Growing a Creative Business with Debbie Shrimpton & Becky Brotherton

Ben Baldwin

00:00:00.400 – 00:01:49.470

Hello and welcome to Berko and Beyond, the weekly local business podcast celebrating the people who live, work and do business in Berkhamsted and the surrounding area.

 

I’m your host, Ben Baldwin, and I run Chuffed Productions, a B2B video production company that’s been based here in Berko for the last six years or more.

 

Now, Berkhamsted and the surrounding towns and villages are full of brilliant people doing brilliant things, and this podcast was created to tell their stories. The goal is for it to become a part of our fantastic local business community, supporting sole traders and local businesses of all sizes.

 

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The address is podcast@clarem140.sg-host.com on this week’s episode, I’m chatting with two of last year’s winners of the Dacorum’s Den competition, Illustrator Debbie Shrimpton and makeup artist Beccy Brotherton. And as we dive into this week’s episode, here’s your first reminder that applications for this year’s competition close on March 25th.

 

Debbie, Beccy, welcome to Berko and Beyond. Great to have you both here. Now we’re going to talk about Dacorum’s Den because you’re both previous winners.

 

But before we do, let’s find out about you. Debbie, let’s start with you. Tell us who you are and what you do.

 

Debbie Shrimpton

00:01:49.630 – 00:02:04.650

Hi, I am Debbie and I’m an illustrator. My background was in fashion design, but when lockdown hit, I started an illustration business after losing all my regular work and it fast turned into my full time job.

 

Ben Baldwin

00:02:04.890 – 00:02:06.650

Amazing. And Beccy.

 

Beccy Brotherton

00:02:07.370 – 00:02:23.530

Hi, I’m Beccy and I’m a makeup artist and I’m from Hemel Hempstead and I work in a little salon in the old town in Hemel Hempstead. And I provide makeup lessons and group makeup lessons and tutorials for women in midlife.

 

Ben Baldwin

00:02:23.770 – 00:02:28.770

Brilliant. So both, fair to say, fairly new to running your own business.

 

Debbie Shrimpton

00:02:29.010 – 00:02:29.570

Yep.

 

Ben Baldwin

00:02:30.610 – 00:02:40.290

So I guess that was the reason why applying for Dacorum’s Den. Debbie, how did it come about? What? What were your thoughts about getting involved.

 

Debbie Shrimpton

00:02:40.850 – 00:03:04.650

So I heard about Dacorum’s Den from a previous winner. I am part of a local networking group, the Chiltern Biz Collective. And I went on a network and met one of the past winners, and she was raving about it. I told her a bit about my business story, and she said, you’ve got to apply for this. And the more I heard, the more I thought, yes, this is for me.

 

Ben Baldwin

00:03:05.130 – 00:03:16.250

What was it about Dacorum’s Den? Tell us a little bit about it and why it was so attractive to you.

 

We heard about it on episode one of the podcast from Christy, but you could tell us a bit about it from your point of view.

 

Debbie Shrimpton

00:03:16.250 – 00:04:05.590

I think it was trying to make myself do something, to step outside my comfort zone, do something to kind of give myself a bit more direction. I really had noticed that I was constantly setting myself up to fail because I wasn’t putting clear goals in place.

 

And by going through and writing a business plan, I realized that if I put goals in place, I would actually feel like I was achieving because I created this illustration business in lockdown, as I said, but I was just constantly rolling with it and not actually working to clear goals.

 

And the idea of writing this plan and kind of making myself accountable to what I was saying I was going to achieve, I just really liked the idea of that.

 

Ben Baldwin

00:04:05.830 – 00:04:15.270

Curious, though, because that’s a pivot. And then to build a business from nothing is fantastic. You’re nodding away there, Beccy. Was it a similar thing for you?

 

Beccy Brotherton

00:04:15.270 – 00:05:08.000

Yeah, yeah, absolute.

