Trying to make a living on the edge of an island

The piece that explains how I work

Living on a small island comes with many challenges.

Making a living is just one of them.

With limited employment opportunities, finding a way to make ends meet requires some level of skill, entrepreneurism, sheer hard work and acknowledgement that having one niche might just not be enough to see you through.

I didn’t set out to run a multi-faceted business; until the last twelve years, my life had been painfully reactive. There was little planning involved, I followed my nose and my heart, had three children and got married. But since then, a time which coincided with me becoming single again, I learned to respond to what my inner guidance told me – things the island, my body, and soulful determination have made possible.

My self-employment journey began with a small craft shop selling colourful handmade hats. It grew when my former husband decided we should carry out an expensive loft conversion and other improvements and use our home to run a B&B. A good business decision in principle, as it kept us on the island with money coming in, it was also a steep learning curve and quite chaotic. More so when, after two years of struggling with alcoholism, he decided to leave me to it. Literally.

Getting to grips with doing it myself while recovering from a broken marriage made me stronger, braver and more resilient than I ever imagined.

Single handedly managing a B&B, including evening meals for guests, is hard work and long days, more so with one small child and two others at high school. But I did it with help from my older daughters.

My growing sense of independence led me to want to do something all my own while at the same time growing my business and potentially doing less time-consuming B&B. I found a company that made luxury shepherds’ huts. A tiny, self-contained holiday home for two was exactly what the island — and I — needed. Organising the build and getting it to our small Scottish island from Derbyshire was a logistical achievement, something which has left me in good stead – island life lends itself to many logistical nightmares! I didn’t have enough funds to buy this but I’m a firm believer that if you truly want to do something, you can find a way. I did.

After my first full season, Covid hit. Like many self-employed people, my income dropped to zero while loan repayments continued. I managed — just.. Covid gave many people the opportunity to pause and reassess what they did. I was busy home schooling but decided that I would align my business with my own meat free values and the guesthouse became vegetarian and vegan. People told me I would lose business, frankly, I didn’t care, and I didn’t, it increased. Guests are delighted that they can get tasty vegan food and come and stay here specifically for it. I’m a good cook and get great feedback, the number of people who have suggested I write a coffee table recipe book…

At the end of 2021 I watched my visiting writer friend go for dips in the sea each morning outside the shepherds hut. It was December and freezing but I was intrigued and gave it a go. Even though I had lived close to the sea for so long and become intimately entwined with the tide and winds, I had yet to be called to swim in the cold.

My time had come; the sea extended its long salty tendrils and drew me in. I was entranced. I started swimming every morning.

My newly found relationship with the sea gave me more ideas and I felt if only I could encourage other people into the sea, they could feel the benefits I was experiencing.

My inner vision forming for my business was to be able to combine all these things, wonderful hospitality, clean vegan food and a bit of cold-water immersion… a retreat, if you will.

When immersed in cold water, I am entirely present. After the initial cold-water shock has passed, I use my breathing to slow my heartbeat, stay calm and enjoy the experience of being one with the sea. One day, another swimming friend lent me a book to read ‘Breath’ by James Nestor. It changed my life. It seemed natural to me that after seeing the difference functional breathing could have on your well-being, that this was something I wanted to pursue and how it conveniently slotted into my vision.

I’m now a qualified open water swim coach and an Oxygen Advantage advanced breathwork instructor. This enabled me to make my vision a reality and launch my Find Your Wild Spirit retreats. A combination of cold water, breathwork and meditation wrapped up in nature and delicious food – embracing a joyous wellbeing experience at the edge of an island wilderness.

And here I am. I do all these things separately – B&B, shepherds hut, wild swimming, breathwork, and together as a retreat a few times a year.

I still make the hats I started out with, in my gorgeous little craft shop, showcasing the skills of our island artisans, and when I’m not doing any of the above, you’ll find me in wellies or muddy boots weeding the garden or digging out a ditch.

Reading this back, it all sounds very inspiring. It hasn’t been easy. There have been disasters – ceiling collapses, car breakdowns, my beloved polytunnel blew away; ongoing maintenance is repetitive and hard work; marketing is challenging.

I also suffer from intermittent imposter syndrome and self doubt. Some days I feel awesome and multi-talented and others, not so much – I’m working on it - part of me writing these articles is navigating my way through it all.

The story doesn’t end there… I recently acquired a delightful old horsebox and am currently converting it into a mobile sauna. Hot and cold therapy? a perfect addition to the tribe don’t you think?