Let's start from the beginning...

Anyone who knows me will tell you I have always been an 'artist'. I inherited the gene from this wonderful woman, my Yaya. 'Yaya' is Greek for Grandma- I'm not Greek by the way, that's a very different story... 

I was the one constantly drawing, with my head in a sketch book, making endless pictures that my mum would have to find more space to display. I'm still the same, just a lot more creative these days; the sort of person that's adamant she's going to paint her bedroom black (I did!), has a notebook next to her bed in case of a sudden burst of midnight inspiration and countless 'unnecessary things' (as my boyfriend calls them) are scattered in every corner of our home.

The concept of painting shoes had never crossed my mind until nearly three years ago when one of my dearest friends was getting married. I'd worked with Char for years before I moved to Leicester, she knew how much I loved drawing and painting and she was fully aware of my need to do something creative. As my manager, she loved me because I would take great pleasure in starting a shift at 3am to rearrange the entire shop floor! She'd seen some wedding shoes on the internet that had been hand painted and she asked if I thought it would be something I'd be interested in trying for her. I instantly said yes, without a second thought.

We got planning. We had a brainstorming session where Charlotte told me all of the things she wanted incorporated into the design, I sent her photos of sketched ideas and she got me some old shoes, in the same material, to test different paints on. I researched the best ways of making them durable; dunking them in buckets of water and smearing greasy fingers over them. Then, her shoes arrived and the reality kicked in. These were her actual WEDDING SHOES and they were sat on my living room table, surrounded by fifty shades of blue paint. My hands were shaking- not what you want when you're about to let loose on one of the most important pairs of shoes in a girl's life!

 After only a few minutes, the initial fear moved aside and I loved every second of creating these shoes. Once they were finished, I gift wrapped them and headed over to meet Charlotte. She hadn't seen anything of them; said she trusted me and wanted a surprise! No pressure... But I needn't have worried. She was overjoyed by the finished result and just seeing her face made it all worthwhile. They were hers and no one else in the world had a pair like them. That's the moment I realised that this is what I wanted to do.

A year went by and I found myself discussing the concept with my work girls in the Topshop canteen. I trialled a cute daisy design on a pair of girls converse, just to see how people would react to them. At this point I was pregnant and it was a much needed creative escape from morning sickness and chilli sauce cravings. I started making them as presents, using each one as an experiment. Testing different paints, different sealants, spending hours painting and then throwing them straight in the washing machine, only to establish that no, they shouldn't be washed!

When I realised I couldn't go back to work after having Charlie, I was able to devote a bit more time to the ideas I'd had. I bought some different style shoes to try, my friend Rachael helped me set up a website, different social media accounts and we'd even come up with a name: 'Solely For You'. But something wasn't quite right and I wasn't 100% happy. The night before the launch date I lay awake for hours, trying to figure out what it was that just wasn't working. My problem was that I wanted to paint everything; wedding shoes, kids shoes, characters, my own designs, taking inspiration from here, there and everywhere. It was all a bit of a mess and I realised I needed to separate each idea but bring it all together at the same time, individual collections if you like. So, with only 7 hours left to go, I nervously messaged Rach to tell her that I'd changed my mind...luckily, she is one of my very best friends and an absolute genius on a computer, so it literally took her ten minutes to turn everything around. 'Solely for You' became 'The Sole Collections' and now, here we are. 

Charlie started nursery about a month ago so I took the plunge and announced that The Sole Collections was to become my full time business venture. And I am loving every minute of it! There are still areas I want to work on, such as establishing a clearer price structure and communicating this to my customers,  but I am definitely heading in the right direction. I've invested in better materials and a wider selection of paints, I've got some really amazing custom orders coming up, I'm in the process of creating a SS15 collection and, launching in March, a very exciting new venture will all be revealed. So, that's it! That is the story behind The Sole Collections. Here's to the future and (hopefully!) many more stories to tell...