Last year’s lockdown gave Nicole Hill the time and incentive to start her own e-commerce business, selling locally made prints of cityscapes to customers around the world.
Read how she became Founder and Designer at HillView Prints
Give a brief outline of your career to date.
I’ve worked in operations management within the IT industry for over 10 years. In 2018 I decided to set up my own consultancy business with the intention of helping small to medium IT companies at a senior level develop and manage their operations and strategies for growth.
As I worked my way to this stage of freedom with my career, I always made sure to have a side hustle on the go at the same time. I’m a naturally creative person, and I’m also very business-minded and driven, so I’ve done everything from designing cakes, selling kids’ crafts boxes, painting, and sketching and design. My latest venture is an e-commerce business called HillView prints, where I sell stylised landscape prints. It’s very quickly transitioning from a side hustle to the main focus of my working life!
What was your favourite subject at school?
Technology and Design – it suited my kind of hands-on creativity.
Did you go on to further/ higher education, if so what did you study and where?
I completed a degree in Technology and Design through the Ulster University.
How did you get into your area of work?
HillView Prints was dreamt up as a lockdown project. I love graphic design, my husband is an e-commerce specialist, and we both have experience of setting up and running our own businesses, so our skillsets align perfectly. We love a challenge, so HillView Prints was established whilst we balanced our full-time careers and home-schooling our children last March, just because we had the desire to create something new.
Is this what you always wanted to do?
I’ve always been open to new opportunities and setting myself goals and targets, and HillView Prints is an extension of that drive. I’m continuously trying to develop as a person, and I feel that my experiences in both IT and retail have led me to develop a unique set of skills that have paved the way for me to become the type of person who isn’t afraid of taking a leap or trying something new. HillView Prints is the first creative project I’ve embarked on that’s really taken off, and it’s very exciting.
Were there any particular essential qualifications or experience needed?
Experience is always key, but you can only gain experience if you push the boat out and try in the first place. I believe my experience of running businesses and managing multiple areas of business at once have given me a great foundation to build and develop both my IT consultancy career and HillView Prints.
Are there alternative routes into the job?
If you have the drive to do something, you will find a way to make it happen. Your means will never be the same as what someone else is doing, but that doesn’t make it wrong. Whatever your background, if you want something, you just need to figure out how you can make it happen and adapt it to your life.
What are the main personal skills your job requires?
Management and working with other people, whether it be the printing company or the local post office staff. I like to empower people to do their jobs well, so motivating and honest communication plays a massive part in how I run HillView Prints. Excellent customer service is also a crucial part of running a successful business. I love the quote, “In a world where you can be anything, be kind,” and I try to remember that when dealing with others.
What does a typical day entail?
Like any other person running a business, I wear many hats. From packing orders, monitoring stock, working on new designs, business planning and development, financial management, customer service and everything in between. I balance these roles alongside being a mum of two beautiful girls and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
What are the best and most challenging aspects of the job?
The business has grown exponentially in the last year – more than we ever could have dreamt of. We often look back at what our aspirations were at the start of our HillView Prints journey and the things that we said would make us happy then are what would seem like a bad day of business for us now, which is amazing. We are constantly setting new targets and looking at the path to the next milestone and I think that has created some challenges for us. We have to adapt to new situations and business developments very quickly, which can be taxing, but we love every second of it.
Why is what you do important?
It makes me happy, and it brings happiness to others. I hear stories from customers about the joy our prints bring to them and their loved ones and I can’t believe it sometimes. I have turned a passion into a business and along the way I get to show my two girls that you can do anything if you put your mind to it and are willing to work hard.
How has Covid-19 impacted your business/role?
The business was started during the early days of Covid-19 when I couldn’t find the perfect gift for a friend, so I decided to design it myself. If we had if been living in ‘normal times’, I may have nipped out and bought an alternative, but the timing of Covid-19 allowed us the opportunity to create our first image. We were also in a situation where we had time and energy to put into a new business, where we would previously have been too busy with normal day to day tasks to allow HillViewPrints to happen.
What advice would you give anyone looking to follow a similar career path?
Believe in yourself and your skills. When it comes to a creativity, it can be really hard to have faith in what you’re doing and believe that others will like it, but you have to push through that doubt and create something you love. You also need to be committed to putting in the work. We may have been blessed with the rapid growth of HillView Prints, but it has not been an easy road – we’ve worked hard every day to make our business what it is.
If you weren’t doing this what would you like to do?
I would still be focused on my consultancy work and balancing that with my role as mummy.
What is the one piece of advice you would give to yourself on your first day?
Follow your gut. If something doesn’t feel right – whether it’s a new design, or even the wording of an email – you know it’s not.
Describe your ideal day off.
A day with my husband, Andy, and our girls – good food, sunshine, plenty of laughs and an adventure.
And finally, what’s the key to any successful job search?
Passion. If a person has the drive and passion to make something work, nine times out of ten, they will, regardless of the experience documented on their CV. Finding a role that motivates you is key – too many people chase a dream title instead of finding the right role.
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