Back in February Steve and I travelled down to London for a meeting with Notonthehightstreet in their new offices in Lion House in Richmond. The big open plan office beyond the beautiful hand carved reception desk was a hive of activity and it was lovely to see some of the Noths girls again. We had our meeting in 'Harry's Room' (decorated for Holly's little boy with Noths partners products. It had the most amazing vintage car wallpaper from Catkin Collection (designed & made by Ditte)
We had our meeting with our personal partner manager Jo Vernon (a very lovely lady and very heavily pregnant!) Two hours later we came away with a whole head full of new ideas and very excited about our pending 2nd storefront with Notonthehighstreet called Giddy Weddings. (I will change this link as soon as the new shop is live!)
It snowed heavily on our way home but after treating ourselves to 1st class train tickets for the day the free Shiraz and hot food was a welcome bonus!
February also saw some other interesting and exciting developments for Giddy Kipper. We were contacted by a major British holiday company (we may become a supplier to their gift shops...but this is all very much in the air still) our products appeared in two national magazines within reader's homes (a lovely surprise) and we were contacted by several other wedding and home magazines for product loans and images for features in the Summer months.
Our fabulous Ice Lolly Soapsicles (which are the only products we sell that are not handmade in the UK but by a lovely lady in California) are being used in a Summer photoshoot for big high street chains New Look and River Island! (keep your eyes peeled for those!) Our products continue to be featured on other home, kids and wedding blogs which we very much appreciate - everyone has been so supportive.
I was also asked to write a guest post for the Cheeky Pickle blog run by Ali Benyon an English textile artist now living in Australia.I was thrilled to be asked and decided my focus should be on PR for small businesses as we have had a fair amount on success in this area. It was so well-received and I was grateful to 4 fabulous journalists for helping me with the post. The PR side of the business has also seen us being included in a book by Debbie Leven which is being published later in the year and inclusion in another book which for now remains a top secret publication...we will reveal all when we can!
In other news I am being interviewed for a further two blogs (both of which I absolutely love!) - a mixture of business and fun for both this time and I'm really looking forward to answering the questions! The first interview will be up in about 3-4 weeks on The Curiosity Project blog. If you haven't already discovered this fantastic project run by Tiffany Grant-Riley (of the beautiful Grant-Riley Weddings) I urge you to go and check it out NOW!
I have also had the most exciting email this week from the editor of Wedding Ideas Magazine. I have been asked to write a guest post for the magazine's blog!! I feel so honoured and am absolutely thrilled to contribute. My post will be up in the next couple of weeks and I will of course be bursting to tell you when it's live!!!
It has been a very exciting start to the year business-wise but inevitably not everything goes to plan and with both of our boys being ill for around 3 weeks in total in March (tonsilitis and 'slapped cheek' virus) it's also been a very tiring and emotional start too. But then running your own business is never easy (there have been plenty of 1am finishes recently!) and you have to take the rough with the smooth. We're always grateful for the amount of orders we receive at any time of year and try to fit in some family time when we can.
Now... does anyone have a couple of spare hours I could have please??
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