A mum-of-two from Birkenhead was suffering with workplace bullying alongside post-natal depression when she decided to take the leap to open her dream balloon and personalised gift shop.
Cara Jones, who owns Teddy’s Balloons and Gifts based at Larton Livery in Frankby, had started her journey in 2017 making personalised gifts for family and friends.
Cara says she would make and sell the bespoke items to escape from anxiety caused by the bullying she faced in the workplace.
Cara said: “It was really horrible. It made me a shell of who I used to be.
“My husband would say I used to be dead glamorous and always have my hair and makeup done but I couldn’t even get out of bed because of how rubbish I felt.
“I was barely making a profit, but making the gifts made me feel like I had purpose, it was a great way to help me manage my anxiety and I loved seeing people’s reactions to their one-of-a-kind items.”
While dealing with the bullying, Cara became pregnant with her son and was diagnosed with anti-natal depression.
Cara said: “It was really horrible and in the end my husband and I decided it was the final straw and I needed to leave.”
After attending therapy and support from family members, Cara decided to take the leap and go full time with her personalised gifts.
She said: “It was frightening leaving full time employment to become self-employed. I was going from working at this place for eight years feeling safe and secure financially to taking this huge risk.
“It felt like I was jumping into a black hole I didn’t know how it was going to turn out or how the business was going to be received.”
Cara left her job in November 2020 after being diagnosed with post-natal depression after giving birth to her son in April 2019 because of the lasting impact from bullies.
She said: “I couldn’t function day to day because of how bad I felt but since leaving my job I can feel the passion in my belly again.”
Thanks to the support she received from The Wirral Chamber of Commerce, Cara was able to secure a loan and begin the process in opening Teddy’s Balloons and Gifts.
She secured an old shipping container and converted it into her dream shop and Teddys Balloons and Gifts was born.
She said: “I had a vision for my business, I wanted it to be cool and quirky, but also eco aware and decided that instead of finding a shop front on the high street, which probably would have been much easier, to convert an old unused container and give it a new lease of life.”
“Now I’m sat here looking back as the vision board I created last year of my dream shop and now it’s a reality it’s crazy.
“I am excited again and positive it’s going to be a good thing.
“I’m getting dressed again and can get out of bed.”
Cara now wants to help other small businesses with their own journey but offering them a space to sell their products.
Cara said: “That was never available to me when I first started so I want to be able to offer that to independent businesses.”
“The Lockdown has shown me how important it is to shop small and support local businesses as much as I can. Where possible I always shop local because it really does make a difference to all of us.”
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