The Adventures of Sissy Rooney Founder, Street Style Surgery
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The Street Style Surgery (SSS) originates from my passion to engage and inspire young people and to help them reach their true potential. SSS offers a vast array of creative workshops for young people from all backgrounds including workshops such as fashion design, dj-ing, music production, business & enterprise, drama and dance. It also consists of more issues based workshops that cover sexual health, drugs awareness and confidence building.
My idea stems from a meeting with a Careers Advisor when I was in 14. She asked me, “What do you want to do when you leave school”. I responded that I wanted to be a famous fashion designer, to which she assumed that I meant a “machinist in a factory”. I explained that I wanted to be a fashion designer. To my dismay, her response was “sewing machinist”. Despite her seeming disapproval of my childhood dreams, I was determined to succeed.
Shortly after this meeting I started to get disinterested in school and fell in with the wrong crowd leaving school with no qualifications. My saving grace was when my textiles teacher at a local college spotted my creative potential and gave me a ticket for a fashion show. I attended and was instantly inspired. I enrolled and embarked on 9 years of fashion education.
Despite my studies, working in the highly competitive fashion industry left me disheartened as I aimed to become my own boss. The initial fashion design business I created proved to be financially unsuccessful. I admitted defeat and closed the business. I reassessed my goals in life and concluded that I wanted to make a difference to society. Using my fashion background and yearning to make a positive contribution to society, I conceptualised the idea
for Street Style Surgery and have never looked back.
I’m pleased to say that our workshops provide the opportunity for young people to discover the meaning of “entrepreneur” and feel inspiration to run their own business. Our workshops help them explore their own entrepreneurial skills in a creative way. I also draw on my own life experiences (including the ups and the downs) to give motivational and inspirational talks in order to inspire them to achieve their dreams. I want them to believe in themselves and never give up!
We have worked with over 3,000 youngsters aged between six and twenty-five over the past four years through various organisations including, Connexions, local councils, Cultural Olympiad 2012, Barnardos, mainstream schools, special needs schools, fair-trade events, secure units, homeless shelters, and drug abuse organisations.
Our workshops are targeted at all youth sectors including schools, youth groups, community groups, and young offender institutions to name a few. Our aim is to be the “One Stop Shop” for all Workshops across the UK. Each day is different. There are days that I teach fashion design and business enterprise workshops. Other days I’m in the office emailing and creating proposals determining which of my team of practitioners is most appropriate for that particular workshop. I have just expanded my business in the past 6 months to offer an extensive array of creative workshops. Originally, it was just me offering fashion workshops but I saved money to invest all my earnings into developing a new website and business model.
I want the Street Style Surgery to be known for highly engaging, educational and inspiring workshops covering all creative disciplines. I’m achieving this by employing an ever growing team of over 25 experienced freelance creative practitioners. Finding passionate and high quality practitioners has been a big undertaking as I need to be 110% sure that they will deliver workshops to the same standards that the Street Style Surgery has established.
The most challenging aspect of setting up my business was funding and breaking into this segment of the industry. Initially I applied for a grant with Ultd awards, but I was refused. This was a setback for my new enterprise and I was afraid of defeat and becoming unemployed.
I used a credit card to buy materials and offered to run free workshops in a local school in order to test my business idea and gain valuable feedback from both pupils and teachers. After the successful pilot project I reapplied for the grant and was approved due to the pilot project in the school. I received a £3000 grant, which paved the way for the birth of the Street Style Surgery.
Also, working with young people, there are strict laws and procedures to follow and I made sure to abide by all legalities. It has been challenging but positive. I love to learn new things and whole heartily immerse myself in the business world. I have built a solid foundation for the future growth and development of the Street style Surgery.
Word of mouth has been the most effective tool for finding new clients. Personal recommendations have brought me new clients and once they work with us they always rebook. I have now also begun marketing efforts through mass mail outs. I also network attend many event such as educational shows and hand out leaflets.
The advice I will give other business owners depends on what their business is and how it operates. My first piece of advice would be to gain new clients through the internet and invest in a professional looking website. You should set aside money and time to work on the SEO (search engine optimisation) of the site. It’s important to show up in search rankings as it helps attract new customers. People need to find you through internet searches in order for your website to have impact. You should also invest in quality business cards as this is often the first port of contact with prospective clients, sponsors or supporters. Business professionals may initially judge the quality of your business by a card’s thickness and content. You may be working from a desk at the bottom of your bed (which I am at the moment) but my business cards look and feel like they have come from an office on the fourth floor of a shiny swanky office.
I try to maintain my faith and accept the difficulty as a challenge. This helps restore my goals and vision. I have to believe in the business dream that has brought me to this particular point in SSS.
My mum inspires me as she has overcome many obstacles. She has always believed in me and shown her support and encouragement. The young people I teach are also an inspiration. My business philosophy is visualise the end result, the dream, no matter how big it is, see it, feel it and believe it then you stand a better chance at achieving it.I love being my own boss and I’m excited to be in control of my own destiny.
I feed off pushing the boundaries of my business and being presented with decisions no matter what they are. Most importantly, teaching my workshops to young people is incredibly rewarding. We have taught over 3000 young people across the UK. I'm involved with many key organisations such as Connexions, Save The Family, Barnardos, young offender services and hundreds of schools. The feedback I receive from the young people is overwhelmingly positive and has even brought tears to my eyes. They love participating in my workshops comment on how they have been inspired.
I sometimes work with young people that society has given up on, but once in my lesson I set out to inspire and encourage them both in a business and creativity. I am proud to say that many of the young people that have attended Street Style Surgery have now gone on to further education.
