Pictured above: Michelle 'Mother' Hubbard
Michelle 'Mother' Hubbard is a well known performance poet. She
is a freelance performance artist and consultant based in
Nottingham and Michelle's daily routine involves her working in a
variety of settings including schools, community centres, youth
clubs, and prisons.
'The Mother' lists amongst her skills: Performance Poet,
Storyteller, African Drummer, Workshop Facilitator and Closet
Comedienne. Michelle explains the background to her business, "I
have been involved in the spoken word scene in and around
Nottingham for around 10 years now. I decided to go self
employed in October 2006 and I love it!"
Start-up support
When Michelle started out she made use of the Business Link
Start Up Service delivered by Nottinghamshire Business Venture.
She says this was very useful in starting out and as a result
she was happy to contact Business Link again in the future. "The
start-up information and support I received was invaluable. I had
been given information about Business Link and then spoke to a
friend who had used their services and thought I could probably
benefit from their guidance too."
Michelle was put in touch with a Business Link adviser who
discussed Mother Hubbard as a company and carried out a review of
the business to identify any potential issues and strengths.
Business Link also provided Michelle with updates and information
that were relevant to her business.
"Having feedback from an impartial expert was really useful,"
explains Michelle. "They helped me to identify several areas that
could potentially increase the long-term performance of the
business."
Busy schedule
As well as her daytime work, Michelle regularly performs at
community festivals, cafe bars, theatres, community venues,
libraries and on the open mic circuit around the UK. Clearly
a dynamic person she also found time to be a founder member of
BLACKDROP! an open mic/spoken word performance event held on the
first Monday of each month at The Canal House Bar, Nottingham.
"The last three years have been extremely busy," adds Michelle
and throughout this time I have established and developed many
contacts and networks. The effort has been worth it as I have
gained exposure and a good reputation. I couldn't think of a better
way to spend my life!"
Michelle's Top Tips
o Keep in touch with as many people as possible, don't become
invisible.
o Don't try and do things alone, support is available through
such services as Business Link (0845 058 6644)
o Talk to people to avoid re-inventing the wheel.