Kate Leach, formally Woodmansterne’s Head of Marketing, has said goodbye to the greeting card publisher and turned her creative side-hustle into a full-time job. Leaving on a high at Glee 24, she told GTN Xtra a little about business and plans to stay connected with her beloved garden industry.

Kate’s brand, Essoldo Design, a lockdown project that’s grown into a fully-fledged business, has gone from strength to strength. With a community of over 180K followers, Kate now sells artwork in over 35 countries worldwide and has licensing designs for products across the UK, Europe, and the USA.

Her debut fabric collection, Ebb & Flow by US company Windham Fabrics, has sold over 100,000 yards worldwide, and her first book, Creative Abstract Watercolours published by David & Charles in March, is now available in six languages and is currently number one on Amazon’s watercolour painting techniques bestsellers chart. Buoyed by these successes, along with her popular workshops and international art retreats, Kate has now taken the tough decision to leave a job she loves to fulfil a dream of running her own business.

But Kate hopes to keep connected with garden retailing. Her designs now feature on a range of Woodmansterne cards, and she is keen to talk to garden centres who may be interested in hosting creative workshops. 

“I still have a ‘pinch me’ moment when I walk into my local garden centre and see my Woodmansterne card range being browsed by customers. I don’t think it’s a feeling I’ll ever get bored of!” said Kate. “I’d love to start working with garden centres to offer footfall-driving creative workshops, especially with floral and botanical themes being favourites topic of mine!”

Anyone wishing to get in touch can contact Kate via her website www.essoldodesign.com