Cornwall


<p>International Women’s Day celebrates the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women as well as being a call to action for accelerating women’s equality. Here at Muddy Cornwall we are marking the day once again with an interview series of inspiring women across the Duchy, celebrating women&#8217;s achievements, how are we raising awareness about discrimination and what is being done to take action to drive gender parity.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1000" height="1000" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/cornwall/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2023/03/lyn-painting-1-1500px-1000x1000.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-29852" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/cornwall/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2023/03/lyn-painting-1-1500px-1000x1000.jpeg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/cornwall/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2023/03/lyn-painting-1-1500px-800x800.jpeg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/cornwall/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2023/03/lyn-painting-1-1500px-400x400.jpeg 400w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/cornwall/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2023/03/lyn-painting-1-1500px-768x768.jpeg 768w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/cornwall/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2023/03/lyn-painting-1-1500px-525x525.jpeg 525w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/cornwall/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2023/03/lyn-painting-1-1500px-500x500.jpeg 500w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/cornwall/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2023/03/lyn-painting-1-1500px-1100x1100.jpeg 1100w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/cornwall/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2023/03/lyn-painting-1-1500px.jpeg 1500w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /></figure>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-tell-me-a-bit-about-yourself-your-background-and-what-you-do-and-how-you-came-to-do-this">Tell me a bit about yourself, your background and what you do, and how you came to do this?</h2>



<p>I’ve always been creative and enjoyed art but found school a struggle and now know I was undiagnosed dyslexic. I left school at 16 and joined the Royal Navy where I spent the next ten years. In 1992 I left the navy to have children and started painting again, following my heart and passion as well as a need to provide for my young family. I would paint late into the night, creating my hand<br>painted cards sold in craft fairs and local shops and it soon became 7 days a week, often selling out. </p>



<p>This became increasingly harder to sustain so I sought help from The Prince’s Trust which granted me funding and mentorship I needed to fulfil my dream of<br>owning a business. I had my first six card designs printed in bulk which took the pressure off painting. </p>



<p>In 1997 the opportunity came to lease the mortgage on a tiny 400year old shop at the end of the wharf in St Ives. I struggled to fill it with items so decided to print other peoples work &#8211; the start of our publishing arm. It was a success and a year later I was granted a mortgage which was the pivotal moment in the start of <a href="https://whistlefish.com/pages/galleries" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Whistlefish</a>. Now we have 11 shops! We always have to keep growing and going, I learnt to do one thing and do it well; this vision and passion has never changed even 30 years later.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Tell me how Whistlefish is actively embracing the IWD area of celebration <em>forging women’s empowerment</em>?</h2>



<p>We were recently asked by The Prince’s Trust to be part of their <em>Change A Girl’s Life</em> campaign, joining a selection of other businesses to raise money to help young females who face disadvantages and adversity to build the confidence and skills they need to move into work, training and education. We are donating £1 from the sale of each item in the <a href="https://whistlefish.com/collections/change-a-girls-life" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Change A Girl’s Life<br>collection</a> &#8211; designed exclusively for the trust in the run up to this year’s<br>International Women’s Day.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1000" height="750" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/cornwall/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2023/03/whistlefish-march-2023-1000x750.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-29880" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/cornwall/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2023/03/whistlefish-march-2023-1000x750.jpeg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/cornwall/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2023/03/whistlefish-march-2023-800x600.jpeg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/cornwall/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2023/03/whistlefish-march-2023-768x576.jpeg 768w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/cornwall/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2023/03/whistlefish-march-2023-700x525.jpeg 700w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/cornwall/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2023/03/whistlefish-march-2023.jpeg 1500w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /></figure>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">How does Whistlefish take action to drive gender parity in Cornwall?</h2>



<p>For the first 10 years, Whistlefish was a very small fish in the big greetings card industry. It was hard to break into &#8211; male dominated, stuck in its ways and non-inclusive if you didn’t fit the model. I went against the mainstream and did it my way; set my own prices, represented myself and traded on my own terms.</p>



<p>I’m proud we are now able to showcase other artist’s work on our channels to thousands of customers across the UK. There is a sense of pride from watching others grow and educating them in an industry that is really hard to break into. By producing goods for them and carrying the investment cost, we give them an opportunity to be seen with minimal risk.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">During the last two years day-to-day working life changed for some. Have you been able to continue any ideas into 2023? Or indeed anything you’d like to change?</h2>



<p>Covid was extremely challenging, shops were closed but online bloomed and we had to pivot to accommodate this. We are getting back to normal now and our shops are going from strength to strength too but we’ve got a new outlook and are embracing more flexible working where possible.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">What’s your favourite Cornish beach / view?</h2>



<p>The view from my horse on Perranporth Beach (below).</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1000" height="667" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/cornwall/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2021/05/perranporth.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-23204" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/cornwall/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2021/05/perranporth.jpeg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/cornwall/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2021/05/perranporth-300x200.jpeg 300w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/cornwall/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2021/05/perranporth-720x480.jpeg 720w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/cornwall/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2021/05/perranporth-768x512.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /></figure>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">What do you do in Cornwall to make the most of living here?</h2>



<p>I still love painting, there’s lots of types of mediums nowadays like watercolour inks and pencils and types of paper to get lost in. I love the flowers that grow here, rare cowslips, poppies and roses &#8211; these are my favourite things to pick and then paint. I also have my heavy horses who I love spending time outdoors with.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Favourite cafe/ restaurant / shop?</h2>



<p>In St Agnes there&#8217;s a shop called Trunk Deli, which sells locally grown flowers, artisan gifts and homemade sourdough on the counter &#8211; exquisite!<br><br><em><a href="https://www.whistlefish.com" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">whistlefish.com</a></em></p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1000" height="166" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/cornwall/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2023/03/InternationalWomensDay_Landscape_PurpleOnWhite.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-29870" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/cornwall/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2023/03/InternationalWomensDay_Landscape_PurpleOnWhite.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/cornwall/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2023/03/InternationalWomensDay_Landscape_PurpleOnWhite-800x133.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/cornwall/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2023/03/InternationalWomensDay_Landscape_PurpleOnWhite-768x127.jpg 768w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/cornwall/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2023/03/InternationalWomensDay_Landscape_PurpleOnWhite-900x149.jpg 900w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /></figure>



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Muddy Meets: Lyn Thompson, Founder, Whistlefish

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