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We wouldn’t be where we are today without our community of small businesses who choose to grow with awesome print from instantprint. That’s why we absolutely love discovering our customers’ journeys, what makes them unique and all the ways they use print to thrive. This week we caught up with Cat, Founder of Chill Your Beans.
1. Tell us a little about Chill Your Beans – what makes it unique?
Chill Your Beans is all about bringing the science of happiness to life in a playful, practical and creative way. We specialise in children’s wellbeing as everyone deserves a chance to flourish and starting from a young age allows us to create a lifestyle which puts our mental health as a priority. We often grow up learning how to look after ourselves physically such as exercising and eating well but our mental wellbeing is not mentioned. There are lots of activities you can take part in daily such as mindfulness, gratitude, kindness, goal setting and much more which help you stay well.
There are many ways of getting help when you are not feeling well mentally, with great charities, therapists and counsellors available. Chill Your Beans looks at prevention instead of cure. We concern ourselves with what skills we can learn that can help us live a happy life. Coaching services are available to adults via business, executive, wellness and life coaching. There are not as many of these services available to our children. They can sometimes need a little help finding a way to move forward positively and this is where we come in.
Talking about our mental health is hugely important and has opened a door to many people who were suffering in silence. Now we can also use positive psychology research to help us build resilience, so we are better able to cope with the ups and downs life throws at us as we grow and change as people.
2. What inspired you to start-up?
I had come to a bit of a crossroads in my own life. I started out in the performing arts industry but felt it didn’t really suit my character strengths or my situation. I had two young children and became a single mum. I had always been interested in psychology but did not pursue it during school years so decided to start my learning off again with the Open University and then a Masters degree as well as other courses around relaxation, meditation and resilience in young people.
My purpose is definitely to help young people – and Chill Your Beans, as well as teaching, seemed the perfect way to do this. We have only been going a couple of years with much of it part time as I completed my Masters but now we are really pushing forward with new ideas to help children and their parents become more mentally healthy and live positive and flourishing lives. They say you ‘find your vibe with your tribe’ and I have certainly found that with Positive Psychology and finding practical applications for children to use daily.
3. What print product do you use and how much do you use them?
I have used so many different products. Business cards are a must-have as you start out and meet new people as well as some eye-catching flyers to leave in local shops and community centres. I always have some spare ones on me just in case.
One of the main things I have used print for is product ideas such as wellbeing diaries for children to use and complete tasks in. These can be taken to school or left at home for use there. Just as adults use a diary to keep a note of appointments children can use them to keep track of schoolwork, parties and clubs then also learn a little about their wellbeing too.
I also have a new banner for when I attend events which helps people remember the name and brand.
Everything is online now, so I have found people having something they can keep, or put pen to paper such as in the diaries has made print hugely important.
4. How do you make your customers feel special?
I do a lot of small group and 1:1 work with customers which makes them feel special and listened too. I always keep a track of how they are doing after with emails and social media posts to keep everyone connected.
When people buy a product there will always be a handwritten note in from myself thanking them and asking them to get in touch if they have any questions. People like to have someone to connect and talk with rather than always dealing with a computer.
5. If you could give any business starting out a top tip what would it be?
Keep going and learn from those around you. Networking and connecting with other business owners can be scary as everyone seems to know more than you but they are a great way to learn. Make mistakes and get back up again. We all do it, none of us are perfect. I think it is the businesses that keep going in the really hard first years and that listen and learn from customers and feedback that do well.
6. What made you choose these print products? And what results have you seen?
Business cards are a great way of people having a little reminder of you when they next go into their wallet or bag and flyers have really caught people’s attention. Quite often I will receive a message from someone who found a flyer locally or was handed my business card by someone I have met. We do not get as much mail through the door now so when we have done a leaflet drop, we’ve had some great results and introduced ourselves to new customers.
The banners are so good for events and you can put lots of information on it for customers. If you have people waiting, they have something to look at and understand what your business is about. I also created some posters with space to write on so they could be used at events to start conversations with potential customers. For example, the posters ask, ‘what have you done to be kind today?’ or ‘what is your character strength superpower?’ and they’ve enabled people to take part in the activities we would use in coaching and classes. I will be using all these print items at the UK’s 10th Festival of Education taking place in June which is our first big event.
7. How did you find the instantprint experience?
instantprint is so easy to use and the huge range of products means you can find exactly what you are looking for. When you’re starting out, you can’t always afford for someone to design leaflets and banners for you so the easy to use guides and templates that instantprint provide are very accessible and make the products look great too.
I am always a little last minute with my list of things to do and instantprint turn their products around so quickly and deliver them via a great courier with an hours’ time window so you don’t miss your parcel. You can email over proofs of artwork and get an online PDF back the same day for you to check before it goes to print. This is also handy in case you have made any mistakes and need someone else to cast an eye over it. When you have been staring at your own work for a while it can be easy to miss little mistakes.
Fancy being featured on our blog? Drop us a line and share your story with us at enjoy@instantprint.co.uk
