A former bomb disposal expert is waging war on potentially expensive ‘odd jobs’ by teaching an army of fans vital DIY skills.
Sarah Leslie, 36, gives TikTok users tips on how to fix a seized valve, silence a squeaky door and hang a picture, even though she could charge them for the job. She started sharing informative clips on the video site after being swamped with jobs that people could do themselves.
The mum-of-two, from Harrogate, who served for eight years in the Army and toured Afghanistan, said: “What I’m trying to do is help as many people as possible – especially during a cost of living crisis – and earn an income myself.
“The response has been brilliant. It’s been about a 60/40 split towards women. I always say ‘you don’t know what you don’t know’, so often people don’t even know what questions to ask.”
Sarah started her own business during lockdown while she was on furlough leave from her job as a bin lorry driver. But as her business picked up by word-of-mouth, she became inundated with job requests.
As a mum of twin boys – 22-month-old Reuben and Roman – she fits in her work around childcare arrangements and husband Ben’s days off.
Video grab of Sarah Leslie giving DIY tips.
She is so busy that she often has to turn work down, so she started making videos to instruct potential customers on how to do DIY tasks themselves, saving her time and them some money.
She now has more than 13,000 grateful followers who watch her helpful tips on how to repair, replace and make things. Sarah added: “I put a post up on Facebook, my husband who’s from the area shared it and I did some work for friends and family who told friends and it spread by word of mouth.
“I’ve never paid for advertising or business cards, I just send people to my Instagram and Facebook. I get so many phone calls and I think ‘if you knew about this, I could have saved myself some time here’, so I started making some videos.”
Sarah doesn’t make any income from her videos, though she hopes she can in future.
But her instructional videos on how to do common DIY tasks such as replace plug sockets, hanging plants from a ceiling and re-sealing a bath have won praise from followers.
Sarah Leslie during her time in the army.
Sarah, who has also worked as a tree surgeon and was briefly an apprentice mechanic, said she gets her DIY skills from her mum, nan and great-grandmother, who she lived with as a child.
She added: “I didn’t want to go to college or university, I just did as many jobs as possible until I found something I liked. And I like this.
“My mum and my grans are the reason I’m like I am. They never had a tradesman in the house. They just tried to fix things themselves.
“They had very traditional jobs, my two grandmothers worked in a factory and my mum worked in admin and other office jobs. But that didn’t stop her from coming home and ripping up the floorboards.
“It wasn’t always perfect every time, but they kept going and made it work. There were four generations of very capable women in the same house. Whenever my husband does any DIY tasks with his friends, they joke ‘should we borrow your wife’s tools?’”
Video grab of Sarah Leslie giving DIY tips.
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