In the month of love we meet people whose passions - from coffee to romantic stories stories - have changed their lives
Jenny Sharp, Coffee Bike owner
It was love that brought Jenny and her family to the village of Great Ouseburn three years ago after visiting the area in their motorhome. They went back home to Kent, put our home up for sale the next day - and a month later landed back in Yorkshire.
At first Jenny carried on her nursing career, working at Harrogate District Hospital A&E for two years throughout the pandemic. Even though she loved the people and the place she admits, 'it was really tough at times, and towards the end I just got a sense of feeling stressed all the time' - which is when she started to contemplate a change.
Being stuck inside A&E for 12 and a half hours at a time and getting no natural light, unless she went outside to greet an ambulance, meant that a job outside was the top of Jenny’s list. At first, she considered pursuing a career as a lumberjack, but then quickly discounted that and followed her dream of opening up a little coffee shop.
Stumbling upon a website called Businesses on Bikes she suddenly had her Eureka moment. 'I love cycling, we go away doing it as a family.' A seed was sown.
Sheworked with a company in Hull called The Big Coffee which converts vehicles into coffee shops. This was the first time they’d done a bike rather than a van - and it was. says Jenny, 'a bit of an experiment and it turned out quite fun'.
So, in February 2022, Jenny set the wheels in motion and The Coffee Bike was born. Although this was without a plan or a price list in place. However, her love of coffee powered her through, and she started by making free coffees for people within the village.
'At first I was thinking this could be a complete disaster – the village is quite quiet, does anyone even want a coffee?' But, thanks to refresher barista lessons from Roost in Malton and serving up their home-roasted beans, people kept coming back for more.
It has been a joy for Jenny. 'I love everything about it, I just don’t feel like I’m at work. I never say I’m going to work as it just doesn’t feel like it. Mostly I just love chatting to people, even if they don’t buy a coffee, although I love to give people a hot drink and if they say they really enjoyed it, I just get a little buzz.'
And it’s these people that she loves most about the village, too, 'it’s very friendly, very welcoming, it’s the right mixture of people as well, there’s no cliques, it’s just really, really friendly.'
Jenny and her beloved bike can be found all around the village, whether that’s pitched up outside the post office, beside the village hall or even over in Little Ouseburn. If she could, Jenny would love to take the bike to events and weddings spreading her love of coffee and bikes all over Yorkshire. Her advice to others looking to do something they love is: 'just start, just stop thinking and do something, and before you know it you’ve quit your job – just do exactly whatever you want to do.'
Toby Dawtrey, Postman
Traversing the pretty Pennines has allowed time for quiet reflection for Toby Dawtrey, and his love of the landscape has as quite literally, changed his life.
Working away the hours as a busy manager for a major supermakert meant Toby was stuck indoors for most of the day and it took a massive toll on his mental health.
At the suggestion of his mum in 2019, he applied to be a postman and was accepted for the position straight away. 'It’s amazing how just changing one thing in your life, like your career, can change everything – it’s like a domino effect', he says.
Even though he was thrown in the deep end in the midst of lockdown chaos, he wouldn’t have had it any other way – 'I thought ‘wow this job’s great’'.
The consistency and routine of the job has improved his physical and mental health massively he says.
Usually, Toby would talk himself out of doing anything outside of his comfort zone, but now he’s embracing new challenges thanks to the job giving him a newfound confidence and has even gone on holiday on his own. More importantly, the job helped him to come to terms with the loss of a close friend, giving him solitude and quiet to remember the happy times they had together – 'a lot of other jobs wouldn’t have had the space for that'.
And it’s being out in the countryside that Toby loves the most – shared on his instagram account @PostManTobias. 'There’s lots I love about it - the exercise and fresh air, but it’s mainly the countryside, especially on a nice day.'
In fact, he’s seen the vast majority of Calderdale, often stopping to take photos along the way.
'My favourite view is from Warley village where the valley opens up and you can see for miles over to Todmorden Pike', he says.
The benefits to Toby’s mental and physical health have made him a huge advocate of walking, trying to encourage others to take a stroll regularly.
After his own job change his outlook has chaged too and he is an advocate of people taking the plunge to do something they love - even if that means a pay cut.
His advice to others looking to make the change? 'You won’t look back, I say to myself I wish I’d done it from school, but everything happens for a reason”.
Instgram: @PostManTobias
Amy Richards, owner of Words & Kisses
Snuggled away in her ‘Smut Hut’ all day long, Amy Richards literally lives a life of love. Not only did she move up to Leeds for the love of her life, but her days are now dedicated to it. Running the only romance-based book subscription service, Words & Kisses, means that she spends her time surrounded by romance - introducing others to it, too.
