This is yours is our celebration of the people and teams behind the businesses. Here we meet Lucy Guest Marketing.
Based in North Leeds, Lucy works closely with small and founder-led businesses to strengthen their positioning, build credibility and attract the right customers and opportunities.
Lucy started her business at the beginning of 2020.
After eight years working as a marketing manager for a bar company, Lucy had reached a point where she wanted a new challenge. Looking ahead to another year of planning Valentine’s Day campaigns for the bars, she simply thought: I think I’ll do something else.
So she did. Then lockdown happened!
With hospitality businesses closed, Lucy’s original idea of working predominantly with bars and restaurants quickly disappeared. Instead, she found herself helping gyms, estate agents and shops navigate an entirely new business landscape.
Six years later, she’s still here. Still building. Still learning.
That’s something she’s particularly proud of. Because Lucy Guest Marketing isn’t just a business she’s built. It’s a business built around her reputation, her relationships and her ability to understand what makes other businesses special.
In this interview, Lucy shares the story behind building Lucy Guest Marketing. From launching the business to developing her own approach being self-employed and the lessons learnt along the way. Lucy reflects on the challenges, decisions and milestones that have shaped her journey.
Lucy also shares the lessons she’s learned about positioning, building credibility, understanding your audience and creating a business that reflects who you are and what you stand for. Alongside practical insights for fellow founders and business owners, she explores the importance of getting the foundations right, backing your expertise and having the confidence to make decisions that support your business as it grows.
One of Lucy’s biggest lessons has been that doing great client work isn’t enough. As the business grew, she realised that the processes behind the work needed to grow with it. From proposals and onboarding to project timelines and client communication, she began putting more structure around how the business operated.
Early on, Lucy didn’t fully appreciate how important having a contract in place was. A couple of her first clients were people she already knew, so there was an element of assuming that everything would be fine. It wasn’t always. After learning the hard way, contracts became an essential part of how she works, both with clients and freelancers.
For Lucy, they’re not just about what happens when something goes wrong. They’re about setting expectations, communicating clearly and making sure everyone knows where they stand from the start.
If Lucy could give someone starting a business one piece of advice, it would be to get those foundations in place from day one. Contracts. Processes. Systems. Even something as simple as writing down everything you do in a day can help you understand what could be automated, outsourced or streamlined.
Because the earlier you build those foundations, the less likely you are to spend your evenings and weekends doing things that someone else, or something else, could be doing for you. And, as Lucy discovered herself, there are now tools that make getting those foundations in place much easier.
“I do wish that shizl existed when I first started because it would have made my life a lot easier.”
Talking is the first step.
I wish I’d known shizl earlier.
The biggest risk.
For all the lessons Lucy has learned about marketing, processes and running a business, one thing comes up again and again…people.
Her network helped her through the early days. Relationships have generated business years after the initial meeting. And the businesses she works with are what continue to motivate her.
She believes strongly in getting out there, meeting people, following up and building genuine relationships. Because you never know when someone you met at a random lunch will come back into your world two years later with an opportunity, a recommendation or a problem you can help solve.
That’s one of the reasons Lucy co-founded Rise Up Networking, creating another space for those relationships to develop. For Lucy, business isn’t just about transactions. It’s about people.
Lucy is excited about the next stage of the business. She’s already begun developing marketing training for people who want to understand their own marketing but aren’t yet in a position to bring someone in-house.
The first cohort has shown her just how much potential there is in helping business owners understand what they should be doing, why they should be doing it and how to make their marketing better. Alongside that, she’ll continue helping ambitious businesses strengthen their brands and websites, particularly those businesses where the expertise is already there but the marketing hasn’t quite caught up.
And that’s what Lucy finds most rewarding. Seeing an idea become a business. Seeing a business become a brand.
Pink Spaghetti – Leeds
Pink Spaghetti – helps busy business owners reclaim their time through expert virtual assistant, PA and business support services. From administration and diary management to marketing, social media and project coordination, they provide flexible, reliable support that allows businesses to focus on growth while keeping day-to-day operations running smoothly.
Rise Up Networking
Rise Up Networking is a business community connecting founders, entrepreneurs and professionals through networking events and collaboration. It focuses on building strong relationships that create opportunities, partnerships and both personal and professional growth.
