From hairdressing to photography to artisan baking, Catherine Connor’s entrepreneurial journey showcases the power of authenticity, resilience and unstoppable drive
In the heart of Cumbria’s Lake District and at Old Altrincham Market, Lovingly Artisan has become more than just a bakery; it’s a testament to Catherine Connor’s remarkable journey through three distinct careers. Now running an award-winning artisan bakery alongside her husband Aidan Monks, Catherine’s path to success is as richly layered as the sourdough loaves they’re famous for.
Farming Roots: The Seeds of Entrepreneurship
Catherine’s story begins not in a bakery or studio, but on a farm. “I come from a farming background,” she explains, her eyes brightening at the memory. “I think the relevance for that is the cows always need milking. It was my mum’s motto.”
This simple yet profound lesson in consistency instilled in her a work ethic that would serve her throughout her career. But it was her grandmother who truly shaped her entrepreneurial mindset.
“The biggest influence in my life was my grandma, and still is,” Catherine shares. “She was an incredible entrepreneur, and I was lucky enough, really lucky enough, to spend most of my childhood with her. “
“There are few days that we travel through without us giving an old granny quote,” she adds with a warm smile. “She became incredibly successful.”
The Principles of Success: Be Unstoppable
Across her three distinct careers, Catherine has identified several principles that consistently drive success regardless of industry. The first and perhaps most important: “Be unstoppable.”
“Look at what you want to achieve,” she advises with conviction. “Go into business with the mantra that you’ll be unstoppable, that there is no end.”
This philosophy shapes not just her approach to work but her entire outlook on life. When her financial manager recently broached the subject of retirement, Catherine and Aidan were perplexed.
“He talked about retirement and Aidan and I thought he was talking about a foreign language to us,” she laughs. “What we do isn’t a job, it’s a vocation. We love what we do. I think we’ll both die on the job, and I really hope so.”
Her second principle? “I’ve always made what I’m doing an adventure,” she says. “If you’re in the first floors of business, do what you’re doing, but put a bit of adventure in.”
Perhaps most surprisingly, Catherine’s third principle involves rigorous self-reflection and continuous learning. “One of the things I do religiously, and I’m quite old, so I’ve been doing this a long time – every week I open my diary and I go back through the days, and I say to myself, ‘What have I learned from these days I’ve just done? What has been my big learn?'”
This practice leads to thoughtful actions that strengthen her network and business. After attending an inspirational event, for instance, Catherine decides, “I’m actually going to send that person a bread parcel. I’m going to send them a card. We were talking about such and such a thing, and I’ve got that book, and I’m going to put a book in the box, because that will reward that person who’s rewarded me just by giving me nuggets in life.”
Her final principle? “Be really true to yourself. Wear your shoes, whatever those shoes are,” she says emphatically. “The most important thing you will bring to any business is yourself and your own authenticity – and be unstoppable.”
First Career: The Hairdressing Industry and Finding Her Voice
Catherine’s entry into the professional world came through the hairdressing industry, where an unexpected opportunity changed her trajectory.
“When I was 21, I was headhunted by Wella, and I was given a job that didn’t exist,” she recalls. “They created a brand new job, and my role at the time was to help them create styling products. It was well before you saw rows and rows of gorgeous styling creams, as we see today.”
For a young woman with dyslexia who “could barely read or write” when leaving school, this leap into a German company’s product development team was transformative. Catherine found herself traveling to Germany for training, learning rapidly about product development, presentation, and marketing.
“I had, at a very young age, a really good trainer, and she taught me how to present,” Catherine says. “That’s where the penny dropped.”
This mentor recognized Catherine’s natural affinity for connecting with people and helped her channel it into effective communication and sales strategies.
“What this amazing woman taught me – she said, ‘What you’re good at and what you love is people, and when you’re selling a product, I want you to think about why you’re doing it.'”
Those lessons remain central to her approach today: “Even today, when I talk to my team, we might only be selling a croissant, but we’ll make it look like a rocket launch. We’ll put so much effort into it. We’ll think about the visual, the location, the language, the wording. All of that skill and knowledge came from the training when I was 21. I use that every day.”
During this time, Catherine also observed how certain individuals in the industry managed to distinguish themselves and become household names.
“I was spending a lot of time with really high-end up-and-coming hairdressers – Mark Hill, Nicky Clark, Trevor Sorbie – some really big household names now,” she explains. “Mark had a beautiful salon in Hull. We used to say that in London they’d be like, ‘Beautiful salon in Beverly and Hull?’ And what made him a household name was him. They were all taught the same thing, but it was Mark that made himself a household name.”
This observation – that personality and authenticity could differentiate businesses in competitive markets – would serve her well in future ventures.
Second Career: Breaking into Photography’s Male-Dominated World
Catherine’s transition from the corporate hairdressing world to photography came after Wella was acquired and the company culture shifted. “I’d gone a long way with Wella, and it was being bought out, and it wasn’t the way it was,” she explains. “I think I’d come to my end.”