 

So I met Christy at a networking meeting, and she was talking about the Dacorum scene, and I just thought, yeah, because I felt like I’d been floating around for a while and just, I don’t know, not. Not really. Sort of feeling like I was doing exactly what I wanted to do with my makeup business. And, yeah, it just sort of, I knew it would push me forward, push me out of my. What do you call it? My comfort. Yeah, my comfort zones.

 

And it definitely did, you know, and certainly through writing that, the business plan and everything, I mean, that was great.

 

Even though you just thought, oh, it was hard work, you were just sort of really instilling exactly what you wanted to do, and you’re like, yeah, yeah, brilliant.

 

Ben Baldwin

00:05:08.080 – 00:05:21.730

So I mentioned this on the episode with Christy, and I include myself in this.

 

When you start a business, and actually, all three of us are in the, you know, the creative space, our video production, illustrator and makeup, we don’t know what we’re doing.

 

Beccy Brotherton

00:05:21.730 – 00:05:21.970

Right.

 

Ben Baldwin

00:05:21.970 – 00:05:44.060

When we start our own business, it’s we’ve got that. I know how to make videos and how to edit videos and how to shoot them, you know how to draw beautifully.

 

But to then monetize, that is a whole different thing. You’ve got the skill of makeup and that comes from perhaps in the commercial area or wherever.

 

So I presume you learned a lot along the way of Dacorum’s Den, right?

 

Debbie Shrimpton

00:05:44.380 – 00:06:14.260

Massively.

 

I felt that I’d got to the point where I’d created a product, and from my fashion background, I feel like I’d created a brand and a product that people actually wanted to buy. But the area that I was lacking in was how to market that, how to create a brilliant website.

 

And I’d created something that I’d kind of proved to myself that was good. But I was thinking, well, where am I going to go with this and how am I going to escalate this and make this more profitable and more successful?

 

Beccy Brotherton

00:06:14.980 – 00:06:58.020

Yeah, yeah, I totally agree. I think for me, because I wanted to focus on giving makeup lessons, it wasn’t really something that’s sort of out there that much.

 

You know, there’s lots of other makeup that’s around. And again, focusing with women in midlife as well, I just felt like there was such a gap.

 

And whenever I did help women with their makeup, it was just so rewarding. I could see how amazing they felt and I just wanted to be able to. Yeah, just make that bigger and make myself known to be able to. To.

 

To do that, really, and, yeah, just help people.

 

Ben Baldwin

00:06:58.980 – 00:07:16.230

So.

 

Registration applications are open for this year’s Dacorum’s Den 2026. They close on March 25th.

 

What would you say to people who are thinking about getting involved, thinking, not quite sure about it, and perhaps talk us through the process?

 

Debbie Shrimpton

00:07:16.790 – 00:08:01.980

I would say absolutely do it.

 

Even if you don’t win it, I think it’s a really valuable experience because it makes you stop and really think and really focus on what you’re wanting to achieve. So, obviously, winning was fantastic, but I don’t. I think I would have gained an awful lot from just the process.

 

So we had to write the application and plan what we wanted to do, include what we wanted to pitch for, and then we submitted that. And once you became a finalist, you were then selected to come in and have a practice pitch. We had a zoom call as well, didn’t we?

 

That way we were given some tips, which was fantastic.

 

Beccy Brotherton

00:08:02.140 – 00:08:03.150

Yeah, that really helped.

 

Debbie Shrimpton

00:08:03.700 – 00:08:11.900

And then we. We. We did a practice pitch with Sales Geek, Leigh at Sales Geek is fantastic. And he really helped.

 

Beccy Brotherton

00:08:11.900 – 00:08:27.860

Yeah, he really, really did. Gave some great advice as to what to do.

 

And he was just really friendly and warm and really guided us through it, I think just in ways that maybe we wouldn’t have thought about how to put a pitch together or that. Yeah, definitely how to put a pitch.

