1 00:00:00,650 --> 00:00:05,590 Our country is full of incredible makers dreaming of turning their talent... 2 00:00:05,740 --> 00:00:07,040 into money -making careers. 3 00:00:07,340 --> 00:00:10,360 It would mean everything to be able to do this full -time. 4 00:00:10,620 --> 00:00:15,260 So, with a team of fantastic professional mentors... I know your 5 00:00:15,260 --> 00:00:16,500 know what you're capable of doing. 6 00:00:16,720 --> 00:00:20,780 I run a one -of -a -kind bootcamp showing them how to do just that. 7 00:00:21,020 --> 00:00:23,720 Perfect. My proudest moment. I'll go share that. Yes. 8 00:00:23,920 --> 00:00:28,320 Now, I'm on my way to catch up with those who have made their dreams come 9 00:00:28,520 --> 00:00:30,020 Hello. There he is. Hello, mate. 10 00:00:30,840 --> 00:00:33,360 I'll be hearing about their amazing achievements. 11 00:00:33,740 --> 00:00:34,900 I've been able to put down... 12 00:00:36,760 --> 00:00:39,700 And finding out how much money they're making. 13 00:00:39,940 --> 00:00:41,620 A little bit under £40 ,000. 14 00:00:41,940 --> 00:00:47,480 Around £50 ,000. £50 ,000? Yeah. So join me and meet the fabulous makers who 15 00:00:47,480 --> 00:00:50,260 have transformed their lives and made it at market. 16 00:00:50,680 --> 00:00:52,980 You can kind of say I'm living the dream. 17 00:00:53,180 --> 00:00:54,760 I think that's fair to say. 18 00:01:03,000 --> 00:01:08,180 Creative makers from all across the UK come to my bootcamp hoping to turn their 19 00:01:08,180 --> 00:01:10,820 fantastic talents into life -changing businesses. 20 00:01:12,040 --> 00:01:15,320 And today, we're meeting two who have done just that. 21 00:01:16,740 --> 00:01:21,180 Later, we'll head to Wiltshire to hear all about Woodturner Lucinda's 22 00:01:21,180 --> 00:01:22,500 international success. 23 00:01:23,160 --> 00:01:27,280 I've had people collect my work all over the world and people recognise me as 24 00:01:27,280 --> 00:01:29,500 the brush lady and, you know, it's quite something. 25 00:01:30,480 --> 00:01:35,000 But first, I'll be checking in with blacksmith Alex in Northumberland, who's 26 00:01:35,000 --> 00:01:37,160 success beyond his wildest dreams. 27 00:01:37,520 --> 00:01:40,440 I never thought I would have ever seen that sort of money. With the best will 28 00:01:40,440 --> 00:01:44,760 the world, I do work like six days a week and like ten hours a day. Don't get 29 00:01:44,760 --> 00:01:48,420 wrong, you deserve every penny of it, but that is a lot of money. 30 00:01:50,300 --> 00:01:55,600 I first met Alex in the spring of 2022, when he came to my boot camp with big 31 00:01:55,600 --> 00:01:58,420 ambitions, but a bit of a confidence problem. 32 00:01:59,460 --> 00:02:03,980 I struggle a lot with, like, imposter syndrome. I get... I look at my work and 33 00:02:03,980 --> 00:02:06,260 think... I just see the mistakes. 34 00:02:06,720 --> 00:02:09,620 I look at something and I've poured hours and hours and hours of work into 35 00:02:09,620 --> 00:02:13,000 something and I still see little fault lines and things and I think, oh, I 36 00:02:13,000 --> 00:02:17,760 put another five hours in and fix this, fix that, and I'd go way over budget and 37 00:02:17,760 --> 00:02:20,840 I undercharge and things and, I don't know, I feel like I could use a pep 38 00:02:22,420 --> 00:02:28,590 To help Alex build his confidence and a thriving blacksmithing business... I 39 00:02:28,590 --> 00:02:30,330 teamed him up with Adrian Wood. 40 00:02:31,110 --> 00:02:35,410 Adrian's been running a successful forge in the Tees Valley for over 20 years. 41 00:02:37,150 --> 00:02:41,190 Coincidentally, they had met before at one of his blacksmithing workshops, 42 00:02:41,190 --> 00:02:43,110 Alex first fell in love with the craft. 43 00:02:44,230 --> 00:02:49,410 Eight years ago now, he came on one of our blacksmithing courses, and fantastic 44 00:02:49,410 --> 00:02:52,830 to see that he's still got that fire burning bright inside him, and he's 45 00:02:52,830 --> 00:02:54,890 got the passion to continue doing what he's doing. 46 00:02:55,920 --> 00:03:00,720 To work out how best to boost Alex's sales and profits, I set him three 47 00:03:00,720 --> 00:03:05,720 challenges. First up, I asked him to make a volume piece, something he could 48 00:03:05,720 --> 00:03:08,220 make quickly and sell for an affordable price. 49 00:03:08,660 --> 00:03:11,800 He decided to forge a Chinese dragon's head. 50 00:03:12,420 --> 00:03:17,260 Priced at £100, it featured twisted horns, which could become the decorative 51 00:03:17,260 --> 00:03:19,360 part of a door handle or fire dog. 52 00:03:20,100 --> 00:03:25,030 Job one was splitting one end of a piece of steel, before pulling it apart to 53 00:03:25,030 --> 00:03:26,550 create what would become the horns. 54 00:03:29,630 --> 00:03:34,110 I'm wanting to take a partial heat on the very, very bottom of the bar, and 55 00:03:34,110 --> 00:03:37,530 going to take a twist here, twist it that way, twist it this way to get a 56 00:03:37,530 --> 00:03:40,010 sort of water -quenched twist. I think they look fantastic. 57 00:03:40,510 --> 00:03:46,450 They fit as well very nicely with the ethos of, like, a Chinese dragon, you 58 00:03:46,450 --> 00:03:48,970 know? I mean, every time I look at artwork, they've always got these 59 00:03:49,010 --> 00:03:52,690 long, flowing, cloud -like whiskers and horns and things. 60 00:03:53,710 --> 00:03:56,630 Twisting the steel was a high -risk part of the production. 61 00:03:57,350 --> 00:03:58,350 Clamping it in the base. 62 00:03:58,430 --> 00:04:01,930 If Alex allowed the metal to become too cold, it could snap. 63 00:04:02,290 --> 00:04:04,490 Oh, dear. 64 00:04:12,690 --> 00:04:13,870 That was too cold. 65 00:04:14,250 --> 00:04:16,010 So this is what I was worried about happening. 66 00:04:16,490 --> 00:04:20,070 If you can't quite see the colours of what's going on there, you can't gauge 67 00:04:20,070 --> 00:04:23,190 temperature. It's just due to the ambient light of being outdoors. So I've 68 00:04:23,190 --> 00:04:26,150 -twisted that ever so slightly. It's fractured off. So I'm going to cut this 69 00:04:26,150 --> 00:04:27,150 off, start again. 70 00:04:28,310 --> 00:04:33,170 Whilst Alex restarted his volume piece, I sat down with Adrian to talk about his 71 00:04:33,170 --> 00:04:34,170 second challenge. 72 00:04:35,770 --> 00:04:39,830 Before he arrived at my boot camp, I asked Alex to make a high -end piece, 73 00:04:40,070 --> 00:04:42,270 something carrying a heftier price tag. 74 00:04:43,470 --> 00:04:48,950 He brought along a replica of a Viking horse's bridle, priced at £850. 75 00:04:49,750 --> 00:04:54,190 It's fantastically made. He's done a really good job. The design style's 76 00:04:54,390 --> 00:04:58,530 There's a few elements within it that I had a little concern with. It's only on 77 00:04:58,530 --> 00:05:03,690 the inside of the bridle where it touches the horse's face. He could do 78 00:05:03,690 --> 00:05:08,190 something where it's not a sharp point on the end. Do you think it's worth 79 00:05:08,670 --> 00:05:09,990 Personally, I think it's worth more. 80 00:05:10,330 --> 00:05:12,650 Really? I think he said it was about five days' work. 81 00:05:12,890 --> 00:05:17,650 So you're looking at maybe 1 ,500 pounds. It's a great -looking piece. You 82 00:05:17,650 --> 00:05:18,650 want to undersell yourself. 