You have seen and smelt our candles but we thought we should tell you a little bit (see what we did there) about the family behind the brand you are buying from. The family your are supporting with each purchase.
Photos would be a bit boring so we thought we would do something a little bit different (still funny, right?). So Vicky got in touch with our trade fair buddy Amy from Dots Allowed and asked her to turn us into illustrations. We absolutely love the results.
So a little bit (I’ll stop soon I promise) about us. We live in a Victorian house in Swansea. It used to be the Vicarage for the Chapel opposite us, Vicky bought it from the Vicar. This makes it sound very grand but it is a pretty ordinary house. The family is me, Vicky, Chris my husband, our daughter Shauna and son Rowan. We also have one dog called Pixie (known on socail media as The Tiniest of Tiny Dogs) and three little bantam chickens called Kylo Hen, Princess Layer and Margot. Guess which two Rowan named!
So on to a little bit about each of us.
Vicky
A little bit about Vicky
Vicky, founder of Little Bit Different quit her civil service job ten years ago after running the business for five years while juggling a job, business and two children. But, let’s go back to the start. Vicky wanted to have more time for family so while on maternity leave in 2010 she started making more of the candles that had proved so popular at her and Chris’s wedding reception. She still uses the very same eco friendly soy wax and Uk made vegan friendly oils. Over the last fifteen years her passion for high quality Welsh products has grown and grown.
When Vicky isn’t creating candles she loves to spend time in her garden. She is never happier than when she is doing some light pruning with an electric saw! Handily the Little Bit Different garden is big and often in need of a trim. Vicky is a self confessed David Austin rose addict, a stained glass lover and a raspberry and lemon squash drinker. At the age of 47 she still hasn’t grown up enough to drink tea or coffee. In preparation for her old age Vicky has developed a fixation with a bird song identification app and now has a big list of all the birds that visit the garden. Vicky loves to sit watching the sea after a busy day in the candle kitchen and is usually joined by her husband Chris and son Rowan.
Vicky loves playing board games, trying to play the piano as well as she used to and going on holidays to pretty towns and cities in the Uk and Europe. If she won the lottery the first thing she would do is buy a house with a swimming pool. It would have to only have a shallow end though as she can’t swim.
Chris
A little bit about Chris
Chris did not plan to be part of a candle making business. Chris has never bought a candle in his life and will never have to now. Despite this he plays a large part in the business. By day he is a civil servant. In fact he works in the same place Vicky left ten years ago although they have never worked there at the same time. Chris does something to do with spreadsheets by day. Vicky describes his job to people as like Chandler Bings, it’s not clear what it actually is but it involves a lot of numbers and spreadsheets and reports. By evening and weekend Chris can be found carrying boxes of wax or candles, creating labels, working on the website and sometimes putting the accounts in a spreasheet!
Unlike Vicky Chris is not too keen on gardening. He does, however, like power tools so he is also happy doing some pruning. What he would rather do is play board games, go to the cinema or go on holiday. A little known fact about Chris is that he has a Masters in Astrophysics. He discovered storm chasing while at University so if he won the lottery one of the first things he would do is book a storm chasing holiday (Vicky would have already bought a house).
If you have ever seen Little Bit Different at our Christmas fair you are likely to have met Chris as Vicky is usually ensuring the event runs smoothly. If you have had a stall at our fairs you will know him as the guy who carries your boxes and makes sure everyone has WI-FI! Everyone who runs their own business needs a Chris alongside them.
Shauna
A little bit about Shauna
Shauna, our twenty six year old daughter, might have flown the nest and bought her own house a year ago but she is still very much a part of the Little Bit Different family. Shauna was only eleven when the business was founded as has been involved from the very start. She has labelled candles, packed orders and was behind the stall serving customers at markets when we first started out. Customers still ask us how she is and are shocked to hear she has her own home and works at the local University.
Shauna is a proud mum of a very fluffy grumpy white cat. She works hard and has many hobbies from live music, board games, theatre and spending time with friends. Vicky encouraged (indoctrinated) in her a love of 90s music from a very young age so they have both spent the last few years going to the gigs of bands Vicky couldn’t afford to see the first time around. That’s playing the long game! Shauna might not be actively involved in the business but she helped shape it from an early age. If you ever bought a candle from a teenage Goth that was Shauna!
If Shauna won the lottery she would pay off her mortgage (such a sensible young woman) and then book a massive holiday for everyone. I hope she means us!
Rowan
A little bit about Rowan
Rowan is our fifteen year old son. He has very little interest in candles but does like to show us up with his IT and design skills. As good parents who like to encourage and support our children we always let him! When he isn’t doing educational type things he can be guaranteed to be doing something to do with planes. He builds and flies remote control planes and is a member of the Carmarthenshire model flying club. He has been lucky enough to be given the chance to learn to fly a microlight by one of the club members. His love of all things aviation involves building and painting very detailed model planes. His has his mums need to be a little bit different and spends hours researching different liveries to make them more unusual.
Rowan’s comedic timing is spot on, his dead pan quick wit makes us laugh so many times a day. Rowan is likely to end up either flying planes or being the next David Mitchell, we are not sure which way it will go.
If Rowan won the lottery he would buy a microlight, a can of pepsi and more remote control planes. He would also open a flying school called DON’T THINK JUST DO.
Pixie
A little bit about Pixie
Well, what can we say about the boss of the family? She is the boss! Pixie is an eight year old Yorkshire Terrier. She is also half chicken. She has many names, Pixatron, Missy Smelliot, Hillary Stinkton (blame a bad haircut for that one), smell bags, Hugh Grant (can’t remember why) and Smellapocalypse. We do love her I promise. Pixie loves eating worms because the chickens do, she loves eating leave because the chickens do, she loves a dust bath because the chickens do, you get the idea. Despite all of this she is actually very clever.
She has learnt so many words, outside, garden etc that we had to start spelling things. SO, of course she learnt to spell. We started using the phonetic alphabet, you can guess what happened. She is mocked by couriers when they see the size of her in the window after hearing her bark. Pixie loves to play fetch, so much so that she taught herself to throw balls at us in lockdown. Everyone, even the dogs, learnt a new skill. Known to her fans online as The Tiniest of Tiny Dogs she loves to pose for photos. Sadly her food can’t be classed as a business expense, thanks Accountant!
Maybe we can enter her in to Britains Got Talent (do they still make it?) Pixie barks to wake Rowan up on the dot of 10am if he dares to have a lie in and puts herself to bed at 9pm because that used to be his bed time. She drives us mad sometimes and she is very often dirty having tried to be a chicken but who else would listen to us all talk nonsense and look like she really cares?
The chicken trio
A little bit about the chicken trio
Kylo Hen, Princess Layer and Margot are our five year old tiny bantam chickens. There are pigeons in our garden bigger than Kylo Hen. They don’t really know what candles are but do like to sit on the doorstep of the candle kitchen and watch Vicky work through the glass. They are pretty chatty and happy little girls, especially when lying in a dust bath pecking hosta leaves. It’s like an all you can eat buffet and a soa day for them.
They might be cute but don’t let them fool you they are scavangers and will clear a fruit bush in minutes, even leaping in the air to reach the higher branches.
They are not frightened of much but are terrified of helipcopters. This is not so great when we live under the flightpath from the nearest A+E to the Air Ambulance base. They are daft girls but very funny and a surprisingly easy pet. Boiled eggs are a lovely bonus.