The Best Things in Life in November

Katie

Best things in life?

My favourite night of the year; Bonfire Night! Each year in Kenilworth, a local town to Coventry, we watch the incredible firework display over the ruins of Kenilworth Castle, while not one, but three bonfires brightly burned last Saturday evening. The exciting atmosphere, wrapping up warm and hot sugary mini doughnuts might have something to do with it being my favourite night too!

Paperchase – one of my favourite places to shop, but it’s so much more than just stationery! The recent Christmas collection had us both hurrying around the Paperchase pop-up in Selfridges as we excitedly gathered up orange and purple festive delights, you’ll be able to see the full scope of our work (and yes there are purple and orange Christmas trees) at our wooden log cabin at the Oxford Christmas Market in December where we’ll be serving up lots of Not Dogs!

Christmas spices – it may be early for some, but as we will be spending most of December at the Oxford Christmas Market, we have been busy in the kitchen cooking up some special festive recipes featuring Nutmeg, Cinnamon, Cranberry and Stilton – not all together of course!

My favourite piece of art is...

Chosen in light of Armistice Day this week and is a statue of a soldier that sits on my bookcase at home. Each year we visit the War Memorial Park in Coventry to hear the beautiful remembrance service that takes place around the central cenotaph that I usually run around in my local park. There is no truer or more poignant thing to hear than “For your tomorrow, we gave our today”.

My top album is...

A golden oIdie! A recent road trip with my sister resurrected my teenage love for Whitney Houston – too many hits to mention, so I downloaded the album I used to have and now I can spend many a journey belting out a tune (or ten!)

The pin that sums me up at the moment is...

Jane

Best things in life?

The Bali Bible Instagram account is my new favourite account especially as Katie and I are busy planning our first mini-retirement to the island in February. The account accompanies the website which was created by an Australian couple with a big love of Bali who detail the best spots in Bali from hotels, restaurants, bars and beaches. Even if you're not going to Bali, their inspirational, uplifting images across social media brightens the gloomiest day!

The White Company is one of my most adored brands and listening to founder Chrissie Rucker at a recent Red Network Event has only strengthened this. Chrissie is one of the most inspirational women I've had the pleasure of listening to; she's so honest and down-to-earth. Her love for all things white sparked the idea for the business but you can see it's only succeeded due to her dedication to customers, quality and her enthusiasm for the brand.

The Sunrise by Victoria Hislop was brought for me for my birthday and I've just started reading it and I love it already. Victoria Hislop is my favourite author; I have read her first book The Island numerous times as well as listening to the audiobook over and over again - I simply never get bored of her Mediterranean tales.

My favourite piece of art is...

This print of a French scene which reminds me of childhood summers spent on the beautiful, tiny island of Embiez in the South of France. My parents and I would pass the days relaxing on a secluded beach, swimming to the rock islands and enjoying fresh seafood picnics!

My top album is...

A toss up between Ben Howard and Jamie Cullum... I can't pick! Both are new amazing albums from two outstanding male musicians, who I admire very much. Ben Howard's new album 'I Forget Where We Were' has a laid-back emotional vibe whereas Jamie Cullum's 'Interlude' brings all the songs to life with jazzy ups and downs thrown together in a way only Jamie can!

The pin that sums me up at the moment is...

Red Network Event: Be Your Own Boss with The White Company’s Chrissie Rucker

This Wednesday marked our 5^th Red Magazine’s Red Network Event in London. We first went along as enthusiastic and excited women about to embark on our journey to start our own business in 2012, and almost two years later we sat and listened to one of the most inspiring talks yet. Chrissie Rucker, founder of The White Company was interviewed by Red Editor Sarah Bailey at the Conference Centre of the British Library and here is a collection of the advice that we left with, as we excitedly travelled home as we always do after a Red Event overloaded with new ideas and the confidence to make them happen.

Twenty years ago Chrissie Rucker began what she calls a bumpy journey to create something she wanted herself; simple white sheets which quickly grew into the concept of somewhere where you can get everything in white, because "there is a place for white in every home whatever your style". This year marks 20 years of The White Company with 52 stores, 1200 staff, 12 stores in Dubai and a brand that is known for providing beautiful things to buy that aim be used and loved every day. The future looks very exciting as Chrissie announced that the brand is about to launch in the US and has created The White Heart foundation to support four charities that help vulnerable children and provide support for women.

