Rebecca Page

Rebecca Page, a pattern designer, wife, mum of three and lover of all things craft-related, is the mind behind the global sewing brand Rebecca Page Ltd. With 23 team members, the firm sells patterns and provides tutorials for people who want to learn how to sew.

Rebecca is a young entrepreneur, currently being supported by Hatch, YBI’s UK delivery partner for the Rapid Response and Recovery Programme, funded by Google.org.

The crisis has created new opportunities for Rebecca. With so many people on lockdown, she’s seen a huge growth in recent weeks with an increase in queries, and the online sewing community growing.

However, she’s had had to adapt rapidly to meet consumer needs: “We’ve done a mini pivot from producing garment patterns to providing more crafty things like toys and bags that people can easily do at home.” With three children, Rebecca also had to make a few changes to her work-life routine. She has an established home-working system in place, but she adds: “Keeping kids active and amused while Mummy works has been a challenge some days.”

Rebecca already used tech tools to stay connected with her team, but the biggest change has been on the customer’s end. With many being at home and wanting to spend time sewing, she’s found a huge increase in people wanting digital classes. The team is working hard to finalise the next virtual Sewing Summit in June 2020. Along with this she has been active on social media, using it to engage with others in isolation and has been able to keep herself occupied by creating short tutorials on Instagram which has seen her following increase.

During this time, Rebecca has hugely benefitted from Hatch’s support, which helped her to look at the crisis in a different way. She thought about how she could have a positive impact on her team and customers and worked with a mentor to identify potential pivots and opportunities in the long term. She says: “Hatch’s support has been really quite extraordinary. You not only learn the theory but also get practical, personalised help.”

The next six months look full of opportunities for Rebecca. After the Sewing Summit, the team is planning to create more video content and online classes, and integrate them into their business model. When asked about the future of her small business, Rebecca shares her exciting projects:

“I want to continue building a community and promote all things craft related.”