A little background...
Hi.
My Name is Pippa. Welcome.
If you're new to these parts, then this post should help you figure out who the heck is behind this little slice of the internet. Hi. Come on in, grab a seat and let's get right to it, shall we?
Writing a post about myself is right out of my comfort zone - I'm an introvert so talking out loud pretty much any time of day or night is my worst nightmare. Which means talking about myself is soooo not what makes me happy. But here we are. And the rules of internet engagement dictate that one must fall on one's sword and introduce themselves in order to provide context and build rapport with their audience. So it is what it is.
I'm a 34 year old creative living in Auckland, NZ with my hubby, 2 girls (Alice and Charlotte) and our 2 felines (Nina and Penny). We bought our house on the North Shore when we found out I was pregnant with Alice, so over the course of the last year we have been renovating it, tweaking it, beautifying it and just generally making it home. At the moment, we are busy renovating the Shout & Co. headquarters, so shortly this little slice of the internet will have a new brick and mortar place to call home. Well, not so much brick and mortar as gib and cladding.
I have a degree in Business and a diploma in Interior Decorating. I'm a visual person so I am absolutely captivated and entranced by beautiful images and spaces. A business degree being shoved into a creative head might seem counter-productive, but my business background has come in handy insofar as managing and running Shout & Co. goes. I started my career in marketing at Unilever, fresh out of Uni and bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. My, how that has since been kicked out of me. I've worked for 3 other retailers in various capacities: trend forecasting, buying across womenswear, activewear, swimwear, jewellery, sleepwear and denim. 12 years later, I finally saw the light and packed it in to have more control over my 9 to 5. I suffered bad bosses, corporate red tape and a heap of micro-management which was not exactly the grand plan I had for my life. A 12 month maternity leave and some serious self-talk led me to carving out a niche for myself in the massive expanse of the digital world - fast forward to today and Shout & Co. is nearing its 7th month birthday. Hooray. I started Shout & Co. as a way to allow myself to be more creative, to work with small businesses, to work on new things everyday and venture out of my creative comfort zone. I have bundled all of my experience in marketing, trend forecasting, buying and sourcing to develop a comprehensive service offer that covers all of a small business' digital needs. I do miss certain things about working for someone else: the guaranteed pay check at the end of the month, start times and home times, international travel to cool destinations, shopping the London high street for a living and having to read Vogue as part of my work research.
The whys and hows are easy to explain - the whats are where it gets a little bit more 3 dimensional.
What do I love?
Penguins: my first stuffed animal was a knitted penguin called Percival Ponsonby which I've handed down to Charlotte and has pride of place on her bookshelf
Any shade of grey, white, black
Candles: Ill burn those guys throughout the house, all day long
Sweet stuff: I have a real voracious sweet tooth which was handed down from my gran to my dad and eventually to me
Tea: all day, every day. I don't drink coffee: never had, never will
My kindle
Devouring magazines and Pinterest
Handwritten notes and writing in my notebook
Murder mysteries, thrillers and true crime
Brussel sprouts - I eat them like crisps
Travel: Marrakech and Paris are my favourites, closely followed by Ho Chi Minh and Puerta Vallarta
Folding laundry: so therapeutic!
Staying up late at night: I'm a bit of a night-owl that way
What do I love-not-so-much?
When people write "your" but mean "you're" - the same with "there" / "they're" / "their"
Bad drivers
Unloading the dishwasher
Waking up early
Going to bed early
Predictable endings in movies and books: I want my mind to. be. blown. Don't deprive me of that.
Mushrooms. Yuck.
Drinking alcohol - crazy that I don't rely on it to get me through given that I'm a parent of 2 small children, but I just don't like to drink!
Not having a pen or wet wipes in my handbag - you never know when you might need to write down an awesome idea or wipe off a surface
More on that: germs. I wash my hands compulsively throughout the day - I'm OCD when it comes to germs and bacteria
Touching trolley handles, escalator rails, elevator buttons and public bathroom doors. MY WORST.
There's a theme developing here - can you tell?
Now enough about me - I'm really keen to know who I'm talking to. Let me know who you are, where you're from, your loves and loves-not-so-much.