So here is what we’ve learnt from Chrissie Rucker in 40 minutes, although we’d very much like another 40 minutes with her!

As two people who want everything tomorrow to happen today, it was great to hear from Chrissie that The White Company has grown safe and strong in 20 years, realising the importance of building a strong brand in the UK first before trying to go global, and that steady growth doesn’t mean it’s going to take such a long time to create something you love, in fact it’s the journey of growing the business and brand that is important.

We were so happy to hear that one of the most crucial elements to success for Chrissie was to live, sleep and breathe as your customer, which is what we always do. In fact we have learnt we are much more passionate about our products if we are the customer in the first place. The White Company often calls on feedback with customer focus groups named The Kitchen Table and Chrissie rightly said “You are nothing without your customer”.

Next year will mark Katie & Jane’s first adventure employing staff, and, with that in mind it was so interesting and reassuring for us to hear Chrissie’s issues in the early years of learning the art of delegation and accepting the things you aren’t very good at. 20 years on she believes the most powerful thing you can do is unite your staff as a team and include them in creating the five year dream and vision for the company to keep everyone motivated and excited to make it happen.

Finance is always an issue that people face continually during the journey of owning your own business, especially if you are a big dreamer and things aren’t happening as fast as you would like – life is short after all! However, Chrissie has always rejected the private equity route and instead managed to survive with her own investments and small cash injections from award wins and a bank overdraft. This really gave us something to think about and realised how admirable her journey really has been. I think we wished we were just as calm and sensible as she appeared, however we know to be that passionate about your dream you have to be absolutely obsessively 200% into making it a reality – which she shared with us later on in the evening.

When talking about her products, we were so inspired and reassured by her confidence at buying in carefully selected products from suppliers rather than manufacturing them. The brilliance of hunting down the same suppliers that make bath robes, towels and bedding for high-end priced designer brands and selling them direct to customers for a more accessible price while still building a solid, strong and beautiful British brand was really one of the stand out moments for us, we also loved hearing how she shared the same love for simplicity as us too!

As customers of The White Company it was hard to think about ever seeing the brand make a mistake, however as we know when creating a business mistakes happen all the time. It was good to have some sound advice for us to refer back to in times of trouble “Things go wrong the whole time, have the state of mind and attitude to look at what has gone wrong, learn from it, put it right and say sorry as fast as you can… part of the learning curve is not to make the same mistake again in future.”

Sometimes we both struggle with priorities in our businesses, especially because we want to do 100 things all at the same time, but Chrissie has learnt it’s better to focus on a smaller amount of things that could make a much bigger difference if improved and tackle them in one year, rather than do lots of things mediocrely.

When growing a business you either have to have a fantastic product or an outstanding service (or both!) with which you can then grow a team around but Chrissie said it’s also important to develop a group of people or mentors who’s opinions you value and can trust. As Chrissie said “You are only ever as good as the people you have around you at work and at home too”.

Two pieces of advice when running your own business was to “never be afraid to ask for help”, and I think the most simple, but most encouraging piece of advice I’ve heard in the last two years… “You learn to get better at it”.

Inspired herself by Estée Lauder, having started selling lipsticks, and grown to an infamous global brand, we shared her thoughts even after only being in business for 2 of her 20 years when she said: “The beauty of having your own business is that you get to choose. It’s a very bumpy journey and it is at times very hard, but at times it's just so incredible.” For us those incredible times more than make up for the hard times, we are absolutely addicted to them!

One thing we are really going to try harder at following Chrissie’s advice is to learn to celebrate the good things, sometimes it’s very easy to pass those things by!

Here’s to our 2^nd Birthday on 1.1.15, and hopefully many more years to come!

Thanks Chrissie,

Katie & Jane x

App Business Inspiration from Down Under

When Katie and I started developing iPhone apps we knew it was a male-dominated industry but that didn't put us off of course! Instead, we decided to focus our attention on designing apps for females which is where the idea for our first app Countdown Keeper came from.

We'd been inspired to produce iPhone apps after reading the fantastic App Empire by Chad Mureta which charts his journey from hospital bed to successful app developer. I follow his blog too and was over-the-moon to find two female app developers very similar to Katie and I in Byron Bay Australia; Sophie and Stephi, the owners of the business Applause.