 

Ben Baldwin

00:08:27.860 – 00:08:34.220

Have either of you ever pitched for anything before, I guess is the obvious question to me, what was the last thing you pitched for?

 

Debbie Shrimpton

00:08:34.860 – 00:09:01.020

Not in the same way. And to do the practice run was fantastic because he filmed it, which felt awful, and then made us watch it back, which was even worse.

 

But it really made you think, right, how can I present this better? What am I doing wrong here?

 

And he gave us some little pearls of suggestions that really, really helped and made you feel a lot more confident going into the pitch.

 

Beccy Brotherton

00:09:01.100 – 00:09:33.730

Yeah, I think once we’d had like that little bit of training over zoom with Sales Geek and then we went to do our kind of trial run, it was. I felt like I had like something really good there, but it was also really good. Just those snippets of. Of what you said. Right.

 

This is how you can do what you can do to make it even better. And yeah, it just. It just really helped and it gives you ideas as well of that. All right. Yeah, that’s great.

 

You know, add that in and then you realize that’s exactly what you want to do and where you want to push everything, really. One.

 

Debbie Shrimpton

00:09:33.730 – 00:09:55.940

One of the things he said to us, which really stuck with me, which was a Henry Ford quote, and he said, you either believe you can do it or believe you can’t and you’re probably right. And I said to him after the pitch, I believe that I can do this. I’m going to win it. And just.

 

It was just giving you that self belief and just was like, yeah, yeah, I’m going to do this.

 

Ben Baldwin

00:09:56.180 – 00:10:07.620

Yeah, that’s a fantastic piece of advice, particularly by doing something that I guess is like, really daunting. Like you’d say, putting yourselves out of your comfort zone, but really daunting thing to go into.

 

Debbie Shrimpton

00:10:08.180 – 00:10:22.650

It was. It wasn’t as terrifying as you would expect from watching Dragon’s Den on the television.

 

I think because we’d done the practice in the same room and the. The dragons were very nice and it. It.

 

Ben Baldwin

00:10:22.650 – 00:10:35.610

Yeah, they’re kind of.

 

They’re not dra, I think there’s one of the reasons Dragons been taken out the title, I think, or. Or not brought over from the. From the inspiration.

 

Yeah, probably one’s copyright and two.

 

Beccy Brotherton

00:10:35.610 – 00:10:36.010

Yeah.

 

Ben Baldwin

00:10:36.010 – 00:10:46.290

Is the fact that. That they are. It’s actually, it is their money that’s up for grabs. Of course, they’re not there to take any percentage of your business.

 

They’re there as mentors, I guess, as well. As well as.

 

Debbie Shrimpton

00:10:46.370 – 00:10:46.930

Yeah.

 

Ben Baldwin

00:10:47.010 – 00:10:48.210

Offering up the prize money.

 

Debbie Shrimpton

00:10:48.620 – 00:11:07.980

I think one of the things that might put people off applying, actually, is the fact that they might think that they might get grilled by the panel, which absolutely wasn’t the case. They were really nice, really enthusiastic, giving all the nods and encouragement as you were talking.

 

And it felt very natural and very easy to chat and present.

 

Beccy Brotherton

00:11:08.220 – 00:11:47.820

By the time I did the final pitch, I felt like I just knew what I was talking about.

 

If anything, if I sort of stumbled or I don’t recall particularly stumbling, but it was more a case of just that nerves of your presenting in front of people. But I knew what I was saying. I knew what I wanted to say. I knew that if they had any questions that I could answer them.

 

I felt through the training and also the amount that you’re putting into writing this pitch, writing that business plan, writing the pitch, it’s going all in here anyway. So, yeah. Unless you get the stage right, which, you know, I’m sure that you’ve been.

 

Debbie Shrimpton

00:11:47.820 – 00:11:57.310

By the time we’d written our plan and then created a PowerPoint for slides and things and practice, practice, practice. Yeah. You are ready for any kind of questions.

 

Beccy Brotherton

00:11:57.310 – 00:11:57.790

Yeah.

