Meet The Compers: Kazzy Minton

I’m so excited to be back with a new series of Meet The Compers interviews for 2023! Let’s kick off with something quite rare – a NEW comper! Welsh comper Kazzy Minton only started comping two years ago, but her enthusiasm and dedication has resulted in some incredible wins, so I couldn’t resist getting her on board for a Q&A!

Thanks so much for joining me on SuperLucky Kazzy – how did you first get into comping?

It’s a sad, spiritual but also rather uplifting reason. I lost a little girl to a brain tumour many years ago. Daffodils were the only flower she knew (as they were in abundance on her final visit to the park) and her funeral was a sea of yellow, with hundreds of daffodils. Plus of course daffodils are pretty special to us Taffs too! Back in February 2021 I stumbled across a Facebook comp to win some beautiful silver daffodil jewellery from Henryka. I had to tag a friend, so tagged my sister Nicola Lester (who had been a comper on and off for years). On 1st March (St David’s Day) I was delighted to be announced as the winner and Nic and I both won daffodil jewellery. I felt the prize was destined for us, and I got pretty emotional about it. I then started asking Nic lots of questions about comping, joined Lucky Learners, had a few more little wins, and then eight weeks later I won an Xbox on Twitter with Pringles. And that was IT …I was hooked!

What did you find most difficult at the start of your comping journey?

I think it was getting to grips with T&Cs and the comping language – which I think I now speak quite fluently! I have a very creative brain and so am great with visuals but pages of words just swim around and sometimes don’t make sense to me. Being able to ask questions in the Lucky Learners group and use the chat threads on each purchase necessary comp explaining the entry rules has helped. I also felt a little nervous about chatting and commenting on posts and think I lurked for a while before I felt brave enough to get involved.

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A post shared by Kazzy Minton (@kazzymints)

In your first full year of comping you won an incredible £33k of prizes! Which were your favourite?

My favourite has to be the Corona Island trip that I’ve just returned from, where we met other Lucky Learners members. It was my husband Lee’s photo of Corona Tropical on Instagram that won us the prize – but we very much comp as a team, with Lee especially enjoying the purchase necessary comps on beer, crisps and chocolate!  What makes this win so incredible is that one of the winners on Twitter was my daughter’s boyfriend so they were on the same trip. The odds of a mother and daughter being the partners of two winners must be so incredible (my nerdy stepson told me the odds were 0.0009% which I don’t have the head to check but it was certainly some majorly good luck!). We spent a fabulous week mingling with parrots, a toucan, monkeys, an iguana and a peacock on a private tropical island just off the coast of Cartegena and it was absolutely beautiful and breathtaking.  Snorkelling, mangrove planting, cooking, dancing, stars and lots of lovely cold Corona of course – a real trip of a lifetime. The island opens for holiday bookings from July 23 and is a highly recommended experiential holiday.

Another favourite 2022 prize is the San Miguel garden makeover I won in October.  Cloud Nine Incentives have been brilliant in helping me sort out my purchases of a garden bar, firepit, sofas, shelves for the bar and festoon lighting. I was absolutely sure I was going to win the garden makeover on that comp, I had such a strong feeling about it! It was one entry per pack of four San Miguel so Lee really enjoyed that comp too! I bought the beer at the start of the comp but saved up all my entry codes until towards the end (being a bit strategic and avoiding the initial flurry of comping activity).  I am sure most people had forgotten about the comp towards the end,  so I was entering all my codes and winning lots of San Miguel prizes.  As well as the garden makeover I won £150 Somerset House bar tab (gifted to my niece for her graduation), a bottle opener, a chalice, a double deckchair, a cooler bag, a garden blanket, and a few packs of 0.00%. I started thinking I was the only person entering as every code seemed to be a winner.  The garden bar is stunning and of course it’s a good excuse to stock up on lots of drinks – all purchase necessary qualifiers of course!

Oh and I did love sewing with Patrick Grant through winning a place with Singer. He was so gorgeous and lovely and helped me design a lush festive skirt. 

What’s your comping routine?

Comping is always my start to the day.  I’m an early riser – usually up not long after 6am and always before 7am, and I love the quiet of the early mornings sat at my PC with a cuppa. I have a little ritual where I go through my bookmarks – Instant Dailies, Dailies, Weeklies, Monthlies and then visit Superlucky (of course), Lucky Learners, Compers News Chatterbox, and usually have a quick skim through Loquax and Competition Database to see if there is anything that takes my fancy though I dont enter many from there really.  I keep notes on my phone for qualifiers I need to buy and also check the Compers Shopping List from the car before going in a supermarket.  I also do a daily run through my notifications on Twitter, Facebook and Insta to see what I have been tagged by my lovely comping buddies. It is all quite methodical and usually takes me a couple of hours.  I am always getting on with my other stuff by 8:30am to 9am as I am a full time PhD student, an independent social worker, and run two arty farty businesses from home. Then after the day is done and I finally sit to watch a bit of TV I tend to scroll social media and enter any comps that catch my eye.  

