In the early part of 2009 I became a full time mum after being made redundant. I had spent almost ten years building a career in HR and Training and suddenly found myself at home with my three children. In many ways this was just what I wanted and needed, but in many other ways it was very hard. I wanted to make the most of being at home with the children but I also knew I wanted to go back to work and promised myself I would try and do something different. I only decided what that ‘something’ was after spending endless hours in the kitchen, cooking for the family.
I love cooking and its great to see children enjoy my food but it’s also nice to have a break and see them enjoy someone else’s! I had tried the limited children’s ready meals on offer but with no success; the children didn’t like them and I thought I could do a much better job. I was never going to win Masterchef but I knew my food tasted great and was healthy and fresh!
So I came up with Mrs Tinks, every parent’s best friend in the kitchen.
I had the idea that I could start by making the meals at home and then sell them through some local delis and shops. With hindsight I can see how naive I was as the amount of things you have to have in place to be able to make and sell meals to be eaten by children is vast. There are documents to create, processes to follow, courses to attend, food tests to arrange… The list was endless and it soon became clear that producing the food at home was not an option. Thankfully I found The Olive Grows where I cook the food and get invaluable guidance and support. There have been times when I have felt l could never get this to work and having people I can turn to has saved me on many, many occasions and coming from a non-foodie background I have found that listening to people who know more than me and have much more experience has been the best way to learn!
Many people comment on the name Mrs Tinks and ask me how that came about. That wasn’t easy either! I had been trying desperately to think of a brand name since my idea began to form. I tried so many options but nothing sounded right or seemed original.
‘Tinks’ is a term of endearment, a pet name my father in law uses for his wife Judy. My husband came to use the expression for me and would call me ‘Mrs Tinks’. When I struggled to find a brand name he suggested I use this. I wasn’t sure at first as I didn’t think it would ‘mean’ anything to anyone but we have actually found that people are intrigued by it and I like the way it conjures up different ideas to different people about who ‘Mrs Tinks’ is. Another great thing about it is the children seem to love it.
Of course, like any mother of young children, the hardest aspect of starting a new business is finding the time to do it which means things happen a little slower than I would sometimes like but my husband and friends have been amazing. My aim is to grow slowly and organically and be led by demand. Most of the time I switch between feeling excited about the future to feeling scared of what I have to tackle next. Looking forward seems like an indulgence as it’s such early days but I believe passionately that this can be a real success.
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