 

Ben Baldwin

00:11:58.350 – 00:12:02.190

What I loved about what you said earlier is that it wouldn’t matter whether you won or not.

 

Debbie Shrimpton

00:12:02.270 – 00:12:31.539

You look so I think from it, even.

 

Even before finding out who the winners were, I just felt that I learned so much from the whole process and really benefited from that and the fact that I’d put this plan into work, whether I was going to get the funding or not, I. I had told myself, well, either way, this is what I’m going to do because I’m going to use the fact that I’ve put this framework in place and make something out of this.

 

Beccy Brotherton

00:12:31.540 – 00:12:33.580

I totally agree. It was just same for me.

 

Debbie Shrimpton

00:12:33.580 – 00:12:50.210

It was the cherry on the cake to get the funding and win. And also that opened up lots of opportunity too. So that was fantastic.

 

But the process was really well, really well run and really well thought out and really supportive to small businesses.

 

Beccy Brotherton

00:12:50.210 – 00:13:01.250

Christy was a really big help as well from the Dacorum council. Yeah, she really, really helps. Any questions that you had? I definitely had a Christy, what do

 

Ben Baldwin

00:13:01.250 – 00:13:10.120

I do about that? But that’s where they’re great, down at the business centre as well. That’s what they’re there for. To help small businesses like us.

 

Beccy Brotherton

00:13:10.120 – 00:13:10.720

Absolutely.

 

Ben Baldwin

00:13:12.320 – 00:13:22.080

So on that, then what. It wasn’t just about. About the money, but talk to us about what you asked for, because you can go in there and basically ask for an amount of money.

 

Beccy Brotherton

00:13:22.320 – 00:13:22.880

Yeah.

 

Ben Baldwin

00:13:23.360 – 00:13:25.920

Which is the. There’s a ballpark suggested, I believe.

 

Debbie Shrimpton

00:13:26.000 – 00:13:26.480

Yeah.

 

Ben Baldwin

00:13:26.880 – 00:13:31.920

How did you define what it was that was going to give your business that extra lift?

 

Debbie Shrimpton

00:13:32.960 – 00:14:14.290

So I was looking at what I felt was really kind of stopping me from growing and the things that I felt that I didn’t have the expertise on. I can do the creative bit, can do the illustrating, I can create a brand, I can create the product, but I just couldn’t do the IT background.

 

So I wanted to create a website. I had a website, but it was mediocre. It was doing okay.

 

But I felt that in order to present myself as a professional illustrator, I needed a more credible website. So I wanted to build a new website on a new platform using Shopify. I needed to look at SEO. I wanted to market myself out there more.

 

Ben Baldwin

00:14:14.610 – 00:14:33.270

Was this all stuff you knew about? Did you know you knew about the SEO stuff? Did you know about Shopify? Or was this stuff that by applying and think that by applying for Dacorum, then that then led you to go, hang on, I need a business plan or whatever? Or is all this kind of in the back of your mind going, I know what I want, I’m not sure what I need?

 

Debbie Shrimpton

00:14:33.270 – 00:14:53.470

No, I think it was the process that made me think, what, what do I need to grow my business? I knew I wanted to grow it, but I didn’t really know how to.

 

And I think I was just plodding along, doing what I was doing every day, but not actually focusing on what I needed to grow.

 

Beccy Brotherton

00:14:54.030 – 00:15:19.580

Yeah. Again, I agree. I feel like it’s just like the same process with doing the business plan and pitching. You’re learning what you really need.

 

I mean, I kind of had an idea of what I needed and that I spent so long trying to do everything by myself and not really getting very far with it at all, because that’s not really what I excel in.

 

Ben Baldwin

00:15:19.820 – 00:15:34.840

You know, I think it’s a common thing for people who are starting out in business as well.

 

Certainly, you know, I alluded to it earlier, like, you don’t know, you know what you know, you don’t know what you don’t know until someone tells you or you read. Read a book about it. And there’s plenty of those around.