Have you won any photo or video competitions?

I won a SMEG toaster in the Flora Be a Natural comp which I was so chuffed with, as I love SMEG products.  Lee filmed me stirring my coffee then throwing the spoon over my shoulder to land in the washing up bowl.  It was a fun one – there were some brilliant kitchen tricks that also entered so I was really happy to have won a prize.

My favourite video win is the Fortnum & Mason Hamper I won in the Farm Foods Bring Me Sunshine comp where I did an Eric Morecombe impersonation singing and dancing outside my house.  Farm Foods told me that my entry had made them smile and I loved the F&M hamper … so luxurious!

You’ve been very successful with purchase necessary competitions – do you have any tips to share?

I love purchase necessary (PN) comps and I am so lucky to have had some great wins.  For a girl that struggles with pages of words I do adore statistics and I think they show how good PNs have been to me.  I try to get hold of the qualifying products as soon as the comp starts, especially if it’s a daily draw.  Although sometimes then I do hold on to the codes/receipts until towards the end of the comp for when there are not so many quallies left in the shops or maybe other compers may have given up a bit.  This strategy definitely worked for San Miguel but sometimes I get impatient and just HAVE to enter the codes immediately!

YEAR	Instagram	Facebook	Twitter	TikTok	Linked In	Purchase	NPN
2021	10	13	18	0	1	173	113
2022	10	12	8	2	0	178	121
2023	5	1	1	0	0	34	13

What’s your favourite prize, and why was it so special?

I loved my Nando’s win of the Ultimate Football Party in July 2021.  Myself, my three sons, my dad and Lee were all chauffeured from different parts of Wales to a stunning house owned by two beautiful artists- the accommodation was very vintage/antique which is so ME!  We had our own two chefs cooking us Nando’s from a truck (they had driven up from Nando’s in Llanelli which was quite funny), two PR girls looking after us, our own photographer, a giant screen for the Euros in the garden with a firepit and lots of deckchairs and bean bags, and a huge Nando’s goodie bag filled with lots of merch and food stuffs.  We just had the best time.  It should have been my Mam and Dad’s wedding anniversary that day and so I wasn’t sure my dad would feel able to go but I was so glad he did.  It just all felt so perfect with my five favourite men, and my Mam was the biggest footie fan and I think she would have loved us all enjoying that great prize together.

What’s your favourite type of competition?

I love making little videos and taking photos so the creative entry ones are my favourite. Not that I am hugely successful as yet but I am learning from some of the Lucky Learners legends who are so brilliant at creative comping. I think effort based comps are the best as they are also lowest entry but of course the disappointment is greater when you don’t win. You have invested so much time into your entry, none of that simple click and retweet stuff, and so not winning is more of a disappointment.  But hey, they are always fun to do and great to share!

I also really like the Tesco Text-to-win competitions where you upload your receipt at the point of entry as these seem well run, have great prizes, and I have enjoyed lots of lovely wins in this format.  One of my favourite Tesco TTW wins was the Ladies EURO final at Wembley with Heineken Hospitality and £500 spends for money for travel and accommodation. I took Nic who lives in London (so no accommodation costs to pay!) and we had such a great day watching those mighty Lionnesses win.

Which winning entry are you most proud of?

I am always more proud of my creative wins as they are usually more than just the luck of the draw. A few years ago my eldest son took me on a wild camping experience in the Brecon Beacons as my Mother’s Day gift and it was just fantastic. I love this photo of us, and in January it won a £100 voucher from Alpkit on Instagram – I used it to get lots of outdoor swimming and walking kit!

I also won a Huawei competition with a little video I made of Lee walking our dogs with a story-telling entry called “A Peaceful Place”.  I won a £650 Huawei Voucher and bought myself a super duper whizzy touchscreen laptop with it (watch Kazzy’s video in the Huawei Community forum).

Do you have any embarrassing comping stories?

OMG Mentos! I have tried so so hard at that comp.  I was posting crazy videos and photos all the time, and had all my non-comping friends asking what was going on! Visitors to my house were bringing me lots of packets of Mentos.  Some of Lee’s tattoo customers even brought me packets of Mentos.  All I got for my immense efforts was three daily draw wins so six boxes of …. yep more blinking MENTOS.  I put so much effort in to that comp and I quite honestly never ever want to see another packet of Mentos again – I shudder with embarrassment every time I see my entries for that one!

(In that case I probably shouldn’t share, but they did make me smile Kazzy! – Di)

What do you love most about comping?

I love the thrill of a CONGRATULATIONS message and the surprises that arrive in parcels.  A day can turn wonderful in a moment with a lovely win or a surprise package.  I also love the camaraderie with compers supporting each other and hunting down promos for each other.  I still owe Emma Bradbury an iced coffee and Zeleena Webb a pizza – I’ve not forgotten! Oh and comping karma is the best, and truly whenever I have done something kind for another comper then something lovely always drops my way.  Although that is not why I try to be kind of course – but good things always seem to go around and come around.

