How we've helped Naomi Jenkin Art
Business overview
Living a fast-paced life in London, Naomi Jenkin missed the countryside and having time to create art.
Although the hours as an Audio Engineer were long, she used what little free time she had to draw – dreaming of it becoming a full time career.
Soon she was being commissioned to use her chalk pastels to capture the unique personalities of her friends and family’s pets.
Posting her work online and on social media, she began to attract attention and found she was being contacted by strangers wanting pictures of their pets too.
She said: “I remember that time when I had a complete stranger contact me and ask me to draw their cat - that was a really exciting moment. Having someone who had no connection to me whatsoever, who had seen my stuff online or on social media and then was willing to put that trust in me to create a portrait of their pet was really special.”
I recommend the Growth Hub for anyone looking to further their business and receive tailored support in the areas they need to grow.
How we helped
Eight years later, after leaving the capital city behind for Cornwall, she is now an award-winning artist who has turned her talent into a business – and she thanks the Growth Hub for its support along the way.
She explained: “I was working quite a fast-paced environment doing film and TV sound in London. Even though I was in a fairly creative job, I wanted to get back to doing stuff with my hands rather than computer-based. I wanted to get back to art specifically as that was something I really missed.
“City life wasn’t really for me, it was ok for a short period of time but after a while I really longed to be back in the countryside, which is where I was happiest.”
She started dipping into art ‘every now and then’ when she had time.
“It was very sporadic,” she said, “and months would go by where I wouldn’t draw or create anything, so I made the decision I wanted to get back into that.
“I actually started doing it alongside doing my full time job - doing bits in the evenings and weekends. That was how I grew my business to the point where I could actually leave my previous career and go full time as an artist.”
That was eight years ago and after three years of running the business alone, she heard about the Growth Hub from a friend.
“I was reaching the point in my business where I wanted to grow it more and reach new audiences,” she said. “I had an initial meeting with a Growth Hub Connector and I told her where I was with my business and what my future aspirations were. She was able to go away and refer me to various business support projects around Cornwall.”
More recently, in October, Naomi attended the Truro Tide Turners event, powered by Growth Hub, designed to empower Cornwall’s businesswomen. Here she got chatting to a Growth Hub Connector about her plans to start making greeting cards.
She said: “I told her what I wanted to do with my business and she said ‘oh we should set you up with a review’.”
Naomi revealed how taking advantage of the Growth Hub’s FREE review signposted her to the right people to help her with her greeting cards plans.
She said: “I recommend the Growth Hub for anyone looking to further their business and receive tailored support in the areas they need to grow. For me that was learning how to write a business plan, how to handle the finances more effectively and how to make savvy business decisions. It has helped me massively so I highly recommend getting in touch.”
Visit Naomi’s website: Pet Portraits | Capturing your pet’s true likeness
| Business name | Naomi Jenkin Art |
|---|---|
| Website | https://www.naomijenkinart.com/ |
| Contact email | [email protected] |