Our Social Mum of the week is the lovely Lynne Meek who has built herself an Instagram following of nearly 20k. Lynne is a member of our Social Mums West Kent Facebook Group and in our interview with her, she shares a great social media tip.

Tell us a little bit about yourself and your family.

I’ve been with my husband Russ for nearly 35 years (wow didn’t realise it was so long, that’s a scary amount of time!) and we have two wonderful adult sons of 29 and 26.  We met and lived in London for ten years but then moved to TW in the early 90’s to raise our family. It’s my home town and I love it!

What is your business?

I am a personal stylist with my business Styling Matters, and I work with men and women across the South East. I do wardrobe edits, colour image and style analysis, personal shopping and outfit building. I also have an on-line fashion boutique I run with my husband called The Meek Boutique.  I source all the clothes personally, mainly from the UK, France and Italy, and model them myself on the website.  Five months since we launched and it’s far exceeded any of the wildest hopes we had at the start.

What inspired you to start your business?

I worked in a private fashion boutique for two years and realised I had an innate ability to understand the clothing that would work brilliantly on people. This coupled with a real love of helping people and an honesty about the advice I give meant that I started to be told by other people this was my path.  I started Styling Matters in 2012 and have never looked back.  The on-line boutique came about last Autumn as a result of becoming an Influencer on Instagram and realising I could sell clothes myself as well as for other brands.  I also felt I could fill the gaps I was getting frustrated about when I went personal shopping with clients.

What social media platforms do you use and why?

Instagram and Facebook mainly. My Instagram following is large and worldwide, and has meant the shop took off from day one.  Facebook is more locally based around family and friends and is where I get a lot of styling bookings and shop sales too.  Twitter to a lesser extent, and usually for a local or community reason.  And Linked-in barely at all.

What do you find most challenging about marketing your business on social media?

The algorithms drive me up the wall sometimes!  But generally I can’t believe my good fortune that I have two successful businesses which I can heavily credit due to Instagram and Facebook, and it’s FREE!

What is the best social media tip you have picked up for your business?

Engagement.  Engagement.  Engagement.  Without it, not a lot happens!

What have you found most useful about being part of a Social Mums Facebook Group?

Learning about other local women and their businesses that I might not have met in my own social or social media circles.

Where can we find you on social media?

You can find me on Instagram here.

You can find me on Facebook here.

You can find me on Twitter here.

Find out more about our local Facebook Support Groups here.