- Andrea Siegertsz and Jayne Phillips
Talented artist Andrea Siegertsz spends her time painting super heroes and fantasy princesses.
But the Knypersley artist has now found a business fairy godmother in Let’s Do Mentoring’s Jayne Phillips.
Andrea called on Let’s Do Mentoring for help after a chance meeting with a member of the Staffordshire Chambers of Commerce team at a networking event.
Andrea previously worked as a designer for well known footwear company Pod.
A North Staffordshire girl, Andrea decided to turn her talent for painting into a business after returning to the area in recent times.
“I have always been artistic and I offered my services to paint a mural at a local church,” said Andrea who is married to well known local radio presenter Den Siegertsz.
“The response was good and it proved to me there was a demand for mural painting.”
This led to Andrea starting up Khromaworks and she has become a firm favourite with parents looking for the wow factor when redecorating their children’s bedrooms and play areas.
Added Andrea: “Having a business mentor has been a great help and I have really hit it off with Jayne.
“I work alone and it is wonderful to have someone to bounce ideas off.
“When I’m working I am in my own artistic bubble and it is good to have Jayne there to get me to focus on the business and helping to plot a way forward.
“Mentoring has helped me to set a proper pricing structure and to think about how to market my business.
“We decided to concentrate on children’s murals and related products such as a range of door plaques.
“I am currently growing the business slowly through word of mouth and social media such as Facebook.”
Jayne said: “Andrea is a delight to work with. Her enthusiasm and talent shines through and she is making good progress with Khromaworks.
“An early issue was getting her to charge a fair rate for the job. It can be difficult for artists to show their real value as people often do not understand the complexity of the work carried-out.”
“We are looking at marketing plans and analysing Khromaworks’ customer base.
“I see my role as being a critical friend to Andrea. Khromaworks is still a young business but is going into 2014 with confidence high.”