Morgan Grice

00:00:00:00 - 00:00:20:14
Unknown
Hello and welcome to BCU's alumni podcast. I'm Bethan from BCU's Alumni Team. And in each episode we welcome a different member from our alumni community back onto campus to chat all about what they've been up to since graduating from BCU. Today, we're joined by Morgan Grice, an Illustration graduate who has gone on to set up her very own business Odd Orange.

00:00:20:16 - 00:00:40:21
Unknown
It's a handmade stationery business specializing in colourful functional and sustainable stationery. She launched in early 2022, just under two years after she completed her course here at BCU. So in this episode, we're keen to find out what really goes into starting up a business as a recent graduate and what it's like to take control of your own career.

00:00:40:23 - 00:01:01:05
Unknown
Morgan, thanks so much for coming on to the podcast today. So what is it like to be back on campus? When were you last here? Are you feeling nostalgic? Thank you so much for having me. It is nostalgic being back. I I've worked here for two years after I graduated, so it hasn't been so long a time since I've been here.

00:01:01:05 - 00:01:32:22
Unknown
But it still feels really nice to, like, walk down like the walkway to Parkside and seeing everyone. It's so lovely. So let's rewind then. You started working freelance whilst you're actually studying at BCU then? So at what point did you think, I want to go from freelance to actually setting up your own business? I think because I was doing freelance work while studying and I was treating my studies like freelance work as well, I had like a schedule, like I was self-employed.

00:01:32:24 - 00:01:58:05
Unknown
I realised how much I loved it and how I didn't really like working for someone else. And I was going to go down the freelance route. But then because of circumstances, I tried out selling products and it just made more money quicker and it was more enjoyable for me. So that's why I decided to start a business rather than being freelance or work for somebody else.

00:01:58:07 - 00:02:30:06
Unknown
So, obviously you studied Illustration at BCU then. So what actually at what point did you get passionate about stationery then? And can you also tell me about like the sort of products that you actually create and sell? Because do you actually like you make everything yourself that you design and make them? Yeah, Yeah. So I always loved stationery and sketchbook and as an illustrator and an artist, pretty much my whole life I've always been obsessed with sketchbooks in particular, and I used to buy loads, but I can never find the right one.

00:02:30:06 - 00:02:53:20
Unknown
I'm really particular about it, and a lot of illustrators and artists will experience this as well. It's about the paper, the size, like the format of the book and the look of it as well, because so many sketchbooks out there are quite boring to look at. So I always love sketchbooks, but I couldn't find the right one. So I decided to teach myself bookbinding to make my own sketchbooks.

00:02:53:22 - 00:03:23:06
Unknown
And that kind of spiraled. I had a following on the internet from illustration, and I decided to show the sketchbooks I was making that incorporated my illustrations and ended up being really popular, and it kind of sparked the business. So I started off just selling sketchbooks that were hardback covered in cloth, very, very colorful, and they had my illustrations inside the end papers to inspire creativity and things.

00:03:23:06 - 00:03:45:14
Unknown
And then it's branched off into things like notebooks other stationery, items like notepads, stickers, greetings cards, art prints. And I also do workshops, online workshops for other artists drawing sessions and things. And those have picked up a lot in the last year as well. So how did you teach yourself how to bind then? Did you watch YouTube tutorials and stuff?

00:03:45:15 - 00:04:11:03
Unknown
Yeah, I, I started off on YouTube. There was there is a YouTuber called Sea Lemon and she films bookbinding tutorials and that's where I started. And then I started reading books and finding other videos and teaching myself. A lot of it is trial and error. There are like thousands and thousands of little things that can go wrong when making a book, and it took me five years to make a book

00:04:11:04 - 00:04:31:20
Unknown
where I didn’t make a mistake. And it's all just come across this surprising mistakes and things that come up and finding a solution yourself and then remembering it next time. And yeah. So it was actually late 2020 then when you decided to set up Odd Orange, but you didn't actually launch the business until just over a year later.

