We had the good fortune of connecting with Mariah Wisdom-Peters and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Mariah, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
I think the main thing, and a major part of my motivation even now, was looking at others around me. Both my parents worked hard to get where they were career-wise; they were both let down by the system despite their loyalty, efforts and talents.

It made me start to think about how I would stop myself from falling into the same trap and came across the idea of online business.
I knew there were no guarantees and it would be a lot of work, but felt it was worth the risk if I could eventually give myself and my family the freedom they wanted.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.

I’m kind of in the in-between stage.
I set up my business during lockdown, I started to grow an audience with online challenges and livestreaming. I made a ton of mistakes when it came to making money and decided to put a pause on things for a “few months” which turned into a whole year! So I’m currently work a temporary role while I plan to relaunch and rebrand in February 2022!
I started as a social media consultant, I was doing free consultations and then started to help brands/influencers. Then it turned into management and other things. I just felt that my brand unfocused and I wasn’t good at setting boundaries woth clients.
I’ve had to do a lot of work on myself, decided to niche down and create a brand more inline with my original vision and values.
I also want to focus on helping creative minds, I think marketing can become very analytical and coming from a fashion background, I understand that those things can be hard to digest for someone with other strengths.
I think when I started my journey I looked for people who were “successful” and tried to follow in their footsteps. I quickly found that wasn’t always possible due to my specific situation and environment; it made me feel inadequate.
If I couldn’t do things exactly like them, could I be successful?
But the more and more stories I hear, read and see, everyone’s journey is different and everyone did different things.
So my advice for anyone starting out is instead of looking for someone to tell you want to do; try to dig deep into yourself first and just imagine what kind of business or lifestyle you would like to have. Listen to as many stories as possible from successful people, but work out what your own values are and what you define as success.
Then create a plan about how you want to get those things. Be as specific as you can. And then look for people who are doing the things you want to do to get advice from.
And don’t be afraid to learn as you go! The journey is faster 🤦 trust me on that!
Also don’t be afraid to ask for more money! But also don’t be afraid to do things for free that can lead to better opportunities later on.
Don’t just think about what other people have done and directly compare, think about what suits you in your situation.
And there’s always a way, there’s always something you can do and there’s always a way to make progress not matter how small it may seem to the outside. Moving an inch is better than not at all!
So yes, I’m very excited about the launch in Feb. I hope to grow my audience and reach a lot more people. I’m still going to be offering services but in a slightly different format to avoid my past mistakes. And I’m going to be hopefully launching some products too, which it exciting.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
😂😂😅

Ok this is a tricky one because Northampton isn’t the most exciting place.
We’re pretty proud of our history as shoe makers, or at least I am!
There a free shoe museum you can visit in town.
The theatre is always really good. I love Delapre park and the shops on St Giles street, especially the vintage store on there.
The charity shops are amazing for cheap finds and vintage items.
I don’t go out on the town very often, but I hear it’s a laugh, I prefer to go to the cinema or travel outside the town.
London is about an hour away by train and Milton Keynes is 20mins. I also recommend Leicester, it’s an hour and a half by bus, there’s some nice history there and it’s great for vintage shopping and has a great theatre and creative community.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?

There’s so many people!! Half of them don’t even know who I am!
I think my faith is a big part of it! There’s definitely someone looking out for me and also keeps me grounded.
I have a few friends who are always really encouraging, shout-out to Steph and Martha, Victoria, Lucia.
I have a few Facebook/social media friends who are also into entrepreneurship, shout-out to them!
My accountability partners along the way! Maria Garcia, Lex from Terra Vibes, George and Nujoad Designs! Honestly accountability is a game changer!
And the hundreds of creators on YouTube and online courses who collectively have taught me how to run my business. Recently Baddie in Business and Patricia Brights, the Break, have been super useful 👌

Website: www.fkmaw.com

Instagram: https://instagram.com/theflykat?utm_medium=copy_link

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mariah-wisdom-peters-aba959a8

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theflykat.5

Image Credits
@valverricophotos @beckilouisephotos @theflykat

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutHTX is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.