 

Debbie Shrimpton

00:15:35.400 – 00:15:35.880

Yeah.

 

Ben Baldwin

00:15:35.880 – 00:15:48.040

These days on what you can do and which kind of path you choose. But there’s plenty of support in entering a competition like this and the collaborations that you come up with afterwards, I guess as well.

 

Debbie Shrimpton

00:15:48.040 – 00:16:11.050

Yeah, I think when you’re starting out, you’re very much trying to do everything on your own. And then it’s. It was almost accepting that, okay, I’m not going to be a guru of developing and building an entire website platform.

 

And it’s recognizing the areas that you do need some help and support and advice in and realizing that you haven’t got to be an expert in everything to make it all work.

 

Ben Baldwin

00:16:11.690 – 00:16:14.730

And you, you both went down the website route and asking for the money.

 

Beccy Brotherton

00:16:14.730 – 00:17:04.100

Yeah. So, yeah, it was website I wanted. Asked for some lighting as well, marketing and more for my kit.

 

So there were four, four areas really that I was sort of focusing on really. And yeah, it’s, it’s really, really helped.

 

I had a new website built towards the end of last year and things have really made a difference, like really, really made a difference compared to my little tries at doing my own website. So, you know, just when you get someone that you feel like they’ve done it in five minutes, they haven’t.

 

But in comparison to something that feels like it takes you months or years to do and then you’re not happy with it and then someone else does it for you because they’ve got the expertise and, you know, yes, the thing,

 

Debbie Shrimpton

00:17:04.100 – 00:17:55.060

The thing that was really good about me building a new website on Shopify, it to go to someone and just pay someone to do my whole website that wasn’t going to work for me because I’d be very opinionated on how it needed to look. So I needed to have a creative. You’re an artist, a creative input.

 

Creative was what really worked for me working with Jules at BB Bloom, who was one of the supporters from the prize. She taught me how to work the website myself, gave me lessons on building things in Shopify.

 

She’s done a lot of the background work and the coding and things like that that I didn’t know how to do, but I’ve now got a website that I can use myself and amend myself. So it’s, it’s not just been paying someone to do it all for you, it’s. It’s really paid to teach me new skills, which has been fantastic.

 

Ben Baldwin

00:17:55.220 – 00:18:17.020

I think that’s really interesting because there’s just the way the different businesses work as well because for many businesses, probably those that aren’t in the creative space are just like, give it to someone else let them do it because that’s what they do. But obviously for you, but for both of you on that creative side or how did this go about.

 

Beccy Brotherton

00:18:17.020 – 00:19:05.480

Do you know what?

 

I spent so long trying to work out how to do a website and having different designs, designs and before I’d won the, the Dacorum Den, I had my branding, I had that all done and obviously with my input and cut with colors and design and so on, but I just didn’t know how to transfer that onto a website. So I kind of had all of that there. But then when it did come to the website, I was done.

 

I was done with actually trying to work out what looks good, where to put it, how to do it. And yeah, I, so I did let Jules just do it all for me and then obviously she would show it to me.

 

I’ll be like, oh actually, you know, change this or that or keep it as it is. But yeah, I was happy to let her do the bulk of it really.

 

Ben Baldwin

00:19:05.959 – 00:19:17.960

Yeah, I did think it’s really interesting the way, the way different people, that kind of thing. Some would say, well it’s a website, leave it someone else. But for you it’s integral and obviously it’s showcasing your art as well.

 

Debbie Shrimpton

00:19:18.150 – 00:19:18.470

Yeah.

 

Ben Baldwin

00:19:18.470 – 00:19:22.310

So it’s almost like you’re, you’re curating that website, right?

 

Debbie Shrimpton

00:19:22.390 – 00:20:37.860

Yeah. Well, I felt that I wanted to keep the website, the color minimal because all my illustrations kind of bring to the party.