An opportunity presented itself when Catherine was approached to help create a photography training company. The challenge was significant – not just switching industries but entering what was then “a very male world.”
“We were two women, one with the training background and the business background, one an incredible photographer,” Catherine recalls. “We were brave enough and bold enough to decide that we could do it.”
The shift from corporate structure to entrepreneurship was jarring. “I realized fast that when I came from that corporate world, where I’d just look after marketing sales, that I was transporting marketing, sales and everything else, and together, we had to do everything and pull it out of the hat.”
This period taught Catherine valuable lessons about risk-taking and resilience. “It’s all right to make mistakes,” she says. “I don’t know if you’ve heard of the term ‘shooting the nets.’ The guy that has the record for the world’s most hits also has the record for the world’s most misses. So if you’re not shooting the nets, you’re not making decisions.”
Breaking into the male-dominated photography industry required creativity and boldness. When asked how she overcame the gender barriers, Catherine’s response is swift: “Don’t be in the gang. We created our own gang.”
Rather than trying to fit into existing structures, Catherine and her partner carved out their own niche. “We did call ourselves, at the time, the next generation, and we used 45mm, really candid and relaxed. We didn’t have time to faff with all the gear,” she laughs. “We created our own gang because we just couldn’t get in. And then when we did get in, we didn’t like it, so we got out.”
Their photography training business flourished, becoming widely recognized for excellence. However, success brought its own challenges, culminating in what Catherine calls her greatest business heartbreak – and ultimately, her most valuable lesson.
“We created the best photography training company. The product was exceptional. The visual, everything about what we did as a marketing salesperson was off the scale,” she says with pride tinged with sadness. “However, it didn’t add up. Financially, in the end, it started not to add up.”
The decision to close the business was devastating. “It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done,” Catherine admits, her voice catching. “That was my year that I shed the most tears, because you built it with your heart, soul, your energy. It was amazing.”
But from this painful experience came clarity: “What it taught me is, we were the most awarded company, we were leading the way. But if the numbers don’t add up, it doesn’t add up. And I trusted too many people, so now I trust very few.”
This hard-won wisdom continues to inform her approach today: “Now when we are the most awarded company, we’re knocking it out of the park. We think we rest and let go? Not a chance, because letting go of the first one was so painful.”
Third Career: Lovingly Artisan and the Art of Breadmaking
Catherine’s entry into the bakery world came from necessity rather than planning. “Financial need, if I’m honest,” she says candidly when asked what led her to bakery.
Her husband Aidan was already in the baking business, and Catherine had occasionally helped with various aspects. “I’d always been involved in his business, from marketing side, doing a bit of this for him, doing a bit of that, driving him around as a really good wife would do, worked a weekend, so sort of involved.”
But taking a full-time role in his business required Catherine to make a significant emotional adjustment. “I knew that it was my time to roll up the sleeves and dive in, and it was a really hard decision, not for him, but for me to do because I’d given up my daydream, and I was joining his daydream.”
Setting clear boundaries was essential for their professional and personal relationship. “If we’re going to do this, for me, you’re like a maverick by the way, if you’ve never met him, he’s like, hanging onto his tail all the time, but we’ve both been quite formal about it. So I’m going to do my lane, and you’re going to do your lane, and we will definitely support each other in between.”
Aidan quickly discovered the value Catherine’s skills brought to his bakery. “What he learned very quickly is his world needed my photography world, needed the social media, needed the storytelling, needed the marketeer, needed the sales person.”
From humble beginnings at a table in Altrincham Market Hall, Lovingly Artisan has grown exponentially. “We were so giddy that we’d sold 20 loaves. We’d sell 20 loaves in 10 minutes. Now, we bake about two and a half thousand,” Catherine says with pride. “But the 20 loaves teaches you about the two and a half thousand.”
Working alongside her husband has proved surprisingly harmonious. “People often say, ‘How does it work? Husband and wife?’ It works for us because we’re very professional at work, and we stay in lane, and then when we come home, we try and separate it as much as we can.”
However, their passion for the business often blurs these boundaries. “It’s not because we’re workaholics, it’s because we’re so in love with what we’re doing that if I see something online, on Instagram, or I see them in a newspaper, of course I want to show him at seven o’clock at night.”
Even on vacation, they remain engaged with their craft. “First thing I do, when I get to the airport, buy a packet of Post-Its if I haven’t packed them, I buy a load of magazines, and I’m gonna learn from the magazines. Take my time. I’ve stepped out of the business, but my brain is on. Find me something inspired. It’s not a job. It’s what I’ve chosen to do. And that’s very different.”
The Value of Your Value
Throughout her careers, Catherine has maintained a philosophy of understanding and valuing one’s unique contribution. “The most important thing all of you must do – I’m going to give you homework – you must really understand what you do,” she insists. “The skill you bring to somebody’s finances or somebody’s holiday or somebody’s event, you are bringing a value, and that’s really, really important.”