83 00:05:20,690 --> 00:05:25,570 Back at the forge, Alex had created the twisted horns for his dragon's head on a 84 00:05:25,570 --> 00:05:32,310 new piece of steel... ..and put a cut in the steel bar so that he could fold it 85 00:05:32,310 --> 00:05:33,830 over to create a face. 86 00:05:34,690 --> 00:05:38,610 I've got my cut in place, and I'm now about to do the fold -over. 87 00:05:39,120 --> 00:05:41,740 But before I do that, I need to make sure that there's nothing that's going 88 00:05:41,740 --> 00:05:43,820 get trapped inside where the weld's going to lie. 89 00:05:44,080 --> 00:05:47,120 So I'm going to give it a good scrubbing, then fold it over. 90 00:05:51,420 --> 00:05:55,980 Alex worked quickly, and his next step was to weld the folded pieces together. 91 00:05:57,220 --> 00:06:02,120 I've done this a hundred times before, Alex, so you know what you're doing. 92 00:06:02,120 --> 00:06:03,120 breathe. 93 00:06:03,160 --> 00:06:04,160 Take it easy. 94 00:06:05,060 --> 00:06:06,060 You've got it. 95 00:06:17,540 --> 00:06:22,980 Now, whilst the heat's in the top there, I'm going to start by bellying it out 96 00:06:22,980 --> 00:06:23,980 down like that. 97 00:06:24,080 --> 00:06:29,760 And now there, I've given him a little bit of an eye socket as well. So in 98 00:06:29,760 --> 00:06:33,280 that, just putting those two little sets in and a little bit of drag on the 99 00:06:33,280 --> 00:06:37,540 nose. His nose has came down a bit more, and he's got some nice little areas 100 00:06:37,540 --> 00:06:39,580 where I can start working the eyes into it as well. 101 00:06:39,800 --> 00:06:41,740 Well done, Alex. Nailed it. Nice one. 102 00:06:45,720 --> 00:06:49,150 Once he finished the eyes, Alex made his dragon a beard. 103 00:06:50,830 --> 00:06:54,570 Then focused on the finer details of the eyes and eyebrows. 104 00:06:59,550 --> 00:07:02,930 It was precise work with little room for error. 105 00:07:05,330 --> 00:07:08,870 I've got his eyebrows in and I'm more or less happy with them. They're okay. 106 00:07:09,550 --> 00:07:14,350 I want to get a heat right there so I can just yark his head down a little bit 107 00:07:14,350 --> 00:07:16,310 and give him a little bit of character. 108 00:07:17,260 --> 00:07:21,240 With the bar at just the right temperature, Alex bent the neck. 109 00:07:27,300 --> 00:07:31,480 Alex's decorative dragon's head had a make time of around four hours. 110 00:07:32,060 --> 00:07:37,420 He priced it at £100, but that was before he'd fashioned it into a sellable 111 00:07:37,420 --> 00:07:39,160 like a door handle or knocker. 112 00:07:40,880 --> 00:07:45,460 The level of fine detail is really quite impressive, and the patience that 113 00:07:45,460 --> 00:07:46,940 you've got to do that is incredible. 114 00:07:47,240 --> 00:07:51,320 The concern is how much time you've spent doing all that detail. 115 00:07:51,640 --> 00:07:55,660 Does that equate to being able to make a profit? 116 00:07:55,900 --> 00:07:58,900 What do you think of the price point? For the work involved, I think it's 117 00:07:58,900 --> 00:08:00,420 cheaper than it maybe should be. 118 00:08:00,740 --> 00:08:05,560 I think it should be, as a concept piece, absolutely great, but if you want 119 00:08:05,560 --> 00:08:09,300 make that into something else, you've got to bring that time down. 120 00:08:10,380 --> 00:08:15,120 Alex had to work on both his speed of production and the pricing of his first 121 00:08:15,120 --> 00:08:16,120 two items. 122 00:08:16,280 --> 00:08:21,420 For his final task, I asked him to make his favourite piece to discover if what 123 00:08:21,420 --> 00:08:24,640 he enjoyed making most could also bring in big sales. 124 00:08:25,780 --> 00:08:31,840 He chose to make a Viking -style pattern -welded knife, priced at £480, which 125 00:08:31,840 --> 00:08:34,240 he'd made before for members of re -enactment societies. 126 00:08:36,240 --> 00:08:40,820 He began by creating a billet, a metal block made from layers of different 127 00:08:40,820 --> 00:08:42,760 strength steel alloys welded together. 128 00:08:44,360 --> 00:08:49,180 Having cleaned it, he added flux, a powder that helped protect the weld from 129 00:08:49,180 --> 00:08:51,480 being contaminated by oxygen in the air. 130 00:08:51,770 --> 00:08:56,970 I just want to be extra careful, keep as much flux on there as I can, and keep 131 00:08:56,970 --> 00:09:01,970 as much air out. Because if air gets in, then the scale will form in between the 132 00:09:01,970 --> 00:09:05,470 layers, which will cause the laminations in the weld, which is where it all 133 00:09:05,470 --> 00:09:06,389 falls apart. 134 00:09:06,390 --> 00:09:10,390 And that's where I just sit there and debate my life choices. 135 00:09:12,130 --> 00:09:16,190 After making sure the block of steel alloys was properly welded together... 136 00:09:21,650 --> 00:09:27,110 Alex hammered it into one long piece, cut it into four bits, then twisted two 137 00:09:27,110 --> 00:09:31,390 them to create part of the knife's final pattern, before finally hammering them 138 00:09:31,390 --> 00:09:33,850 flat and welding them all back together again. 139 00:09:35,070 --> 00:09:38,290 Alex, how are we doing? What stage are we at? Pretty much ready to go into the 140 00:09:38,290 --> 00:09:39,830 oil quench and then temper. 141 00:09:40,050 --> 00:09:41,650 You're very confident with your processes. 142 00:09:42,550 --> 00:09:46,590 How would you feel about going out to a market and selling these things, and 143 00:09:46,590 --> 00:09:48,190 more importantly, selling yourself? 144 00:09:48,610 --> 00:09:50,930 I feel very uncomfortable talking about money, if I'm honest with you. All 145 00:09:50,930 --> 00:09:53,370 you've got to do is just sell the brand. 146 00:09:53,570 --> 00:09:57,070 People go to these markets, Alex, because they want to see beautiful 147 00:09:57,070 --> 00:10:00,010 if you can provide that for them, just be chill with it. 148 00:10:00,650 --> 00:10:04,970 So you're confident you can get this done and dusted? Oh, it'll be done, 149 00:10:04,970 --> 00:10:05,509 be done. 150 00:10:05,510 --> 00:10:06,890 Fantastic. I'll let you get on with it. 151 00:10:09,090 --> 00:10:10,970 I'm cultivating a gentle heat. 152 00:10:11,530 --> 00:10:16,010 along the blade, and we're going to quench it in some oil, and that will 153 00:10:16,010 --> 00:10:17,010 the blade right up. 154 00:10:17,530 --> 00:10:18,530 Okay. 155 00:10:20,610 --> 00:10:27,290 And... And... That's gone 156 00:10:27,290 --> 00:10:28,430 very well. 157 00:10:29,190 --> 00:10:33,510 With the knife shape created, Alex applied the finishing touches. 158 00:10:34,650 --> 00:10:40,230 It'll be onto the grinder, and getting it all nice and smoothed out, and then 159 00:10:40,230 --> 00:10:41,230 sanding it up. 160 00:10:41,400 --> 00:10:44,100 polishing and polishing and polishing and polishing and polishing, and then it 161 00:10:44,100 --> 00:10:50,240 gets cleaned once I've got it really, really mirror shiny with acetone just to 162 00:10:50,240 --> 00:10:54,920 get any grease and grit off, and then it's into the acid tank to pull the 163 00:10:54,920 --> 00:10:55,920 pattern out. 164 00:10:56,140 --> 00:11:01,000 The acid reacted with the twisted metal and different strength steel alloys in 165 00:11:01,000 --> 00:11:02,480 the knife to create the pattern. 166 00:11:03,860 --> 00:11:09,160 With a make time of around 13 hours, Alex gave it a price tag of £480. 167 00:11:10,760 --> 00:11:14,080 Absolutely brilliant. You've done a cracking job. Really, really good job. 168 00:11:14,080 --> 00:11:16,940 really pleased. You've blown me away with the patterning on that. Thank you. 169 00:11:17,200 --> 00:11:20,500 What do you think of the price point? It sounds a big figure, but the amount of 170 00:11:20,500 --> 00:11:24,620 work that goes into it, the people that will probably get that are probably more 171 00:11:24,620 --> 00:11:25,620 like collectors. 172 00:11:26,700 --> 00:11:31,980 It was a real pleasure sharing Alex's passion for his craft. And as he set off 173 00:11:31,980 --> 00:11:35,720 back to Northumberland, we gave him an action plan to help him build a 174 00:11:35,720 --> 00:11:37,480 successful, sustainable business. 