Featured image: Jamie Laing / Abigail Conner

Abigail Conner is a second-year Fine Art student at Manchester Met and owner of @prettypinkbyabigail, a watercolour illustration business. At the start of the semester she stood up in front of 500 people to present Jamie Laing with her work – and she has reaped the rewards ever since.

Jamie Laing, Radio 1 host, podcaster, and co-founder of vegan confectionary brand Candy Kittens, visited the Manchester Met campus in January for the launch of Future Me Week. Accompanied by a panel of inspiring speakers including Miriam Walker-Khan, DEI reporter at Sky Sports and Paralympic gold medalist Gregg Stevenson, Laing hosted a talk where he shared insights into his own journey as a business owner. 

During the Q&A portion of the talk, Abigail Connor seized the opportunity to present Laing with a painting she had created of him and his wife, podcast co-host and TV personality Sophie Habboo, on their wedding day. Laing later posted Abigail’s painting to his Instagram and LinkedIn profiles, leading to over 1,000 new followers on Abigail’s business page and personal congratulations from captain and co-founder of BrewDog, James Watt. 

Conner launched her business just over a year ago after quitting her part-time job at Tesco. Reflecting on her journey, she said: “I’ve had my business for just over a year now. It’s grown quite well to be honest. I wasn’t sure how it was going to go after I quit my part-time job in September 2024 and put all of my energy into this. But honestly, it has paid off. I was stricter with myself, got more organised and it’s doing really well.

“I’ve drawn pubs, delis, family portraits – I’ve done all sorts. It’s just lovely because I get to paint people’s special memories and moments that they can cherish forever. People have started to give me all sorts of ideas now. Someone went to Scotland and travelled around, and I did a map with all the places she’d been to. It’s just so lovely that I can do that for people.”

Discussing the event, Conner said: “I saw the Future Me event pop up on an email, and I love [Jamie and Sophie’s] NewlyWeds podcast so much. When I do my commissions I always listen to their podcast, so I knew I had to go. A few weeks leading up to it, I was debating painting something for him and giving him the painting [at the event]. In the end, I decided to just do it and I’m so glad I did.”

Considering that the event’s focus was on entrepreneurship and confidence, Conner shared how the event resonated with her: “The theme of the event motivated me to just do it. It gave me the confidence to put myself out there. He was right in front of me so if I hadn’t done it I would have massively regretted it.”

Since the event, @prettypinkbyabigail has received over 1,000 new followers and lots of new commissions. She said: “I’ve had so many messages for new commissions. I’ve had a lot of orders, especially wedding orders. People have seen Jamie’s and wanted one, which is great.”

“It’s just lovely to do and lovely to know that people trust me to do that for them and their memories. It’s so special to me.”

The experience has also given Conner a newfound confidence in her business: “This has motivated me to push me to carry on with my business. It has given me the confidence to feel like: ‘Yeah, I can do this.’ Who knows what will happen next for my business? I’m going to keep an open mind, say yes to everything, and continue to pursue my business and make this a career after university.”

Conner’s story has drawn lots of attention, from the university itself to students who have felt inspired by her. When asked what advice she’d give to someone who is contemplating starting their own business, or pushing themselves outside of their comfort zones, she said: “You just have to go and try it out and see what happens. When I started, I was unsure if people would want my paintings or if I would be successful at all. It’s a very specific style, so that also worried me. But you want to have a unique style. It does help when selling because it’s distinctive and people fall in love with things that are different.”

Her final words of advice? “Just go for it. You never know what can happen – especially with the power of social media.”

Follow @prettypinkbyabigail on Instagram.