Award winning dragonfly finally gets to hover with old Dragon

Monday 23 February 2015

A jewellery designer has become the second woman in Jersey to come face to face with an old dragon and get a big boost to her business on social media.

Sarah Barry who owns The Lilac Dragonfly had been “soldiering on” for the last two years before she was finally picked as one of Theo Paphitis’ favourite small businesses on Small Business Sunday.

Sarah joined hundreds of small business owners trying to sell their business to the retail magnate in just one tweet every Sunday between 5pm and 7.30pm

Sarah’s perseverance finally paid off when her business was picked as one of his six favourites to be re-tweeted to his 440,000 followers.

Sarah said: “If it hadn’t been for this wonderful group, I may have given up. Many of us are now close friends and it’s their support that kept me entering each week. I’m so glad I did. Persistence has definitely paid off!”

Pennyfeathers – a beauty salon in St Clement was the first Jersey business to grab his attention last year when owner Penny Downes tweeted her winning post and both she and Sarah got to meet him at a gala event at the ICC in Birmingham a few weeks ago.

Before picking up her award from Theo himself Sarah got to spend the day networking with other winners and to hear from other well known business people including the director of online furniture store made.com and Rob and Paul Forkan, the founders of Gandy Flip Flops, who lost their parents in the 2004 Asian Tsunami and who wanted to make money to build an orphanage.

Theo also gave a speech about being passionate about what you do, being persistent and not being shy about your business.

Sarah said: “Having known many previous winners, I’m well aware of the power of #SBS and the credibility it can add to a small business. It was also fantastic to finally be able to meet many of my #SBS friends in person!

“The #SBS event was an amazing, fantastic day which will stay with me for a long, long time. I hope to go again next year and will be braver, speak to more people and maybe even ask a question!”

Sarah started making silver jewellery incorporating semi precious gemstones and Swarovski Crystals after moving to Jersey in 2006 and you can find out more about her business here.