Female Founder Spotlight: Angela Cassidy

30 June 2021|Female Founder Spotlight, Latest Posts, Meet the Successful Founder

Angela Cassidy is an innovative and creative female entrepreneur who has recently entered her forties with an ambition to create a new career path through her unusual business venture. A corporate banker by day, Angela spends most of her time working on Artificial Intelligence projects for a UK leading bank and by night, she writes intimate and cozy mysteries centring around Scotland.

Angela is proving that women who have a family and a 9-5 do not need to give up on their dreams of turning their hobby into a new business. The first cozy mystery of the series, Secrets of Seaforth House: An Abbey Mackenzie Cozy Mystery, was released in June with book two already confirmed in the near future.    We were delighted to catch up with her recently to learn more about her entrepreneurship journey.

Can you tell us a little about your background and the company? 

For most of my professional career, I have worked managing projects and teams of people within the banking industry. More recently, I began working from home and found that the spare time lockdown brought me was the perfect opportunity to pick up a writing that I began five years ago but sadly did not have the time to finish. Now, I have utilised my understanding of people and turned it into a way of expressing myself through my new business – the Abbey Mackenzie Cozy Mystery Book series.

How did the idea come to you for the company?

Writing is something that has always come naturally to me. I am a great communicator and I have always felt inspired by real-life events, places and people, which encouraged me to begin this series. Always having a book on the go, the idea came to me when exploring the kindle store for different types of genres that introduced me to the never-ending categories of books that I didn’t know existed. When I discovered the genre of cozy mysteries, I knew that was what my next venture had to be.

How did you achieve awareness?

Achieving awareness is always difficult as it does not come easy to new businesses, especially ones as niche as mine. Unlike most modern businesses, the word of mouth and community aspects of marketing have worked really well to explore the themes of my book with people who are truly interested in what I have to say. That is all of the awareness I need at the moment. I have newly hired a social media and PR expert who will be continuing to raise awareness as I like to leave that side of things to the real pros.

How have you been able to gain funding and grow?

Fortunately, running a small business where my imagination is the commodity is super easy to manage financially. It has been great watching my growth already, and as a banker I have this part looked after pretty well. But I do recommend that those with little financial knowledge seriously think about this aspect of opening a business.

What are the key successes?

I am sure all authors will agree but the main success has been actually finishing the book. It is a huge achievement and the fact that I have already started on book two is incredible. My success would not be without the help of my family and husband, who have pulled together and allowed me the time to grow as a person and a writer.

What were/are the challenges and how have you overcome these?

Trying to get honest feedback. People in creative industries are sometimes a little too scared to tell you exactly how they feel. 

What are your plans now/for the future?

I have already started writing book two … and hopefully book three will follow. I would love to spend more time writing.

What would you like to share with others to encourage them to start their own entrepreneurship journey?

As Nike says, just do it. Sit down and think about what you want and go after it.

Can you share your top 5-10 tips for entrepreneurial success?

Ooooh, now that is tricky.

• Get the story down on paper and then worry about editing.
• Speak to people who can provide valuable insight into your business.
• Utilise feedback.
• Continue to learn.
• Allow yourself and your business to grow organically.
• Learn to accept failures, it will happen.

Who are the 5 people who inspire you the most? And why? 

Cliché, I know but anyone brave enough to follow who they truly are is an inspiration to me. 

What are your favourite inspirational /motivational quote?

“Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple and learn how to handle them, and pretty soon you have a dozen.” – John Steinbeck

What are your social handles and website links so our readers can connect with you?

Instagram link: www.instagram.com/abbeymackenziecozymysteries/

Book available for just £1.99 on Amazon.