These two inspirational women created Applause for the same reason Katie and I did; to be able to live a life that is more free than the usual 9-5 and what's great is, with a lot of hard work, they've done it! We're in a minority here in the UK in terms of lifestyle businesses but over in Australia and America people are valuing free time more than constant work so finding inspirational entrepreneurs like Applause is just fantastic for Katie and I and certainly makes us feel more supported.

Aside from their millions of app downloads, their way of working is also a major inspiration. They make relaxation and nature part of their working day (nicer in Byron Bay than the current gloomy Birmingham I imagine!), they take 'mini-retirements' to regroup and focus and also I love the principles that they created when they started Applause. The principles focus on what they want out of business and what direction they want Applause to go in along with actions on how they are going to get there. I know they were as inspired by Tim Ferriss' The Four Hour Work Week as I was before creating Katie & Jane.

We asked Stephi and Sophie where they found business inspiration from...

"Instagram and the App Store. It helps a lot if you know what target market you want to reach with your apps so you know what app category to look into or what Instagram users to follow."

Get inspired by the duo on their blog here or download one of their popular apps.

Jane x

Inspirational Countdowns to Motivate you through the Winter Season!

When the temperature outside drops, the days become grey, and the cold, dark nights draw in it’s easy to feel a little miserable, so we have a little idea to hopefully brighten up your day!

Studies have shown that anticipating future events is an important source of happiness. Having something to look forward to, enjoying the moment, sharing the pleasure with others to heighten the experience and then reflecting on moments make even the smallest of experiences even better. 

So... brush off the seasonal blues and be inspired by our countdown inspiration!

Halloween

The first on the calendar and only 1 week and 13 hours to go till the spooky goings on of Halloween. Add events like parties, fancy dress nights, or simply having fun with your friends carving pumpkins, making toffee apples and decorating your home. Even if it’s not something you are excited about, logging it as a countdown is especially handy if you have children, or work in an industry that positions content around themes like Halloween such as a school teacher.

Bonfire Night

Never one to miss, it’s a good idea to have your local Bonfire night event in your app early, and you can even set a reminder for when you need to buy tickets so you don’t miss out. Looking forward to bonfires and fireworks is always fun, especially if you are also celebrating with friends and family – countdown to the fun and revelry of toasted marshmallows, candy floss, dazzling fireworks and mesmerising bonfires. Only 1 week, 5 days, 13 hours and 10 minutes to go!

Christmas Eve & Day

Using Countdown Keeper you can countdown to Christmas Eve when Santa pays a visit for children, Christmas Day itself, or both! There are lots of Christmas Day countdown apps out there, but we like to think of ours being much more useful by adding other events that you can look forward to as well! Plus there is also a ‘notes’ section to each event which during Christmas is especially handy for keeping a note of gift ideas for friends and family. Other Christmas events you can keep track of and countdown to are the local Christmas lights switch on, Boxing Day gatherings or even some Winter sun if you are planning on getting away from the UK.

New Year’s Eve & Day

There’s nothing better than starting a new year, especially if you spent the last night of the previous year in good spirits with friends, family or just in your happy place. We like to create a countdown to the first day of the New Year to inspire us to be excited for the year ahead and what it might bring! 2015 starts in just 9 weeks, 6 days, 13 hours, 8 minutes, 18 seconds and counting!

So there you go! We hope you feel a little happier and more positive about the months ahead. To download Countdown Keeper from the App Store just go straight to this link or simply search ‘Countdown Keeper’. 

In the free version of the app you can add up to three events, and to upgrade to the PRO version it’s 69p which unlocks the ability to add an unlimited amount of events, create your very own categories to organise your countdowns, use images from your Facebook albums and add notes too!

Find us on Twitter and Instagram for lots of positivity and more countdown inspiration!

www.countdownkeeper.com

Katie x

A Travel Review: Rambling in Rome

This is an honest travel review about the weekend I spent in Rome at the beginning of September. I'm making the 'honest' point now because I'm going to go against the 'I loved Rome, it's a must-visit' and say I had very mixed views on my time spent in the city. Maybe I've been spoilt with other amazing places, and although I had lots of fun, I'm not in a hurry to return to Rome.