175 00:11:38,790 --> 00:11:42,650 First, he needed to speed up the pace at which he produced his work, 176 00:11:42,730 --> 00:11:44,570 particularly his volume pieces. 177 00:11:44,910 --> 00:11:49,850 Next, Adrian wanted him to fix his prices and charge what his work was 178 00:11:50,550 --> 00:11:54,730 Finally, he needed to sell himself and his pieces with confidence. 179 00:11:57,130 --> 00:12:02,030 For the next eight weeks, Alex was guided by Adrian as he set to work on 180 00:12:02,030 --> 00:12:06,430 action plan, and he began by focusing on speeding up the production of some 181 00:12:06,430 --> 00:12:07,990 potential new volume pieces. 182 00:12:08,410 --> 00:12:11,650 This one here, that thing I wanted to try out, it's very, very rough at the 183 00:12:11,650 --> 00:12:16,730 minute because it was like a 30 -minute job, but I will figure out how to do it 184 00:12:16,730 --> 00:12:18,370 faster and neater as well. 185 00:12:19,350 --> 00:12:22,870 Got a little leaf coming on one end, and there's a little tulip bud coming up on 186 00:12:22,870 --> 00:12:26,110 the other. I'd quite like to make the tulip bud much wider at the tip there. 187 00:12:26,520 --> 00:12:31,240 He also worked hard trying to turn his dragon's head into a completed sellable 188 00:12:31,240 --> 00:12:38,100 piece. I have been doing dragons and dragons and dragons and dragons, trying 189 00:12:38,100 --> 00:12:41,600 get them right, trying to speed the process up, playing around with a few 190 00:12:41,600 --> 00:12:44,920 different patterns. They've come out quite nicely. I'm really quite pleased 191 00:12:44,920 --> 00:12:49,360 several of them. They seem to be looking nice. My idea is that they would want 192 00:12:49,360 --> 00:12:52,960 to be riveted onto a door instead of screwed in. 193 00:12:54,040 --> 00:12:56,940 I've gotten faster at making them, which is what I wanted. 194 00:12:58,120 --> 00:13:03,160 Alex embraced our suggestions and gave them his all. And after two months of 195 00:13:03,160 --> 00:13:06,120 hard work, he had some great news to share with us. 196 00:13:06,460 --> 00:13:11,900 Most income over the past month or so has been about £2 ,800. 197 00:13:12,680 --> 00:13:14,120 That's a short amount of time. 198 00:13:14,520 --> 00:13:15,660 That'll improve your confidence. 199 00:13:17,260 --> 00:13:18,780 Fantastic. Well done. 200 00:13:20,040 --> 00:13:23,420 Alex had to take off his costs from his terrific sales. 201 00:13:24,030 --> 00:13:26,770 that he'd made some big strides forwards with his business. 202 00:13:28,230 --> 00:13:32,690 It's now over three and a half years since I first met him. Time really does 203 00:13:32,690 --> 00:13:36,830 fly. And I've come to Northumberland to hear about how he's been building a 204 00:13:36,830 --> 00:13:37,830 successful business. 205 00:13:39,970 --> 00:13:41,670 Alex. Oh, how are you? How are you doing? 206 00:13:41,950 --> 00:13:42,950 How are you doing? 207 00:13:43,190 --> 00:13:46,170 Good to see you. Oh, lovely to see you, mate. Do you want to come on in? I'd 208 00:13:46,170 --> 00:13:47,230 love to. Come on in then. 209 00:13:48,110 --> 00:13:52,510 As a metal worker myself, I know you need a proper workspace and the right 210 00:13:52,510 --> 00:13:53,870 equipment to run a business. 211 00:13:54,110 --> 00:13:56,450 And Alex's setup looks fantastic. 212 00:13:57,030 --> 00:13:58,230 I'm blown away. 213 00:13:58,490 --> 00:13:59,970 What an amazing space. 214 00:14:00,430 --> 00:14:04,270 I mean, the equipment is very impressive. I'm very jealous of some of 215 00:14:04,270 --> 00:14:04,849 in here. 216 00:14:04,850 --> 00:14:08,690 But it's not just that. This just feels like a proper setup now. 217 00:14:08,930 --> 00:14:12,510 Yes. Even down to the mezzanine, the little shoe. It looks like a shop up 218 00:14:12,550 --> 00:14:16,030 I can see display cases. I wanted to make a workshop that when people walked 219 00:14:16,070 --> 00:14:17,070 they went, ah. 220 00:14:17,219 --> 00:14:18,219 This is the business. 221 00:14:18,380 --> 00:14:19,780 I'm in the right place. Yeah. 222 00:14:20,940 --> 00:14:25,860 I'll admit, I'm pretty envious of Alex's layout and kit. And it's time to find 223 00:14:25,860 --> 00:14:28,140 out exactly how well things are going. 224 00:14:28,460 --> 00:14:31,440 This is all looking great, but how's the business working out? 225 00:14:31,660 --> 00:14:32,760 It's going really well. 226 00:14:32,960 --> 00:14:33,539 Is it? 227 00:14:33,540 --> 00:14:37,920 I started teaching a few years ago. I've been running blacksmithing workshops 228 00:14:37,920 --> 00:14:40,480 and things for people. I do them in two different ways. 229 00:14:41,160 --> 00:14:42,280 I do public courses. 230 00:14:42,500 --> 00:14:47,840 I do beginners' kitchen knife -making ones. I do axe -making, hammer -making, 231 00:14:48,220 --> 00:14:50,520 forging your own tools like tongs and chisels. 232 00:14:50,740 --> 00:14:55,320 The other aspect is private experiences, and that could be for a team -building 233 00:14:55,320 --> 00:14:58,980 exercise, for a stag do or a hen do, birthday parties. 234 00:14:59,220 --> 00:15:00,260 They must be really fun days. 235 00:15:00,500 --> 00:15:01,500 Oh, they're brilliant. 236 00:15:01,960 --> 00:15:03,000 Fantastic jokes. 237 00:15:04,260 --> 00:15:05,480 Everybody's having a grand time. 238 00:15:06,100 --> 00:15:09,200 Courses are a great way of bringing money into a business. 239 00:15:09,710 --> 00:15:15,150 And Alex's prices range from £165 per person for a one -day beginner's 240 00:15:15,150 --> 00:15:19,930 to £395 per person for a two -day Damascus knife one. 241 00:15:20,250 --> 00:15:23,590 The teaching and the courses that you do here sounds brilliant. 242 00:15:24,050 --> 00:15:26,730 But do you still have time to work on your own projects? 243 00:15:27,370 --> 00:15:30,310 Through the summer period, teaching tends to slag off. 244 00:15:30,530 --> 00:15:34,270 I do commissions constantly throughout the year as well. That sort of helps top 245 00:15:34,270 --> 00:15:35,109 up my wage. 246 00:15:35,110 --> 00:15:40,530 Over the past few years, I've done work for Beamish Museum, helping them restore 247 00:15:40,530 --> 00:15:44,650 iron components to go on to various buildings, most recently the 1950s 248 00:15:45,950 --> 00:15:50,350 I've done a fair bit of work for Bambera Castle, restoring bits of ironwork and 249 00:15:50,350 --> 00:15:53,070 making new pieces of ironwork to match in with the collection. 250 00:15:53,330 --> 00:15:56,810 Brilliant. This sounds like a win -win. You're doing something that you love. 251 00:15:56,810 --> 00:16:01,590 love that you want it to do and it's i think the courses and the commission 252 00:16:01,590 --> 00:16:05,870 sounds like they are keeping things afloat financially paying the rent 253 00:16:05,870 --> 00:16:10,770 the gas bill this is a dream come true for you i'm so happy for you thank you 254 00:16:10,770 --> 00:16:17,490 yeah big commissions and busy courses it's a winning combination and as 255 00:16:17,490 --> 00:16:21,370 such an important part of his business i'm going to try out one of alex's 256 00:16:21,370 --> 00:16:25,590 workshops for myself we're going to start off making our little birds you 257 00:16:25,590 --> 00:16:30,890 see i've roughed out a cut through them we're going to make a decorative bird 258 00:16:30,890 --> 00:16:35,250 and i'm really looking forward to getting stuck in we start by cutting two 259 00:16:35,250 --> 00:16:41,190 vertical slits into a steel bar i'm happy with that 260 00:16:41,190 --> 00:16:46,590 next we heat the bar so we can open it up along the two cup 261 00:16:47,360 --> 00:16:50,780 I'm already emotionally attached to this. It's not got a name yet, but we'll 262 00:16:50,780 --> 00:16:51,780 there. 