After three years of studying English literature, Amy was a little over reading books she just wasn’t that enthralled by. Realising that the joy of reading is actually about getting lost in something you love, she gave herself the challenge of reading 100 books in one year.
This led her to delve into the world of book podcasts where she would discover lesser-known authors and kept hearing the name Sarah MacLean pop up. So, one day, she bought A Rogue by Any Other Name. 'I started reading it and essentially it changed my life as I remembered reading is fun,' she says. After that, Amy was hooked on romance.
She felt romantic book were harder to find in bookshops, so Amy kept on listening to the podcasts for recommendations and took the plunge launching her own subscription service.
So, while working her full-time job in digital marketing, she set up Words & Kisses from her bedroom which, at the time, was very much a labour of love.
'It was quite demanding juggling it with a toddler and a full-time job – working every evening and weekend for a long time', she says. But before she knew it, she was packing in her job and knocking down her garage to build ‘the smut hut’.
What Amy loves most about her job is when someone messages her to say they’ve loved a book that she’s sent them. 'especially if it’s helped them through a tough time, proved a distraction or just helped them to discover something new, ' she says.
The books in the subscription service are always a surprise, but you’re able to choose sub-genres to suit your tastes. For Amy, her favourite kind of romances are 'the ones that surprise me as I’ve read so many now' - but apart from A Rogue by Any Other Name her favourite romance novels are also ‘Get a Life Chloe Brown’ by Talia Hibbert and ‘Boyfriend Material’ by Alexis Hall.
'Romance gets a bad rep because it’s so easy to read, but I think it’s harder to make a book easy to read', she says.
Amy didn’t know anything about publishing when she first started, but, she says, 'one thing I’ve learnt is you can always find a way to do something' and that’s the exact piece of advice she’d give to anyone looking to do something they love.
Wordsandkisses.com
Harry Satloka, Tour Guide Harrogate
If you’ve ever visited the scenic spa town of Harrogate, you’ve likely encountered Harry – a local man wearing shorts (in all weathers), walking boots and carrying a large wooden sign, usually followed by a group of mesmerised tourists.
This former butler turned tour guide, now takes hordes of tourists through the town, regaling them with fascinating facts, and all for free! But why? Well, as Harry tells us, 'the fact I get to wander round a beautiful town in my shorts all day long, even when it’s freezing cold and there’s sideways rain, well, I’d prefer that over staring at a computer any day of the week'.
Working in hospitality most of his life, it’s no surprise that Harry spends most of his day with visitors to the town, and of course, he sees it as a privilege.
'I’m so lucky I get to see the town through my guests’ eyes every day and get to see it afresh – I don’t take it for granted because of that.'.
Harry arrived in Harrogate seven years ago, after moving around the country 27 times thanks to his parents being in hospitality. He knew Harrogate was the place for him when he fell in love with it straight away.
Of course, where would one choose to work, but an iconic institution such as Bettys? While working in the tearooms as a manager, Harry had the idea to do a walking tour in the town - 'it was crying out for it at the time - I felt anyway – just because it’s such a pretty place, with such incredible history, it needed to be celebrated.'
So, he set about learning everything there was about the town by going up to the library as much as he could.
'I was really nervous at first, because with a town like Harrogate, and with the history it has, I didn’t want to do a rubbish job, I wanted to do it justice, so to this day I’m still trying my best because it’s such a special place.'
Not only is Harry doing something he loves, but judging by the droves of tourists he has on his tours, it’s clear to see everyone else loves it, too. Of course, his love of history and experience working at The Ritz where he would take guests around the hotel and share special facts with them has set him up well for such a role.
However, Harry remains as humble as ever. 'Dad always used to say ‘everyone knows something you don’t, so if you meet new people every day you learn a few new things’ and that’s genuinely one of the best bits of it. I’ve met everyone from postmen to politicians and the things you learn as well puts things into a whole new light,' he says.
He's learnt that people love Harrogate, because it’s such a diverse and pretty town – it offers all sorts of holidays and for locals it’s unparalleled for family life and amenities, but, for Harry, 'it’s less of a concept and more of a feeling'.
For those looking to do something they love, Harry has this to say: 'Do it, we spend the majority of our lives working and if you’re not enjoying it, it’s a bit of a shame. Do something you love. I learnt a long time ago not to chase big pay cheques or anything like that and it’s worked out brilliantly – I’ll never be a millionaire, but I’ll have a good, fun time.'
Freewalkingtourharrogate.com
