Bowerman founded Thistle and Rose Print Consultancy on 21 February, returning to sales after a brief foray into print education. Thistle and Rose will offer sales support, sector research and help companies look at building their brand in new print verticals.

The new consultancy came about initially by chance, she told Printweek, with Bowerman at first just helping out her network with ad-hoc requests.

“They were just small projects – but interest grew, and I eventually realised that if I put enough of these together, I could end up working for myself,” she said.

Turning down several “very flattering” offers for custom-built internal roles, Bowerman decided to pursue freelance work.

“It’s easy to get caught up in impostor syndrome, but when I reached out to a few people in the industry who I knew were [consulting] already, they couldn’t believe I wasn’t already doing it,” she added.

“If you’ve got the network, the connections, then you just have to picture it and give it wings. Right now, I have absolutely nothing to lose by trying – in two or three years time, I want to either look back and say it was the best decision I ever made, or be happy that I tried.”

The consultancy’s website is currently under development – it’s still fresh to the industry – but Bowerman was confident that the demand was out there.

“With everything that’s happening in the industry at the moment, and the impending increase in National Insurance and minimum wage, companies need to grow,” she said.

“I would like to think I am the intermediary that will take them through that exploratory stage, to look at the opportunities out there for them in the market. It’s about being able to look at new opportunities in new sectors, and evaluate if there’s a strong enough foundation for them to be able to take that commitment forward.”

Bowerman's career also includes roles at Corporate Document Services, Servicepoint, HH Global, and Sterling Solutions.