263 00:16:52,580 --> 00:16:55,280 What's a good name for a little bird? You could call it, I don't know. It's 264 00:16:55,280 --> 00:16:56,620 a little bird, it's big. It's an eagle. 265 00:16:56,860 --> 00:16:58,160 Okay, okay then. It's big. 266 00:16:59,420 --> 00:17:01,020 Eddie. Eddie the eagle. 267 00:17:03,940 --> 00:17:07,420 With the metal at the correct temperature, it's over to the anvil. 268 00:17:08,000 --> 00:17:11,660 Once you start driving it down, flip him over. There again, I guess. Yep. 269 00:17:14,920 --> 00:17:17,140 There you go. You'll feel it start to bite. 270 00:17:17,440 --> 00:17:20,500 Yeah, got it. Now, I reckon you probably hit about as far as you can on that, 271 00:17:20,520 --> 00:17:23,619 Heath. I chuck him in. Okay. And then maybe he's on your next, Heath. 272 00:17:23,859 --> 00:17:25,240 A little bit of ice? Get it in the vice. 273 00:17:25,760 --> 00:17:26,760 Okay, back in the fire. 274 00:17:27,960 --> 00:17:32,060 Once the metal has been reheated, the vice holds the bird, or should I say 275 00:17:32,060 --> 00:17:33,100 Eddie, steady. 276 00:17:33,700 --> 00:17:34,700 Oh, yes. 277 00:17:34,840 --> 00:17:36,860 While I peel back what will be the wings. 278 00:17:37,440 --> 00:17:39,400 Nice. That's starting to open out nicely. 279 00:17:42,140 --> 00:17:43,460 Then I heat it again. 280 00:17:43,920 --> 00:17:46,780 And start shaping them. I'll just grab them by the end of one of those little 281 00:17:46,780 --> 00:17:49,020 tails. And we'll start giving them a little tap in the middle. 282 00:17:50,360 --> 00:17:52,340 And you'll see it starts to flatten out. 283 00:17:53,060 --> 00:17:54,840 And then if you grab them by the next bit there. 284 00:17:57,240 --> 00:17:58,240 That's the trick. 285 00:18:01,040 --> 00:18:03,620 Remember, we don't need to get it super, super flat. 286 00:18:03,820 --> 00:18:06,960 No. Because a little bit of the... His wings are flapping already. Exactly. 287 00:18:14,920 --> 00:18:18,960 That's not bad at all. I'll take that. I'm quite pleased, actually. To make the 288 00:18:18,960 --> 00:18:23,440 wings the right size and shape, I hammer the metal at an angle to give it a 289 00:18:23,440 --> 00:18:24,440 curve. 290 00:18:25,280 --> 00:18:29,480 Once I've added some feathers, it's over to the fly press to create its neck. 291 00:18:30,020 --> 00:18:30,959 There you go. 292 00:18:30,960 --> 00:18:32,740 And then big slam, big pull. 293 00:18:33,920 --> 00:18:34,920 There you go. 294 00:18:36,620 --> 00:18:39,080 And then take a little look. You can see it's biting in. 295 00:18:39,960 --> 00:18:42,880 Another heat allows me to pull out the shape of the head. 296 00:18:45,800 --> 00:18:48,580 Then it's time to add the details for Eddie's face. 297 00:18:48,880 --> 00:18:53,100 In my head, he's got a hooked kind of beak. Yeah, how can we get that? If we 298 00:18:53,100 --> 00:18:58,080 just come in, keep the file moving, and we can round this over a fair bit. 299 00:18:58,280 --> 00:19:03,400 Keep it to as few strokes as you possibly can, but just gently rounding 300 00:19:03,400 --> 00:19:04,980 over. Oh, here we go. 301 00:19:05,700 --> 00:19:07,400 My eagle's taking shape now. 302 00:19:09,260 --> 00:19:11,400 The next step is putting in the eyes. 303 00:19:12,500 --> 00:19:14,380 Right, there, I'm done. I'm committing. Ready? 304 00:19:17,580 --> 00:19:19,640 No. He looks a little bit like a parrot. 305 00:19:20,540 --> 00:19:22,880 I think that's looking good. He's looking over that way. 306 00:19:23,900 --> 00:19:26,160 He's seeing somebody over there. He's seeing something over there. He's like, 307 00:19:26,180 --> 00:19:27,079 wait, hang on. 308 00:19:27,080 --> 00:19:31,420 To finish, I shape the ends of the wings and polish the whole piece with a wire 309 00:19:31,420 --> 00:19:34,720 brush. I am quite chuffed with that, actually. Yeah, I would be as well. 310 00:19:35,880 --> 00:19:40,500 I've absolutely loved making Eddie, and the courses are a great way of providing 311 00:19:40,500 --> 00:19:43,860 a steady income for Alex, alongside his commissioned work. 312 00:19:44,840 --> 00:19:49,320 I can see all around his workshop that he's created tools and jigs to help 313 00:19:49,320 --> 00:19:52,140 up production time on his smaller and larger pieces. 314 00:19:52,480 --> 00:19:57,040 But I want to know if any of the other advice Adrian and I gave him has played 315 00:19:57,040 --> 00:19:59,940 part in boosting his business over the past few years. 316 00:20:01,460 --> 00:20:05,960 Alex, when you laughed at my boot camp, myself and Adrian sent you away with 317 00:20:05,960 --> 00:20:09,400 some homework, a bit of an action plan to try and help you to build your 318 00:20:09,400 --> 00:20:13,210 business. One of the pointers that we wanted you to work on was to try and fix 319 00:20:13,210 --> 00:20:14,069 your pricing. 320 00:20:14,070 --> 00:20:16,290 I used to work for nothing. 321 00:20:18,770 --> 00:20:20,110 I hope things have improved. 322 00:20:20,670 --> 00:20:24,630 I've upped my hourly rate. I used to work for £20 an hour, which I'm sure you 323 00:20:24,630 --> 00:20:27,690 can imagine the overheads of running a place like this was nothing. 324 00:20:28,470 --> 00:20:33,090 Now my hourly rate is £45 an hour. Some people don't like that and they go, oh, 325 00:20:33,110 --> 00:20:34,110 I'll go somewhere cheaper. 326 00:20:34,210 --> 00:20:38,610 That's okay. I have enough work to see me happy. Would you have four? 327 00:20:39,160 --> 00:20:42,720 three and a half years ago saying well i've got enough work i'm very grateful 328 00:20:42,720 --> 00:20:47,420 for it but i can now pick and choose and i can pick my clients and select what i 329 00:20:47,420 --> 00:20:50,780 want to work on and you know it's a wonderful position to be in it's 330 00:20:50,780 --> 00:20:54,420 fantastic now another point that we wanted you to look into was trying to 331 00:20:54,420 --> 00:20:59,120 some confidence and a bit of self -belief to sell your work and yourself 332 00:20:59,120 --> 00:21:04,360 from spending the day here with you today i'd say you've smashed that i've 333 00:21:04,360 --> 00:21:07,680 really tried but one of the biggest things that's really helped me has been 334 00:21:07,680 --> 00:21:11,180 helping other people If somebody comes in and they're really nervous and they 335 00:21:11,180 --> 00:21:14,100 calm into it and then they're having a really good time and they're relaxed, 336 00:21:14,200 --> 00:21:16,100 it's such a rewarding feeling for me. 337 00:21:16,520 --> 00:21:21,860 That's really helped me become, I guess, a more confident person. 338 00:21:22,960 --> 00:21:27,440 I'm so pleased to hear just how far Alex has come in the past three and a half 339 00:21:27,440 --> 00:21:32,520 years. He's really leaned into all the advice Adrian and I gave him and I can't 340 00:21:32,520 --> 00:21:34,900 wait to hear what it's meant for his bank balance. 341 00:21:35,500 --> 00:21:37,000 Do you mind if we talk figures? 342 00:21:37,530 --> 00:21:39,050 This is a business after all. 343 00:21:39,670 --> 00:21:41,790 So how much are you earning these days? 344 00:21:41,990 --> 00:21:45,310 This year has been probably my best year. 345 00:21:45,650 --> 00:21:51,510 I'm on track to pay myself around about £40 ,000 this year, which is like... Oh, 346 00:21:51,530 --> 00:21:52,790 my God. £40 ,000? 347 00:21:53,010 --> 00:21:54,010 Yeah. 348 00:21:54,210 --> 00:21:55,210 I'm like... 349 00:21:55,530 --> 00:21:57,850 I never thought I would have ever seen that sort of money. 