There’s something quietly about a person who has never once taken the obvious path, and yet, looking back, every twist and turn makes complete sense. Penny Millar, franchisee of Pink Spaghetti Kendal and South Lakes, is exactly that kind of person. Warm, unassuming, and sharp as anything, she joined Sukanya on one of the most beautiful accessible walks in the Lake District to talk about reinvention, the courage of self-belief, and the joy of helping small businesses find their feet.
A Journey That Didn’t Follow the Script
Penny grew up in North London, studied in Scotland, then, as life sometimes does, ended up in Kendal after meeting someone and simply never leaving. Her degree was broad and not particularly vocational, so what followed was a wonderfully eclectic working life: a stint at the post office (where she learned to count change without a till, a skill she still values, and I wildy envy!), working at Killington Lake service station on the M6, bar management at Bootleggers in Kendal for seven years, and then nearly a decade at Mardix, a Cumbria-based manufacturer of electrical switchgear that grew from 119 staff to nearly 800 during her time there.
Each role, Penny reflects, gave her something. From the bar, she learned what it means to be fully committed to a team, to thrive under pressure, and to love the buzz of a great shift. From Mardix, where she moved through health and safety admin, stock management, and eventually service department management, she absorbed the skills that would later define her business: project management, client relationships, working at pace, and jumping between complex tasks without missing a beat. Her colleagues called her the ‘problem manager’. She took it as a compliment.
The Moment Something Had to Change
When Mardix grew from a family business into something vast and corporate, something changed for Penny. She’d always thrived in smaller, more personal environments. She started asking herself the question that so many of us arrive at eventually: is this really how I want to spend the next twenty years?
The turning point came not from burnout, but from a quieter realisation. Her step-daughter Willow was three years old. Penny was missing the school Christmas play, the harvest festival, sports day. The fast-paced, long-hours corporate world, however much she’d learned from it, wasn’t giving her the life outside work that she needed.
Over the course of about twelve months, she started researching. What were her skills? What did she actually love doing? The answer, when she was honest with herself, was working with people, solving problems, and operating in the kind of environment where relationships matter. A virtual assistant, she decided, was exactly right. But how to do it?
Why a Franchise Made All the Difference
Penny could have gone it alone. But through her research, she found Pink Spaghetti, a franchise that she describes as ‘a business in a box’. She met the founders, Carlo and Vicki, had a conversation that lasted barely an hour, and received a message shortly after telling her they thought she’d make an excellent franchisee.
She hadn’t been looking for a franchise. She’d just been doing the research. But Pink Spaghetti gave her what she might not have found alone: a framework, a support network, and, crucially during the harder periods life throws at all of us, a safety net. When things have been difficult personally, she’s known she can reach out to fellow franchisees and know her clients won’t be let down.
“Had I not found Pink Spaghetti, would I have done this? Maybe not. It gave me the safety net that I may not have needed – but it was really nice to have.”
What Does a Virtual Assistant Actually Do?
It’s, Penny admits, probably the most difficult question in the world to answer. The quick version: Pink Spaghetti supports businesses of all sizes with back-office administration. The longer version? It looks completely different for every single client.
When Penny meets a new client, she starts by asking where the sticking points are. What don’t you know how to do? What don’t you want to do? What don’t you have time to do? From those three questions, she can build a support package that genuinely fits. Some clients just need the doing done. Others need something closer to a business manager, someone more active and involved in shaping how things run. Some contact her through Instagram; others walk into discovery calls already overwhelmed, not quite sure what they need.
Her message to any small business owner reading this: if you want your business to grow, there comes a point where you simply cannot do everything yourself. Admin is not your job. And outsourcing it to a VA for even four or five hours a week can free you up to do what you actually do best. Penny has clients who’ve been with her for four to six years. That, she says quietly, is validation enough.
On Imposter Syndrome, Awards, and Knowing Your Worth
One of the most honest moments of the walk came when Sukanya asked Penny about awards and public recognition. Pink Spaghetti had encouraged her to enter after a brilliant first year. Self-doubt crept in. Did she really want to put her hand up and say ‘I’m here, I deserve to be recognised’?
Penny reflected on this with real clarity. Putting your name forward for an award, she said, isn’t about saying you’re better than anyone else. It’s simply raising your hand. But for her, personally, with a full client book, clients who return year after year, and a business she genuinely loves, she’s not sure she needs the trophy on the shelf to know she’s good at what she does. The validation she needs comes from her clients. Every day.
It’s a position that speaks volumes about the kind of business owner she is.
Final Thoughts
Penny Millar is the kind of person who gives you permission to trust that the winding path is the right one. She didn’t follow a plan. She followed her instincts, invested in her relationships, and built something she’s genuinely proud of. Every day is different. No two clients are the same. And she thoroughly enjoys every bit of it.
If your business needs some breathing room, some expert, thoughtful, human support to help it run better, Penny and her team at Pink Spaghetti Kendal are absolutely worth a conversation.
Resources & Connect
Penny Millar is the franchisee of Pink Spaghetti Kendal, providing professional virtual assistant and business administration support to small and medium-sized businesses across Kendal and the South Lake District.
With a career spanning bar management, health & safety administration, stock management, and service department leadership, including nearly a decade at Mardix, a Cumbrian electrical manufacturer, Penny brings hands-on experience, genuine warmth, and a deep understanding of what growing businesses actually need. She’s process-driven, people-focused, and endlessly adaptable: the kind of person who can switch between completely different client worlds and give each one everything she’s got.
Pink Spaghetti Kendal works with businesses of all sizes, from sole traders looking for a few hours of support each month to established companies needing more strategic business management. Penny’s approach is simple: it’s your business, and it’s precious. She’ll never take that lightly.
Based in Kendal, Cumbria, Penny is also a keen walker (usually at speed, she admits) and a loyal listener of Sukany4: The Walk and Talk Podcast, which made being on the other side of the microphone a particularly memorable experience.
Links:
https://www.pink-spaghetti.co.uk/contact-us/virtual-assistant-kendal-south-lake-district/- Instagram:@penny.pink_spaghetti_kendal
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PinkSpagKendal
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pennymillar-pa/
We recorded this episode on the Skelwith Bridge to Elterwater walk in the Lake District, a gentle, utterly stunning stroll along the River Brathay. Starting from Chesters (yes, the famous café-shop beloved by anyone who has ever wandered this corner of Cumbria, and yes, of course we met inside and stocked up on some delicious treats!), the path winds beside the river, past waterfalls and lakeside views, all the way out to Elterwater village. It’s accessible, flat, and gloriously easy on the lungs, which, as Penny cheerfully notes, is exactly what she needed. The whole walk took on a typically grey quality in the autumnal slightly mizzly haze of rain, and of course, we just got on with it, afterall, it wasn’t “actual” rain.