We only had three nights in Rome so we got started on seeing the sights as soon as we got off the plane. We booked our hotel very last minute so the choice wasn't massive but Hearth Hotel just outside the Vatican was the perfect location and the staff were so friendly - also a plus we got to check-in early on arrival. After we dropped our bags we set off over the River Tiber which is beautiful in the sun to the Spanish Steps. I'm not sure what I was expecting but they were a bit dreary and grey.

After a walk through the Piazza di Spagna we arrived at our lunch destination of Gina. I tend to organise my travel itinerary around the places I'd like to eat in which actually does make it easier to plan things, especially in a city. Gina is a real find, located near shops such as Chanel and Louis Vuitton, it gives off a luxury vibe without being pretentious. The whole place is really white which is my idea of interior heaven but with unique American-styled artwork such as the American flag in Coca-Cola cans. The food is simple but tasty and came out very quickly - perfect for a daytime bite.

From Gina we walked to the Pantheon, one of Ancient Rome's best preserved buildings rebuilt by the emperor Hadrian in 126AD. We decided to join an English-speaking tour as the guy that stopped us to ask if we'd like to join was so nice! It was actually really interesting and we discovered a lot more about the building and the streets around it than if we'd just explored alone. The thing I was most fascinated with was the beautiful floor in many different marbles. The ruby red colour was like nothing I'd ever seen before. The Pantheon is an impressive sight so it's definitely one for the to-see list.

Our guide mentioned one of Rome's most famous cafes; Sant'Eustachio il Caffe located in a nearby piazza where they use a 'secret' method to create their coffee (the coffee machine is covered to avoid it getting out!). Being coffee lovers we had to go for an espresso - Romans tend not to drink cappuccino after 11am so when in Rome (I drank a lot of coffee!). The piazzas are lovely - one of the most interesting things in Rome. There's always some elaborate building and cute cafes with tables outside to people-watch and of course... gelato!

Pumped with caffeine we headed to the Trevi Fountain which again, unfortunately, did not blow me away. Perhaps we were unlucky with our timing as there was construction work going on and no water flowing so I can imagine it's a wonderful sight most of the time.

Our first evening in Rome was spent at Etabli which is one of the most gorgeous restaurant bars I've been to. It's like you're in someone’s home inside with wooden bookshelves, quirky little features, comfy leather chairs and mismatched table settings. It's got a really relaxed atmosphere with a great range of cocktails and they regularly put on live music. Luckily for us, it was jazz night while we were dining there and the young musicians were fantastic and played all night! The food matched the laid-back nature of Etabli - fresh salads, homemade pasta and delicious desserts. I would urge anyone going to Rome to visit.

Our first full day was 'nature day' - a day spent enjoying Rome's Botanical Gardens followed by a 'trek' up Gianicolo Hill to admire the view and have pizza as a reward at the top! My favourite gardens are in Melbourne, Australia, as I've said, I've obviously been spoilt as the Botanical Gardens did not impress me. Maybe in the height of Summer or Spring with the flowers blooming it is lovely but not so much in September.

After lunch we literally stumbled upon a massive park which felt more like someone's amazing back garden as within the grounds was a very impressive villa. Dotted about the place were ruins of bridges with Roman figures to admire, pretty statues and lovely steps. After I found out that 'Villa Doria Pamphilj Park' is Rome's largest landscaped public park laid out around 1650 for Prince Camillo Pamphilj, nephew of Pope Innocent X with the villa being the Prince's summer residence. This was the highlight of my time in Rome, hence the blog title - it was such a beautiful day well-spent.

After much walking (we got lost!), we had more to do... a leisurely walk back into the city and then a tour around the Vatican 'after dark' which I thought would be even nicer than if we'd visited in the day. For a limited time, the Vatican opens it's doors at night to a small number of visitors - we booked in advance and were lucky to get a ticket I think. We entered the impressive building and were guided by signs around the museums and stunning hallways admiring those amazing ceilings. The Sistine Chapel was somewhere which many people had told me I had to see so after passing through many exhibitions and marble rooms we were excited to reach the Chapel. It's a beautiful sight, the ceiling is obviously amazing but again, I wasn't overly impressed! It seemed like a big build-up to the Chapel which was a little bit of a let down. We wondered around a little (no pictures allowed) and then exited into the courtyard and as we did a grand firework display started. Then as part of the 'Vatican After Dark' an orchestra began playing - to me, the fireworks and music were much more beautiful.

