Maldon Nub News aims to be supportive to EVERY element of the community from business and shops to people and charities and clubs and sports organisations.

Everyone is finding it tough at the moment and wants life to get back to normal.

We will be profiling some of these local businesses and groups regularly over coming weeks in our UP CLOSE IN MALDON features in the hope that we can be a supportive springboard for your full return to life and business as usual.

Today we feature an interview with Megan Clancy, who is about to open her very first shop.

It's already becoming obvious that the group whose careers and work prospects have been most severely hit by the Covid-19 pandemic are the under-25s.

Such was the experience of 23-year-old Megan Clancy, who found that the job she loved – working as a visual merchandiser for Marks and Spencer at Bluewater, was suddenly changed beyond recognition from the start of the first lockdown. The fashion and homes sections were closed and Megan was redeployed to the food hall. She stuck at it but as the months went on, she found the situation was having an impact on her mental health and she longed to get back to the creativity she had enjoyed before.

Having already sold some home decor items she'd made on Instagram and Etsy, Megan decided to take the big leap to running her own online business.

"I came home from work one day and I was struggling," she says, "and so I said to myself, "why not do it? Why not take the risk and do something you really want to?"

I told my mum straight away, "I'm just going to take the risk and go for it."

Megan's online business LunaBlue Interiors was launched in September, selling hand-made and hand-painted items from vases to art and beautiful upcycled furniture – and quickly proved a success.

As the pandemic wore on, this young entrepreneur realised that as people gradually come out of this situation, things will change.

"I think a lot of people will want the shopping experience again," Megan says, "they will want to see things for real."

Megan lives in Romford with her family and it was on a day out to Maldon, when such things were allowed, that they spotted the little empty shop at 16, King's Head Centre. As they paused to look, the estate agent appeared and asked if they were interested in it.

"I've always loved Maldon. It's such a nice town and it just felt right."

And now, as we begin to emerge cautiously from lockdown three, Megan is preparing to open her first ever shop on 16 April.

"If you'd told me this time last year that I would be doing this now, I just wouldn't have believed you," Megan says.

So what would be her message to other young people out there who may be finding it hard to cope with the many ways in which this pandemic has changed their lives?

"It is a struggle but you just have to keep going. It will get better and there is still a future," she says.

Megan is clearly passionate about what she does and her enthusiasm for design and working with others is easy to see.

"I have my own design ideas and things I like, but I custom make things, too – and I'm really open to other ideas and opinions and what they like.

"A friend asked me what my five-year plan is," Megan laughs, "and I had to think about that. The main thing for now is just to keep things going and make this work."

You can find LunaBlue Interiors at the website using the link here.