Kinross business Unlock Your Past on sourcing Scottish roots

Have you ever wondered how American tourists are able to tell you all about their great-great-great grandfather and where and when they were born?

Then meet Sarah Smith, the owner and founder of Kinross genealogy company Unlock Your Past.

Sarah uses meticulous research methods to uncover ancestry, family history and more.

She set-up Unlock Your Past after completing her master’s degree at Dundee University, and has not looked back since. Well, not unless she’s asked to.

How and why did you start in business

I started my family history business, Unlock Your Past, less than a year ago on a full time basis after taking a career break from teaching.

Family history has been a long time passion of mine and I knew that if I wanted to become a professional genealogist, I would need a qualification.

I completed a Masters in Family and Local History at Dundee University, then applied to the Association of Scottish Genealogists and Researchers in Archives (ASGRA) to become accredited.

How did you get to where you are today

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.

Who has helped you along the way?

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.

Sarah Smith, Unlock Your Past. Image: Sarah Smith/Unlock Your

My mom too has been a great support and a huge thanks goes to Andy Lambert at GrowBiz.

What was your biggest mistake?

Not doing this sooner.

What is your greatest achievement to date?

I often get asked by overseas clients to locate their roots in Scotland. It is like asking, how long is a piece of string.

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 two 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.

How has the cost of living crisis impacted your business?

All costs have been rising so it has meant that I have had to increase my prices. However, I do offer clients the opportunity to spread out the costs if it helps.

What do you hope to achieve in the future?

I hope to write a book. I am currently researching the genealogies of asylum patients – it is hard trying to find the time but that is my ambition.

Do you want to recruit in the future?

At the moment, I am not planning to recruit in the future but who knows what the future holds. Maybe ask me again in three years.

Nevertheless I am looking into outsourcing to virtual assistant, or similar, for social media support just to save me a bit of time.

What is the hardest thing about running your own business?

Managing clients’ expectation is something I had to learn along the way.

It is a business skill. 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.