How did we start?
I started to believe this could be a business, I joined @kingstrust who coached me and other young entrepreneurs about how to incorporate a company, build a website, basic seo and accounting. In one of our first sessions the lecturer told me and 29 other entrepreneurs that within one year it was unlikely that anyone would still be running their business. I hated that statistic and it made me determined to continue- but he was correct, running your own business is a vocation, not for everyone and you need some good luck on your side. I was fortunate that I had no dependents and my loved ones have been very tolerant of me flaking on them because of work. Running a small business makes my soul sing because for me it’s all about people, and there’s nothing faceless about a small business- but it is not the easy choice. @kingstrust were instrumental in giving me the confidence to start and continue my business. I am forever grateful for their support. And when I first launched the parasols they put me in their shop window near Liverpool St Station.
The first year was wild, I stored the parasols in a container in East London and I packed and sent the orders myself- I drove parasols and huge boxes back to my tiny flat in a Mini. I often boxed myself in and had to throw my key out of the window to the courier.
My first ever stand was at a fete in Surrey with a sign I drew with marker pen. I had no clue what I was doing but people loved the parasols so much, I had a good feeling that this crazy idea might have legs.
Then we had a stand at Wilderness Festival with my pal @goneruraluk (with a much better sign) and sold out…
Feeling ever stronger in my determination to make the most beautiful, colourful and joyful parasols, I decided to go to Bali. I’d heard that Bali was a land of parasols, it was an adventure into the unknown but I knew one person there, a DJ I’d met once at a festival. He became a dear friend who kept me sane over the next few years with spicy Indonesian sambals and amazing music.
Yes, this is Grace Jones dressed as a zebra in Bali…
Bali blew my socks off. It is a land steeped in magic, spirits and volcanoes, I’d never been anywhere like it, everything there is made beautiful by adornment and decoration. I spent months there working with different groups of artisans until I found a village who made the perfect parasols. We still work together today and they continue to make our round bamboo parasols.
