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Daily Record
Daily Record
National
Nicola Findlay

Mum-of-two launches upcycling business during pandemic after career with IBM

A mum-of-two has swapped a career in IT with computer giant IBM for her own business in 'upcycling'.

Stephanie Davidson, who now lives in nearby Eaglesham, studied product design at university, graduating with a BA (Hons).

But the 40-year-old, originally from Strathaven then Stonehouse, wanted to stay near home, starting what wa to be a successful career with IBM.

However, hit with redundancy in 2020 and in the midst of the COVID pandemic, Stephanie decided to use her passion for great design and art to start her own business - and Funk it Up was born.

She takes on commissions to upcycle old furniture and creates bespoke jewellery from old beer cans.

Stephanie's work has attracted a lot of high profile attention, leading to her taking part in the Ideal Home Show in Glasgow in May.

There she took to the stage to show off her creative talents.

Stephanie is using her creative talents (EAST KILBRIDE NEWS)

She told Lanarkshire Live : "The Ideal Home Show was the most nerve-wracking things I have ever done.

"But I am so glad I did it. I did wee demos on the centre stage with tips that people could do at home and talked about projects I had done.

"It was way out of my comfort zone

"I have always been passionate about product design and after working at IBM, although I loved my job, I'm delighted to be doing this again."

And having taken the plunged, the mum to a six and nine-year-old has never looked back - although she admits it required a big leap of faith.

"It's been an amazing journey, but it was a big leap of faith," she told us.

"To go from the security of having a wage to working on commission, especially when you have children, isn't easy.

"My husband was made redundant in 2020 too, so we both had to think about what we were going to do and what direction we were going to go in.

"He has started his own telecoms business and is doing really well too thankfully."

The mum on stage at The Ideal Home Show (EKN)

Stephanie loves giving a new lease of life to old items which may otherwise have ended up being discarded.

She added: "During lockdown I had a lot of commissions for furniture, people couldn't get to the shops so they thought about changing stuff they had.

"It's great to see items which people didn't like anymore or were sick of looking at turned back into something they love.

"And it's a sustainable way of creating something new and it's far better for the environment."

Stephanie loves her new career path (EAST KILBRIDE NEWS)

Steph says starting Funk it Up has brought "balance" back in to her life, helping her overall mental health and focus.

It also allows her more opportunity to spend time being creative with her children.

"I am going back to what I love and the children love being creative too," she added, "so it's a great way to spend time with them.

"It doesn't have to be anything complicated and there are lots of little things everyone can do to give items a new lease of life."

Steph will be showcasing some of her upcycled jewellery at the Eagelsaham Beer Festival on July 9.

To see more of Stephanie's work go to her Facebook page or her website.

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