350 00:21:58,770 --> 00:22:02,870 With the best will in the world, I do work like six days a week and play ten 351 00:22:02,870 --> 00:22:06,790 hours a day. Don't get me wrong, you deserve every penny of it, but that is a 352 00:22:06,790 --> 00:22:07,790 lot of money. 353 00:22:07,910 --> 00:22:10,390 Yeah. How has that changed things in your life? 354 00:22:10,650 --> 00:22:14,530 I've been able to put down a deposit on a house and move out of my parents' 355 00:22:14,630 --> 00:22:15,630 place. Congratulations. 356 00:22:16,170 --> 00:22:16,909 Which is incredible. 357 00:22:16,910 --> 00:22:20,330 It just goes to show, doesn't it, if you've got the hard work, the dedication 358 00:22:20,330 --> 00:22:23,490 and the love and the passion for something, you can make it happen. 359 00:22:24,200 --> 00:22:28,340 Just a few years ago, Alex wasn't really making any money from his craft. 360 00:22:29,020 --> 00:22:34,560 Now he's earning £40 ,000 a year off the cost and has managed to get onto the 361 00:22:34,560 --> 00:22:35,539 property ladder. 362 00:22:35,540 --> 00:22:39,480 It's an outstanding achievement and I couldn't be happier for him. 363 00:22:39,700 --> 00:22:42,000 I'm really proud of what I've been able to achieve. 364 00:22:42,320 --> 00:22:47,520 I have gotten to work not only on some absolutely incredible jobs, but in some 365 00:22:47,520 --> 00:22:50,060 fantastic places and met some incredible people. 366 00:22:50,670 --> 00:22:56,790 I'm able to not only do a job that I love, but I'm able to help people 367 00:22:56,790 --> 00:23:02,270 doing what I love. And that is something that I genuinely never thought I would 368 00:23:02,270 --> 00:23:03,270 have been able to achieve before. 369 00:23:03,390 --> 00:23:04,390 It's incredible. 370 00:23:10,270 --> 00:23:12,650 Time now to catch up with our second maker. 371 00:23:12,930 --> 00:23:15,130 Mum of two, Lucinda from Wiltshire. 372 00:23:15,760 --> 00:23:19,760 When I first met her just over three and a half years ago, she was hoping to 373 00:23:19,760 --> 00:23:22,800 turn her love of woodturning into a reliable money spinner. 374 00:23:23,320 --> 00:23:27,440 In the day, I'm a stay -at -home parent to two young girls, and so most of my 375 00:23:27,440 --> 00:23:30,600 woodturning work is done at night time or sometimes on the weekend. 376 00:23:31,680 --> 00:23:36,820 To help Lucinda make money from the pieces she made, she was guided by Drew 377 00:23:36,820 --> 00:23:37,960 and Barnaby Ash. 378 00:23:38,940 --> 00:23:42,860 Barnaby turns beautiful pieces from locally sourced British timbers. 379 00:23:43,320 --> 00:23:46,040 Drew is the marketing mastermind of their business. 380 00:23:46,960 --> 00:23:50,760 We're really excited to work with Lucinda. She seems like a very talented 381 00:23:50,760 --> 00:23:54,800 already. There's a lot of elements there that I think could be turned into a 382 00:23:54,800 --> 00:23:58,080 successful business with the right advice and care. 383 00:23:58,820 --> 00:24:03,820 For her volume piece, Lucinda made a pair of makeup brushes from She Oak and 384 00:24:03,820 --> 00:24:09,040 Curly Maple, both filled with natural goat's hair and priced at £65 each. 385 00:24:10,570 --> 00:24:13,550 As this was quite a small piece, I'm just going to jump straight in with the 386 00:24:13,550 --> 00:24:14,550 spindle gouge. 387 00:24:14,690 --> 00:24:16,250 I don't want to take too much off. 388 00:24:16,930 --> 00:24:20,570 I'm just making it circular in shape, and this is what I do at the beginning 389 00:24:20,570 --> 00:24:21,950 all my spindle turnings. 390 00:24:22,470 --> 00:24:27,370 And so just doing a few cuts with the spindle gouge just to fill it up. 391 00:24:28,490 --> 00:24:33,350 As Lucinda turned her two makeup brushes, Barnaby and Drew were keen to 392 00:24:33,350 --> 00:24:34,890 more about the idea behind them. 393 00:24:35,210 --> 00:24:38,790 what gave you the idea to make this particular place i just wanted to make 394 00:24:38,790 --> 00:24:41,590 own brushes and i wanted to make something that had a sort of that sort 395 00:24:41,590 --> 00:24:45,050 ergonomic sort of feel to it it's a lot of like makeup brushes have these sort 396 00:24:45,050 --> 00:24:47,910 of long handles and then they've got to go into a bag or they've got to go 397 00:24:47,910 --> 00:24:52,510 somewhere else yeah well i like how this can you know stand up right and it can 398 00:24:52,510 --> 00:24:57,310 look nice as well just wherever you put it as lucinda was making good progress 399 00:24:57,310 --> 00:25:01,610 with her makeup brushes i grabbed her and drew and barnaby for a chat in my 400 00:25:01,610 --> 00:25:05,570 marquee to get their thoughts on her second item, her high -end piece. 401 00:25:07,650 --> 00:25:12,790 Lucinda brought along a polished decorative tray turned from Ziricote, a 402 00:25:12,790 --> 00:25:16,790 exotic hardwood inlaid at the back with a sterling silver maker's mark. 403 00:25:17,050 --> 00:25:19,430 It had a price tag of £260. 404 00:25:21,090 --> 00:25:24,710 It's absolutely spectacular, and I know how much effort goes into getting such a 405 00:25:24,710 --> 00:25:27,390 polished finish. There's a lot more time and effort than people may realise, 406 00:25:27,590 --> 00:25:29,350 and, yeah, it's very, very well made. 407 00:25:29,570 --> 00:25:30,229 Thank you. 408 00:25:30,230 --> 00:25:31,230 How about the price point? 409 00:25:31,310 --> 00:25:36,270 If I was to make a point about the silver coin in the base, it's a 410 00:25:36,270 --> 00:25:40,970 touch, but if it's going to add a lot to the price point and it's hidden... It 411 00:25:40,970 --> 00:25:44,510 doesn't add, like, a massive thing to it, but it's the fact that a lot of 412 00:25:44,510 --> 00:25:48,350 metals will get a patina or they don't last as long, and when you put this on 413 00:25:48,350 --> 00:25:48,989 there, this... 414 00:25:48,990 --> 00:25:49,990 it does make it last. 415 00:25:50,170 --> 00:25:53,710 That price point for the type of item that you're making, you know, you've got 416 00:25:53,710 --> 00:25:56,390 to look at it from that first perception. 417 00:25:57,750 --> 00:26:02,010 Back at the woodshed, Lucinda got straight back to work on the handles of 418 00:26:02,010 --> 00:26:03,050 pair of makeup brushes. 419 00:26:03,890 --> 00:26:07,290 I'm going to drill into the handle. 420 00:26:07,770 --> 00:26:10,510 I'm going to core out the middle, ready for the hair to go in. 421 00:26:11,490 --> 00:26:16,230 Kind of got to get to a certain depth just for the hair to sort of fit 422 00:26:16,230 --> 00:26:17,230 in there. 423 00:26:18,770 --> 00:26:23,070 I've made a little mark, and I sort of know when I get to that mark, that's 424 00:26:23,070 --> 00:26:24,070 to sort of pull out. 425 00:26:25,670 --> 00:26:29,430 The next step was to sand them and prep the goats hair. 426 00:26:29,670 --> 00:26:32,430 There's definitely ways I could be doing things quicker, but I do take a lot of 427 00:26:32,430 --> 00:26:33,430 time on the small details. 428 00:26:33,770 --> 00:26:35,370 I'm always a perfectionist. 429 00:26:36,070 --> 00:26:39,010 It's something I'm actually trying to work on, because I realise now that a 430 00:26:39,010 --> 00:26:42,590 of the time it's what you see isn't what everyone else sees. 431 00:26:42,970 --> 00:26:48,010 So sometimes I need to take less time, I think, on some aspects of it. 432 00:26:48,780 --> 00:26:53,320 To finish, Lucinda cut the brush's hair to the right shape and glued it into 433 00:26:53,320 --> 00:26:54,320 place. 434 00:26:54,760 --> 00:26:59,500 Her two she -oak and curly maple makeup brushes, topped with natural goat's 435 00:26:59,500 --> 00:27:04,440 hair, took just over three hours to make, and with material costs of £25 per 436 00:27:04,440 --> 00:27:07,280 brush, were priced at £65 each. 437 00:27:07,620 --> 00:27:11,560 I think they're really, really interesting, original, unique pieces. I 438 00:27:11,560 --> 00:27:14,980 seen anything quite like it. I think there's a lot of potential there to find 439 00:27:14,980 --> 00:27:16,800 unique selling point for you in a marketplace. 