Viral TikTok video which led to more than 5,000 orders transforms life of Pudsey mum-of-three

Kirsty Spikings, 31, set up her small business around six years ago from home, selling customised items to friends and family.

However, Kirsty's bold decision to set up a TikTok account in June 2021 during the Covid pandemic has paid off and completely changed her life.

On June 24, one of Kirsty's videos about her business The Perfect Gift Company went viral - showcasing her skills in using a heat press to place sentimental pictures onto decorative roof slate tiles.

Within hours, the video had been viewed hundreds of thousands of times and Kirsty - who would usually get around ten orders a day - received a staggering 600 in the same afternoon.

Since then, her business has been completely overwhelmed and from a unit in Swinnow Grange Mills, Kirsty has made and sold more than 5,000 slate tiles before shipping them around the world.

Mum-of-three Kirsty, speaking exclusively to the YEP, now has grand plans to grow her business off the back of the TikTok success.

"I couldn't believe what was happening", Kirsty said about the June video.

"I was sat there shaking and my phone was pinging off the hook with orders.

"It made me emotional.

"I actually sat and cried about it.

"That day, everything changed for me."

From humble origins of working from home with the business as a side hustle, Kirsty now concentrates full time on her work.

She has amassed a huge following of more than 119,000 people on TikTok who watch her videos of the process to make the slates.

Kirsty, from Pudsey, said: "I started working from home, then moved to a box room up at my brother's office.

"I then took the leap to rent a unit down at Swinnow.

"It was a huge increase in rent, so I am glad TikTok blew up for me.

"I wouldn’t be able to do this in my little box room."

The process of creating the slates has "fascinated" her viewers on TikTok, Kirsty explained.

"It is a sublimation process.

"The image transfers through heat which amazes everyone on TikTok."

Originally, Kirsty was selling around 10 slates a day.

After the TikTok surge of hundreds of orders a day in June, Kirsty is still selling up to 80 a day and is reaping the rewards of the viral videos.

Kirsty said her original dream was to open a shop in the downstairs area of her unit.

Due to the incredible size of orders she is receiving, that plan is now on hold while Kirsty desperately attempts to keep up with the demand for her business.

She said: "It has been absolutely crazy.

"The unit looks more like a warehouse now!

"I never expected any of this."

Kirsty believes that setting up a TikTok was one of her luckiest ever ideas.

"Facebook and Instagram have been slow for a while so I had to look at other options", she said.

"I am so glad I did.

"It has changed my life."

For more information on Kirsty's products, visit her Facebook page by searching The Perfect Gift Company.

Kirsty is also known as 'The Slate Lady' on TikTok.

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