The ‘Ladybrille Entrepreneur Spotlight’ is a feature on Ladybrillemag.com profiling diverse entrepreneurs, primarily small and medium size business owners. If you will like to be featured, please complete the form below. Our spotlight for today is on Medina King-Sam, a UK based small business owner.
At only twenty-nine years old Medina King-Sam is one of the first black children’s interior designers based in London who creates personalized, colorful and fun bedrooms and playrooms for children. With over seven years of experience in the Interior Design profession, she has built a client base of successful professionals across London and Surrey.
During a period of unemployment, Medina King-Sam ran into an old acquaintance, who offered her a ‘managerial role’ job at their takeaway restaurant. Upon starting the job she soon realized that the role consisted of serving food, cleaning the front of the house and washing the large pots that were used to cook the various dishes. One evening as Medina scrubbed the pots she felt so overwhelmed and frustrated with her life. “As tears ran down my face, I thought to myself ‘this is not what I went through university for’,” said King-Sam in a press statement to Ladybrille Magazine.
While working at the restaurant she also started assisting interior stylist and art directors, to get more experience in the sector. Thankfully she found a sales assistant role at a leading furniture retailer where she pitched her personal interior design service but it was rejected and ignored. This gave her the motivation to start planning for MK Kids Interiors.
She took a leap of faith, left her sales assistant role to work night shifts on a zero hours contract to work on her business idea and the rest as they say is history.
As a young black woman in business, Medina is determined to make a difference by showing that neither race nor gender should hold anyone back from following their dreams. She grew up in a part of Hackney where three gangs were constantly battling to take control. She has used this part of her journey to fuel her entrepreneurial spirit launching three successful businesses by the age of twenty-nine. Besides MK Kids Interiors, Medina create and sells still life and abstract oil paintings as well as hand-made nursery décor such as garlands, mobiles, rugs or storage baskets, while she runs a successful property maintenance building.
With her down to earth personality Medina has won the hearts of many clients and created amazing spaces for families with young children and also offers tailor made services for children with Autism; a condition that, Medina feels, deserves more attention. She also offers a unique bespoke design service for families expecting twins. MK Kids Interiors is very much driven by empowering children from all backgrounds and seeing them flourish in beautiful, unique spaces.
LADYBRILLE: Describe your business?
King-Sam: MK Kids interiors- interior design for children. Designing nurseries, playrooms and bedrooms. Nesting Properties – interior design and build and handyman services for homes and offices.
FELTGOODNESS – nursery decoration and storage made from felt balls and felt.
LADYBRILLE: Why did you to start your business?
King-Sam: I’ve always wanted to own a business. I started during my university years, buying and selling art portfolios, art materials, and handmade greeting cards. But I was pushed to start my interior design business, after many years of rejection.
LADYBRILLE: How did you handle time management and delegation in the initial phase?
King-Sam: I found it hard to delegate and did everything myself. It’s only now, that I really don’t have the time, I’m learning to delegate. I learned the art of writing lists. As I complete each task I tick it off my list. I achieve so much more when I write lists.
LADYBRILLE: Where and how did you obtain funding?
King-Sam: I went to the Prices Trust, but because I had a part-time job at the time, they said I could fund the business myself. So that’s what I did! It took a very long time but I made it work.
LADYBRILLE: What has been your greatest challenge in business so far?
King-Sam: I’m quite emotional, and business takes me on an emotional roller coaster, I’m literally jumping for joy and then if I lose a project I hibernate and sulk. However, I have developed the art of asking questions to develop myself and the business and it has worked!
LADYBRILLE: What is the best advice you have ever received as a business owner?
King-Sam: Have confidence in myself and implement the ideas that linger, no matter how impossible or silly they may sound. Business is about taking risks.
Visit Medina King-Sam at http://mkkidsinteriors.com
Founded in 2007, Ladybrille® Magazine is a California based pioneer digital publication demystifying the image of Africans in the west through contemporary African fashion and celebrating the brilliant woman in business and leadership, with an emphasis on the African woman in the diaspora. Our coverage includes stories on capital, access to markets, expertise, hiring and retention, sales, marketing, and promotions.
