Gemma Hopkins
Gemma Hopkins (27) is founder of Little Gem, a book-keeping and business support service based in Sheffield.
Like so many people, Gemma came to Sheffield for University and stayed. She started a psychiatric nursing degree at Sheffield University, but between the politics of the NHS and battling a depression so severe she was heading close to sectioning herself, she had to leave at 19. Fortunately, she had met fellow student Will, an archaeologist who would become her husband, and became pregnant with their first daughter. Gemma says, “Meeting Will probably saved me from a complete breakdown and my three wonderful girls have given me the stability I craved after a very difficult start.”
Her successful new business and family is a testament to Gemma’s resilience. At the age of nine her home life in Hartlepool spiralled into chaos when her mother and step-father became addicted to speed and amphetamines and she effectively became a young carer. “Between drugs, drink and psychiatric issues, my upbringing was quite unconventional. I threw myself into school as best I could and excelled at music and performance as well as maths and science.”
“It had started when I was five. By ten, I was having to look after my little sister,” she recalls. “I’d take her to school and cook her tea. I think the weight issues I have grappled with are down to the poor diet I had a child. It was a really difficult time, but when I turned 15, my mum got herself clean and we all demanded my step-father did the same. To his credit, he did – and we got through it. I carried on at school, managing to get five good GCSEs despite an attendance of 66 per cent.”
Gemma went from her nursing course into an engineering company’s accounts department which has led to a ten year career in book-keeping, accounts and payroll. She is currently working via the Open University to gain bookkeeping qualifications to be registered alongside her work based experience. Like many women in the current economic climate, upon being made redundant in 2010, she found the courage to set up her own business.
“I love seeing figures add up and balance (sad but true), and when I get my clients’ monthly books to balance to the penny, I have been known to let out a whoop of joy! It’s fulfilling to be able to help businesses achieve what they want to, by taking away the aspect of their company that causes them the most stress. I also really love the fact that as my own boss, I am available for my children for the school run, if they are ill and to support my husband in doing his PGCE.”
It’s what gave Gemma that initial courage to go it alone that is interesting. For some it might be a role model, entrepreneurial family background or the support of partner or friends, and although she has been inspired by the many small business owners she meets battling tough economic times, for Gemma it was a friend’s dare- to attend a pole dancing class!
When she accepted that dare, everything changed. For most of her life, she had hated the way she looked. On the outside, she was the jolly plump girl, but on the inside, 27-year-old Gemma felt self-conscious about her size. “We went to lessons at a pub in Heeley and I was hooked from the first spin,” she enthuses. I have never been comfortable about the way I look. I’ve been a size 16 for as long as I can remember. But pole-dancing changed that. “I know it sounds cheesy to say, but it is empowering, I felt weightless and, for the first time in my life, graceful and feminine.” She began going to lessons twice a week – and before long she was spending six hours a week at lessons. Husband Will fully supported her as he was delighted she was gaining so much confidence.
“I love the fact that I weigh over 14 stones and I can hold my own bodyweight upside-down in mid-air. That feels so amazing,” Gemma comments.
“People immediately think of sleazy gentleman’s clubs, but if they walked into the classes I go to in Heeley, they would see it’s totally un-erotic. Women of all shapes, ages and skin colours are there, looking sweaty, battered and bruised but having a great time. More and more ‘ordinary women’ are switching on to pole-dancing because it is such great exercise and great fun.”
Such is the growth of this new hobby, competitions have sprung up throughout the UK and Gemma has a clutch of national awards: UKAPP 2010 Poledancing Performer and BPFC 2011 beginner category winner. This September, Gemma has set her sights on the UK Amateur Pole Performer award.
“It’s such an escape; I pack my outfit, wave goodbye to the husband, the kids and the book-keeping and head off to free-style my way through some wild routine,” she laughs. “I know my bum will never be the size of Kylie’s,” she shrugs. “But I’m finally really happy with the one I’ve got! I love the confidence and strength I gain from performing. It’s this which convinced me to arrange a charity fund-raiser called “Pole for Purpose” in 2010 and was so successful, we are repeating it this year. The event means people who want to perform, but not compete, now have a local platform to showcase their talents. We also have the bonus of raising money for Tickled Pink, the cancer charity run by Asda.”
Pole-dancing gave Gemma confidence in her body and her business, but it also gave her confidence to do something else… volunteer as a breastfeeding counselor with the National Childbirth Trust (NCT), “I will hopefully qualify in the next 6 months, meaning I can support mothers to breastfeed as for as long as they want to. I am also their Nearly New Sale coordinator and am really proud of successfully moving the NCT’s nearly new sales into massive Millennium tourist venue attraction Magna and expanding dramatically. That means we can help hundreds more hard-pressed families to re-use clothes, toys and equipment others have outgrown.”
As far as her business goes, Gemma’s remaining ambition is to continue seeing Little Gem growing and flourishing so she can move from her home office into premises.
“I know when people think about book-keepers, they probably think we’re a boring bunch, but I guess the most unique thing about me is my ever changing hair colour. I flit between red/pink/ purple or combinations of them all regularly. Otherwise, I guess you don’t get that many pole dancing, breastfeeding-counselling book-keepers?”
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