Time to meet the team!
As I write this the shop has not been open for seven weeks and sitting patiently in the side lines is the fantastic team that surrounds me waiting patiently to come back to work.
When you have a small business like mine the most important thing about it is the people who work for you. I am lucky to have an amazing team and I thought it would be a nice idea to introduce you to them.
So below are the ladies who make both the shop and the website come alive. Without them I would be nowhere.
Above is Nicky with her daughter Tatty. Nicky and I met back in 1986 when we were at Bristol University together. She has worked in the shop since the day it opened. She is brilliant with customers and always coming up with great marketing ideas that keep me on my toes.
Fun fact – Nicky used to be a Barrister and a Fund Manager.
Nicky and Tatty are both wearing One Season dresses which we stock every summer.
Next up is Clare with her daughters Lyzee and Olivia. Clare and I met when my son Jack and Lyzee were at prep school together. She has worked in the shop right from the start and did the opening day with me. We call her the Display Director as she is the one who changes our gorgeous window displays.
Fun fact – Clare is a woman of action. Last year she skied in Iceland and climbed to Everest base camp.
From left: Clare and her girls are dressed in a mixture of Place du Soleil and Mabe. Both brands we stock every summer.
And above is Charlotte with her boys George and Harry. Charlotte grew up in the same village that I live in and she found Cleverly Wrapped via Instagram. Charlotte juggles childminders and lunch boxes to work in the shop on a Thursday and has been with me since the start. We love the fact that she brings youth to the team but don’t envy her lockdown with such small children.
Fun fact – Released for a day a week from her children, you’ve never seen anyone spend so much money in her lunch hour.
Charlotte wears a Des Petits Hauts Cardigan and we stock cardigans from this brand all year round.
Vanessa is new to the team since September when she moved back to the UK after a long stint in Kenya. She was also at Bristol University with me. Ness is a great new addition to the team and we love her sense of humour! She used to have her own business so knows a thing or two about selling!
Fun fact – Ness is a self confessed shopaholic which makes her very good for my sales!
And now onto the behind the scenes team members. Above is Justine who I first met back in 2001 when we were both living in Dubai. Justine is an ex model turned photographer who has been the CW photographer since we started back in 2014. She does all the model shoots and we have so much fun doing them together.
Fun fact. Justine used to be the legs of Pretty Polly!
Justine is wearing the CW Classic Cashmere Scarf.
And this is one of Justine’s daughters Poppy. Poppy often steps in to help with modelling when we need shots between shoots. Thanks Poppy!
Poppy is wearing the a dress by Place du Soleil.
And now to really confuse you there is another Justine. Yes we have two Justine’s known in the team as Justine No.1 and Justine no.2. The Justine below is our graphic designer. She is the one who makes the home page of the website and the newsletters look so lovely. We chat over the phone a lot about all manner of things but mainly what to make the next newsletter about and which Joe Wicks exercise class to do next.
Fun fact – Justine owns 5 denim jackets!
Justine is wearing the Petite Etoile Denim Jacket – her current favourite.
And here’s me with my daughter Lucy. If you follow me on Instagram you will know that Lucy is known as “the reluctant model”. Thanks for all your help during lockdown Lucy – your modelling, your filming and photography and your commentary!
Lucy and Harriet twinning in La Petite Etoile Chambray Jumpsuits.
And finally……. drum roll……we have a man in the team! He is called Rob and he lives in Barcelona. He doesn’t own a single piece of Cleverly Wrapped and wouldn’t be likely to wear it. He is the web developer and without him at the moment we would be nowhere. Thank you Rob!
I hope you enjoyed the opportunity to meet the team. I really do genuinely believe I am surrounded by great people and that fact that they all made the effort to send in pictures for this blog post is evidence of this. And didn’t they do a great job? I am also appreciative to all my customers who have been so supportive during this lockdown with all your on line purchases and finally a big welcome to all my new followers and subscribers.
Enjoy the bank holiday weekend.
