Creating Community Through Storytelling: How Chelsea Marshall Is Documenting the UK's Grassroots Music Scene
Chelsea Marshall always knew she wanted to build something of her own. As a child, she taught herself to make websites and blogs, chasing one obsession after another - horses, beauty, fashion, photography - and building entire online worlds around them. It took years for her to realize what she actually loved wasn't the subject matter itself, but the act of storytelling and creating spaces where people with shared interests could connect.
That instinct got buried under the weight of adulthood - careers, relationships, and the pressure to follow a more conventional path - until a complete breakdown in her late twenties forced her to stop and rebuild from the ground up. She went to therapy, left relationships that weren't serving her, and eventually walked away from her corporate career entirely. Out of that reckoning came Fleckies.com, the platform she'd dreamed about since childhood: a home for the stories of the UK's grassroots music scene, alongside her work with Dance Till Dawn and Music Barn Festival.
Now, Chelsea is entering a new chapter. After scaling back her creative agency, FS Productions, to recover from burnout, she's putting Fleckies back at the center of her work, with clearer boundaries and a renewed focus on telling the stories of the DJs, bands, producers, promoters, and venues shaping music culture in real time - not after they've "made it," but while they're still building.
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Q: What inspired you to start?
I've always wanted to build something of my own. Since I was about 11 years old, I was teaching myself how to make websites and blogs. Every few months I'd become obsessed with something new - horses, beauty, fashion, photography - and I'd build an entire little online world around it. Looking back, I don't think I realised it then, but what I actually loved wasn't the subject itself. It was telling stories and creating spaces where people with shared interests could connect.
Then adulthood happened. Careers, relationships and the pressure to follow a more conventional path slowly drowned that part of me out.
In my late twenties I hit a point where everything unravelled. I had what I can only describe as a complete breakdown. It forced me to stop and ask myself some difficult questions. I went to therapy, left relationships that weren't right for me, completely changed my life and eventually left my corporate career too.
That period became the catalyst for everything that followed.
I launched Fleckies.com because I wanted to create the platform I'd dreamed about since I was a kid - somewhere dedicated to telling the stories of the UK's grassroots music scene. Alongside that I've co-founded Dance Till Dawn, helping create events that give people somewhere to belong, and I work with Music Barn Festival, championing independent music and culture. They all come back to the same purpose: building communities around music and the people who make it.
Fleckies isn't just a business to me. It's the thing I was always meant to build.
Q: What problem are you solving?
I think we've forgotten how important storytelling is.
We're constantly being sold something - products, lifestyles and solutions to problems we didn't even know we had. Social media has amplified that. It's brilliant for connecting people, but it's also driven us into algorithms that feed us more of what we already know. If you like house music, you get more house music. If you like indie bands, you rarely see anything outside that bubble.
I wanted Fleckies to be the antidote to that.
We tell the stories of the people building the UK's grassroots music scene - DJs, bands, producers, promoters, photographers, venues and creatives who are putting everything into their craft because they genuinely love it.
Too often we only tell someone's story once they've "made it", as though success is the only part worth documenting. I completely disagree. The most inspiring part is the journey. It's the late nights, the setbacks, the tiny wins, the communities people build around themselves and the resilience it takes to keep creating.
Those stories matter because they remind people they aren't alone. They help us learn from one another, celebrate each other's achievements and discover incredible artists and communities we might never have found otherwise.
For me, Fleckies isn't about creating celebrities. It's about documenting culture while it's happening.
Q: What's next for you?
Starting a business is no small feat, and the last two years have been a real baptism of fire.
Alongside Fleckies I launched my creative agency (FS Productions) because I needed a way to support myself financially while building the platform. The problem was I massively undercharged, gave far more than I should have and slowly found myself pouring all of my energy into helping other people build their dreams, leaving very little time or headspace for my own.
It eventually led to burnout.
My birthday is in June, and I've always treated it as my personal New Year – so this year I’ve made a conscious decision to reset. I've scaled the agency right back, let go of most of my clients and I'm rebuilding everything with much clearer boundaries. I'm taking everything I've learned over the past two years and creating a business that can sustainably support me without losing sight of the reason I started in the first place.
The goal isn't simply to be busy. It's to build something meaningful that lasts.
I'm putting Fleckies back at the centre of everything I do, continuing to grow the platform, tell more stories and find new ways to support grassroots music across the UK. It feels less like starting again and more like finally building the version I'd imagined all along.
Are you a woman leader with an inspiring story? Founded by Women elevates the voices of women making an impact.
Breaking barriers or paving the way for others? We'd love to feature you. Get in touch! 👉 hi@foundedbywomen.org