440 00:27:17,590 --> 00:27:20,950 About the price point? I've seen pieces kind of up to that price point that 441 00:27:20,950 --> 00:27:22,450 weren't as original as yours. 442 00:27:22,850 --> 00:27:27,790 I personally would double down on the high -end aspect and focus on the range 443 00:27:27,790 --> 00:27:30,570 unique timbers, but I think there's definitely a potential to go to kind of 444 00:27:30,570 --> 00:27:34,610 and up, and definitely the top -end is probably what I would focus on. Thank 445 00:27:34,610 --> 00:27:35,610 so much. 446 00:27:36,990 --> 00:27:41,030 Lucinda's make -up brushes were a big hit with Barnaby and Drew, and for her 447 00:27:41,030 --> 00:27:43,850 third challenge, I asked her to make her favourite piece. 448 00:27:44,200 --> 00:27:48,460 to find out if the creations she loved making the most could bring in big 449 00:27:49,060 --> 00:27:53,960 She decided to make a dressing table platter out of fiddleback sycamore with 450 00:27:53,960 --> 00:27:56,980 brass coin inlay, this time on the front of the piece. 451 00:27:57,180 --> 00:27:59,600 It had an asking price of £120. 452 00:28:12,149 --> 00:28:16,470 I'm just transferring my weight from my left to my right foot, just doing a few 453 00:28:16,470 --> 00:28:17,470 passes. 454 00:28:23,670 --> 00:28:28,270 So now that's round, I will cut the back and then I'll come back to this later 455 00:28:28,270 --> 00:28:30,930 to get the shape by doing a little bit of a tapered cut. 456 00:28:32,030 --> 00:28:37,050 It was clear that Lucinda was in her element making her pieces, but Drew 457 00:28:37,050 --> 00:28:39,010 to get her thinking more about selling them. 458 00:28:39,400 --> 00:28:43,240 starting with some tips about how to photograph her work. What we did when we 459 00:28:43,240 --> 00:28:47,220 first began our business is we knew that photography was incredibly important, 460 00:28:47,400 --> 00:28:49,180 so we invested in a really decent camera. 461 00:28:49,640 --> 00:28:53,440 And then what it allows to do is take something simple like that. 462 00:28:55,560 --> 00:28:57,520 So what do you think about a shot like that? 463 00:28:57,800 --> 00:29:01,640 Yeah, I really love the composition and how it's quite simple, but it gets 464 00:29:01,640 --> 00:29:04,500 everything in there. I need to definitely get a camera now. 465 00:29:06,020 --> 00:29:09,640 After getting Drew's photography advice, Lucinda went back to work. 466 00:29:10,040 --> 00:29:14,640 And having shaped and inserted the brass inlay into her platter, she gave the 467 00:29:14,640 --> 00:29:15,640 piece a polish. 468 00:29:15,800 --> 00:29:18,400 Ready to put on the final finish, which will be a bit of wax. 469 00:29:18,980 --> 00:29:22,000 I'm going to apply it, just keeping a little bit of distance from the brass 470 00:29:22,000 --> 00:29:25,700 between the wood, and I'm just going to slowly buff it in and then finish off 471 00:29:25,700 --> 00:29:26,700 with a buffing wheel. 472 00:29:28,820 --> 00:29:33,120 I'm just sort of covering the piece, and then I'm going to remove the excess. 473 00:29:34,480 --> 00:29:35,480 Bit of power. 474 00:29:38,800 --> 00:29:40,340 So I get a clean piece of cloth. 475 00:29:41,240 --> 00:29:42,900 And I just insert. 476 00:29:43,940 --> 00:29:46,100 And this just helps remove any excess. 477 00:29:50,120 --> 00:29:54,480 Lucinda's dressing table platter, made from fiddleback sycamore and inlaid with 478 00:29:54,480 --> 00:29:59,360 a polished brass maker's mark, had a make time of around a day and was priced 479 00:29:59,360 --> 00:30:00,380 £120. 480 00:30:01,800 --> 00:30:02,800 What do you think? 481 00:30:02,960 --> 00:30:06,140 I think it's a really, really beautiful piece. And I do like the fact that the 482 00:30:06,140 --> 00:30:09,580 coin's a bit more visible on this one as well. It really adds to the charm. 483 00:30:09,960 --> 00:30:13,660 The finish is very, very high and the quality of the work is really, really 484 00:30:13,660 --> 00:30:14,499 good. Thank you. 485 00:30:14,500 --> 00:30:18,140 How about the price point? It's a really beautiful form. The finish is lovely. 486 00:30:18,400 --> 00:30:21,760 You know, it's got quite a wide appeal for that type of... 487 00:30:22,990 --> 00:30:26,450 Yeah, I can really see this piece and the brush is playing really well as a 488 00:30:26,450 --> 00:30:31,150 of group shot, stylized together, rituals of beauty and self -care. And 489 00:30:31,150 --> 00:30:33,230 a market where people are willing to spend a bit more. 490 00:30:34,070 --> 00:30:38,610 We were all incredibly impressed with Lucinda's work and she headed back to 491 00:30:38,610 --> 00:30:42,210 Wiltshire with an action plan to help make her dream of having a successful 492 00:30:42,210 --> 00:30:44,090 woodturning business come true. 493 00:30:45,270 --> 00:30:49,070 First, she needed to speed up production to make her pieces more profitable. 494 00:30:50,360 --> 00:30:54,280 Next, we wanted her to increase the price of her fantastic makeup brushes. 495 00:30:55,120 --> 00:30:59,760 And finally, she needed to improve her branding and marketing to help sell her 496 00:30:59,760 --> 00:31:00,760 work. 497 00:31:01,940 --> 00:31:06,640 For the next eight weeks, Lucinda worked on her plan, supported by Barnaby and 498 00:31:06,640 --> 00:31:07,640 Drew. 499 00:31:07,780 --> 00:31:12,260 She started with speeding up the creation of her brushes, which included 500 00:31:12,260 --> 00:31:13,179 designed one. 501 00:31:13,180 --> 00:31:15,980 This is my sort of like a contouring type brush. 502 00:31:16,520 --> 00:31:17,520 Oh, wow. 503 00:31:18,140 --> 00:31:20,520 I'm really excited about this. Yeah. 504 00:31:20,800 --> 00:31:23,800 I like the form as well. Yeah, 505 00:31:25,280 --> 00:31:29,440 and they stand up as well. They all go in style with the other ones. 506 00:31:29,680 --> 00:31:33,000 Sounds like some amazing progress. We're really excited for you and seeing how 507 00:31:33,000 --> 00:31:33,699 much you've done. 508 00:31:33,700 --> 00:31:35,220 Yeah, I really like the new brushes. 509 00:31:35,520 --> 00:31:36,459 Thank you. 510 00:31:36,460 --> 00:31:37,460 Bye. 511 00:31:39,400 --> 00:31:42,240 Lucinda also took part in her first craft fair. 512 00:31:42,760 --> 00:31:47,060 Over four days, she had the chance to sell her work to customers looking for 513 00:31:47,060 --> 00:31:48,860 very best handmade pieces. 514 00:31:49,300 --> 00:31:52,900 I'm in my 10th, so I've just had a couple of days here so far, and it's 515 00:31:52,900 --> 00:31:57,700 really well. What I've sold so far is more than I've sold in the time I have 516 00:31:57,700 --> 00:31:59,860 been online, through social media and stuff. 517 00:32:00,080 --> 00:32:03,140 The brushes went down really well, so I've almost sold out all my brushes. 518 00:32:03,400 --> 00:32:04,400 That was amazing. 519 00:32:04,980 --> 00:32:07,320 And I'm just really enjoying myself. 520 00:32:08,669 --> 00:32:13,010 In the two months after my boot camp, Lucinda did everything she could to get 521 00:32:13,010 --> 00:32:14,330 her business up and running. 522 00:32:14,690 --> 00:32:19,190 And when she returned to report back on her progress, she'd absolutely nailed 523 00:32:19,190 --> 00:32:22,490 it. I've made £2 ,065. 524 00:32:23,110 --> 00:32:26,350 And I'm really impressed with what I've done. You should be. 525 00:32:27,270 --> 00:32:28,510 In this short amount of time. 526 00:32:29,290 --> 00:32:31,890 I've just been like, wow, OK, this could be something. 