S8: Ep5: From Programme Manager to Founder of BAM Store + Space: Fran Harkness

Fran Harkness lives in Easton and Bristol and for a long time was thinking there weren’t any little gift shops near her. She’d worked for years at The Folk House in the city as a Programme Manager, and she also knew how full the area was of talented artists and creators … so what did she do? She set up BAM.   BAM Bristol is a not-for-profit shop and space on a mission to support local artists and promote creativity in the community. She stocks mainly work of people living nearby and encourages everyone to tap into those creative juices by holding workshops. Any profits go back into the community.   Fran believes sometimes we just need to look a little closer to home. We talk about the importance of friends in Next Chapters, trusting our gut instincts and understanding we can’t always be good at everything. Fran is encouraging, honest and as joyous as all the colourful creations in her store. You can look find out more about BAM and all its colourful creations: at https://bambristol.co.uk/ And just in case you were wondering you can find out about my uplifting, romantic and hopefully at times joyous books at elliebarkerwrites.com