Searching for Home

Last week I was invited onto Brooklands Radio to talk about the story behind The Small Home.

It was a conversations that made me stop and reflect on the path that led me here - from leaving home at sixteen, to twenty years working in the fashion industry, and eventually starting The Small Home with two very small children at home and an idea that had been quietly forming for years.

Watch the three short interview clips below, or listen to the full conversation on Brooklands Radio.

[Listen to the full interview on Brooklands Radio →]

Looking back now, I realise that the idea of home has shaped much of my life.

For a long time I didn’t really have a place that felt like home. My twenties were fairly unsettled, moving from one place to the next and never quite putting down proper roots. I think part of me always knew that one day I wanted something different - somewhere that felt calm, safe and grounding.

In many ways, that desire eventually became The Small Home.

The interview has been split into three short clips which you can watch below.

Where it began

When I was sixteen I left home after being asked to choose between religion and family. I didn’t feel like I had much choice - I simply didn’t have the faith.

For the next ten years I didn’t see my family.

It was a difficult time, but it forced me to grow up quickly and become independent. I worked hard, finished university and slowly began building the life I had dreamed of.

Throughout my twenties I moved between rented houses and bedsits, which perhaps explains why creating a home of my own eventually became so important to me.

Looking back now, I think the seed of The Small Home started somewhere around there.

Leaving the fashion industry

I spent twenty years working as a fashion buyer and eventually became a board-level director.

I loved many parts of that career, particularly designing product and working closely with suppliers. But as I became more senior I found myself moving further away from that part of the job and deeper into the commercial side of retail.

After the birth of my second daughter I began questioning the fast-moving, throwaway nature of the industry.

It just didn’t sit quite right with me anymore.

I realised that what I really wanted was something slower and more meaningful, something rooted in craftsmanship and the idea of buying well rather than buying more.

Starting The Small Home

I started The Small Home at my kitchen table in a pair of sheepskin slippers, with a newborn baby and a toddler crawling at my feet.

It certainly wasn’t the obvious way to start a business, and in many ways it would have been easier to stay in a traditional career.

But I wanted to build something that aligned with the life I wanted for my family - a life centred around home, warmth and the quiet everyday moments that shape how we feel.

One of the proudest moments came in 2024 when The Small Home won a competition run by John Lewis to support female-founded British brands.

I remember arriving at their head office with a suitcase full of products, feeling incredibly nervous.

But as I started talking about the brand and holding up the pieces we had created with our makers, something shifted. I realised that I truly believed in what we had built.

And that belief must have come through, because we won.

WHY HOME MATTERS

Looking back now, I think my own search for home has quietly shaped everything that The Small Home stands for.

For many of us, life can feel busy and overwhelming, and our homes become the place where we recover from that pace. The things we surround ourselves with matter more than we often realise - the softness of natural materials, the comfort of something familiar, the small rituals that mark the end of a long day.

If The Small Home has achieved anything, I hope it’s that our pieces help make those everyday moments at home feel a little warmer and calmer.

Because in the end, it’s often the small things that shape how we feel the most.

Thank you to @samanthacarr1, @justwomenbrooklandsradio and @brooklandsradio for having me on your show.

Early years - with my Dad and my two sisters, Amina and Alliah

In my early 20's with my sister Alliah, after not seeing her for 10 years.

A recent picture of my Mum and Dad with some of their Grandchildren