A mum-of-two went ‘viral’ overnight after her business took off.
Shannon Natalya, from Wallasey, began making bracelets while she was completing an engineering apprenticeship at at TTE Training in Ellesmere Port in 2017. The idea was sparked when she found herself disappointed with the prices many brands charged for jewellery, after she found herself interested in silver charm bracelets.
But after being made redundant while on maternity leave with her first child, she decided to throw herself into her business.
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The 25-year-old told the ECHO: “There were other sorts of well known brands out there that I just couldn’t afford on an apprentice wage. So I just thought I’d have a go at making some myself, we had a close connection with a family friend’s shop in Glasgow and they began selling the bracelets for us.”
(Image: Shannon Natalya)
After the bracelets were a raging success in Glasgow, Shannon decided to have a go at selling the bracelets herself and set up a website and Facebook page – Pretty Little Bracelets.
But her business really took off when she decided to use her skill to help a local charity.
When the first covid lockdown hit in 2020, business across the regions found themselves shut down. Chester Zoo was particularly badly hit, and launched its ‘Save our Zoo’ campaign to save it from closure.
As a teen, Shannon worked at Chester Zoo and, feeling a ‘special connection’ with the popular tourist attraction, decided to use her business to support the wildlife charity. The mum-of-two often visits the zoo with her partner Joe, and daughters Harper and Harlie.
Shannon added: “When the news came out about Chester Zoo potentially closing down I was mortified and just wanted to do something to help them. I was making elephant bracelets anyway so I just decided to give 50% of the profits from sales to Chester Zoo.”
Within a day of taking to Facebook to share her appeal for the zoo, she was blown away when she saw that her post had reached over two million people, and the likes on her page skyrocketed to almost 10,000.
She told the ECHO : “There were so many new orders it was difficult to keep up, I was working 10 hour days just on the bracelets, I was working until the early hours, as well as looking after my little girl.”
Overall, Shannon ended up raising £2,150 for the zoo, and says she ‘feels proud’ whenever she visits with her daughters for playing a part in saving the zoo.