527 00:32:32,230 --> 00:32:34,890 And you really need to understand how much progress you have made in this 528 00:32:34,890 --> 00:32:35,890 period of time. 529 00:32:36,780 --> 00:32:41,220 Going from it being a night -time hobby where she was hardly selling anything to 530 00:32:41,220 --> 00:32:46,580 making over £2 ,000 in just a few weeks was a fantastic achievement for Lucinda. 531 00:32:47,060 --> 00:32:51,320 She had to take off her cost, but it was the beginning of something big for her. 532 00:32:52,760 --> 00:32:57,460 It's now been over three and a half years since she arrived at my bootcamp, 533 00:32:57,460 --> 00:33:01,420 to find out how much her profits have grown since then, Drew and Barnaby have 534 00:33:01,420 --> 00:33:03,380 headed to Wiltshire to catch up with her. 535 00:33:06,389 --> 00:33:07,389 Hiya, come on in. 536 00:33:07,630 --> 00:33:10,250 How are you guys doing? Hi, Lucinda. Lovely to see you. Yeah, you too. 537 00:33:11,610 --> 00:33:16,190 Lucinda's recently moved house and has built her own brand new workshop, which 538 00:33:16,190 --> 00:33:18,150 is actually a bit smaller than her last one. 539 00:33:19,040 --> 00:33:22,920 It's interesting, you seem to have downsized and specialised a little bit. 540 00:33:22,940 --> 00:33:25,340 at boot camp I was doing, you know, the platters, I was doing all these 541 00:33:25,340 --> 00:33:28,960 homewares and then the brushes and as, you know, the business has developed 542 00:33:28,960 --> 00:33:32,540 started to sort of drop the platters and focus on the brushes and that's what's 543 00:33:32,540 --> 00:33:37,100 been the sort of big seller and by able to do that I can kind of use less 544 00:33:37,100 --> 00:33:39,380 equipment, be more efficient with my time. 545 00:33:39,820 --> 00:33:43,440 I've had clients, I've bought over 20 makeup brushes now and I've realised 546 00:33:43,440 --> 00:33:44,660 they're quite collectible. 547 00:33:45,180 --> 00:33:46,700 Where do you sell your work now? 548 00:33:46,940 --> 00:33:48,840 Most of my brushes are sold via my website. 549 00:33:49,100 --> 00:33:50,100 I also do commissions. 550 00:33:50,340 --> 00:33:54,620 I did use the dabble in craft fairs, but I sort of focused more on just doing my 551 00:33:54,620 --> 00:33:55,700 collections and drops. 552 00:33:56,080 --> 00:33:59,940 as that's worked really well and i have lots of people who collect makeup 553 00:33:59,940 --> 00:34:04,340 brushes from america buying big orders which has been amazing it's really 554 00:34:04,340 --> 00:34:08,639 special to see you doubling down on on sort of the more high -end and more 555 00:34:08,639 --> 00:34:12,080 creative aspects of what you do and really zeroing in on the brushes you've 556 00:34:12,080 --> 00:34:15,100 really made it your own and developed some really interesting really special 557 00:34:15,100 --> 00:34:19,320 techniques that sort of set you apart as sort of not competing with others and 558 00:34:19,320 --> 00:34:23,320 more like the only doing the specific thing you're doing oh thank you yeah 559 00:34:23,320 --> 00:34:27,980 been amazing i've I started to introduce butterflies, and I've started to add 560 00:34:27,980 --> 00:34:29,960 sapphires to makeup brushes, because why not? 561 00:34:30,340 --> 00:34:31,500 It's been very exciting. 562 00:34:33,219 --> 00:34:37,620 Specializing in one type of product has helped Lucinda to broaden her materials 563 00:34:37,620 --> 00:34:42,380 and incorporate special objects into her unique makeup brushes, which are now 564 00:34:42,380 --> 00:34:45,199 priced between £95 and £300 each. 565 00:34:46,960 --> 00:34:52,380 Her latest creation is made from pink ivory wood, a beautiful Southern African 566 00:34:52,380 --> 00:34:57,130 hardwood. and includes the wing of a butterfly that died naturally sourced 567 00:34:57,130 --> 00:35:02,450 a butterfly farm it has material costs of 45 pounds and a make time of half a 568 00:35:02,450 --> 00:35:08,070 day it's priced at 220 pounds and lucinda's going to show barnaby and drew 569 00:35:08,070 --> 00:35:11,890 it's made what we're doing at the moment is we're just taking those edges off 570 00:35:11,890 --> 00:35:14,350 the corners and making the piece round 571 00:35:28,110 --> 00:35:33,450 it's a very hard dense wood so i'm sort of taking slow cuts of it i've got it 572 00:35:33,450 --> 00:35:36,710 near enough to like where i want it and where i will start to section the pieces 573 00:35:36,710 --> 00:35:43,510 off the naturally pink african wood is very rare making lucinda's makeup brush 574 00:35:43,510 --> 00:35:49,710 even more desirable to create the handle's curve lucinda uses a spindle 575 00:35:49,710 --> 00:35:53,870 checking its height as she goes to make sure it fits with the rest of her 60 576 00:35:53,870 --> 00:35:55,290 millimeter tall brush range 577 00:36:07,420 --> 00:36:08,800 Toggle the side there. 578 00:36:15,700 --> 00:36:18,600 Just like that, and then you've got yourself a nice mover cut now. 579 00:36:20,480 --> 00:36:25,360 When she's happy with the handle's shape, Lucinda uses a large drill bit, 580 00:36:25,360 --> 00:36:29,080 a Forstner bit, to create a wide hole for her brush's bristles. 581 00:36:30,720 --> 00:36:35,700 I'm not going to rush this part at all, and the wood can overheat, and then you 582 00:36:35,700 --> 00:36:40,770 can... get cracks and things like that so i will take it with a few passes then 583 00:36:40,770 --> 00:36:45,170 i'll come back out and then i'll go back in just to make sure that i'm not 584 00:36:45,170 --> 00:36:52,050 damaging the wood these woods were just so dense so say if i was 585 00:36:52,050 --> 00:36:56,110 turning sycamore something like that it would just go straight through and it 586 00:36:56,110 --> 00:37:00,190 would cut through like butter but these ones are just a bit more please be a bit 587 00:37:00,190 --> 00:37:01,210 more careful with them 588 00:37:02,430 --> 00:37:06,790 With the hole for the goat's hair created, Lucinda sands the wood to get 589 00:37:06,790 --> 00:37:07,790 any ridges. 590 00:37:08,990 --> 00:37:15,910 Next, she saws off the end, creates a shallow hole 591 00:37:15,910 --> 00:37:20,630 for a recycled silver maker's mark, and finishes it with an oil to give the wood 592 00:37:20,630 --> 00:37:21,630 a bit more colour. 593 00:37:22,250 --> 00:37:26,950 Then it's time to add a laminated butterfly wing with a strong, fast 594 00:37:26,950 --> 00:37:27,950 adhesive. 595 00:37:28,230 --> 00:37:30,190 It's a bit of a fiddly stage. 596 00:37:30,940 --> 00:37:32,260 You have to be really careful. 597 00:37:32,560 --> 00:37:34,100 The wings are very fragile. 598 00:37:35,420 --> 00:37:37,620 This is a blue morpho butterfly. 599 00:37:38,140 --> 00:37:39,620 These come from the Amazon. 600 00:37:40,340 --> 00:37:44,700 It was really popular to work with blue morpho butterflies in the Victorian era. 601 00:37:45,240 --> 00:37:49,780 What they would do is they'd place glass over the wing and they'd turn them into 602 00:37:49,780 --> 00:37:51,720 serving trays and all sorts. 603 00:37:52,740 --> 00:37:55,960 I'm going to spray it with some Activate. 604 00:38:01,420 --> 00:38:03,520 And that just helps the glue dry a lot faster. 605 00:38:04,300 --> 00:38:07,700 Once the glue has set, Lucinda sands the handle down. 606 00:38:10,000 --> 00:38:13,340 What I'm going for is that glass finish, like it looks like glass when it's 607 00:38:13,340 --> 00:38:13,899 done. Yeah, yeah. 608 00:38:13,900 --> 00:38:15,880 So you've got to have real attention to detail. 