00:04:31:20 - 00:04:52:08
Unknown
So can you kind of talk me through what happened during that year and what actually got you ready to actually launch it? Yeah. So yeah, I took about a year to plan and prepare, mostly because obviously I've been doing freelance work and I've been selling a few things on Etsy, but I knew that I wanted Odd Orange to be bigger.

00:04:52:08 - 00:05:23:07
Unknown
I knew I wanted to employ people eventually and have a bigger business. So I wanted to really do my research and get the foundations in place before I launched it. So I wouldn't have to learn the tough things on the way. Yeah, that's life lessons. So I spent that year mostly researching, setting up. There's loads of little things that goes in setting up a business, like obviously registering as a limited company, getting a trademark, setting up a business bank account, things like that.

00:05:23:07 - 00:05:52:01
Unknown
That takes time and also saving money. So I was working three jobs. It took me a year to save. It took I, I saved up all the money myself. I didn't take out any loans. It was entirely my savings. That's how I wanted it to be. I didn't want to owe anyone anything. So it was a whole year of being really frugal and saving up as much as I could to really start the business off on good footing.

00:05:52:03 - 00:06:19:21
Unknown
Okay, so what were the jobs that you were doing then while you were setting up the business? Yes. So I had a part time minimum wage job in a warehouse where I was just like literally printing logos onto t shirts, which is actually really good experience in that hands on creative ish kind of job. Also learning about management, how I didn't want to manage a business.

00:06:19:23 - 00:06:43:15
Unknown
I also worked BCU on the Illustration course part time. I did workshops there for the students, which was again great experience for my the stuff I'm doing now with the workshops I do. And then I was doing freelance illustration as well, keeping that going. Look, I got some quite well-paying jobs in that year, so that was a really good addition to my savings as well.

00:06:43:15 - 00:07:03:10
Unknown
So, okay, Well, we have actually got a couple of your notepads here with us. How cool are these? I just love them and the colours are just so nice. And it must be so weird when you see someone else holding what you made. Yeah, it's even weirder when I see them filled up with people's artwork. That's not mine.

00:07:03:12 - 00:07:29:14
Unknown
Yeah, and. But really, really rewarding. Just seeing other people use them. And I get so many messages from people saying how much they love the sketchbooks and notebooks, how much it's helped them, how they won't use anything else. And it's such a rewarding experience. Yeah. Okay. So you're now 18 months in the business, so what are some of the kind of biggest lessons that you've picked up along the way so far then?

00:07:29:16 - 00:07:54:06
Unknown
I think the absolute biggest lesson I've picked up is to take care of your mental health. Don't overdo it. I'm the kind of person that over does. If I've got like 24 hours and I have 24 hours a day, I'm try to use up every possible second in my business. So that's how I the whole year when I was setting up, when I wasn't working my jobs, I was full on working on my business.

00:07:54:06 - 00:08:17:21
Unknown
And I don't know how I did it. For a whole year. I was really in intensely working the end of last year it all came to a big like halt and basically like my mental health just like plummeted. And it was a really important time, it was over Christmas were supposed to be getting like my most sales. I could barely get myself to work.

00:08:17:21 - 00:08:51:09
Unknown
I was in bed. I had absolutely no motivation. I was miserable. It was really bad. Like the worst mental health experience I've ever had in my life, and I'm still recovering, six months on and I can't, I'm really struggling to get back to the productivity that I had before. So what I'm doing now is I'm really making effort to work like regular hours, 9 to 5, have those weekends off, those evenings off, because really like, working the weekend

00:08:51:09 - 00:09:09:17
Unknown
if you're really busy, that's fine. If you're working every weekend, it's not worth taking six months off because you can't get out of bed because you're exhausted. Yeah, yeah. I mean, I can't imagine that kind of pressure because it's your business. So if there's nobody making the products. Yeah, you know, just not selling them. Exactly like I didn't.

