Expert Insights: Made With Love By Yasmin

For Yasmin El-Saie, a love of storytelling became an up-and-coming London start-up. Find out how…

Here at UK2, we’ve been feeling pretty Christmassy for the past couple of weeks, and we’re begrudgingly taking down our decorations. Our (two) trees are making their way down, and the last of the festive jokes are being cracked across the office.

While some businesses have been winding down for Christmas, others are feeling the festive rush, and Yasmin El-Saie is at the helm of one of those businesses. As the brains and creativity behind her greeting cards company ‘Made With Love By Yasmin‘, Yasmin has been bringing a little personalised happiness to London on all occasions.

For Yasmin, the festive season is a time when her greetings cards don their Christmas outfits to spread some holiday spirit. As a start-up in a city as large and cosmopolitan as London, finding your niche can be a real struggle, and so Yasmin lets her cards speak for themselves. I caught up with her to talk a little bit about business, London life, and her pet chihuahua Chilli.

Creativity has been a part of Yasmin’s life from a young age; her earliest memories are of drawing masterclasses with her artistic mother. After taking time out to live on all five continents, and complete her Master’s degree in physics, the calls of the entrepreneurial world brought Yasmin to London’s Notting Hill where she combined her love of storytelling with a little inspiration from her childhood pets.

Speaking to me two years into her business journey, Yasmin has a tip or two for aspiring entrepreneurs:

“No matter how much you try to be on top of everything, it’s impossible to do everything yourself. Have a little trust in people; they have the skills to make your dreams a reality. Finding people who you gel with, and who like what you do, is so important. Marketing-wise, how can you convince someone to like something that you don’t like yourself?”

Turning your childhood hobby into your livelihood is a really personable experience, and Yasmin herself admits that she can be “the most annoying customer ever” for a web designer. As a great believer in her own product, Yasmin works only with people who will rival her passion for her business.

Here at UK2, we like to share the love around the holiday period, and had ourselves some bespoke Christmas cards designed and created by Yasmin herself. Our UK2 elves have all got theirs!

Bringing her characters to life is Yasmin’s USP – each character has their own personality. Beyond her own characters, Yasmin has been collaborating with The Retired Greyhound Trust for the past two years, designing a range of bespoke handmade cards featuring greyhound characters of her own creation.

For Yasmin, her passion for animals and love of storytelling became her business; having a passion for your product and sharing that love with the people who take that business journey with you could be the difference between success and failure. That, and a desire to succeed.

There’s only one day left of 2014, have you drafted your New Year’s Business Resolution?