Today marks Mwydro’s 5th birthday. Yes, it’s been five whole years since 23 year old me attended Big Ideas Wales’ Business Bootcamp in Glanllyn and decided actually, I was going to turn my hobby into a fully-fledged business.
There have been so many highlights, but in the interest of being aesthetically pleasing I thought I’d pick out my five Highlights from five Years in Business.
IPSE Award
Of course, if there’s one standout highlight it must be travelling to London with my mum last summer and receiving IPSE’s Young Freelancer of the Year Award. If you were there on the day and heard my acceptance speech you will know that winning was a big surprise.
Standing there on the stage on the 42nd floor of the Cheese grater Building in London was truly something else, and being a part-time business owner and a small business based in North Wales was a massive honour and such a highlight.
Hac y Gymraeg
In 2022 I took a plunge and pitched for the Welsh Government’s #HacYGymraeg challenge. I had ten minutes to pitch my idea for a project which used technology to increase the use of the Welsh Language, and I won!
The £12,000 of funding I secured helped fund the launch of my GIFs in Schools project which I launched in March 2023 and is still running and a roaring success a year on!
It’s enabled me to travel to schools all over Wales and I’ve managed to use technology to get kids super excited and engaged about the Welsh Language.
Discovering GIFs!
It’s an easy one to forget but looking back it’s the biggest gamechanger in my business. In August 2020 on the back-end of the first lockdown I was Instagram trying to promote my handmade cards when I discovered a problem, there were barely any Welsh-language GIFs available for me to use on Instagram Stories.
So, I decided to resolve that issue and create some of my own. Three and a half years on and Mwydro now has over 1,000 Welsh Language GIFs available for everyone to use in a range of words, phrases and place-names. A common misconception, but I actually don’t make any money or royalties from people using those GIFs, but it’s been awesome to give so many people the tools to use more Welsh online, and to open the doors to work with a wide range of businesses on bespoke GIF commissions.
Gŵyl Fwyd Caernarfon
Before there were GIFs the business was all about handmade cards, so it was an early goal of mine to have a stall at the biggest annual event in my local area – Gwyl Fwyd Caernarfon. It’s a food and crafts festival in my hometown which attracts 20,000 visitors a year.
When lockdown came that plan was scuppered, but I was so proud of myself in 2023 when my new range of Cards, Notepads and Stickers launched that I went ahead and secured a stall at that year’s festival. It was a great day by the sea where I met so many incredible business owners and customers and had the support of my two favourite people, my mum and my partner Jordan.
I’ve decided against a stall for this year as I’m changing things up, volunteering with the Marketing Committee for the festival instead!
Supporting Local Talent
Above all else my greatest achievement has to be building a business to a level where I am now able to employ and support local talent.
In 2022, through the support of Llwyddo’n Lleol I employed my first member of staff, Lois for the summer, and in 2023 Tesni joined the team to support with the GIFs in Schools project, and she’s still stuck with me a year on!
It’s been an honour to see them flourish and to know that I’ve helped towards their development as young professionals in Wales. It also reminds me that running a business can have so many more rewards than the income it generates, and this is a reward I’ll treasure always.
I think back to twenty three year old me starting up this business five years ago today and I think if I then had a crystal ball to look five years into the future, I’d be pretty proud of myself and how things have turned out!
Right then, onto the next five years!