Lea Turner, a 37-year-old single parent, is chatting with her six-year-old son, Dexter, while lovingly decorating her home, bought in March this year.
They talk about his new private school, where he is thriving, having qualified for the rugby and football teams, doing well academically and making lots of new friends.
It wasn’t always like this. This is the first place Lea has truly called home with her son.
Having only ever lived in rentals until now, she had never felt secure. Enduring a slug infestation, a broken boiler that a bad landlord would not replace, and someone wanting their house back, Lea and her son had lived in five different houses before Dexter was five years old. Each time they were forced to move, incurring huge additional costs that hadn’t been budgeted for.
Now closer to friends and family in Greater Manchester, having moved from Northampton where she lived for eight years, Lea tells Metro.co.uk: ‘Knowing we now have a beautiful home that’s much larger than the small rentals we used to be in, and it’s all ours – it feels like we can finally set down roots and exhale.’
So, how did she ditch renting and buy a property?
It’s all thanks to a business the mum launched in lockdown.
From 2011 until April 29, 2020 Lea ran her own small transcription business and averaged 60-70-hour work weeks. Working mostly for building surveyors, market researchers, doctors, and legal professionals, she was paid to type up documents, such as medical reports, legal papers and interviews.
In a bid to attract new customers and grow the business, Lea started regularly posting on LinkedIn. This was October 2019, when she wanted to take on freelancers and work fewer hours.
The plan was successful. Within a few months she had attracted many new clients and was regularly working with five freelancers. Her network grew exceptionally fast, too. In just two months she went from around 400 LinkedIn followers to over 10,000. Things were looking up.
Then Covid hit.
In March 2020 the country locked down. None of Lea’s customers could see their own clients, and very little work was being generated for her. Her freelancers had their children at home, and there was no work for them in any case.
With no childcare help, no family nearby, and no partner to help with the bills, Lea needed to act quickly to bring in money.
People had noticed her LinkedIn network growth and had asked her how they could do better and attract more followers for themselves.
In a leap of faith, Lea decided to give a free LinkedIn training session to one of her business contacts. She wanted to see if it was something she enjoyed doing and from which she could create enough value. She got her answer when the client said her class was fantastic – and so Lea started charging for sessions; £99 for an hour – a big step up from the £10 an hour she used to earn in her typing business.
Lea soon got booked up fast, making more in a week than she used to earn in a month.
Her clientele varies from corporate firms, such as law and HR, to marketers, coaches, barristers and more.
And it’s paying off. While in 2019, Lea was earning around £12,000 a year, her new business has seen her turn over half a million pounds, with profits of £200,000 in the first year, and £300,000 in the second.
That journey wasn’t easy. Trying to keep all her new clients happy, as well as looking after her son, house and dog was challenging. Lea also struggled with anxiety, especially as she dealt with a sudden and overwhelming amount of attention.
She was reluctant to bring in help, convinced she had to do the work alone – something she regrets.
‘I was so sure that it was just luck, that it wouldn’t last, that I was terrified of investing in my business,’ Lea says. ‘I just hoarded profits, convinced I’d never make that much money again.
‘I wanted to ensure I kept money aside for taking care of my son if the success left.’
Thankfully, she soon learned her lesson, and for her second business, a membership community, she is growing things in a more sustainable way.
She advises others planning to start a business to learn from her mistakes and lean on those around them.
‘Ask for help from people around you, listen to advice from people who are where you want to be, and create a strong network of other professionals who understand the grind it takes to start something brand new and make it a success,’ Lea recommends. ‘Being around other people who get it makes you feel less alone, and they’ll lift you when you stumble.’
Lea’s success has bolstered her confidence, improved her resilience, and, she says, made her a better mum to Dexter.
She has surprised herself with her ambition, telling us: ‘Now I know how capable I am, I want more, and to see how far this can go.
‘I’ve learnt tech skills, marketing skills, writing, graphic design, financial skills… the list goes on.
‘My brain feels constantly full of new information, but I absolutely love it.
‘Helping people makes me happy, and when I’m happy I’m a better mum, and my son is happier.’
What’s next for Lea? Now achieving millions of weekly views on her LinkedIn posts, she’s planning to wind down her one-to-one training in favour of reaching more people.
She hopes to continue making regular savings for her son to secure his future, but also to create charity fundraisers, like the one she made to help Ukrainian refugees that brought in more then £40,000 in just one week (and now stands at nearly £200,000).
But she’s learned that rest is important, too. So Lea and Dexter’s next stop is Bali, Indonesia, to explore the jungle, feed monkeys, and play on the beach.
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