Business owner Rhiannon is proof that with determination and the right support, anything is possible. After falling pregnant at 16, Rhiannon left school with only a handful of GCSEs. Fast forward to today, and she’s not only turned her own life around but is helping others to do the same through her business.
She puts her success down to her incredibly supportive family and The Open University, despite sadly losing her mum – her biggest cheerleader – during her studies.
Today, with a BA (Hons) in Humanities and English Literature under her belt, Rhiannon, 30, is the proud co-owner of a successful marketing agency where she employs a staff of 15 – several of whom are young adults just starting out in life.
“My mum pushed for me to get a degree”
Coming from a family of teachers, Rhiannon knew that if she was ever to find a well-paid job that she enjoyed, she would have to return to education.
“I hadn’t done well at school. I hated it. I wanted to be an adult and get a job so, in Year 10 and 11, I just didn’t show up. Then at 16, I found out I was pregnant and my world changed overnight,” she said.
After having her little girl, Rhiannon needed to find work but discovered her options were limited.
“I was intelligent, but my qualifications didn’t demonstrate this, so there was no way I could get a job offering responsibility, creativity and decent pay,” she said.
“My only options workwise were low level-manual labour and warehouse work. My mum – a teacher – told me how important it was to get a degree, and said she’d support me however she could to make it possible. So, I signed up to The Open University when I was 17 and my daughter was one year old. I chose the OU because of its flexibility and because it was so highly recommended by the teachers in my family. I didn’t even look elsewhere.”
Juggling full-time work, single parenting and a degree
Despite facing plenty of challenges – including the breakdown of her relationship after the birth of her second child, Rhiannon didn’t give up. Instead, she focused on her studies harder than ever. She juggled parenting, working in the warehouse six days a week, even working a second job at times – and yet still studied every night when the children slept.
“I really wanted to be the right kind of role model for my children,” she said. “It was a challenge fitting everything in, and I spent many nights up late studying. My mum lived just around the corner and supported me in every way she could, helping with the children and keeping me company while I did my assignments.”
“Mum kept me going, even after she passed”
In 2014, Rhiannon’s mum was sadly diagnosed with colon cancer.
“I was so desperate for her to see me achieve my degree that I tried to compress two years’ studies into one, so she could see me graduate,” she said. “But I also wanted to spend as much time as I could with her, so I went to her chemotherapy sessions and took my books along. Sadly, she passed away eight months after being diagnosed so she didn’t see me finish. I’m pleased she knew that I was going to achieve my degree, though. She was my biggest support and always so proud of me, even when I hadn’t done anything to be proud of. She was my inspiration to keep going, even after she passed.
“It was a difficult time when my mum passed away, but all my tutors were excellent,” she added. “I was offered so much support and was given extensions when I needed them in difficult circumstances. I finally achieved my degree in 2015.”
From distance learning to distance marketing
After graduation, Rhiannon worked in a sales role where she was eventually challenged to take on the company’s marketing.
“If I hadn’t studied with the OU, I’d never have had the confidence to give marketing a go,” she said. “And it turned out that it was what I was always meant to do.”
She’s now set up with her own agency, Cheshire Cat Marketing, with her husband and business partner.
“Distance learning is still a big part of my life – it worked so well for my OU studies that I set up a remote business. Our employees work from home,” said Rhiannon. “I was at my most productive when I worked independently for my OU degree, so we believe in this way of working. Like my OU classmates, my team is able to brainstorm online and work together, but also benefit from the freedom to let ourselves get in absorbed into tasks, away from office distractions.”
She’s also been inspired to help other young people who are struggling to enter the marketing field to improve their future prospects. “A big part of my marketing agency is about giving back and helping others,” she said. “We welcomed several young adults as part of the Government’s Kickstart scheme, and half of them ended up becoming employees. Now we’re doing the scheme again, to help even more people gain experience, and go on to a brighter future.”
“I’d love other teenage mums to see the difference having a degree can make on their lives”
Rhiannon with her children
Rhiannon says her confidence levels were drastically boosted by OU study.
“OU study definitely changed me as a person,” she said. “I’m more confident and creative and less nervous. I no longer feel like I might be judged in the way I could have been, because I’ve made a success of my life. I’d love other teenage mums to see the difference that having a degree can make to not only their lives, but to their confidence and to their children’s future.
“My family gave me the push I needed and the OU gave me the leverage to get the career and life I wanted.
“If anyone is thinking of studying with the OU, please just do it. However much you have going on, the support is there to get you through. It’s a lot less scary than it sounds and you’ll feel incredible afterwards. It boosted my confidence and made me feel equal to others. I no longer feel trapped in a career and life that I didn’t want. I’m empowered and know my future is only going to continue improving. Don’t hesitate!
“I now have three children, who lead a far better life than they would have done. Plus, we are going in the right direction to continue growing our business and it’s so exciting. And I remain passionate about education and helping as many people as possible to grow.
“I know my mum would be incredibly proud of me, and every day I am thankful that I decided to invest time in developing myself.”