For our final day we decided to be proper tourists and visit the Roman sights around the Colosseum. I found the Pallazo Venezia, which is often overlooked, an amazing building. It was built mainly with materials quarried from the famous Colosseum and Mussolini used it as his official residence - the horse and carriage on the top astounded me. There's a pretty cafe on top where we enjoyed a drink and lunch overlooking Ancient Rome.

Onto the Colosseum - I now wish I'd researched more into the origins of Colosseum before I went to Rome so I could understand the history fully and appreciate the sight a little more. Again, it's very impressive, the weather was beautiful and it wasn't too crowded and I'm glad I've seen it but once I'd looked out into the arena, I was ready to leave for more pizza! There's a few pizza places on Via di San Vito not far from the Colosseum and although we were advised to avoid the touristy places, we really enjoyed eating real Italian pizza under the vine leaves there.

We booked a table at Le Jardin de Russie within Hotel de Russie for our final meal in Rome - now that's somewhere impressive! The setting of both the hotel's bar and restaurant is so pretty; it's like a secret garden in the middle of Rome with greenery and waterfalls. We had a wonderful meal - champagne, seafood and Wagu beef followed by the most amazing melt-in-the-middle chocolate pot I've ever had. I would like to return to Rome just to stay (and eat!) at the hotel again!

Highlights...

•  Jazz at Etabli

•  A wonder around Villa Doria Pamphilj Park

•  The view from the top of Gianicolo Hill

Must Dos...

•  Enjoy a secret garden dinner at Le Jardin de Russie

•  Walk around Rome stopping off at the piazzas along the way

Jane x

ASAP 54 App Review; The Shazam of Shopping!

There’s been talk of apps that can capture an item of clothing and send you that exact piece to buy for a while now, but this week I had fun playing with ASAP 54 – a London based start-up with an app pitched at being the Shazam of shopping.

The app works by asking the user to either upload an image of an item of clothing, or capture one in the moment on their phone. After cropping the image closely to give the app a better chance of identifying the item, the app asks the user to confirm what type of item it is (coat, bag, shoe, etc) The user clicks ‘search’ and the app generates items that are similar, if not the exact match. Free to download, ASAP 54 is an app aimed at combining a social fashion community with the latest visual recognition technology to connect the user instantly with the must-have item they are searching for.

I tested the app by using a new grey winter coat I had recently purchased from Topshop. The first results threw up lots of parka coats, with some being similar, but not quite a match (although I did see a parka I quite liked!). So I then used the filter button and typed in the brand ‘Topshop’ which resulted in a much better selection of coats. I found the exact winter coat, just in a different colour and the same type of coat in slightly different styles too. On any of the coats I could click for more details and the item price before clicking ‘shop’ which took me to the brand website to purchase seamlessly, which was very exciting!

The app has a lovely ‘Ask A Stylist’ feature for those who after searching are still struggling to find what they are looking for. Users can easily click the ‘send to stylist’ button and a personal stylist will send recommendations by email all in under 24 hours.

Users are asked to create an ASAP 54 profile upon using the app for the first time which will publish your 'ASAPED' items to followers (users can choose not to publish items if preferred). Users can also therefore follow others (there are lots of exciting fashion muses to follow on there!) and see what the fashion set are ASAPING which is full of inspiration for future fashion buys.

I love the concept of the app, and the story of founder Daniela Cecilio; who created the app following her frustration when words weren’t enough to describe what she was searching for online. Daniela has certainly created an app that is as delightful to look at as it is useful. I’m excited to get out and about snapping fashion pieces to test the app more, and tracking ASAP 54’s progress over the next 12 months as it gets more accurate and without a doubt very popular!

To find out more visit www.asap54.com and find the app on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

Score: 8/10

I love...

• The app's concept, user-friendly interface and beautiful, simple design
• The personal stylist feature

I'd like...

• For it to be more accurate on first time search results which I can only imagine is being   worked on constantly – exciting!

The Best Things in Life in October

Summer is over and it's off into Autumn we go. Although beautiful, hot sunny days are behind us, the pretty falling leaves and Autumn colours are coming which gets us very excited! Here's our favourite things in life in October...