My favourite quote is “If you think you’re too small to make a difference try going to bed with a mosquito” Anita Roddick – founder of Body Shop
This one I share with the young people I teach: I’d rather regret something I did do, than something I didn’t do.
Sissy Rooney
Founder
Street Style Surgery
My idea stems from a meeting with a Careers Advisor when I was in 14. She asked me, “What do you want to do when you leave school”. I responded that I wanted to be a famous fashion designer, to which she assumed that I meant a “machinist in a factory”. I explained that I wanted to be a fashion designer. To my dismay, her response was “sewing machinist”. Despite her seeming disapproval of my childhood dreams, I was determined to succeed.
Shortly after this meeting I started to get disinterested in school and fell in with the wrong crowd leaving school with no qualifications. My saving grace was when my textiles teacher at a local college spotted my creative potential and gave me a ticket for a fashion show. I attended and was instantly inspired. I enrolled and embarked on 9 years of fashion education.
Despite my studies, working in the highly competitive fashion industry left me disheartened as I aimed to become my own boss. The initial fashion design business I created proved to be financially unsuccessful. I admitted defeat and closed the business. I reassessed my goals in life and concluded that I wanted to make a difference to society. Using my fashion background and yearning to make a positive contribution to society, I conceptualised the idea
for Street Style Surgery and have never looked back.
I’m pleased to say that our workshops provide the opportunity for young people to discover the meaning of “entrepreneur” and feel inspiration to run their own business. Our workshops help them explore their own entrepreneurial skills in a creative way. I also draw on my own life experiences (including the ups and the downs) to give motivational and inspirational talks in order to inspire them to achieve their dreams. I want them to believe in themselves and never give up!
We have worked with over 3,000 youngsters aged between six and twenty-five over the past four years through various organisations including, Connexions, local councils, Cultural Olympiad 2012, Barnardos, mainstream schools, special needs schools, fair-trade events, secure units, homeless shelters, and drug abuse organisations.
Our workshops are targeted at all youth sectors including schools, youth groups, community groups, and young offender institutions to name a few. Our aim is to be the “One Stop Shop” for all Workshops across the UK. Each day is different. There are days that I teach fashion design and business enterprise workshops. Other days I’m in the office emailing and creating proposals determining which of my team of practitioners is most appropriate for that particular workshop. I have just expanded my business in the past 6 months to offer an extensive array of creative workshops. Originally, it was just me offering fashion workshops but I saved money to invest all my earnings into developing a new website and business model.
I want the Street Style Surgery to be known for highly engaging, educational and inspiring workshops covering all creative disciplines. I’m achieving this by employing an ever growing team of over 25 experienced freelance creative practitioners. Finding passionate and high quality practitioners has been a big undertaking as I need to be 110% sure that they will deliver workshops to the same standards that the Street Style Surgery has established.
The most challenging aspect of setting up my business was funding and breaking into this segment of the industry. Initially I applied for a grant with Ultd awards, but I was refused. This was a setback for my new enterprise and I was afraid of defeat and becoming unemployed.
I used a credit card to buy materials and offered to run free workshops in a local school in order to test my business idea and gain valuable feedback from both pupils and teachers. After the successful pilot project I reapplied for the grant and was approved due to the pilot project in the school. I received a £3000 grant, which paved the way for the birth of the Street Style Surgery.
Also, working with young people, there are strict laws and procedures to follow and I made sure to abide by all legalities. It has been challenging but positive. I love to learn new things and whole heartily immerse myself in the business world. I have built a solid foundation for the future growth and development of the Street style Surgery.
Word of mouth has been the most effective tool for finding new clients. Personal recommendations have brought me new clients and once they work with us they always rebook. I have now also begun marketing efforts through mass mail outs. I also network attend many event such as educational shows and hand out leaflets.
The advice I will give other business owners depends on what their business is and how it operates. My first piece of advice would be to gain new clients through the internet and invest in a professional looking website. You should set aside money and time to work on the SEO (search engine optimisation) of the site. It’s important to show up in search rankings as it helps attract new customers. People need to find you through internet searches in order for your website to have impact. You should also invest in quality business cards as this is often the first port of contact with prospective clients, sponsors or supporters. Business professionals may initially judge the quality of your business by a card’s thickness and content. You may be working from a desk at the bottom of your bed (which I am at the moment) but my business cards look and feel like they have come from an office on the fourth floor of a shiny swanky office.
I try to maintain my faith and accept the difficulty as a challenge. This helps restore my goals and vision. I have to believe in the business dream that has brought me to this particular point in SSS.
My mum inspires me as she has overcome many obstacles. She has always believed in me and shown her support and encouragement. The young people I teach are also an inspiration. My business philosophy is visualise the end result, the dream, no matter how big it is, see it, feel it and believe it then you stand a better chance at achieving it.I love being my own boss and I’m excited to be in control of my own destiny.
I feed off pushing the boundaries of my business and being presented with decisions no matter what they are. Most importantly, teaching my workshops to young people is incredibly rewarding. We have taught over 3000 young people across the UK. I'm involved with many key organisations such as Connexions, Save The Family, Barnardos, young offender services and hundreds of schools. The feedback I receive from the young people is overwhelmingly positive and has even brought tears to my eyes. They love participating in my workshops comment on how they have been inspired.
I sometimes work with young people that society has given up on, but once in my lesson I set out to inspire and encourage them both in a business and creativity. I am proud to say that many of the young people that have attended Street Style Surgery have now gone on to further education.
My favourite quote is “If you think you’re too small to make a difference try going to bed with a mosquito” Anita Roddick – founder of Body Shop
This one I share with the young people I teach: I’d rather regret something I did do, than something I didn’t do.
Sissy Rooney
Founder
Street Style Surgery
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