 

They, they, they present what the website needs to be. And so I wanted, I had a very clear view of what I, what I wanted all to look like. But from my old website it was quite basic and there wasn’t the, you couldn’t upload a photograph to have a commission drawn of your house portrait or pet portrait or cars. So I’ve now got a commissionry page.

 

I’ve now got a page that tells customers all about the school workshops that I run to teach illustration to year four and five in primary schools. And I had kind of like a mumbo jumbo of information on it but the customer navigation wasn’t there. So that’s where I needed the expertise.

 

And I’ve now built a separate shop where customers can go in and they can select whether they want my prints framed or mounted or different sizes. I had no idea how I even would add the drop down menu and things like that.

 

So just having someone sit with me, teach me how to do all that has just been absolutely groundbreaking.

 

Ben Baldwin

00:20:38.250 – 00:20:48.330

And that I presume for you that’s a system. There’s a process there. It systemizes that side of, I guess, the business that you’re not bothered about. Obviously you want, you enjoy doing the art.

 

Debbie Shrimpton

00:20:48.730 – 00:20:51.410

Yeah. Oh, that’s the bit I hate creating.

 

Ben Baldwin

00:20:51.410 – 00:20:53.010

The bit you hate is actually selling it.

 

Debbie Shrimpton

00:20:53.010 – 00:21:05.300

And that was the bit that I was putting off as well.

 

So it’s forced me to do the things that I knew needed doing, but I wasn’t doing them because I was just carrying on, drawing, carrying on with the commissions, which is the bit that I really enjoy.

 

Ben Baldwin

00:21:05.540 – 00:21:12.940

And I think sometimes you just need to hear that from someone else as a business owner, be it a mentor or be it a business coach or

 

Debbie Shrimpton

00:21:12.940 – 00:21:16.900

be it someone like the business support has really.

 

Beccy Brotherton

00:21:17.060 – 00:21:17.620

Yeah.

 

Debbie Shrimpton

00:21:17.940 – 00:21:27.060

She’s pointed out quite a few things that wouldn’t necessarily want to do and just. But, well, why aren’t you going to do that or you need to do that? And I’m a bit like, oh, really?

 

Beccy Brotherton

00:21:27.140 – 00:22:30.130

Yeah. So many different ideas.

 

And this is, I think also with sort of meeting with Jules as well, through to Coramsten, the fact that I’ve just continued with her. I like her.

 

That’s just been great as well, because I think with the help that I needed, I wasn’t 100% sure on everything that I needed or quite every little aspect that would be needed. You know, I said, oh, website and marketing.

 

But then Jules does so much more, I think, than that, that it’s like, well, I wouldn’t have wanted to have just been with her for a certain amount of time or for. Just for the grant win and then not continue. Yeah, yeah, she’s. Yeah, she’s fab.

 

And I don’t know how I would have found her otherwise because I don’t know if I would have been looking in the right places. So again, with.

 

With Dacorum and all of the things that was offered and the people that came forward to help us, they’re people that we might not have come across because we didn’t know we were looking for them, you know.

 

Debbie Shrimpton

00:22:30.710 – 00:22:31.030

Yeah.

 

Ben Baldwin

00:22:31.430 – 00:22:47.110

I was gonna say what was the most surprising thing about. So you enter. I guess in. You know, in simple terms, I’m entering the competition for an amount of money to do my website, do my social, do my marketing. So what was the most surprising thing about entering the competition?

 

Debbie Shrimpton

00:22:48.470 – 00:23:04.160

I think how much I enjoyed it and I. I came out of the pitch absolutely buzzing and then I wasn’t expecting to get so much from the process. The. The things it’s led to meeting new people.

 

Beccy Brotherton

00:23:04.560 – 00:23:05.040

Yeah.

 

Debbie Shrimpton

00:23:06.720 – 00:23:23.830

From the. From doing Dacorum Den. I then was given the opportunity to go to Ideas Fest, entering, like an entrepreneurial festival thing, which was fantastic.