00:09:09:21 - 00:09:30:04
Unknown
And ever thought that the biggest risk to my business was me. Yeah, it's, it's, yeah, it's. I think you feel worse because you already feel like bad because of mental health, but then you're sitting there stewing thinking, I should be doing this. I could be making this money, I could be doing this, and it can't. And it just it makes it worse and worse.

00:09:30:06 - 00:09:53:14
Unknown
So, yeah, definitely take those breaks. Don't overdo it. Yeah. All you're doing is harming yourself, basically. So Odd Orange has almost 12,000 followers on Instagram. Yeah. A growing following on TikTok as well. Yeah. So do you think social media has been the key to growing your business and kind of what are the methods? Have you found work for you?

00:09:53:16 - 00:10:32:01
Unknown
Wholeheartedly. I think for me, especially social media, if it didn't exist, I wouldn't have a business. Almost all of my like customers have found me through social media, through Instagram, TikTok, YouTube. It's yeah, I wouldn't be able to have a business if it wasn't social media. Generally, they find me through that luck because my customers like the area, the sector I'm in, it's very visual, it's very Instagram anyway, so it works out really well cause my customers, they buy my products, they share them, They every time they fill sketchbook page and they share it, I get promoted.

00:10:32:02 - 00:10:56:09
Unknown
Yeah, I have some really very loyal customers that will do, have done YouTube videos in the past that have blown up and that's brought me loads of customers and it's like a cycle. I'd say the second best thing for me was newsletter subscribers. So a lot of them came through my social media and through people sharing my stuff and talking about my business.

00:10:56:11 - 00:11:29:05
Unknown
But newsletter subscribers is the best form, I think, because I'm not fighting an algorithm. My, my news, my posts, they go directly into the inbox. I get a lot more interactions. I think if you can translate your following into newsletter subscribers, the absolute best thing you can do for business. So in your newsletter, do you kind of, you know, tell your readers more about yourself as well, because I'm thinking, is that kind of part of the business as well?

00:11:29:05 - 00:11:50:05
Unknown
Is actually it's you as well that people like. Yeah. So I kind of it's kind of like a touch point. So I do at least three newsletters a month. I do want it beginning of the month. I focus on only providing valuable content, nothing to like. I don't really do marketing promotion stuff. It's always to give to my subscribers.

00:11:50:05 - 00:12:11:16
Unknown
So my I do a newsletter beginning of every month called My Monthly Dose of Inspiration newsletter and I'll have like art challenges in there. I write blog posts, I pay people to write blog posts to me as well, so I don't have to focus on that. I'll share that to the newsletter. People love reading my blog posts. I'll share the drawing sessions like what's coming up.

00:12:11:16 - 00:12:36:22
Unknown
I do free drawing sessions for my newsletter subscribers, so I keep some subscribed and then I also do news and when the next restock i, so it kind of like intertwines in there. So yeah. And I do, like I said, free drawing sessions. So they get those emails with the tickets to the drawing session and those are really popular and people love them.

00:12:36:24 - 00:13:01:17
Unknown
Okay, so what are your best selling products then? It's always been the hardback sketchbooks, always. And then followed by the paperback sketchbooks. But my drawing sessions and drawing session recordings are really picking up and getting really popular as well. So it's nice to have two different revenue streams. The the hardback spec sketchbooks in particular are very, very time intensive.

00:13:01:17 - 00:13:26:04
Unknown
Takes me like two months to make like 100, 200. But the workshops, once I've recorded it, I have to, I have to do anything or they're just unlimited. People buy them. I don't have to do anything. So it's nice to have both. Okay, so for those listening then who have always wanted to set up their own business, what is it that they need to do first? Research intensely.

