Sometimes in life, you just have to go with your gut. No over-thinking or agonising. You have to trust that something feels right.

Embarking on my new path of designing and creating contemporary needlepoint kits has meant really trusting my gut instinct. Until a few months ago, I was a commercial interior designer and I had been in the industry for over twenty years. But then I decided I needed a big change.

Throughout my interior design career, even when I was working on a project on my own, I always had my colleagues or a boss on hand to discuss ideas, or to check whether I was making the right decision about something. When you choose to set up a cottage industry in your own home, this support network automatically disappears. However, I’ve found that it’s actually really liberating to be able to do exactly what I want and to simply follow my instinct.

Some days, I have those times where I doubt my own decisions and I’d love once again to be in a studio full of design-savvy business people, so that I could ask their opinion. But at those moments, I tell myself to trust my gut. I also remind myself that my instincts have actually served me well over the years, even though I didn’t realise it at the time (purely because I had a safety net back then).

At the moment, my bedtime reading is ‘Jo Malone: My Story’, which I’m finding fascinating. It really is a story of trusting your gut (or, in Jo Malone’s case, her nose) and just going with decisions that feel right. It also shows that determination and hard work, as well as talent and a bit of luck, can really get you anywhere you want to be.

I also got totally hooked recently on the TV series ‘Escape to the Chateau’. Angel Adoree and her husband Dick Strawbridge took a real leap into the unknown when they bought a 45-room chateau in France. I really admire their grit and determination in turning a derelict building into a thriving wedding and events business. Angel is a really inspirational woman and she has such vision.

*The inspirational Angel Adoree in Escape to the Chateau*

By reading Jo Malone’s story and watching Escape to the Chateau, it's given me more confidence in going forward with my needlepoint venture. Whenever I have moments of self-doubt, I remind myself that people all over the world are building businesses from scratch and they all need a healthy dose of self-belief to make their venture a success.

Hats off to people like Jo Malone and Angel Adoree – to me, they are truly inspirational.