 

And there’s been lots of things like, coming along, to do this as well. Yeah, it’s just opened lots of doors.

 

Beccy Brotherton

00:23:23.910 – 00:23:47.990

Yeah. And doors that you wouldn’t have thought about or you just. You don’t know the people that you’re going to come across.

 

Or know how you could either collaborate together or work together or just help each other, you know, it’s. It’s. Yeah, it’s just stuff that you wouldn’t necessarily have thought of or wouldn’t have been obvious and.

 

Yeah, it’s just been really enriching, really. Yeah, it really has.

 

Ben Baldwin

00:23:48.390 – 00:23:48.790

It’s great.

 

Debbie Shrimpton

00:23:48.790 – 00:24:06.230

When you run. When you run your own business from home, it can be quite isolating and quite lonely and I really thrive on people.

 

And I think being part of this has kind of introduced me to more people, introduced me to more opportunity. And it just keeps you motivated.

 

Beccy Brotherton

00:24:06.230 – 00:24:06.590

Yeah.

 

Debbie Shrimpton

00:24:06.590 – 00:24:07.030

As well.

 

Beccy Brotherton

00:24:07.350 – 00:24:09.510

It does. It really, really does. I agree.

 

Ben Baldwin

00:24:09.830 – 00:24:22.840

So what’s next? What’s for. For both of you in the business world? This is a local business podcast, so we like to obviously shine a light on local businesses.

 

But what are you finding the biggest challenges at the moment out there?

 

Debbie Shrimpton

00:24:23.880 – 00:24:51.230

So I’ve spent a long time now building my website, so my next challenge is to. Now I’ve got that all in place, I need to get myself out there more.

 

So my next steps are working more on social media, working with my Google Analytics and getting more. More eyes on my brand, basically, because I’ve proved that I’ve created something that people do want to buy, but I’d need more people to see it.

 

Beccy Brotherton

00:24:51.950 – 00:25:44.670

Brilliant. Yeah. It’s a marketing aspect. So now I feel like the things that I was trying to do for such a long time, they’ve. They’ve been ticked off.

 

And I said to my husband the other day, I was like, all of these things are done now. I can market myself, you know, I can get myself there. I can put my name out there and say, here’s what I do. I can. I’ve got this.

 

These packages that I can offer, you know, these lessons, these group lessons, these, you know, all sorts of things that I can offer that are all on my website now and people can just buy them on my website. And so now it’s just getting known with it, you know, and it’s already made a difference with just having the new website.

 

So now, yeah, it’s just sort of getting ourselves known and out there, really, and doing events and things like that, which I love doing. So. Yeah.

 

Ben Baldwin

00:25:44.830 – 00:26:00.630

Well, we will of course put both your websites and all your details in the show notes. Thank you people. Link to that. Talk to me a bit about being in the Berko and beyond is the name of the podcast. Talk to me about where you live. You’ve lived in Berkhamsted for 19 years.

 

Debbie Shrimpton

00:26:00.630 – 00:26:01.030

Yeah.

 

Ben Baldwin

00:26:01.030 – 00:26:05.550

How did you end up here and why do you love it so much around here?

 

Debbie Shrimpton

00:26:05.630 – 00:26:15.420

So I ended up here purely because of the train line. So I used to commute into London in my fashion career. I worked for Marks and Spencer’s for 12 years doing their kids wear.

 

Beccy Brotherton

00:26:15.420 – 00:26:16.020

Okay.

 

Debbie Shrimpton

00:26:16.260 – 00:26:46.770

And after that I freelanced from home so I don’t have to use the train line so much anymore. But I love, love the local area. I love the, for me, what fuels me is nature, sunshine, being able to go out and go for runs, go for walks in the countryside. So living so close to London, but in a really lovely market town where you’ve got amazing countryside on your doorstep, that’s what brought me here.