She illustrates this with an anecdote: “Somebody once asked Michael Parker some years ago, ‘Why are you 20,000 pounds for an hour?’ And he said, ‘Well, you’re not paying me for the hour. You’re paying me 20,000 pounds for the 20 years experience and what I’m going to bring to that hour.'”
This perspective applies to every industry: “When you have your hair cut, you’re not paying for the cut and the hour you sat in the chair, you’re paying for the ability that person has behind the chair. So whoever’s sat in front of you, what they’re paying you is the ability you have to give them something, whether it’s a good night’s sleep, whether it’s peace of mind.”
Authentic Marketing in the Bakery World
When establishing Lovingly Artisan, finding the right name was crucial. “We did a lot of research, and all the names we were going to have had all gone,” Catherine recalls. “The biggest thing is finding the name and being very sure about it.”
The name they chose perfectly encapsulates their approach: “Lovingly Artisan is something that’s been lovingly made, handmade artisan.”
Catherine cautions against what she calls “brand raiding” – cobbling together elements from other businesses without developing a unique voice. “Brand raiding happens to us all the time, where people come and have a look at your business, and they see the odd word, the odd paragraph. What I call brand raid is they go in and steal all the bits and bobs from this person’s business over here, that business over there, land it in theirs, and it just looks like a mess. No voice, no message, no soul, no personality.”
Maintaining Artisanal Quality at Scale
With over 50 employees today, maintaining the handcrafted quality that defines Lovingly Artisan presents challenges. Catherine and Aidan remain committed to their principles, even when it affects efficiency.
“The bakery in Cumbria has got two now, is very big, but these machines take the craft out of it,” Catherine explains. “We recently invested in a biscuit maker because we couldn’t keep up with production. And when we got the biscuit maker, they said, ‘Oh, to have a biscuit maker like this, you can’t use real butter. You’ve got to use fake butter.'”
Unwilling to compromise on quality, they returned the machine. “Aiden and I, we were like, ‘Oh, we’re not going to use the fake butter.’ ‘You can’t use real oats. You’re gonna have to use this.’ We were like, she just told us to send it back.”
Eventually, they found a solution that maintained their standards: “We have recently found one where you can use real butter, real oats, real flour. It’s twice the size, twice the price, and we’ve got that now because we never want to stop cutting it by hand.”
While they sometimes visit large commercial bakeries for inspiration, they remain committed to their artisanal approach. After touring Jonathan Warburton’s factory, Catherine was amazed by the scale and automation: “I was like, ‘Where are the people?’ Six people in this factory. You can’t even see them. It was massive.”
Rather than attempting to replicate this model, they selectively adapted ideas that fit their philosophy: “What we stole off that trip: every station had different color brushes. So this station had red brushes, this station had green brushes. I was like, ‘Look! Cleaning station!’ So we stole the cleaning station idea and left his roll factory to do a good job and let him do his way and build it our way.”
The Partnership That Powers Lovingly Artisan
Catherine and Aidan’s partnership works because they respect each other’s domains while collaborating where their skills intersect. “It was fairly seamless,” Catherine confirms. “People think that’s really strange. ‘Did you not sit around and have a big debate about it?’ We were too old. We know you do the baking. We both share product development.”
Their different perspectives enhance their product development: “He says I look at everything a very different way than the baker would look at it. So I look at it through your eyes, and he’s looking at it from the production practicality eyes.”
Communication remains central to their success. Despite their demanding schedule, they prioritize daily connection: “Every morning, here today at 4am we have a managers meeting. We have to have it at 4am. It gets worse on a Thursday and a Friday, it’s 2:30 because of the way our world works.”
These early morning meetings blend personal reflection with business strategy: “We have our little affirmations book. We both have one, and we do our private thinking, and then we tell each other what’s in the book, and loads comes from that every day.”
This consistent ritual keeps them aligned with each other and their business: “We touch base with the business. And I think that’s really, really important, because you have your list of things to do that’s not necessarily touching base with the business.”
The Unstoppable Journey Continues
From farm girl to hairdressing industry innovator to photography entrepreneur to award-winning baker, Catherine Connor’s journey exemplifies the power of resilience, authenticity, and unstoppable drive. Through heartbreak and triumph, she has carried forward the lessons from each career to build something truly special with Lovingly Artisan.
The bakery’s numerous accolades – Independent Retailer of the Year 2023, Great British Savoury Product of the Year 2023, and being voted the number one bakery for three years running – testify to the enduring power of Catherine’s principles: be unstoppable, make it an adventure, and above all, be authentically yourself.
As customers line up at Altrincham Market or in the Lake District for their signature sourdough, few might realize they’re not just buying bread, but participating in the culmination of three remarkable careers and countless lessons learned along the way. For Catherine Connor, each perfectly crafted loaf represents not just artisanal baking, but a lifetime of being unstoppable.
With over 90 attendees, Alex & His Sisters continues to be a standout networking event in Altrincham, bringing together inspiring speakers like Catherine who share their real-world insights and practical advice. A big thank you to Catherine for her engaging talk, and to all the attendees who make these events so impactful!
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