FROM BIG BROTHER TO EMPOWERING JEWELLERY: THE SCREAM PRETTY STORY

Meet the woman behind one of our favourite jewellery brands, Scream Pretty. From working behind the scenes on TV shows like Big Brother and Strictly, to building not one but two successful jewellery brands, this founder’s journey is totally unique - which, ironically, is typically the way for entrepreneurs. Read on for a no-filter look at entrepreneurship, risk-taking, and why every woman needs to back herself…

Q: Tell us a bit about your badass brand, Scream Pretty…

A: Scream Pretty is an award-winning, female-founded jewellery brand. We design unique, bold and fun pieces in quality recycled silver, so that our customers can Stack + Style in confidence, expressing their personality and style through our jewellery. We love a curated ear, a necklace stack and have a ‘you do you’ attitude.

I am very hands on and have close relationships with our manufacturing partners - so that I can guarantee the quality, and ethical manufacture of each and every piece.

Q: What has been your journey like to get to where you are now?

A: I started as a TV and Event producer, working on shows from Big Brother to Strictly Come Dancing - the hours were long and employment as a freelancer was unstable. I loved the work, but after having a family, I realised I needed to own my own destiny, and decided to start a business.

I launched my first jewellery brand Lily Charmed in 2011, when my babies were small. This brand is focused on ‘charms to tell your story’ and scratched my storytelling itch. Then, when some jewellery designs I was working on with my sister had more of an edgy vibe, and didn’t ‘sit’ within the Lily Charmed signature style, we decided to take a risk and start another jewellery brand – Scream Pretty, which scratched the fashion and style itch that had developed!

Q: What were the scary moments along the way?

A: I’ve had a rollercoaster of a journey – from my first business partner not working out to a Chinese trademark squatter (it's a thing, please register your trade marks in China before someone else does!). A company duplicating our Instagram and website, bad advice leading to bad investment, a jewellery box that tarnished the jewellery inside (very expensive mistake).

Every year there is some interesting curve ball that you never saw coming and that has to be caught! Every mistake is a learning experience – so I have learnt a lot. Your mindset has to be robust, so you focus on the big picture rather than the small upsets.

Q: Do you think you faced any obstacles that a male entrepreneur wouldn’t have faced?

A: As the company is self-funded, I have never sought funding – I know if I decide to take this step I will be at a disadvantage, with only 2-3% of venture capitalist funding going to female-founded brands and the rest going to male-founded brands. 

It’s like the brakes are placed on female-founded brands before they are even launched.

Q: If you could give one piece of advice to your younger self about business, what would it be?

A: The main advice is “take the risk”. Without trying new things, testing new markets, exploring new relationships, and saying yes to things outside your comfort zone, you will never know what might have been.

On a more practical level – always get agreements in writing. When someone says “My word is my bond”, it isn't. Always have an exit strategy built into any agreement. As with all relationships, at the beginning it’s all rosy and you can’t see how anything could possibly go wrong. It's when you hit a bump in the road that you wish you had made the hard decisions when you started. So, have a roadmap for the tough times as well as the good times.

And finally, turnover is vanity – profit is sanity.

Q: Before becoming an entrepreneur, did you face any sexism in the workplace?

A: As a young TV and Event producer, yes, you would come across those TV personalities who you were warned about. But in the entertainment side of TV, there are many fantastic female role models, who support each other, so I saw both sides.

The sexism for me was about career progression in TV. Once I got pregnant and had children it became clear to me – TV was not a world that accommodates mothers (at that time anyway). I could not do 16-hour days, and be a present Mum. Some contracts were 6-day weeks, with a minimum of 10-hour days – fine when you are in your early 20’s and work is your life. Not fine for a 30-something who needs work-life balance to raise a family. 

Q: For any future entrepreneurs reading who need a pick-me-up, tell us about the shittest job you had before Scream Pretty…

A: Wow! I can list a few. I worked as a food packer for Airlines at Stansted airport, a cold caller for advertising at the back of some charity directory (awful, apart from free donuts), a waitress at a silver service banquet place, where the customers were constantly drunk, handsy and horrendous, an assistant to a very toxic literary agent (think Devil Wears Prada).

This International Women’s Day, 100 lucky customers will get a FREE pair of Scream Pretty lightning bolt earrings with their Spark purchase. No code needed, just place an order on the 8th March 2025 in order to be entered. Good luck!