I’m celebrating five years in business! It has been both exhilarating and incredibly stressful. The highs have felt like winning the lottery and the lows like crawling through quicksand. I have learnt that resilience and adaptability are key to survival.
I set up Lindsey Armstrong Media in February 2020, yes, one month before Covid lock-down! Can you think of a worse time to open a business?
It could have been a recipe for failure but I am stubborn and determined and the combination of perseverance, adaptability, and a willingness to pivot led to an unexpected breakthrough.
This photo (with my Covid long hair!) makes the house look deceptively tidy. It shows just one carefully curated corner during the chaos of lockdown. Behind the scenes? I was home-schooling three girls, juggling mountains of schoolwork. There were cables snaking across the floor from every device, the dining table was doubling as a desk, and my own desk was taken over by my youngest’s workstation. It was a wild, wonderful mess – and somehow, we made it work.
Six months followed with financial struggles, no government support (as I was ‘newly’ self-employed) and the challenge of balancing life as a single mum during a global pandemic; my girls were aged 7, 10 and 12 and home-schooling became my second full time job! I had to find a way to not only survive but thrive.
The key moment for my new business came when I found a gap in the market – my second-born daughter was due to transfer to post-primary school and I realised that school open days would likely be cancelled. Schools needed a new way to connect with prospective pupils and parents and with five years of experience in film production, I saw an opportunity to create something that met an immediate need. I will forever describe this as ‘my lightbulb moment’!
I contacted 120 schools to see if they’d be interested in a school promotional video – or a 360 degree virtual tour but I heard nothing for weeks. They too, were fighting fire with fire, managing the complexity of keeping pupils and staff in schools when guidance was changing every few days.
Then, after the October half-term break, my phone started to ring and it didn’t stop. I worked with two film crews to create over 70 short promotional films in just 7 weeks! We worked with 16 schools: some wanted just one film, some wanted one for each core subject.
Once the editing started to back up, we worked 16 – 18 hour days to get all the films to the schools by their deadlines. We took Christmas day and Boxing day off but we worked every other day.
It was thrilling, exciting and exhausting. Working closely with principals and senior leaders in schools was a very humbling experience; seeing what they had to cope with day by day. I will forever be grateful to the schools who choose to work with me and to my camera crews who pulled out all the stops, risked their own safety and worked like trojans to make it all happen. It saved my business.
Here are the lessons I took away:
- Adapt to circumstances: When everything changed, so did my business. Instead of focusing on the lack of work, I looked for new problems to solve.
- Take initiative: Even when I wasn’t getting responses initially, I didn’t stop. I started phoning the 120 schools I had emailed and lined up film crews and a company who could create 360 virtual tours to fill this urgent need.
- Work relentlessly: When the opportunity finally came through, I had to push myself and my team to the limit. Long hours, intense pressure, and the will to succeed were key to making it happen.
- Gratitude and humility: Working closely with principals and teachers reminded me of the importance of empathy in business. I was part of something bigger than just my company; I was helping others stay connected during a crisis.
For business owners and executives, this shows that no matter the challenge – whether personal or professional – there is always an opportunity to pivot. The key is to stay resilient, recognise market shifts, and act swiftly. The world may be unpredictable, but how we respond can make all the difference in the long run.
Five years in, I’m incredibly proud of how far Lindsey Armstrong Media has come – from a makeshift dining-table-turned-desk during lockdown to delivering media training, presentation coaching, and video production for schools and multinationals alike. All of it has happened alongside my most important role: being a mum to four amazing girls (including one very lively toddler who ensures life is never dull!). Balancing motherhood and business hasn’t always been graceful, but it’s been filled with meaning. And now, as I plan the launch of an exciting new digital course, I’m reminded that resilience, heart, and a willingness to evolve are at the core of it all. Here’s to the next chapter – and to thriving in the chaos.
