PODCAST:

In this episode of Mission Driven Entrepreneurs I speak to Sandra Blackburn, who left a lucrative career in IT to move with her husband to the Lake District in the North of England in search of a more fulfilling life. Initially they threw themselves into tourism and bought a gift shop and tea room. Then Sandra’s chemistry background helped her develop an interest in developing cures for the various ailments of people in the village where they live. I talk to her about launching her skincare business, Pure Lakes, which supplies local hotels and B&Bs, and the retail side of the business which has attracted the admiration of Vogue and Instyle magazine.

In this session you’ll find out about: 

• 
  
• How she developed the business to where it is now
  
• What the most stressful thing was in running her first business, a gift shop and cafe
  
• What her mission is and how this manifests itself in the business
  
• The challenges of sticking to her values, even when it means turning down contracts
  
• The mistakes she made with PR and how she learned from them
  

Success Quote

‘Love over gold’

Small Business Technology Resources

Sage

Other Interview Links

Pure Lakes (don’t forget to drop in and see Sandra and the team if you’re in the area!)

The Manufacturing Advisory Service

Click below for a full transcript of the interview (PDF):

Transcript of Interview with Sandra Blackburn

THANKS FOR LISTENING!

Thanks again for listening to the show. If you have any thoughts or comments about this episode, please do leave them below in the comment section of this post – I’d love to hear from you!

And finally, I would be hugely grateful if you could leave an honest review for The Mission Driven Entrepreneurs Podcast on iTunes. Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! They do matter in the rankings of the show and I read every one.

Click here to open the show in iTunes where you can leave a review and you can also subscribe to get new episodes automatically.

Thanks again to Sandra for joining us today on The Mission Driven Entrepreneurs Podcast.

Next time…

I’ll be talking to Sarah Dembitz, founder of the nutritionally balanced and delicious Saviour Snacks. We’ll cover the challenges of funding, and how she won a major contract with an international airline – so lots to talk about there!

The post MDE 5: From a lucrative career in IT to a successful Skincare business aligned with her values, Sandra Blackburn of Pure Lakes appeared first on The Career Farm.