Little Voices, big impact - a convo with Evie Capon
Evie Capon was told she was too young and too inexperienced. At 21, she bought a performing arts franchise anyway. At 23, she's teaching over 100 students a week and has won a national award
Evie Capon saw an ad on Instagram for a job, where step two was a personality quiz.
She signed on the dotted line on a Monday and met everyone in the franchise on the Saturday.
She is 23 and bought Little Voices Suffolk - a performing arts franchise focused on building confidence and life skills through drama and singing. She bought in at 21.
Before that she had come back from drama school, realised it wasn't for her, gone into social care, done some freelance work, and had repeatedly been told that she was too young or didn't have enough experience.
We sat down with her to talk about what it actually means to run a franchise, why young people in Ipswich don't get enough access to the arts, and what she says to a child who thinks they're too shy to be in a room like hers.
How She Got Here
Evie grew up in a musical theatre household. Her grandparents met doing musical theatre, her granddad is a classical singer, her mum put both her and her sister into ballet and tap from the age of four. Her sister did a couple of years and moved on. Evie realised it was what she actually wanted to do.
Drama school followed, then the realisation it wasn't the right path, then social care work with adults and children with additional needs, then freelancing in the arts sector. She says all of it feeds into what she does now.
The franchise came through her Instagram algorithm.
You were told you were too young repeatedly. What did that feel like?
How am I going to get any experience if you don't actually give somebody a chance? And because I'm quite strong-willed I was like — I'm not going to do it for free. Unless it's the right thing.
What made you take the leap at 21?
I was living at home at the time and I was like, right, while I've not got any massive outgoings, haven't got any kids that depend on me — when am I going to be in the position to give this a go? And it goes back to that first step. You just have to take it.
Was it scary signing on the dotted line?
I think I knew I'd made — actually I don't know if I knew I'd made the right decision. You never do. I feel like that was the best way for me to do it because I think if I had had longer I'd have built it up more in my head. Overthinking it.
(Photo: Evie Capon)
What A Franchise Actually Is
When most people hear the word franchise they may think - McDonald's. (I did)
Evie also makes it clear that she didn't know much about franchising before she bought into one. Many young people aren't even aware that this is an option or a route to consider.
The basic idea: a franchise is a proven business model that someone else has already built and tested. You buy into it, repeat the model in your area, and get the support of the wider network behind you. The trade-off is that you're working within someone else's structure - although there is freedom to put your own piece of heart into it. The upside is that you're not starting from zero.
What do you actually get when you buy a franchise?
You get the support. It's a proven model — people have done it, they know it works. You buy into that, repeat the same thing in your area and you are pretty much guaranteed to make money in your first year because it's a tried and tested method. Whereas if you were setting up something from scratch, the first one to three years you shouldn't expect to make money. So from that point of view for a young person wanting to go into business I think it's a really great way to build those skills.
Is there room for your own ideas within it?
That was one of my main questions when I was deciding. I said — I really want to carry on doing my work with kids with additional needs because that's what I'm really passionate about. Can that happen with Little Voices? We've now run a private project in London and we're rolling that out in September in Suffolk. Specific classes for kids and their carers who have additional needs. So in that case — you can put ideas forward. If it works in your area they'll roll it out.
Arts in Ipswich and the education sector
We spoke very plainly about what the education sector - not just in Ipswich, but across the country - is lacking.
Evie talks on the arts budgets being constantly cut across schools. "For most children, they're spending most of their time in school. If they're not accessing those creative opportunities in school - where else are they going to access them?"
She also talks about the importance of using drama and performing arts as a way of bringing a new format of teaching into the classrooms. She points to the fact that performing arts can give young people confidence, resilience, communication skills - a way to use one's voice. The importance of articulation.
"And things like learning Shakespeare — it's always sat behind a desk. If you push the desks to the side and start acting it out, you'd probably understand it a lot more."
Can Confidence Be Taught?
It's the question at the heart of everything Evie does. She came into performing arts partly because being on stage, as a character, meant she didn't have to be herself. If she was playing a role she was fine to stand on stage, but Evie speaking as Evie was an entirely different thing. They used to bribe her with chocolate.
The question of whether confidence is innate or learned is one she thinks about a lot. Her answer is both.
Is confidence something you can teach or does it come from within?
I think it's a bit of both. Confidence can be built, but it does come from you. You've got to believe in yourself and that you can do it. But external things can have an impact on that and help to build it.
What about boys in theatre - is the stigma still there?
Definitely — we have more girls. We've got one class where we have five boys in it and three girls which I love. But that's always been the case. There's still that stigma of — oh, theatre's a girls' thing. It really isn't, and it's a shame. Because I think theatre teaches a lot of empathy. And when you're able to access your creative side and go okay — this is how it would look, this is what I would do — you can actually learn through that.
Her Message To You
We closed by asking Evie what she would say to a young person who feels too shy, too quiet, too whatever — to be in a room like hers.
Evie won the Next Generation Award at the Disruptive Franchise Awards - recognising franchisees under 30 making a significant impact in their industry.
At 23, she is proof that the answer to being told you're too young is just to go and do it anyway.
