
Becki Higgins, like many, came out of the pandemic with a different perspective on her career. After 10 years of stable employment as a social housing officer, she switched gears into self-employment as the owner of Becki Leigh Studios, diving headfirst into designing and creating gifts for women like her who shared similar hobbies.
Since becoming a solopreneur, Becki has developed enough of an audience to work on her business full-time and has gone on to win the 2024 Sole Trader of the Year Award from Devon Women in Business.
Read more about how she changed careers, how she’s had to balance her home life with her work life as a sole trader, and the challenges she’s faced as well as her successes.
How did Becki Leigh Studios start?
I always thought I’d stay as a housing officer as I adored it, but when my kids came along, the really long hours and commute became quite intense, and it felt like I was missing out on that family time.
A few things also happened in my life. I sadly lost my brother, which put into perspective how short and precious life is, so when I went on maternity leave with my youngest daughter, I just knew I didn’t really want to go back. During my leave, I watched a lot of YouTube and came across these women making an income through running shops on Etsy, which really made me think I could do the same.
I’m quite an impulsive person, so I decided I wanted to quit my career, buy an iPad, teach myself to draw (I couldn’t even draw a stickman back then!) and open an Etsy shop. Life is short, so I just went for it.
How did you build up your customer base?
I messed around with stickers using a Cricut machine, but I never felt like I could get them to a quality I was happy selling. Then I stumbled across the sublimation process and bought a mug heat press to make my first design. I drew this autumn mug with pumpkins and candles on it as autumn is something I really liked. I listed it in August, and towards the end of the month, this influencer on YouTube featured my mug on their channel and was one of my very first customers!
By a stroke of luck, the very first design took off and brought this whole community of like-minded women to my shop. My seasonal products all started to flow, then shortly after that, I thought about gift seasons and made this ‘Daddy’s Team’ mug, which to this day is my number one best seller. I realised there was this gap because all my women customers bought it for their partners.
I never purposely targeted my customer audience; they came to me. I created what I loved and attracted people who were similar kindred spirits, and it all took off from there.
How did you teach yourself art?
I’m neurodivergent, and I think a lot of neurodivergent people are creative by nature so I’ve always had that in me, but art wasn’t a skill of mine. I taught myself digital art on Procreate through watching countless YouTube channels and Skillshare videos, which are such amazing resources. I found everything through YouTube from getting the equipment, learning to draw, and how to do my business.
My art has gone through many phases. At one point, I wanted to do watercolour, but I’ve come away from it wanting to do a simpler, more child-like style. I’m no Van Gogh, but the people who like my doodle-y style come to me.
How do you balance your work life with your family life?
At our core, it is a family business. I’ve got the business within the family home, and I have three small children who have always been around this, so they’re used to mummy’s mugs and are happy to get involved when we’re really busy, along with my husband.
I try my best to pause to pick my kids up from school and do those routines, and if I have things outstanding, I’m happy to sit back down and pick it up again. Family holidays and little breaks have always been really important to get that solid time away with my kids too. I took two weeks off on Christmas, which is unheard of for me, so we literally spent that just playing, chilling, not getting dressed and just making family time.
As self-employed mums, I don’t know if we ever get the balance right. There is that question of ‘can we have it all?’, but I’ve had to accept that sometimes it’s OK to drop the plates. I do think as women, we’re damned if we do and damned if we don’t, and no matter what decision we make in our careers, there’s always somebody that thinks we should be doing it different. You’ve just got to do what’s best for you and your family.
What was it like winning the 2024 Sole Trader of the Year Award from Devon Women in Business?
I’m still not really over it! I entered those awards in two categories: Customer Service Excellence and Sole Trader. Customer service is really important to me since I want to make people happy, so in my head, I thought I’d stand more of a chance at the customer service award. I didn’t expect to win at all, so when they were reading out the awards and I realised they were talking about me, it was quite emotional. It was an incredible achievement and I’m really proud of it.
My life has been a whirlwind since then, from radio to newspapers to talking here right now. I’m just a girl in my kitchen!
What difficulties have you faced maintaining Becki Leigh Studios?
While I’m a very creative soul, I’m not brilliant at the financial and logical parts of it, so last year I hired an accountant who has alleviated some of those pressures.
The biggest difficulty is the financial pressure that comes with quitting a stable career, however, I believe that’s also one of the reasons I succeeded since I had to pay the rent. Some people would maybe think it’s a reckless decision, but this is where my ADHD is a superpower as I didn’t see the danger in it. That drove me to push for the sales and earnings.
When you’re employed, you’re only paid as much as another person believes you’re worth, whereas what I adore about being self-employed is that you reap what you sow. To come from a challenging background and go into this world to see what was possible was incredible.
What exciting things have you got lined up in the future?
I’m so excited to jump in and do new stuff in 2025. I’ve been known as the ‘crazy mug lady’ for a while, but I would love to become more of a stationary brand with bookmarks, notepads, stickers and tote bags. Last year, I launched a bookish collection since there’s a lot of women my age who love reading fantasy and romance books. My small bookish collection blew up on TikTok, so I want to make more stuff like that.
One of my main big goals this year is to get this business out of the kitchen, whether it’s a shop or an office space.
Do you have any advice for people wanting to start their own online gift shop?
Just jump in and learn as you go. Don’t be frightened to fail and put yourself out there. Most importantly, try to stay true to yourself and do what lights you up. If you be your authentic self, people will find you.