Katie

Best Things in Life?

Quorn… We’ve had a summer experimenting with Quorn for our tasty Not Dogs and the more I’ve researched into the brand and mission it’s been refreshingly surprising to find out the untold story of the work for sustainability and the passionate people striving to help the environment and us! To find out more here’s a link to a recent study I’ve enjoyed lately.

Photo Books… For my birthday gift this year Jane created an amazing photo book filled with memories of our summer adventure this year, to have a book to pick up from time to time and flick through means that I can be reminded of the fun we’ve had in this lovely little keepsake that’s just mine to enjoy!

Tiny Temporary Tattoos… I love this predicted trend at the moment, stylish temporary tattoos made in metallic colours like gold and silver. Spotted during Paris Fashion Week and not long after on Beyonce, I’m excited about watching this trend grow and already there are some inspiring creations surfacing on Instagram.

My Woman of the Year is...

My fellow Katie & Jane adventurer, Jane Whitehead. I’ve spent more time with Jane over the summer than I have with anyone else, and when it’s 4am in the morning and she is perfectly topping our vegetarian hot dogs (no standard is ever dropped!) while I’m running down the queue talking to our customers apologising that we only have 12 hot dogs left, you realise that there must be only a handful of people in life that can be on this kind of adventure with and make it work. This summer was all about pulling together, being resilient and remaining happy, positive and inspired despite all the twists, turns and pressure, and we did it! Here’s to the future…and so much more fun.

The Most Important Thing I've Learnt in the First Year of Owning a Food Truck is...

To not be afraid to stand out if you really believe in something. Sometimes it’s hard for others to see your vision, (these ideas always start out a bit crazy!) but the belief you have in the idea, making it a reality and finding out people like it as much as you is honestly the best part!

My Current Favourite Pin...

Jane

Best Things in Life?

New Autumn/Winter Shoes! I have realised I have a shoe rotation system (sad I know!) and this is the month to pack away my Spring/Summer shoes mainly consisting of Havianas (and jelly sandles this year!) and get out my Autumn boots and Winter Uggs. On a recent trip to Rome I brought two pairs and have spotted some similar in Red magazine since!

Miranda Kerr Empower Yourself - after buying Miranda Kerr's first book, Treasure Yourself, in Melbourne a few years ago I've been patiently awaiting her next publication Empower Yourself which features affirmations for living healthily and feeling positive. I had to wait three weeks for it to come over from Australia but it's worth the wait and is a really inspiring, positive read for people of all ages.

The Honestly Healthy Cleanse - Having spotting the inspiring author, Natasha Corrett of Honestly Healthy on Instagram, I really enjoyed her regular posts so decided to pick up her and her business partner, Vicki Edgson's, latest book 'Honestly Healthy for Life'. I loved it so much that I also got their first book 'Honestly Healthy: Eat with your Body in Mind, the Alkaline Way' published in 2012 and discovered the Honestly Healthy Cleanse which I am now doing. The 5-10 day cleanse is not a detox - I was pleasantly surprised to see how much gorgeous meals I'd be eating along with green juices and snacks. I'm only on day three at the moment but feeling very good!

My Woman of the Year is...

Katie McDermott! Co-founder of Katie & Jane, Countdown Keeper and Not Dogs, and one of my best friends is an inspiration to me; she works amazingly hard yet has fun with everything she does, she is there for me no matter what and we work so well together as a team. I'm very proud that she's recently been recognised by Nivea and Stylist magazine as an 'inspirational female who encapsulates the bring it on generation' so take my word for it and go and vote for her now here! 

The Most Important Thing I've Learnt in the First Year of Owning a Food Truck is...

It's God-damn hard work... but worth it! Maybe naively I didn't think pulling a food truck and selling vegetarian hot dogs up and down the country would be as hard as it's been, but I also didn't imagine how much fun I've had too. 18-hour shifts with no breaks, long queues and 'interesting' customers have made it the hardest work of my life but because of all the passion we have for creating a long-lasting brand that people love - the hard work is so worth it! It's not about making a quick-buck for us (we haven't!), it's about seeing the look on people's faces when they see our little purple truck or bite into their first Not Dog - that's what it's all about!

My Current Favourite Pin is...