Kate Bell

I am a second-time entrepreneur, wife and proud mother to two daughters. After watching my parents build a successful print business, I knew I wanted to run my own company one day. I started my first business in 2004 after being made redundant and as a single parent, my childcare options were limited. I called my parents, who were then retired and travelling the world, devastated that I had lost my job. My Mum reminded me that being employed had never been part of my long-term goal and that this presented a great opportunity to begin working for myself.

“It’s Fate”, she said, and so that’s the name I gave my first limited company. My first business, a marketing agency, has grown from strength to strength and in 2014 I launched my second business, Zip Us In. Having identified a gap in the market, I designed and manufactured a jacket expander panel for use during pregnancy and when babywearing. The product range is sold around the world and my knowledge and experience in marketing have been a huge part of the rapid brand growth. I have often been heard saying “You don’t know, what you don’t know until you know it”. Just when you think you have learnt as much as you can about your industry or your business, you are given an insight that changes everything. Each new lesson advances you further and you can often wonder how on earth you managed before you learnt that single valuable thing. I am always looking for new information, always wanting to know more, to learn, adapt and grow, standing still is never an option. I hope there is still much more for me to learn and the more I learn, the more I have to share.