Linda Byers

Linda Byers is, during her working day, a self-described jewellery elf as the owner of Byers & Co.  When she has finished toiling away designing and making amazing bespoke items she likes to start the weekend with circuits at Rodney followed by a takeaway.  She tells about her long working day, which around this time of year runs from 9 in the morning till 10 at night but gives her great job satisfaction when she sees her customers getting exactly what they want.

Linda loves to shop when she's not working and has a lot of love for fellow Perth indie retailers Eva Lucia, Provender Brown and Tayberry.  However, she is a little bit miffed that her partner Dougie Flowers poached the weekend she was going to pick to live again in his Workdays and Weekends last week!  We also hear about two interesting past jobs one as a welder and one as a banker.  Guess which one was Linda's worst job ever?  All this in more in this weeks Workdays and Weekends!

What does a typical day at work look like for you?

Oh, there isn’t really a typical day at work for me! It always starts with switching the radio on and getting stuck into making what commissions are on the books for that day, or doing some drawings and designs for customers.

I try and split my day half making jewellery at the bench, and the other half designing and dealing with emails (but sometimes it doesn’t quite work out that way!)

This time of year is particularly busy - we've just started selling the Perth Card which is great, and I’m in full on elf mode from 9 in the morning till 10 at night when Dougie picks me up after his show. But I actually really enjoy this time of year, there tend to be a few special commissions, and the thought of the nice surprises people will get on Christmas morning makes it quite special. I’m very lucky!

What signals the start of your weekend/days off?

Well even though I work on Saturdays, I love Fridays! Its an excellent radio day, so it starts off with Desert Island Disco on radio 6 Music (I was on it once!) then normally a fairly busy day making things ready for collections on Saturday, then its Circuits at Rodney followed by a yummy meal (normally a take away actually…to counteract all of the hard work at circuits) and a bottle of yummy wine.

What might people be surprised to know about you?

I once worked for a short time as a welder on a tractor repair yard!

Top of your bucket list?

Hmmm, I’d love to travel one day, I really like the idea of climbing Everest, and maybe one day joining the mountain rescue as a volunteer. But the slightly more realistic bucket list goals are just to travel a little bit more, the worlds very big and I’ve not seen as much of it as I would like!

Worst job you’ve ever had?

Working in a bank. I’m a terrible banker.

Who or what inspires you?

Ooooh, that’s a tough one. I feel inspired when I walk the dog somewhere remote and have space to let ideas run wild.

Last year We drove up to Rannoch Moor in the campervan between Christmas and new year, stopped in the middle of nowhere, wind blowing a hoolie, not a person or lights to be found for miles… I sat with my sketchbook and did a few doodles, Saw loads of red deer passing us in the dark, and designed an engagement for one of my pals. It was really lovely.

Tell us about the weekend you’d love to live again?

Well, annoyingly Dougie hogged my favourite weekend in his Workdays and weekends! But I'd stick to Glenfinnan, we went up to a music session last new year with some friends and ended up dancing on the tables!  

But any weekend where we can meet pals, have lots of fun, eat drink and be merry are the best.

What’s the best part about your job?

100% a happy customer. I’m really lucky and make lots of things that have a bit of a special meaning to people, so its really nice working with customers getting designs right, then seeing nice pictures of proposals and weddings!

What’s in the perfect day off breakfast?

Tough one. The French toast from Reids is a winner, although an ideal breakfast would probably be loads of tattie scones and haggis washed down with bucks fizz?

Complete this sentence; the best things in life are

…. FUN!