Hemel Hempstead mum who launched business from hospital waiting room backs small organisations
A mum from Hemel Hempstead is supporting local start-ups, years after being inspired to start her own business from a hospital waiting room.
Lydia Berman founded her business after spending hours in hospital waiting rooms during Covid. She is the founder of marketing agency Creative Stripes and Mapper Cards, and works with entrepreneurs, schools, and colleges.
She has been described as transforming personal grief and lockdown isolation into a booming educational business designed to support visual thinkers across the UK.
Starling Bank revealed that Lydia, who lives with ADHD and dyslexia, designed physical cards to help neurodivergent founders, students, and visual thinkers map out their ideas.
“I designed a visual planning tool to help people who think differently map out their businesses, originally just offering it to friends and fellow startups to see how it went,” Lydia said.
“During the pandemic, my mum was diagnosed with cancer and sadly passed away. I had to tightly zone in on my business to get through. Around the same time, I went through an incredibly isolating pregnancy.
"I was misdiagnosed with gestational diabetes, which meant I had to sit in hospital waiting rooms entirely on my own every other Friday from 2:00 PM. To keep my mind occupied in those quiet moments, I took along my laptop and pages of notes to write and design the first versions of Mapper Cards, creating a new revenue stream for my marketing agency, Creative Stripes.
“It was through this we really flourished. I went from just exploring an idea to building a tool that we have evolved for schools, colleges, and universities to help the next generation of visual thinkers. I'm even building the app for it myself.
“I didn’t receive any financial backing in the first stages, but my husband was a massive support and really helped me bring the vision to life. Our local council in Dacorum, helped massively, connecting us to other enterprises and providing the subsidised office space I now work from.”
Lydia is working with Starling Bank to champion small businesses starting from anywhere - even the most unusual of places.
Data from the online banking company shows that businesses start from increasingly random places.