The making of By Design

The beginning | Kirsten Pocknell founded By Design in 2011 after never really finding her niche within her career. She had returned from her honeymoon and made the big decision that so many people dream of making: to have a fresh start by going it alone and setting up a new business.

Deciding to start from scratch was pretty daunting for Kirsten. After having some unfavourable experiences in previous roles she was lacking in confidence and did not know what her future would hold. Kirsten roped in her Mum, who had ample business experience to help, and through the support of her husband and close friends, By Design was born.

Our passion | Kirsten has a real passion for ethically sourced products and likes to focus on quality products that are reasonably priced. Any beauty product that is sold by By Design is not tested on animals as this is extremely important to Kirsten.

By Design’s mission was to create an income for Kirsten and to ensure she was doing something she was passionate about. It was therefore a dream come true when the business began to grow. At the beginning, By Design started offering beautiful gifts such as jewellery, scarves and bags within small craft events and family gatherings. As the business has grown there has been a demand for other items such as gift sets and beautiful Christmas decorations which have proved to be popular with the customers.

The turning point | 2020 has been a challenging year for everyone and this was no exception for Kirsten. She was forced to take her business online after all of her events were cancelled and the company was virtually non-existent. Kirsten and her Mum Lesley didn’t know where to begin with building a website or social media and therefore decided to outsource this to a local marketing professional Sian, from I Need Marketing. Being online was something they had thought about previously but had never got around to implementing it. By turning the negative start to 2020 into an opportunity, Kirsten and her Mum were pushing themselves to the next level.

Whilst building the business back up has had its challenges Kirsten is now happy with the new digital side of the company.

“Hopefully, we are now more prepared, and this will open up to a whole new customer base further afield and will have a positive longterm affect on the growth of the business.”

Kirsten Pocknell.

Supporting local organisations & charities | A big part of the business has been working with local, small, family-run businesses and supporting charities that are close to home. As a small business owner Kirsten has always been keen to help other small business owners by encouraging consumers to shop local. She continues to support charities through her website by offering a percentage return on purchases where a unique charity code is used. MNDA is a charity that Kirsten has worked closely with over the years.

To follow the By Design journey, we are active on Facebook and Instagram. Browse our unique gifts by taking a look at our online shop.

Contact us via email on: bydesign@hotmail.co.uk