 

Beccy Brotherton

00:26:48.130 – 00:26:58.770

Yeah, I. Well, I’ve got family in Berkhamsted. I live in Hemel Hempstead. And I feel like I’m just saying yes to everything you say, but it’s so true.

 

Ben Baldwin

00:26:58.770 – 00:26:59.530

You married here?

 

Beccy Brotherton

00:26:59.530 – 00:27:08.450

Yeah, yeah, I did, I did, yeah. Got married in the King’s Arms. They don’t actually do weddings in there anymore. I think we were the first ones to get married in there back in 2000.

 

Ben Baldwin

00:27:10.370 – 00:27:11.410

A raucous party.

 

Beccy Brotherton

00:27:12.850 – 00:27:46.020

No, it wasn’t. I don’t know. We were. Yeah, we were the first ones to get married in there and it was just. Yeah, it was, it was fab and then.

 

But I don’t know why they sort of stopped doing them a good few years after we were like, yeah, we got it. So, yeah, it was great. And yeah, I’ve got family here and also do lots of weddings here as well for makeup and.

 

Yeah, it’s just a lovely space to be in, isn’t it? And even like whether you’re living in Berkhampstead or if in.

 

You’re in Hemel Hempstead, it’s quite easy to get to so many different places as well, isn’t it? Yeah, the nature and the wildlife is fab. Go for a walk every day.

 

Debbie Shrimpton

00:27:46.660 – 00:28:11.350

Brilliant.

 

Yeah, I, I felt very lucky to start my business in Berkhamsted because the, the support and warmth I got from the local community when I first started doing the illustrations was amazing because I started off by drawing my friend’s house for a birthday gift for her because I literally, I’d lost all my income, was homeschooling my kids and it was pretty bleak and I.

 

Ben Baldwin

00:28:11.750 – 00:28:14.230

The homeschooling thing was bleak for all of us. Yeah. Yeah.

 

Debbie Shrimpton

00:28:14.630 – 00:29:02.050

So I drew her house because I could and I couldn’t afford a birthday present for her. Put it in a frame I had at home, gave it to her as a house portrait and she said, you should sell these.

 

And so I put a post on local Facebook group Everything Berko and within two weeks I got 18 orders of house portraits and it’s just gone on and on from there.

 

So I’ve now drawn over 200 homes in Berkhamsted and then I’ve got 32 landmark prints of inner places, landmarks, pubs, loved buildings from anything from the totem pole to the golf. The golf course. People can buy prints of. Of Berkhamsted.

 

Ben Baldwin

00:29:03.090 – 00:29:05.010

So you’re now a local historian as well?

 

Debbie Shrimpton

00:29:05.490 – 00:29:06.290

I don’t know about that.

 

Ben Baldwin

00:29:06.290 – 00:29:22.430

Well, effectively, you know, you’re. You are recording the history. Yeah, brilliant. Listen, both, thank you very much indeed for coming on the podcast. As I say, all your details, we will put in the show notes and one last word for people thinking about getting involved with Dacorum’s Den.

 

Beccy Brotherton

00:29:22.910 – 00:29:26.270

Definitely do it. Just do it. Bite the bullet and do it.

 

Debbie Shrimpton

00:29:26.510 – 00:29:31.390

100% do it. It was such a fantastic experience and really, really worthwhile.

 

Ben Baldwin

00:29:31.390 – 00:29:33.030

Brilliant. Thanks for being on the podcast.

 

Beccy Brotherton

00:29:33.030 – 00:29:33.630

Thank you.

 

Ben Baldwin

00:29:35.310 – 00:30:08.410

Thank you for watching and listening to this episode of Berko and Beyond.

 

The links to everything we’ve talked about or mentioned today are in the show notes or in the summary below this video along with the links to all our social media channels where we’d really appreciate and a share. Don’t forget to subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts. It really does make a massive difference to us.

 

And if you’d like to be a guest on the show, then send us an email to podcast@clarem140.sg-host.com

Thanks again for watching and I’ll see you next week.