609 00:38:16,460 --> 00:38:19,140 It's looking really, really beautiful, Lucinda. Thank you. 610 00:38:20,260 --> 00:38:24,800 It's great to see Lucinda making a new product, and Barnaby and Drew are keen 611 00:38:24,800 --> 00:38:28,620 find out what else she's been up to since we last saw her over three and a 612 00:38:28,620 --> 00:38:29,620 years ago. 613 00:38:29,790 --> 00:38:32,530 What would you say is your biggest success that you've had since boot camp? 614 00:38:32,750 --> 00:38:37,250 I'd say just... The overall development of the brushes itself, but also the 615 00:38:37,250 --> 00:38:40,370 Queen Elizabeth Scholarship, that was the main thing I got to really develop 616 00:38:40,370 --> 00:38:43,630 designs and my products and the way they're made, the materials they work 617 00:38:43,950 --> 00:38:49,190 I started to turn stone as well in my scholarship, so I plan to do more stone 618 00:38:49,190 --> 00:38:50,870 handle brushes, which will be quite exciting. 619 00:38:51,230 --> 00:38:54,110 Yeah, I've been really impressed to see actually with some of your processes, I 620 00:38:54,110 --> 00:38:56,810 can see there are certain ways of doing things you've developed that are unique 621 00:38:56,810 --> 00:38:59,250 to you. Yeah. And that's very, very exciting. 622 00:39:00,080 --> 00:39:04,340 The Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust is a charity that funds training and 623 00:39:04,340 --> 00:39:09,400 education for makers across the UK, and it helped Lucinda develop her skills. 624 00:39:09,680 --> 00:39:14,820 To finish her new butterfly handle makeup brush, she creates a glassy shine 625 00:39:14,820 --> 00:39:18,740 the wood by using a finishing polish traditionally used for wooden musical 626 00:39:18,740 --> 00:39:19,740 instruments. 627 00:39:20,180 --> 00:39:22,880 A nice sort of even tone across the wing. Yeah. 628 00:39:23,360 --> 00:39:25,640 Wow. And I would say that's it now. 629 00:39:25,960 --> 00:39:29,080 She then combs high -grade goat fibres. 630 00:39:29,660 --> 00:39:32,880 creates a knot and glues them into the handle. 631 00:39:36,020 --> 00:39:41,080 Lucinda's new pink ivory wood makeup brush with butterfly wing inlay is an 632 00:39:41,080 --> 00:39:45,560 exquisite high -end product and comes with a price tag of £220. 633 00:39:47,580 --> 00:39:52,360 Focusing on luxury makeup sponges and brushes like this is a great business 634 00:39:52,360 --> 00:39:56,980 plan. And I'm keen to find out if any of the advice we gave her back at the boot 635 00:39:56,980 --> 00:40:01,180 camp has also helped drive her business forward and how it's paying off 636 00:40:01,180 --> 00:40:02,180 financially. 637 00:40:03,060 --> 00:40:06,640 When you came to boot camp, you really spoke about getting those prices up a 638 00:40:06,640 --> 00:40:09,000 little bit, especially on your more luxurious pieces. 639 00:40:09,500 --> 00:40:13,180 How's that gone for you? That's gone quite well. I think it's kind of long 640 00:40:13,180 --> 00:40:16,380 overdue for me to maybe do that again with just the techniques I'm using, the 641 00:40:16,380 --> 00:40:17,380 materials I'm using. 642 00:40:17,850 --> 00:40:21,230 you know, the silver, the gemstones, the exotic woods, butterflies. 643 00:40:21,610 --> 00:40:25,090 So I think, you know, it's probably time for me to consider doing that again. 644 00:40:25,230 --> 00:40:28,670 And maybe I just need to have a bit more confidence to just go for it. There's 645 00:40:28,670 --> 00:40:32,430 definitely potential to sort of continue on. But what you've done so far is 646 00:40:32,430 --> 00:40:33,430 really, really amazing. 647 00:40:33,910 --> 00:40:37,590 Something else we wanted you to focus on with your branding and marketing. Is 648 00:40:37,590 --> 00:40:39,090 that something that you've managed to do? 649 00:40:39,530 --> 00:40:42,850 Yes, I think the branding is a massive part of what I'm doing is I'm also 650 00:40:42,850 --> 00:40:46,730 selling kind of like a concept. It's not just a, you know, a makeup brush is a 651 00:40:46,730 --> 00:40:50,590 bit more than that. And I really implemented the advice I got when I last 652 00:40:50,590 --> 00:40:54,590 you guys invest in a really good camera, learning those photography skills. And 653 00:40:54,590 --> 00:40:57,850 it's really excelled my branding to the point where I've got featured in the New 654 00:40:57,850 --> 00:41:02,210 York Times, where they use my images. And I'm like, that was just such a 655 00:41:02,210 --> 00:41:03,230 for me to realize how far. 656 00:41:03,900 --> 00:41:06,340 My skills have come and just the business itself. 657 00:41:06,900 --> 00:41:10,180 Yeah, having your brand image and brand recognition is really important. You've 658 00:41:10,180 --> 00:41:14,380 really curated and cultivated something that's very uniquely yours, especially 659 00:41:14,380 --> 00:41:18,560 when it reflects in the material and everything that you've chosen to use. 660 00:41:18,560 --> 00:41:22,180 getting in something like the New York Times is a really wonderful, wonderful 661 00:41:22,180 --> 00:41:25,560 thing to achieve. So that's fantastic, especially with your imagery. 662 00:41:26,600 --> 00:41:30,860 Lucinda spent the last three and a half years honing her skills and business. 663 00:41:31,340 --> 00:41:34,260 And I'm looking forward to hearing what that's meant for her earnings. 664 00:41:34,860 --> 00:41:38,140 How much have you made through your work? What have you made for the 665 00:41:38,500 --> 00:41:41,400 So on average, I make around $24 ,000 a year. 666 00:41:41,720 --> 00:41:43,280 Wow, that's incredible. 667 00:41:43,620 --> 00:41:45,300 Congratulations. Huge improvement. 668 00:41:45,780 --> 00:41:48,880 I think it could be higher, but at the moment, you know, I'm a single parent 669 00:41:48,880 --> 00:41:52,300 with two kids, and it's like, what works for me? And I think... 670 00:41:53,310 --> 00:41:57,630 Making higher end but less is what I'm comfortable with without feeling like 671 00:41:57,630 --> 00:41:58,408 going to burn out. 672 00:41:58,410 --> 00:42:01,930 But I hope it will continue to grow. I'm excited for what's to come. If I hadn't 673 00:42:01,930 --> 00:42:05,030 gone through this experience, I don't know if I would have a business today. 674 00:42:05,030 --> 00:42:06,090 may have just remained a hobby. 675 00:42:06,650 --> 00:42:07,650 So I'm really grateful. 676 00:42:08,470 --> 00:42:14,010 Lucinda works around 20 to 25 hours a week to suit her family lifestyle, 677 00:42:14,010 --> 00:42:16,670 £24 ,000 a year after cost. 678 00:42:17,290 --> 00:42:21,910 It's a brilliant achievement, and I've no doubt that the only way is up for her 679 00:42:21,910 --> 00:42:26,620 now. Three and a half years ago, I was just turning things in my garage, 680 00:42:26,620 --> 00:42:31,100 things online. I never thought anything like this was going to happen. I didn't 681 00:42:31,100 --> 00:42:32,100 think I'd have a business. 682 00:42:32,440 --> 00:42:36,680 I have people collecting my work all over the world and people recognise me 683 00:42:36,680 --> 00:42:41,800 the brush lady and it's quite something and I'm quite proud of myself and I 684 00:42:41,800 --> 00:42:42,840 can't wait to see what's to come. 685 00:42:44,960 --> 00:42:50,000 Lucinda and Alex have spent the last few years working hard on all the advice we 686 00:42:50,000 --> 00:42:50,888 gave them. 687 00:42:50,890 --> 00:42:55,350 And they've now got fantastic, sustainable businesses that I'm sure 688 00:42:55,350 --> 00:42:56,350 continue to grow. 689 00:42:57,470 --> 00:42:59,950 Want some help building a business that lasts? 690 00:43:00,270 --> 00:43:05,350 Visit the Open University's interactive guide for practical help to sustain and 691 00:43:05,350 --> 00:43:06,350 grow your business. 692 00:43:06,790 --> 00:43:13,690 Scan the QR code on screen or visit connect .open .ac .uk forward 693 00:43:13,690 --> 00:43:15,410 slash I made it at market.