Sarah Smith
Sarah is a family historian and genealogist based in Kinross.
Getting Started
Sarah started her business, Unlock Your Past, less than a year ago on a full-time basis, after taking a career break from teaching. She has long been passionate about family history, but knew that if she wanted to become a professional genealogist, she would need a qualification.
Sarah completed a Masters Degree in Family and Local History at the University of Dundee, then applied to the Association of Scottish Genealogists and Researchers in Archives (ASGRA) to become accredited.
The Enterprise Journey
Sarah enjoys the challenge of what she does and has had many great experiences with helping her clients. “I often get asked by overseas clients to locate their roots in Scotland. It is like asking, how long is a piece of string,” she says.
“In one particular case, a client asked me to find the birth place of his 4x great-grandfather because he was planning to visit Scotland later in the year. He had done some research and had theories but no evidence.
“By trial and error, I dismissed the theorised ancestor’s birthplaces he had researched. Then I researched his ancestor’s neighbours in America who were Scottish. By researching his neighbours, I found that 2 of them came from neighbouring farms in the parish of Orwell in Kinross-shire. I researched the owners of the other farms and found his ancestor. I have arranged for him and his family to visit the farm later in the year.”
Despite this, Sarah has had to learn how to manage client expectations, something she says they don’t teach at university! “Clients expect me to find the answer to their brick wall immediately, when in fact it either takes time or the answer is not out there. I don’t like not having an answer after spending hours of research. To resolve this, I try to think out of the box and give them recommendations for next steps.”
Image by Nathan Shepherd, The Perthshire Media Co
Support Along the Way
Sarah feels that tapping into the knowledge and experience of the people around her has been a huge factor in her success. “My husband has been there all along helping me with the website as well as online marketing. He is also self-employed as a digital manager and SEO consultant so I was able to tap into his business knowledge. My mom too has been a great support and a huge thanks goes to GrowBiz.
“I know how to research family history, write narratives and solve genealogical problems. However, managing a small business is a whole different story – that was not taught at University. If it had not been for the support of my husband and GrowBiz, I would not have made the jump and be where I am today.”
Looking to the Future
All in all, Sarah wishes she’d made the jump to self-employment sooner. She advises: “Listen to advice and don’t be afraid. Take risks – if it doesn’t work then try something else – you only have one life.”
Sarah plans to write a book as a future project. “ I am currently researching the genealogies of asylum patients – it is hard trying to find the time but that is my ambition.”
She is also working towards some net zero goals and has a tree planted for every family tree she gets printed.