humble beginnings
Started from the bottom, now we're here...
Our business began because I couldn't afford my place at Drama School. At 26 *gasp* I'd been accepted to study Acting at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama (my dream!) but after I got there, I quickly realised that I needed a way to make extra money...fast.
From a dusty drama school locker to Dame Judi Dench and Waterstones...
a little brainstorm
How it all began...
After searching for a journal to plan how I was going to make a million pound in three hours...I suddenly realised that there weren't any journals specifically designed for actors? After a little research, I realised that MOST journals weren't designed with creatives in mind at all...I had an idea.
What happened next
TheLovieDiaries is born!
I spent the whole of my Christmas break painstakingly designing every page of the now-famous 'Actor Life' journal and scraped together whatever money I had left to get three copies printed. I tested them on the guys at college and then started a humble store online. I slowly made my first sale, then a sale a month until quickly I started to realise we had a real business here!
the hard work begins
Covent Garden
After a crazy few months of sleepless nights making new journals (whilst trying to complete my degree!) we decided to take the crazy leap and open our pop-up in Covent Garden - we absolutely LOVED IT and had the best time. This is where we really saw our business start to take off.
Long (LONG) days, heavy lifting and some days taking no money at all - it was a testing time but a huge learning curve for us.
Our proudest moments
Dami Judi Dench & Waterstones
We sent a number of custom diaries out to some of our favourite actors (never expecting a reply) and to my amazement Dame Judi Dench got back to us and has been the most incredible support ever since. Judi was the reason I wanted to pursue acting, she was the reason I wanted to go to Central, so to have her know about our business and be as lovely as she has been...yeah...I've cried many tears over this.
After that we just kept going, we managed to get to Waterstones after months of hard work and sheer determination and our next step is the West End!
Fast forward to 2023
Where are we today?
I've finally completed my degree and we're so proud to say we've helped hundreds of other actors properly prepare for Drama School too!
We've been able to pay for a number of working-class actor audition fees as well as give away multiple free journals to help giveback to our community.
But we're just getting started! If you've been with u for a while now, you'll know we've had a rocky time during 2022...but we're back fighting fit and we're here to stay!
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