And the worst thing about comping?

Hearing people say “Oh I never win” – and my response is always “how many do you enter?” I don’t like moaning either and rarely moan about losing despite the disappointments. However, I have been so lucky since I started comping that I feel I can’t really complain that a Walkers holiday win has never come my way or my lack of wins with that blinkin’ Fanta Pumpkin car.  In other comps I have been incredibly lucky, and as they say you win some and you lose some.  You must never let it bring you down and I enter everything believing I can win it: positive mind set is a comper’s best buddy and all that!

Have you had any luck with radio competitions?

I have won two so far! My first was texting in an answer to an on air question.  Ellie Wood and Chris Buso had posted the comp on LL and just by chance I was browsing, spotted it and texted in.  When the reply came back saying I had won £1000 I could hardly breathe.  I didn’t have to go on air – I just had to give them my bank details. My second radio win was the Ultimate Date with Kiss FM, which we are taking on Lee’s birthday. I do try some of the text in comps but the thought of going on air is dread I must try to overcome.  I used to do live radio and TV interviews as my job and didn’t bat an eyelid although I did once make a fool of myself years ago on a local radio station comp a team made up of my managers played a team of practitioners and the managers were asked to name a famous chef and I blurted out Harry Ramsden!

What’s the most unusual prize you’ve won?

I won a Ziggy Stardust Make Up class at the BFI on the Southbank – the prize was a demonstration by a theatrical make up expert, free beer from Brixton Brewery and a cinema screening of David Bowie at Glastonbury.  There was no travel or hotel but it was my bestie’s birthday and she lives an hour out of London so we took the train together and it was just so different and so brilliant.  Afterwards, I thanked the BFI team and said how much we had loved our Bowie goodie bags and in return they posted me literally hundreds of Bowie postcards and so my monthly postcard entries now all go on Bowie postcards (I usually pick six good ones a month to enter with second class stamps).

Have you met up with any compers in real life?

I had a great Birmingham meet  up with Cath Cook in December.  We had coffee, a chat, some laughs and even entered a couple of comps whilst galloping around Brum (we didn’t win though!).  I also met Charlotte Armstrong at the Womens Euros Final.  Our photo together made the cover of Compers News and we still WhatsApp to catch up and talk PN comping (Charlotte really is the Queen of PN comps).  I shared my tropical island adventure with other Lucky Learner winners Jennifer, Lin, Mark, Kiwi and Lisa.  I also have another exciting holiday to look forward to, as the very lovely AnneLouise Hall won a fabulous 5* all inclusive holiday to Crete on Instagram and has so generously invited ME as her plus one! Compers really are the BEST most kind hearted people. In 2022 I did a sponsored walk/swim raising money for a memory tile for my little girl to be installed in the Brain Tumour Research Centre.  I honestly could not believe all the kind generous comping friends who donated to my cause after spotting my Facebook post. I was so completely blown away by the comping kindness and love bestowed on me. 

Which other compers do you look to for inspiration?

Definitely Helen Westwood (@welshgirlfoodie) for her stunning foodie photos and videos for sure and Kaz Weedon’s baking photos are also so professional.  But so many other compers are also inspiring. I love Tik Tok posts by Arthur Humphries and Nic Stott who always have fabulously creative videos. And I love your posts Di  – your ReadyBrek bear and your Noddy Holder entry outside Iceland were both genius.

If you could win a competition to meet someone famous who would it be?

I would love to go to Wrexham football club and meet Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney.  I think they are two funny amazing guys (and both rather gorgeous) who have put Wrexham and Wales on the map.  The Netflix series Welcome to Wrexham is just the best watch even if you are not footie fans.  Oh and it makes me happy that thanks to them, Americans now know that Wales isn’t in England! My eldest son and his partner both work in Wrexham and I have told them both to watch out for ANYTHING that will get me a meet and greet with Rob and Ryan…

Finally, what would be your dream competition prize?

I really want to win a new kitchen, as mine is ancient – I have painted it so many times, it has broken drawers and a curtain where a cupboard is supposed to be.  Oh it would be lovely to win one! I have only recently started baking (thanks to my Kitchen Aid win on the Stork comp) and rarely cook as Lee is the cook in our house.  However, I want to win a kitchen so badly I have attempted some Belazu recipes and posted them on Instagram.  The lovely Helen (@WelshGirlFoodie) has given me lots of ideas and tips and helped me so much with staging and brightening my food photos. I love the kindness and generosity that Helen and other compers share so readily.

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Thanks so much Kazzy – this has been fantastic and I’m sure will inspire so many new compers! You can follow Kazzy at @KazzyMints on Instagram, Twitter and TikTok.

If you enjoyed this interview please do check out the other Meet The Compers Q&As here.