Located in the beautiful Angus Glens in Scotland with their son Alfie, Amy and James wanted to combine their knowledge and their passion for working in the countryside to develop a project to help families enjoy and learn more about the world around them. After a great deal of discussion, they took the leap and set up The Wild Spark in January 2024. They are a small eco-friendly family business, providing high quality books, journals, posters, ID cards, games and other fun, educational resources. Their aim is to inspire families across the UK to be creative and adventurous wherever their wild space is – a garden, a park, a local forest or field, the seaside or the mountains. They want you to be excited to get outside and help you find fun ways to connect as a family in the great outdoors. Here Amy talks to The Natural Parent Magazine about the passion behind The Wild Spark, how they balance work and family life, and the pros and cons of running their own business.
The passion: What inspired you to set up your business?
My partner James and I have worked in the countryside for most of our lives. I spent 17 years as a professional falconer, working with birds of prey to educate the public about their world and their importance to the planet. I also spent time teaching in schools with the birds. Many children I worked with had never been to the countryside, let alone come face to face with a large owl, hawk, buzzard or falcon. I truly believe that to care about something you must understand a little about it first, and there is no better way to do that than to get hands-on with the world around you.
I’ve always been a practical learner myself and was always aware of how overwhelming it could be for some families, not knowing how to enjoy being outdoors together, especially in urban locations. This is what formed the basis of our business. We want all families to have the opportunity to learn more about British wildlife and get outdoors together, by having the tools to do so.
The launch: How did you start out in the beginning?
On a drive to the coast one day, as our toddler slept, we were pondering how good it would be if I could find a way to flexibly work from home so that we could follow our desire to home educate our son. After years of working long, often thankless hours, we had been striving to find balance in our lives as a new young family – looking for more time and freedom for travel and adventures.
We have always done some of our best plotting and problem solving in the car and before we knew it, we were thrashing out a whole business idea. I am pretty certain I sat down that night to start formulating our Adventure Journal; the first Wild Spark book I published. Each night when my son went to bed I would work on the new business. After 4 months I was confident enough to release our ideas to the world and set up a small website with our first two books. They were well received, and I continued to work on new resources. In fact, I’ve never really stopped!
The innovation: What was the biggest breakthrough for you with your business?
Becoming sustainable was always a vital part of our business. From the start we wanted to make as little impact as possible. Being a nature-based business, I wanted to give back as we grew. We joined Greenspark who plant trees, removes plastic from the ocean and offset carbon with every order we receive. I also didn’t have to look too far to find recycled, biodegradable, compostable and sustainably sourced packaging options. It was a very natural choice for us to choose this path.
Our books and other resources are printed on FSC certified paper, which is made of responsibly sourced wood fiber. We use UK-based printers and packaging suppliers for our products, due to their own eco business ethics, and to keep production local.
These small actions help us to care for the wonderful world we all share, and we are constantly looking for other ways to help our customers shop consciously and support local businesses. We also stock items from other independent artisans here in the UK that align with our own goals, and we hope to become a “one stop shop” for high quality, unique outdoor and nature resources.
Yin and Yang: How do you balance work and family?
It takes a lot of time to develop new resources, and of course I could opt to sit at the computer all day to do this, but I prefer that the business develops at a steadier pace so that we can enjoy being a family.
We live very rurally in the Angus Glens, so any trips out take a lot of time. I never wanted to waste time commuting to and from nursery or school each day (which I would easily lose two hours a day driving) just so that I could have a few hours to myself. I want that time to take us to fun, exciting and enriching places full of new adventures! I choose to get up early in the morning and if needed work late in the evenings after my partner goes to bed. It suits me as I can live in the moment with my family, and still run a business. People will always tell us how our children are only little for so long, and they are so correct! To me a productive day is not one where I sit alone working. It’s all the other stuff we do!
