A New Year’s Reflection: From Chaos to Gratitude (and a Bit of Sarcasm)

Happy New Year, everyone!

Can you believe it’s 2025 already?

As always, I’ve been flicking through old photos—not just from last year, but from way back, before Pollys Pantry even existed. I was scrolling through pictures from four years ago, back when I was a totally different person (and also not running a business out of my kitchen). It’s honestly wild how much my life has changed in such a short time.

Heres a bit about me... I grew up in a big family, where the BBC even came round to film us for the entertainment of the masses. 13 kids! can you believe it? It’s honestly like they thought, “Hey, let’s put this mad Scottish family on TV and see what happens.” Spoiler alert: It was chaos. I was also raised quite religious, which, as you can imagine, meant I spent a lot of time trying to figure out what on earth I was supposed to be doing with my life. From an early age, I never quite followed the typical path. Everyone else seemed to have their lives sorted—get married, have kids, stay home, be a “good girl”—but me? I had no idea what I wanted to do. I got married and had a kid “as God intended” (don’t get me started on the expectations there), but even with my first baby boy, I still wasn’t sure what the heck I was meant to be doing with my future. Was I ready for motherhood? Absolutely not. Did I love my baby? Of course! But I felt like I needed something more than just being the stay-at-home mum, because let me tell you, that job is HARD. After trying (and failing) to follow in my dad’s footsteps and study nursing, I quickly realised it wasn’t for me. No way. It felt like trying to force a square peg into a round hole.

I was extremely lucky to have Michael, my amazing husband, who was always supportive and wanted me to do whatever made me happy. But life, of course, had other plans. Financial struggles, the heartbreaking loss of our second baby boy Hamish, and then Mylo came along, our third, and was born with some breathing difficulties, spending far too much time in and out of hospital. I can’t even begin to tell you how many times we thought life couldn’t possibly get any worse… and then it did.

Through all of this, Michael was always very positive. He also was the one with a “business mind.” He had side hustles on the go, making me feel even more like a glorified babysitter (no disrespect to stay-at-home parents, but you’ll get it if you’ve ever been stuck in that cycle). After some particularly rough days with the kids—where I may or may not have locked myself in the bathroom to cry for a few minutes—Michael one day on a drive asked me that fateful question: “If you could do anything, anything at all, what would it be?” Now, remember, we were driving at the time, and I was probably so sleep-deprived that I didn’t even realise I was about to make one of the most life-changing decisions ever. So, without thinking, I blurted out, “I want to make grazing platters for people and deliver them to their doors, i think it could be a cool business.” You heard that right. Grazing platters. Who even knew what that was back then? This was years ago, long before you could pop onto Instagram and see 50 different “grazing table” influencers. But Michael, being the very supportive husband he is and desperately wanting me to stop complaining, immediately responded, “Well, why don’t you just do it? You’ve got all the control. Why not now?” And then it hit me: I had to actually do this.

Right then. We drove to Costco with an almost maxed-out credit card and absolutely no money to spare. No joke. As soon as we got home, having finally maxed out the last credit card, I made my first platter and scrambled to create a Facebook page. The name? Michael suggested “Pollys Pantry.” Honestly, I hated it. I’m from Dundee, and all I could picture was some dodgy graffiti artist turning it into “Pollys Panties.” But, somehow, we went with it. And that, my friends, is how Pollys Pantry came to life.

I posted the pictures of my first platters, thinking maybe I’d get one order from a family member (you know, the kind of family who orders just so you don’t feel bad). But then, BAM! Thirty orders. Thirty! I was literally on the floor in a panic. How on earth was I going to make thirty platters with two toddlers hanging off each leg? But there was no time to panic. My amazing family swooped in and helped like the superheroes they are. I honestly couldn’t have done it without them.

By the next month or two we were in the middle of lockdown and had taken on a premises. And just when I thought it couldn’t get crazier, the BBC Scotland decided they wanted to feature us in a series about opening the café and farm shop. Yep. Nothing says “you’ve got your life together” like national television cameras in your face while you’re scrambling to figure out how to make your business not fall apart. My favourite part of the program is when they ask Michael what he is doing on his laptop and his response was something along the lines of "I am just trying to figure out if we can afford to pay the staff." It really has been a wild ride.

Now, four years on, I look back on the madness with gratitude and disbelief. I’m so thankful for Michael, who supported me through all the late nights and stressed-out moments. To both our families, who dropped everything to help us when we needed it the most. And to the incredible team we’ve built, who still manage to deal with my never-ending “emotional rollercoaster” (sorry, folks). And of course, my two wee boys Lachlan & Mylo, who have put up with a lot of Mum and Dad working 24/7. They’ve missed out on time with us, but I hope that, in the end, they’ll be proud of what we’ve built. I’m so excited to see what the future holds. To continue supporting my boys and helping them become the best versions of themselves. And to keep building Pollys Pantry, one platter at a time.

Here’s to the next chapter—may it be filled with growth, chaos, and just enough sarcasm to keep us sane. Thank you for being part of this wild ride with us. Let’s see where the next four years take us!