities that I want to expand into. I’m glad we haven’t done that in the past year because it’s given me the time to really see what works and what doesn’t in the community as it stands now.

I’ve recently gone out to the community with a survey, put some questions out on social media to gather opinions and off the back of that I’m bringing in some changes to the way the membership works. I’m also going to be working with some key figures that I’ve been following on social media for a while now that are going to help me tackle the diversity of the group. Not from a sales or marketing perspective, but just because I’m really keen to attract women from all kinds of backgrounds into the club, so that it can represent all faces of society and so that all women can then see themselves in the community.

Plus, for the women within the community, I want their stories to be heard outside of the group. That’s a big thing for me - that their voices are heard externally in order to inspire other women. Not to join the community necessarily, although clearly that would be welcomed, but to have an impact on women that aren’t following their passion and purpose at the moment to see women that are and how they’ve done it, and how that can come from all different circumstances and all manner of backgrounds, so that is really key for me moving forward.

What a great goal to be working towards. Ok, so last question. If you could have a gigantic billboard anywhere with anything on it, getting your message to billions, what would it say and why?

There’s a quote I come back to time and time again, in fact a whole paragraph and it’s written by Marianne Williamson. She talks about who are you to play small, who are you to hide your talents & your gifts from other people, that these things have been gifted to you and it is your responsibility to share them. That is basically how I live my life and stay true to my purpose and so I think with Marianne’s permission I would put that quote up there on the billboard, with my website underneath. That’s probably quite cheeky I’m not sure she’d agree to that!

Thank you so much for being a part of the Moments to Motivate series! I can’t recommend the Passion & Purpose Club enough! To find out more about Karen and her work, read below.

Karen is a professional photographer and writer, passionate about inspiring women & girls to do what they love and to BE SEEN. She loves to capture real life, human connection and to create stories both in words and pictures. She photographs in a natural, documentary style, catching women and girls absorbed in following their passions…whether that’s a career passion, a side hustle or a hobby. No studios, nothing too staged or posed and everything kept as truthful and authentic as possible.

Day job aside, she’s also quite keen on some other things. Namely her family, which in short consists of one husband, one child and one dog, and she also enjoys time pottering in bookshops and spending as much time as she can in Cornwall. The rest of the time she’s in sunny Manchester (oh the irony) but still a Yorkshire girl at heart.

Website: www.withpassionandpurpose.co.uk

Email: karen@withpassionandpurpose.co.uk

Social Media: Instagram and LinkedIn