Everything changed in 2020 as the Covid pandemic swept the globe, disrupting lives, affecting businesses and putting plans on hold.
But for many people it was also a time of opportunity and new starts.
At the start of that year Jade Hayes began maternity leave from her role at a waste management firm in Liverpool.
And as she and her partner Tom started to decorate the nursery at their home in Hoghton, Jade spotted a gap in the market.
Jade had always been creative and after teaching herself embroidery, she would spend her worktime lunchbreaks with a needle in her hand.
She says: ‘When I worked in hazardous waste management, the drivers would be coming in with loads of acids or oils and they would find it quite interesting – most people would be sitting on their phones at lunch and I’d be embroidering something.
‘None of them took it up as a hobby, but some of them did ask me to make things that they’d give as gifts to their families.
‘I started making more when I went on maternity leave. We were decorating the nursery before Arnold was born and found that most of the options on the market weren’t what we wanted.
‘I always liked the style of American college pennants but couldn’t find what I was looking for, so I made one. I put a picture of it on Instagram and a few people asked where I’d got it from and when I said I’d made it, they asked if I could make some for them.
‘Arnold was born in February 2020 and we went into lockdown four weeks later – I launched my online shop that year, too,’ Jade says. ‘He was quite an easy baby and I’d make things while he napped. It was nice to go from looking after him to having something else to focus on.
‘During lockdown people seemed to have time and a bit of spare money to spend on their homes and a lot of people were decorating.
‘A lot of small online businesses started then and many of them are no longer running so I feel quite fortunate and happy that I’m still going.’
Jade now has a thriving online shop – arnoldandthecaterpillar.co.uk – which is packed with colourful flags, pennants and superhero capes, along with a growing number of customers all over the world. She also now has another son, Walt.
‘I’ve gone from selling a couple like that to selling thousands to people all over the world, especially in America, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. That first flag I made for Arnold was hand sewn, but I knew if I was to continue to make them they would need to be machine sewn so I taught myself to do that. The flags I make now are very different to the original.
‘It’s interesting to see how the colours people order changes, too – it was all neutrals for a time but more recently people have been ordering much more colourful items.’
Jade, who is originally from Doncaster but crossed the Pennines to study forensic science at university in Liverpool, has also started a collaboration with Preston-based clothes firm Indi Elle, another family-run business that has thrived since it was launched during lockdown.
They create ranges of personalised outfits, travel wear and occasion-themed pieces, and Jade provides flags and pennants to complement them. Her pieces are also available in Tiny Treasures of Churchtown.
At Christmas she makes festive tree banners that can be personalised and she plans to extend her range further once Walt starts nursery full-time.
‘He’s just there two days a week at the moment,’ she says. ‘I have lots of ideas, but there’s only so much I can actually do at the moment. When I can work five days a week, I will hopefully be able to take more on.
‘We’re renovating a room at the front of the house now and that will become my studio and that will make a big difference to me – I'll have a dedicated workspace, and we’ll get our dining table back.’
You can see the full range at Jade’s website arnoldandthecaterpillar.co.uk
