A year ago, Rory Courtney was driving his daughters home from the swimmers on a Sunday morning when he blacked out and crashed into a house.
The hospital ran tests and said it was likely stress that caused the incident. At the time, he was into his eighth year of working in a high-pressure job for a software company, where he would work with clients globally and was expected to be “on” 24/7, 365 days a year.
In another devastating blow, after a week off following the crash, he returned to work and was made redundant on his first day. At the same time, Rory and his wife were going through a house sale, which fell through due to his job loss.
Describing the period as a “rough couple of weeks,” it made him step back, re-assess what he was doing, and look at the methods he was using to help him feel better. During this time, he developed a love for journaling, and this – coupled with his wife’s love for stationary – led to a new business idea.
Last month, the couple opened Flo & Dot, a boutique stationary store, gift shop, and creative space on the Antrim Road. Named after their daughters, Florence and Dorothy, it is bringing something new to North Belfast while giving Rory more time with his family.
Speaking to Belfast Live, Rory said: “I thought I enjoyed my old job at the time, but I didn’t realise I was really suffering from it; from the stress and anxiety it caused. There was a lot of time that was taken away from my family too.
“One Sunday morning, we were coming back from the swimmers with my two daughters. I blacked out and crashed, narrowly missing a dog walker, and went through someone’s garden wall. Fortunately, there was a car in the driveway or else I would have been in the front room.
“That was a wake up call for me. After going to hospital, they ran tests and found there was nothing wrong with my heart or head or anything, doctors said it was most likely stress that caused it.
“I took a week off work and the morning I went back, I was told I was being made redundant, which was another blow. My car had been written off, I was made redundant, and DVLA told me I couldn’t drive and it took around a year to get the licence back.
“We were also going through a house sale at the time. I couldn’t get the mortgage approved anymore, so that fell through.
“There are people in worse situations than me, but that was a rough couple of weeks. I ended up feeling a bit worthless.”
Rory Courtney in Flo & Dot on the Antrim Road(Image: Justin Kernoghan/Belfast Live)
Rory began to make steps towards his recovery from stress by taking one thing at a time, writing out his plans for the day, and putting his thoughts down on paper by journaling.
“Looking at what I wanted to do for work, I really wanted the happiness I got from journaling to be part of it,” he explained.
“My wife also has a big love of stationery. We decided opening up a shop focusing on these things could be the best path for us to get some enjoyment out of what we do for work, while also giving us the balance to spend more time with the children.
“It’s something we do with them too, we sit down and enjoy journaling with them. We get them to write about what they did in their day.”
Originally from East Belfast, Rory moved to the North of the city around 12 years ago, and had always missed the feeling of being able to pop in-and-out of boutique shops on Ballyhackamore, as well as enjoying some unique food and pubs.
He said the Antrim Road is now making moves in a similar direction, with an influx of new shops, restaurants, and cafes springing up over the past few years adding to the local community.
“I wanted to add to that influx of nice shops in the community,” Rory added. “People have been coming into the shop saying this is exactly what the area has been missing, which has been nice to hear.”
As for what he loves about journaling and why he would encourage others to give it a go, Rory said it has been a “real escape” for his family, with even his children getting involved.
“Everybody has pressures in their life, and very rarely do we take time out away from screens especially. That’s a big thing for kids too,” he explained.
“I wanted to get my kids away from screens, get them to learn, to sit down and enjoy putting pen to paper, and reading some books.
“You can sit down and think things through. It is a communal thing as well, for example we do journaling clubs here, which is like-minded people just sitting, having a nice cup of coffee, and getting your thoughts onto a page. Sometimes you just need to put something down there to make it real, make it happen, or maybe just to make sense of it all.”
Rory is happy to bring something new to the Antrim Road(Image: Justin Kernoghan/Belfast Live)
Rory said his journey to this stage hasn’t been easy, but that opening the business has allowed him to enjoy what he does while putting his family first. It has also allowed him to become more involved with the local community, as the shop are hosting a number of events and clubs.
Around half of the items they stock are from local, independent makers, with anyone buying items in the shop directly feeding back into the local economy.
He said: “It’s been very difficult, a lot of stress, which I was trying to avoid, but this is a different type of stress – this is something I can control.
“But ultimately the reason for doing this is I wanted to be a better person, I wanted to be happier and have more time with my children.”
As for how his daughters feel about the shop being named after them, Rory laughed: “My daughters feel like celebrities. My daughter Florence, or Flo as she’s known in school, asked the other day if she could come up to the shop as people would be expecting her to be there, as her name is on the shop.
“They absolutely love it. They’ve inspired why the shop is here, so that’s why I wanted to name it after them. It’s also a nice play on words for writing, which helps!”
You can find out more about Flo & Dot on their Instagram here, and their website.
Video by Belfast Live videographer Justin Kernoghan.
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