00:13:26:04 - 00:13:57:24
Unknown
Research, definitely. You need to you need to know, first of all, how to set a business, what you need to do legally to successfully run a business. You need to know your customers. Luckily, my customers are very similar to myself, so I learned through and through you to exactly who you're promoting your products to or service to. And you need to know obviously, what product or service you're going to be selling and how you're going to sell it.

00:13:57:24 - 00:14:22:02
Unknown
If you're going to do it like through social media, through a website, Etsy markets, a physical shop, something like that, you need to have all those pieces down sorted before you start. Okay, So this is something we love to do in every episode. A quick Birmingham fire round. Is it Shropshire where you live? Yeah, Yeah. So how often do you actually come back to Birmingham?

00:14:22:02 - 00:14:43:02
Unknown
Not very often. A few times every few months. And not very often. Sometimes more often. And okay. So yeah. So as you said, obviously it's been, you know, not too long since you're last on the BCU campus then. So where is your favorite spot on campus? Was it anywhere where you kind of escape to and your student here?

00:14:43:04 - 00:15:08:08
Unknown
My favorite spot has to be the illustration studio. I loved the illustration studio. That's why I went to the university. I saw the studio and I was like, Yes, it's amazing. It's big. It's light there's really comfy seats and it's not everyone can get into it, but it's it's really lovely place to be. It's really inspiring and yes, it’s my favourite place.

00:15:08:10 - 00:15:39:19
Unknown
Okay. Were you a Snobs or Pop World kind of person? Snobs. Good answer. Blues or Villa? I'm not a huge football person, but my cousin supports the Villa, so I'm going to say Villa so he doesn't hate me. Would you rather go to Broad Street or Digbeth? Digbeth. And what is your favorite like, Brummie landmark? Probably the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery.

00:15:39:24 - 00:16:02:21
Unknown
Oh, I love the museum and art gallery. So good. And the ceilings! Yes. Yes. As an artist, it has to be my answer, I just love it. I love museums. It's just a wealth of inspiration, amazing. And what is your favorite like Brummie slang word? I like when I get called bab, it's really nice, makes me feel special.

00:16:03:00 - 00:16:26:06
Unknown
Yeah, it's like weirdly comforting, isn't it? Yeah, like, yeah, like almost like motherly in a way. I don't know. I like it. So you have been selected as one of our local heroes at this year's Alumni Festival. So what does that mean to you? It means a lot. I don't feel like I'm at the point in my life and career to be called like a local hero.

00:16:26:08 - 00:16:50:05
Unknown
But to me, hero is somebody that goes out of the way to help someone and inspire them in their life. And that's what I strive to do all the time with my business and my personal life. And yeah, I'd love to be considered a hero at some point. Yeah, I think it's very important to have heroes like that in your journey.

00:16:50:07 - 00:17:17:08
Unknown
And final question then, if you could go back to your very first day here at BCU what year was that? Oh 2017 2018? I can't remember. I graduated in 2020. Okay, so 2017. Okay, okay. So what was six about six years ago? Oh, my gosh. So if you could go back to that kind of very first day, what is the one piece of advice that you would give yourself?

00:17:17:10 - 00:17:47:08
Unknown
Take up every possible opportunity that you can. I kind of I figured this out about my second and third year, but I missed out on a lot like it's the three years at university is really short. It goes by so quickly, and I think it's really important to take up every opportunity, go to every talk, every workshop. Even if you don't think it doesn't quite match what you want to do when you graduate, that could always change.

00:17:47:08 - 00:18:06:20
Unknown
That happened for me. Like I went to talks I thought weren't that important, then when I graduated, it turns out they're very important with what I ended up doing. Yeah. And just like whilst you're here whilst you're paying for it, like, do everything, every resource. Because once you're gone, once you leave, it would be really difficult to get those kinds of things again.

00:18:06:20 - 00:18:26:09
Unknown
So yeah, make the most of it. So thank you so much for popping by today Morgan and coming onto the podcast, we can't wait to see you again very soon. Thank you so much. Thank you for having me.