Miss Quirky Kicks, Ipswich
Meet Lawra Stubbs
Inspiring Local Entrepreneur & Creative Spirit
We just love Miss Quirky Kicks.
Lawra Stubbs is bubbly, radiant, and full of life. Her colourful, revitalising energy is infectious, and her story is easily one of the most inspiring you’ll come across in Ipswich.
Born and raised in Ipswich, Lawra is the founder of Miss Quirky Kicks, which she launched in 2018. What started from early days on market stalls has grown into one of the town’s most distinctive independent spaces – based on Tacket Street, it blends bohemian retail with a strong sense of community.
We sat basking in the sun on the steps one morning – just enough time for a chat and for me to have a cigarette, watching ‘our friends’, the pigeons, peck the lawn.
We clicked instantly and spent half our conversation laughing. Lawra’s got a certain warm charm about her. She’s genuine, kind, bold – and her whole place reflects it.
Her family, her team – everyone in the house of Miss Quirky Kicks – is welcoming, warm-hearted, and clearly part of something that runs deeper than just a shop. That’s what makes the place so special.
More than just a store, it’s become a space for expression – from crystals, handmade jewellery, incense and tarot, to even penis-shaped dinosaurs. It houses everything from the slightly absurd to the genuinely astounding -like thousands-of-years-old fossilised wood, which happens to be one of Lawra’s mum’s favourite pieces.
It’s hard not to find something you love inside.
It’s perfectly peculiar. Wonderfully so.
A place people return to – not just to buy something, but to heal, connect, wander, and explore; It’s just a place that naturally invites you to lose a little time inside it.
And in a time where independent spaces are harder to hold onto, Lawra’s commitment to keeping it real, human, and rooted in expression matters.
It’s full of personality, and one of those places in Ipswich that genuinely deserves your support.
Interview with ‘Lawra’ Stubbs (Miss Quirky Kicks, Ipswich)
Location: In-store, Miss Quirky Kicks
Format: A cigarette and a chat on the steps with Ms. Lawra Stubbs, Miss Quirky Kicks of Ipswich.
Format: A cigarette and a chat on the steps with Ms. Lawra Stubbs, Miss Quirky Kicks of Ipswich.
Q: So, Laura! How long have you lived in Ipswich?
Laura: My whole life. I was born here, and just never really left, to be honest (warmly chuckles) – I’ve just stayed here forever!
Q: What’s your reason for staying and not wanting to live anywhere else?
Laura: I think I’ve definitely wanted to go other places, but all my family are here, I’ve always run my business here… and it’s just my home. Other places are nice, but this is where I belong.
Q: Where did it all begin for you?
Laura: So, my parents were market traders, and all their friends were market traders as well. They’d be on Ipswich Market and all the surrounding towns – Felixstowe, Framlingham, Cambridge – everywhere really. It was just what we did. How we lived, and how we could afford things like childcare, so from a really young age, I was just always there – working in the market with them or helping out.
From early on, I was just obsessed with jewellery.
That turned into making my own, then into crystal jewellery… then into a full-on obsession with crystals! (sweetly giggles)
So, I started a stall selling it all – and I’ve basically just done it ever since.
Q: Your mother mentioned you started this when you were five, and with just pocket money?! I mean – that’s incredible!
Laura: Yeah! My nan used to give me a pound on a Saturday for helping her – my nan, my uncle, and my parents were all market traders, so she had a flower stall.
I’d help her make bouquets, take that pound and go buy sweets from the food store at the market… then sell them at school.
With the profit, I’d buy jewellery-making bits, make jewellery, and sell that. It just kept building from there, really.
Cookie: What a remarkable mindset you had from such an early age. To have been so goal-oriented!
Laura: Like I said, I think it’s just growing up in that environment, having most of my family being market traders and all their friends – the idea has just always been in my head, you know? – I can’t really explain it.
Q: I think when anyone walks into your shop – they can feel it’s very personal. It reflects so much of your character, and it has a very genuine way of presenting itself.
Laura: Yeah, I think so. My whole thing is: if I wouldn’t buy it, I wouldn’t sell it.
Everything in the shop is stuff I’m genuinely obsessed with.
If I don’t enjoy selling it, I don’t want to sell it.
Q: Yeah, you’ve got to believe in what you’re selling, right?
Laura: I mean, I’ve tried selling other stuff before, and I thought – actually, I just don’t want to.
I just stick to what I know and love. I think it gives off a better vibe as well, just because I love it.
Q: You’re not tailoring to an audience, you’re saying – this is who I am and what I love. We have a lot of respect for that. You’re really an inspiration to us, Laura. You must have been the youngest business woman in Ipswich! (both laugh) What would you say to other young people in town trying to start something?
Laura: If you’ve got a goal in your head – even if it sounds delusional – just go for it.
When I was at school, teachers would ask what I wanted to do, and I’d say “I want to have a shop.” It was always my goal. And they’d tell me I couldn’t do that, that I needed to work for someone.
So, don’t listen to the negativity people tell you.
If you have a goal and can see it clearly in your head – if you can envision it, then you can fucking do it.
There’s nothing stopping you apart from people’s comments and negativity. – You’re capable of so much more than you realise.
Even, now, when I go through hard times, I’m like “oh, I don’t want to do this anymore”, and it’s been so hard to push through things, especially when there’s a lot more going around me that people don’t see.
I just do my best to ignore it.
Ignore the negativity. Ignore all the haters.
And just do what you fucking want to do!
Cookie: That’s it.
Laura: You’ve got one life. I don’t want to sound negative, but you don’t want to lay on your deathbed and think, “I wish I had done this.” Even if you do it and fail, you fucking tried. You achieved what you wanted to achieve!
Cookie: Amen to that.
Lovin’ what you’re saying here, you’re right – people shouldn’t be afraid of achieving their dreams. And we ought to feel free to express ourselves.
Q: Can I ask a little more about your store? What would you say people usually come for?
Laura: I think we’ve helped a lot of people over the years. We’ve had a lot of people come in when they’re going through a really rough time.
Breakups, divorce, losing someone close, losing a job – whatever it is. And I think that’s when people start opening up and turning to more spiritual things.
A lot of people dismiss it at first – but it’s usually when they’ve hit an ultimate low, that they come in, try something new, and it genuinely helps them.
We’ve had customers coming back all the time and saying, “Lawra, you’ve saved me.”
They’ve been really down in the dumps and for some reason, by just buying an inscence stick or just having a little crystal in their pocket really changed their lives – I just think that’s really fucking cool.
Cookie: Indeed. That’s awesome.
Laura: So, yeah. It’s important to give things ago and try new things.
Cookie: And express yourself!
Laura: Yeah! Express yourself. Don’t be scared of what people think.
I was bullied so much at school for liking crystals and stuff like that… and now those same kinds of people come into my shop.
So yeah – just be yourself.
Just do what you want to do.
Don’t let other people’s opinions stop you. You’re capable of way more than you think.
Cookie: Thank you so much, Lawra.
For your honesty, your energy, and everything you and your family have poured into Ipswich over the years.
You’ve built more than a shop – you’ve created a space that reflects individuality, belief, and boldness. A place where quirkiness thrives, and people can feel a little more like themselves.
In a town that carries its own eccentricity, that kind of presence matters more than people realise.
You’re a radiant spark in Ipswich – and an infectious light of inspiration.
We hope it spreads.