SUNDAY MIRROR - Looking for women with a side hustle

I work full time in IT - I am also a goldsmith as well as a mentor for an online jewellery diploma. I’m in my mid forties so I think that I probably fit this one!

I'm a full time single mother in my early 40s, who fled domestic violence and is still fighting to keep my daughter safe. Around that, I've launched TingTang - products that allow you to wash without water. Inspired by my daughter's aversion to having her hair washed and the battles that ensued!

Jo Spolton is the CoFounder of Rumage.com, an aggregation website like Skyscanner and Rightmove, but for second hand. 55% of people buy second-hand to save money - Rumage searches 23 second-hand sites to help more people do that with ease. The test site was launched in late 2020, and it has now attracted over 200k people. Rumage was conceived to help people make their money go further and with less impact on the planet. There are so many platforms offering second-hand items and certainly more websites than people have time to hunt across. Rumage brings them all together, giving people more of a chance to make money saving choices. As a mother, Jo is acutely aware of how quickly the world is changing environmentally and how much consumer habits are to blame. As a sculptor who uses scrap metal and wire she is keen on re purposing things for another life and wanted to get this lifestyle shift across more categories and to more people. The Millennials and Gen Z's are more aware than any of the benefits of the circular economy and will be the ones to carry this change of lifestyle forwards to a more sustainable future. Committing to a start up is hard when you have a family, early stage businesses do not always pay a wage at the beginning, so Jo has been managing the growth of Rumage and its team in-between building pieces out of steel and barbed wire. "The motivation for me to work on Rumage are my kids, I want to make positive changes in the world and help steer people towards sustainable living. I want people to be able to have joy and fun but not at the expense of the world they are going to inherit. Buying second hand has a huge positive impact on the environment. Extending the life-cycle of a product puts less strain on the planet and slows down the rate of excessive consumption, which means less waste and emissions. As a family we love refurbished tech, up cycled furniture and are always keen to save money, so for me committing to Rumage was a no brainer." As the cost of living crisis deepens, people everywhere are looking for ways to save money. Second-hand marketplaces have boomed in recent years but research shows the online experience is turning people off. According to the stats from Rumage’s own research only about 20% of people look at more than 3 sites when buying second-hand and about 40% said they would buy more second-hand if it was easier online. When it comes to responsible shopping 48% said they liked the sustainability of second-hand shopping. But also a staggering number gave up and bought new if a second-hand item was not found within a couple of weeks. Rumage.com also found that for over 55% of people, saving money was their main motivation to buy second-hand and over 20% swap with items with friends and family to help everyone save money***. (source: ***Rumage own research April and May 2022). 83% of adults in the UK reported an increase in their cost of living in March 2022*. In the year to March 2022, domestic gas prices increased by 28% and domestic electricity prices by 19%**. (Source: * Office of National Statistic **House of commons Library). Rumage highlights the great reasons to buy more second-hand, and now more than ever the team are passionate about helping people to save money as the cost-of-living continues to rise.