Unlike the conscious decision Sara made to launch Sara-C, her career started, almost by chance. She fell into a Business and Marketing Communications degree at Greenwich University and found herself on the first Graduate and Supplier Scheme with one of the top 5 agencies in the world after graduating with a first. Throughout her 15 year career, Sara has worked with some very talented people, some great clients and has had exposure to the world of business, marketing, branding, positioning, digital and creativity. Despite very much enjoying her advertising career, Sara had long been thinking if she might be able to do something that would utilise her love of colour, prints and textures.

When Sara’s mum passed away, she realised that it was time to make some of the changes she had been talking about making for a while. Feeling that she had nothing left to loose, began the New Year with a 9 week sabbatical. She took herself away in the depths of winter armed with a camera, a new pair of walking boots and her own thoughts. It was whilst she was away that Sara C was born and Sara realised she could make a career photographing the most beautiful aspects of nature and design and print them on to tops, cushions, scarves, bags and much more

Sara claims that she didn’t have any lightening moments but realised four important things that have helped her start, and continue her entrepreneurial journey. Firstly, she realised that nothing could be as scary as what she had just been through. Secondly, she realised that life is too short not to follow your passions. She realised that the worst thing that could happen would be going back to a job in advertising and, for the first time in her life, truly believed that she could do anything she set her mind to. So whilst she had no training or background in design, she decided to take the leap and, on her first day back at work, handed in her notice. The rest, as they say, is history.

It got me to thinking, about my ‘just go for it’ moment. I had long been a stubborn, brazen child. I had initially blamed it on my ‘Gen Y’ nature but am now mature enough to acknowledge it stemmed from a fatal road accident I was involved in when I was younger. My emotions around the incident almost mirror the four points Sara raised when describing her ‘go for it’ moment. Could these emotions be created or triggered, in varying degrees when people are made redundant, when they don’t get the exam results they were hoping for, when their boss speaks down to them for the 100th time, when they have a near miss in a traffic jam, or have a severe bout of flu. If, as Sara has highlighted, it is these four ingredients that create an entrepreneurial mind set, could we create entrepreneurs?

Sara doesn’t see herself as an entrepreneur and thinks it is something others should call you, rather than yourself. From her perspective, she has always wanted to work for herself, doing something that she loves. So far, Sara has enjoyed being her own boss and thrives on the feeling of accomplishment she gets from her work.

She has faced the same challenges many of us face when first starting up. She has struggled to find the answers to the many questions that need answering and hasn’t managed to escape the occasional twinge of self doubt and loneliness. This, and her inability to find any down time has been combatted by the incredibly generous, passionate people she has met on the way who have been happy to share their experiences, knowledge and passion. She has been inspired by the sense of community she has experienced amongst women in business and enjoys hearing the stories of others ‘go for it’ moments.

Sara will be launching her range of t-shirts in June with lots more to follow. To become part of her story you can connect with her at www.sara-c.com or @sarac_prints. Given what she has achieved in such a short space of tie, it is sure to be an interesting journey.