Love, Lists and Labels

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By the January, we were all sitting around the family table, and I was like, 'I can do this for a job'. My husband said, 'Go for it, do what makes you happy,' and it just went bang!" I used to love organising my pencil case at the start of the term, covering my books and labelling them all," reveals Jemma. "It gave me such joy." Publishing director Charlotte Hardman acquired UK and Commonwealth rights from Amanda Harris and Anna Dixon at YMU, with publication scheduled for 15th June 2023.

Lee would work in the day and I took on night shifts,” she says. “But I’m really bad at doing nothing, so when I wasn’t working, I spent all my time at home playing with a label-making machine that I’d bought for an events business, which I’d been running as I was working as a nurse in the NHS but I stepped away from full-time work and had more time in the home, so I started labelling more and found a real love for it. Jemma started experimenting with a label making machine in between working bank shifts as a nurse (Image: David Cummings) She is highly determined, hard-working, and with The Label Lady, she has created a brand that taps into the trend for home tidying.I was particularly impressed with the way in which she had managed to scale the business in such a short space of time on social media, and built such a large and loyal customer base with little-to-no marketing spend. I am looking forward to working with Jemma to help her scale the business, and to take it to the next level,” he added.

You have three children. How do you find time to be so organised at home?

She says, “I believe it was caused by the trauma of the birth, but it wasn’t until much later I realised I needed professional help. It wasn’t until we started writing the books that we reflected and realised how many little things happened when we were younger that influence us now. Our mum would sort all the Lego out into the little people and flowers etc and organise our bedrooms. Don’t get me wrong, we could be messy – but we loved going in and seeing that organisation.” I like to think that growing up, I was the more organised sister. My siblings – Stacey and my brother Matthew – might say otherwise, but keeping tidy has always kept me happy,” Jemma adds. Now, Jemma hopes sharing her experiences of anxiety will help other sufferers and make them realise they’re not alone. “As more of my friends started to have babies, one by one they’d come to me and ask, ‘Did you feel like this when you were a new mum?’ And I helped them through it.

Jemma is still putting in the late shifts but has since moved to HQ in Essex and grown to a team of ten. She credits a lot of her success to her family, particularly the support of husband Lee – they have three children together aged ten and under. The mother-of-three explained: "People always ask me how I do it. But, honestly, there’s no right or wrong way. Jemma has been blown away by the growth of her business, saying that she is 'so grateful' (Image: David Cummings)I lay the uniforms out the night before and get their PE stuff ready if it's PE the next day. I encourage them to do it too. I'm a big advocate for my children having their own responsibilities. Jemma says that organisation helps to free her mind and distract her from any concerns (Image: David Cummings) After building an online community of over 760,000 followers and having secured investment from Lord Alan Sugar, the publisher says: “Jemma is now using her journey to help readers confront self-doubt and move forward to deliver their own dreams.” I was having the best time, but it felt like I was detached from reality,” she says. “It made me realise just how bad things were. When returned home I immediately felt like I had a dark cloud over my head.”