New Year's resolution was the catalyst for Siobhán's business

Belmullet native Siobhán Leigh has taken a childhood hobby and turned it into a successful business model. Siobhán is the owner of White Rose Creations, a children’s clothing company. She designs and handmakes all the products herself. The idea came from a conversation around the family table one Christmas where she and family members spoke about hobbies they wished they had carried on into adulthood. That conversation was the start of an idea that has blossomed into a really exciting project for Siobhán.

She is continuing to develop and grow her business, recently undertaking the CUMASÚ programme with Údarás na Gaeltachta and showcasing her products at the RDS as one of the Gaeltacht start-up businesses.

Quite fittingly, Siobhán is sitting at her kitchen table for our interview – the place that housed her entire production line when she started.

Angelina: Siobhán, thanks for talking to me, tell me a little about your background.

Siobhán: I'm based in Tarmon, Belmullet, in the heart of the Eachléim Gaeltacht in North Mayo. I'm overlooking Blacksod Bay. I grew up here and then I was away for about 17 years between college and work. And then after I had my second daughter, we craved a life away from the rat race. So we packed up and we moved home to Mayo. We're very fortunate that we get to raise our girls here in my own family home, my daughter's great-great grandmother's home, basically. And we still have that connection to place and family.

Angelina: You mentioned college Siobhán, what did you do there?

Siobhán: I started in DCU studying Analytical Science, but this was not for me, so I changed to Travel and Tourism. After college, I spent most of my time in Dublin in the Westbury. I was there as Events and Reservations Manager for the guts of ten years. Every day was busy and every day was very different. A huge bonus to working there were the skills you pick up along the way. The big thing there is attention to detail. I think I've always had an eye for detail, but that was so important. And then obviously your customer service and your customer experience and again, all that carries forward to wherever you go in life.

Angelina: When you did decide to move home, did you have a plan for work in mind?

Siobhán: I didn't have a plan at all work-wise. I thought we'd work it out when we got here. Pretty much straight away I got a job in the local school. So I'm still there and I help the kids with their Irish language skills. It's a great place to work. The kids are great fun. The place is always full of energy. I'm very lucky in that way. 

Then one Christmas, as a family, we're just having a little conversation about what hobbies you wished you carried on from your childhood. And my one was sewing. I've always loved creating things, but sewing was my thing. I thought that's my New Year's resolution sorted. So I went and learned how to sew, basically.

Angelina: So how did you do that and take it to the next level?

Siobhán: I began with the YouTube tutorials and started making a few bits for my girls. And then people just started commenting on them, saying they liked them, would I think of doing it myself and selling it and all the rest? When you see that demand for what you're offering, it does make you think. 

So then I decided to take a look at the Design House in Dublin, where they offer a service where you can go one-to-one, spend time with them, go through your patterns, everything that you do, and they will fine tune them for you and they customise it to what you want to do. So I spent some time with them fine-tuning all my ideas and my patterns and all my bits and bobs, and then came home and from the kitchen table, decided, okay, I'm going to start. And so this table that I'm sitting at right now was the cutting room, the sewing room. Everything happened from here.

Angelina: What happens when you get back to that kitchen table then?

Siobhán: I set up the Facebook page, set up the Instagram page, put it out there. An amazing local lady here, Mary Ruane, she just put a congratulations note in the paper. She'd heard that I had started and decided to do that. And then Patricia Joyce in the Beehive in Achill, gives me a call, and she has been such a supporter since then. She said, 'Will you come up and put some things in the shop?' And then I approached Lúnasa, a local shop here in Belmullet and they were great as well. They immediately started stocking me. So I literally started by selling from Facebook, Instagram, and then through those two shops. And it kicked it off from there.

Angelina: Tell us about your products - what they were then and what do they look like now?

Siobhán: We started originally with a reversible dress. Really comfy and practical. I like the idea of natural fibres. I like the idea of timeless patterns. Things that you can pass on and that can be cherished. There's so much these days of just buying something for one wear and throwing it away. So it's just great to be able to offer something different to that in many ways.

So we started with the reversible dresses and made little bibs to match them. Originally, it was very much the lovely dresses and everything. And then Covid came along and everyone's focus shifted. And now it's very much nice, cosy harem pants, playsuits. They've moved from the cottons to the really soft jerseys to play in. Really functional stuff.

Angelina: So at the moment, is it just yourself running the business?

Siobhán: I started about five years ago. It is part-time for now. And I'm the kind of person that has to learn it all myself first. I can't just ship things out for someone else to do. So I do take my time and I do learn each skill as it's needed. It's a one-woman show at the minute. You do have to be passionate about it to do it. But I do love doing it. I do like being busy.

Angelina: Have you plans for where you'd like to see the business going Siobhán?

Siobhán: Údarás have been great and they've started a new campaign to support women in the Gaeltacht areas who have business ideas or to help them develop that and scale it. So their programme is called CUMASÚ. I've been very lucky to be on the first programme there, and we're on the second phase at the moment. So there's five of us. And we are very lucky to have Maria Staunton from Empower and Sandra Divilly Nolan as our mentor. She's absolutely amazing. So they are literally going through our business plans with fine toothcombs and basically working out everything that we need to do to help develop and support our businesses. 

Again, it's all about building the confidence to actually put yourself out there each time, because it does take a lot, especially when you're on your own, so you don't have anyone to bounce this stuff off. It's great to have their support behind the scenes because they're always available and a great support network comes with them. So anytime you have a question, they have such a broad range of people that they can connect you with to help you make these decisions. And I have to say, the people have been amazing. Everybody's willing to share their expertise and everyone wants to help each other along the journey. So it's been great.

Angelina: What keeps you driven Siobhán?

Siobhán: You have to have a passion for it, to be able to stand over something and be proud of it, proud of the fact that everything is Irish-made, that everything is sourced ethically as much as possible, everything is organic. Again, keeping an eye on the future, keeping an eye on our kids' futures, and we are making these decisions with them and for them. I said before that my own two daughters being on the journey with me is just really special.

Angelina: What advice would you give to someone who has an idea likes yours or a passion for something but are afraid to pursue it?

Siobhán: I think the first thing is just to reach out to somebody in a similar line to what's in your head because I think we're always afraid that people will turn us away at the door or say no. But my experience is that people are so accommodating, they're so kind, and they will always, in general, help you on your journey. And then from there, if you have a strong idea what you want, contact your Local Enterprise Office or contact your local Údarás office. They have these amazing courses running all the time to help you fine tune the ideas, to see if it's a viable idea and just take it to the end because you never know where that end might be. Whether you decide it's not viable or it is viable, there's no wrong answer. It's always worth exploring.