
Toma Navickiene: The spark to inspire
The co-owner of the Kutchenhaus Potters Bar and Welwyn Garden showrooms has gone the extra mile to support women in the industry. Here, she shares the details of her recent initiative and provides advice to women in business
Opening Kutchenhaus Potters Bar in February 2022 was a real triumph for my husband and I. As our first kitchen showroom, this was a space where we could get creative and welcome customers for the very first time.
With a passion for the industry, I quickly found myself thinking about how I could utilise our beautiful space outside of normal working hours.
With this thought bubbling away, I was honoured to be asked to speak at an event hosted by the Lithuanian Embassy in London for the construction industry. It brought together professional architects and interior designers to share ideas, engage in conversation and connect, regarding their businesses.
This helped spark an idea to open my showroom up to women in business, and in December 2023, we held our first event. One evening, we welcomed women from different industries to a free, women-in-business session. It was very successful, and inspired me to plan more evenings. I’ve committed to opening the showrooms in the evening every three months in order to keep this new women in business initiative thriving.
There are set topics for each session, such as how to find your perfect client, or how to maximise your social media strategy. We look at potential challenges and how to solve them together. People from different backgrounds attend and there’s a friendly atmosphere.
I 100% believe that more women are entering into the kitchen industry. This is great news, and when it comes to kitchen design, I think women can really excel and bring their own personal touch.
I’ve found that women have a very detail-oriented approach and take care over the smaller things. Not always, but typically, we find women are home planners and often the driving force behind interior design decisions.
Female future
Across the Kutchenhaus franchise network, we’re seeing an increase in female showroom owners, and this is massively encouraging. Right now, just over 20% of showrooms are female-led, and that number is set to grow this year for sure, when we consider what’s planned in terms of new openings.
When it comes to sharing advice, I think usually it should be tailored to each person’s situation. It’s important to listen, understand unique challenges and then offer guidance or a solution – much like how we do when working with our customers.
That said, there are overarching nuggets of wisdom that helped me in my career and are still relevant today. To share three pieces of advice, I’d say:
1. Be yourself – It’s easy to look over your shoulder at what others are doing and think, ‘should I be doing that?’. The truth is, you need to be yourself in business as you do in life. Women should identify their strengths and then showcase them. Don’t worry if this is slightly different to another successful businesswoman – if it’s true to you then you’re on the correct path.
2. Believe in yourself – Just go for it. Believe in yourself and bring a positive energy to your work which people can see. This is infectious, and if you know your stuff, you will have the best chance of success. I think we have secret powers to inspire people and believing in ourselves is the first step.
3. Trust your gut – A truly timeless piece of advice. If it doesn’t feel right, then stop and assess the situation. Trust your instincts and be open-hearted with your decisions. Remember that if others can do it then you can too.
There’s something to be said about the importance of energy, which I briefly touched upon. If you love what you do, people will recognise it. Energy is so important, and if people see your passion, then they in turn become passionate too.
If you’re passionate and caring with those you do business with, they’ll be more likely to respond in a positive way.
Finally, networking is a great tool that allows you to connect with others and learn from them. I’ve found by sharing my experiences and hearing from others that I’ve learned so much, a lot of which I’ve put into place in my own working life.
It’s great to talk and share our experiences, and networking allows us to do this.