Make it at Market
BBC 1, Season 3 Episode 6. First aired 11th March 2025
This time last year, I could never of even imagined how my life was going to change over the next 12 months! What started as a bit of a 'self-help' exercise and reflection has spiralled in to the most amazing journey of exploration, learning and empowerment, along side serious hard work and dedication.
I will forever be grateful to Flabbergast Productions, the BBC and my amazing mentor, Derek Hunt for believing in me and providing me with this opportunity to follow my dream, showcase my work and best of all, share my love of stained glass, heritage craft and creativity with others.
Why not grab a cuppa, cosy down somewhere and have a read of my Make It At Market Blog laid out below.... It's a tale of twist and turns, but was worth every second and if you watch my episode and follow me on social media, you'll find out why!
What is the show all about?
If you haven't heard or seen the show before, and you are interested in programs that are inspirational whilst still realistically positive, follow personal journeys of everyday individuals like yourself, are about craft, art and heritage, and can also give you practical and easily implemented advice that you could use to reach your own business goals, no matter how big or small - this is the show for you!!!
The format is slightly different this season, but the general idea is that the each episode takes an individual who is passionate about their craft and who wants to turn their side hustle or hobby into their full-time job. With the help of the presenter, Dom Chinea of Repair Shop fame, and a professional mentor who is allocated to them for the process, each maker is set a series of creative challenges on the show to help them grow their business, push them outside their comfort zone and create magical items that will help them lay foundations or kickstart their earning. After setting an individualised action plan with their mentors, each maker then leaves the gorgeous Waterperry Gardens in Oxfordshire for 8 weeks of development in their craft and business before returning to meet Dom again to 'reveal' the changes they have made and the impact it has had on not just their businesses, but their lives in general.
There are links to the show's Instagram feed, Open University course and new Patreon Podcast at the bottom of the page to find out more. And all episodes from Series 3 and some Series 2 are still available on the BBC iPlayer, and soon internationally on BritBox TV.
My Journey
After a catalogue of health challenges over the past 3 years, combined with the impact of COVID lockdown and general burnout from being a front-line keyworker, I found myself in 2024 at a crossroads.
I had rediscovering my love for creating Stained Glass art in 2021, after a 30 year hiatus from attending Saturday classes up to my mid-teens, although I'd never lost my passion for glass's beauty and the way it can just completely change a space just with it's presence.
Following surgery that had left me housebound for a good few months, with the support of my family, I'd set up a small workspace in my dining room that I could work from in my wheelchair, and then on a perching stool as my mobility improved. I had a focus, and motivation and I couldn't stop making - initially patterns I downloaded off the internet or from tutorials I watched on YouTube (including ones by the wonderful Derek Hunt Glass Artist, who later went on to be my mentor on the show!!! Who would have ever thought it!!).
Things began to snowball - I was sharing my pieces with friends on social media, starting to make my own designs based on views out of my window or photos I'd taken or by crazy fell-running husband had taken whilst out and about in our beautiful Lake District National Park. Inspiration was everywhere and I was able to get more adventurous & creative with my use of glass colours, textures and the intrinsic patterns I could see within each sheet of glass I selected. The feedback was wonderful, and I started to realise others valued my work too, with requests for commission pieces of people's favourite fells and views, special gifts centred around nature like my wave series of lanterns and free standing panels, and then on to botanicals!
Keeping a balance between my 'main job' as an NHS Physiotherapist and my glass work was becoming difficult, and both my physical and mental health was starting to suffer as a result. I was making a small amount of money from my glass work through social media, attending local artisan craft fairs locally and as my art was then in a local gallery, but it wasn't enough to support me financially and I wasn't even sure if I wanted it to! My 'identity' for 25 years had always been deeply embedded in academia and health services, and the feeling of imposter syndrome as an 'artist' was running high!
'THE' Call.........
A few days after my birthday at the end of May, I was off work again with some various ailment that meant I wasn't safe to be seeing patients in my clinic, but was pottering around my studio doing odd jobs and enjoying the sunshine streaming through samples of glass I'd placed up against my windows as potentials for my next project, when Alysoun's number flashed up on my mobile. I took a deep breath and answered, preparing for the worst. I had the full Lord Sugar / The Apprentice exit speech planned of "Thank you for this wonderful opportunity, and hopefully with your feedback I can try again next year" spiel ready to go.
But before I even got that far, after an initial "Hi Kate, it's me... Are you OK? What you doing?", I just remember a few key snippets - "We want you on the show"... "There was never any doubt"... "We love both YOU and your work - the whole team was unanimous"... and "You have so much potential and passion and we can help get you where you want to be - Are you in?"...... The rest is a bit of a blur tbh.
After months of radio silence, I think she warned me the next few days would be a bit mental with copious emails, terms and conditions and contracts and a zoom meeting with the rest of the crew and 'contributors' as we were referred to (the makers) in a week or so's time. And not to let it overwhelm me. And she wasn't wrong. Things went from zero to a hundred miles per hour in a number of weeks, at which point, I thought it best to tell my close family what was going on, as there was no hiding this and with the concurrent health issues, I'd need all the help from them I could get.
Show 'challenges' were set and sent out, with only 3 weeks to go before filming at Waterperry gardens, so the hours in my studio were long and had to be spread out to accommodate my relentless fatigue at that time due to issues with my kidneys and long-covid symptoms that just would not budge since the previous March, and fitting in around medical appointments.
My ability to logistically go down South and take part in the show from a health perspective was starting to play on my mind, as I had no idea at that time how intense the schedule was going to be. But without me needing to raise any concerns or feel like I was being a burden the production crew automatically connected ALL the contributors with a wonderful man called Paul Smith from Casarotto, Ramsey and Associates and EMG Management.
Paul is himself in the filming industry, as an actor and stunt man on shows like 'Willow' (Disney +), 'The Witcher' (Netflix) and Dr Who. Here, he was employed as our Accessibility Coordinator, and helped me put every worry I may have had to the side before I even raised it.
From travel and hotels, access to a quiet space during filming, to the distance of my work station to the nearest facilities through to even having a height adjustable stool at my desk... nothing was out of the question or unreasonable, or even seen as anything out of the norm. That feeling of inclusion and value of me, my work and me actually being part of the show was so refreshing and humbling.
Coming Together.....
What comes next? How did the filming go? What was my action plan and where am I now????
Well :-) That's for you all to find out and will follow shortly! It's enough to say for the moment, I am happy, healthier and am already living a dream I never even imagined was possible. When I look back to where my craft, skills and business was 12 months ago, the change is already insane because of the changes I implemented and worked hard on last year, even before the show has gone to air.
Today, as I write this with less than 2 hours to go before it goes live on the BBC1 (!!!) and I too see the episode for the first time with the rest of the nation, I also know this is just the start.
I'm hoping you all love my work, can appreciate the journey both me and my 'episode partner' Richard have been on and see our passion for what we do coming across. I also hope our stories resonate and inspire some of you to have the confidence to follow your dreams, think big, push the boundaries of your comfort zone and maybe even apply for the next series???
So there are no spoilers, I will update this blog once the show has gone out with more details of the nitty-gritty of my action plans and what I found useful, but also not, so you don't have to go through some of the mistakes / learning curves I did!! Make sure you subscribe to my newsletter so you'll be the first to hear when it goes live. For now, here's a few snaps to whet your appetite.
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