Austin Cooperative Business Association’s Post

Rolling onto the next stop of the Skew roadshow in Brum for Spring Fair & Autumn Fair next week. Why bother attending if we’re not signing any deals? Here’s why... Skew’s mission is to deliver effective creative. That means we can’t just hand over work and wave goodbye without constantly learning from every project. By the time we're ready to deliver our creative work, our team has the most expertise in that brand at that moment in the world. It’s crazy to let that knowledge just walk away. So, our most effective work comes when we’re sticking around to see the implementation, iterate, and build on what we’ve done to help the deals get made. For us, Spring Fair is an opportunity to talk to the people on the front line. Designers and product developers that have put our work to use in their ranges. If we're only creating pretty pictures without ensuring their effectiveness, we're missing our mark. They may please people in the moment (that is important too), but who knows if they provide a return? We go there for feedback on what works, what doesn’t, and what the reaction is from the market. We put what we learn into the next project and the next. It’s great to catch up with old friends too. This year, Felicity Blades is drawing on her time as a buyer at Primark to reconnect with licensees and bring back insight into our work. If you’re going to be there, let us know. Give us a 👋 in the comments or DM me or Felicity, and we’ll see you there. #licensing #brandidentity

Diving deeper into our Summer Job Face-Off, we're comparing the classic role of a bartender to the dynamic and career-enhancing opportunities available with Peazy. This series encourages you to think beyond traditional summer work and consider choices that can significantly boost your professional trajectory. 🔄 Bartending Basics or Business Breakthroughs? Serving drinks might be fun, but imagine spending your summer creating pathways to success. Exchange the cocktail shaker for shaking up the industry with Peazy's trailblazing summer program. Why settle for earning tips when you could be tipping the scales towards major career growth? Peazy's summer program is designed to elevate your job experience. Step away from the bar and into a role where you're not just serving patrons but serving your long-term career goals. With us, you're enhancing more than just your mixology skills; you're developing business skills, networking, and leadership capabilities. Each step you take with Peazy is about advancing your personal and professional development. Stay tuned as we continue to mix up the usual job expectations and show how Peazy offers a refreshing alternative. Ready to stir things up in your career? Join the Peazy initiative this summer. 🌊👋 #RethinkSummer #PeazyOpportunity Apply today for Peazy's summer program to see if you are eligible. https://hubs.ly/Q02sWgb_0

What a brilliant employment week! The idea behind employment week is for our 16+ members to enter a variety of workplace settings to explore different employability routes they might want to take. During the week our members have a chance to ask questions, experience a workplace setting and understand what a working day might feel like. If you are part of a business or know a business that would like to get involved in future employment weeks please drop me a message. #employment #employmentweek #downsyndrome

This week has been incredible for Popcorn Kitchen Ltd and the team 😍🍿 One email, that’s all, the email stated ‘Congratulations, Popcorn Kitchen is a B Corp Corporation 😱. I had to pinch myself, Popcorn kitchen is a B Corp 🚀🫣🍿 When you’re a bustling challenger brand, success is often defined, not simply by the company you keep but the larger influence groups you become part of, which helps explain the immense sense of pride Popcorn Kitchen feels today having secured B-Corp status (June 24) to become part of an increasingly vocal 2,000 strong family of purpose-led businesses championing the very highest social, ethical and environmental standards. Our journey started in 2022, working with Paul Hargreaves CEO at Cotswold Fayre, a certified B Corporation who championed B Corp as a purpose led approach to running your business, I was hooked, a purpose led business, tell me more !!! As a small team, resource was always going to be an issue so in 2023 Jill Smith 🎁 told me about internships from Cranfield School of Management I put the wheels in motion and we were given the green light for two ( Vaisakh Kadesseriyil and Aditya Solanki ) MSc undergraduates in Business Management to undertake a four month internship to lay out the foundations for Popcorn Kitchen’s bid aided and abetted by the indomitable Andy Hawkins Hawkins (B-Corp ambassador) and the irrepressible Elizabeth Tate Tate (B-Corp consultant) who joined forces with the Popcorn Kitchen team, including Sorrell Cowen from Reewild to begin off-setting our carbon footprint and to ensure no stone was left unturned in the quest for B-Corp acceptance. A huge thank you to : Paul Hargreaves Vaisakh Kadesseriyil Aditya Solanki Andy Hawkins Sorrell Cowen Elizabeth Tate ( lilly) Jill Smith 🎁 Adam Peasey To all our suppliers who’s support has been invaluable on our B Corp journey 🙏🍿thank you 🤩 For a community-orientated business like Popcorn Kitchen it’s an unwritten rule that bottom line growth is mirrored by a greater commitment to Caring Capitalism and within food and drink circles B-Corp status is very much the gold standard! If you are thinking about B Corp but feel slightly daunted about the challenge, there are a plethora of people who can support you on this journey. As a huge advocate of B Corp you can add me to the list 🚀🤩🌳 Drop me a note at: [email protected] Happy to help 💕🍿 Louise x

Roll up, roll up!

One thing you will NOT find us doing at Lottie Summer Events…. I’ve really noticed an increase lately, especially on linkedin, of cold, generic messages from people saying that they would love to work with me, check out their services and their website etc and if that is a method that you find works for your business and helps gets you clients…that’s totally cool but it is NOT something you will ever find us doing here at Lottie Summer events. Why? Because one of the biggest things that I pride myself on is building those meaningful connections with clients and providing that really personal service that completely represents their organisation/goals and is tailored to exactly what their needs are. Honestly, I don’t want to work with just anyone. When I begin working with a new client, there have been meetings, proposals and plenty of conversations back and forth to make sure that we align with each other so that I can truly give them what they need and provide the highest quality of work that I can for them...how can I can be sure that the working relationship would work and I can provide what they need if I am targeting absolutely everyone and don’t really know anything about them?!

Looking forward to catching up with old and new clients, as well as meeting prospective customers 🫵🏻 🧡 Of course the car journey with Dan Hiscock is just as enjoyable 😁 #freightforwarding #supplychainmanagement #supplychainmanagement #customerexperience #service #elite #springfair

I know, sometimes it happens to me. I always try to paint everything beautiful, exciting, with more lights than the April Fair in Seville (Spain). And the truth is that yes, but no. The first days are sometimes difficult. They make you dizzy, they produce uncertainty and you will need time to see if you have got it right or if it will help you. And don't be scared, but they never end. You are always going to face situations like this, you are always going to feel those nerves and besides, the first days create more first days. And if you think about it, that's a wonderful thing. It didn't take long for my optimistic side to take control again, because if you think about it, the best things that have happened to you in your life started with the first day. There was a first day of driving school, thinking that people were not born to put a metal box with wheels at more than 100 per hour, but then there was a first car trip with friends. There was a first day of working up the courage to talk to that someone that is followed by an endless list of great first days. And yes, there was also a day when a genius decided that the April Fair could be extended until May. Surely he had his doubts on the first day, but he was right. Do you know something? If you want, there will soon be a free "first day" of the course for you. You will meet new colleagues, you will feel a little lost, you will doubt, you will learn... And much better ones will follow: you will have your first day in a new job that excites you, you will live the first day of buying yourself a treat with a better salary and if you ride well, you will have your first class dinner to take advantage of the good weather. Seen this way, are you up for your next "first day"?

#FunFactFriday my first full-time job was bartending. I was not yet 19. I learned these technical/domain/hard skills: ⭐️ tapping a beer🍺(easy) ⭐️⭐️ taking orders, mixing drinks, and washing glasses - all quickly during peak period (harder) 💦 ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ drunk customers, supervisor abuse, workmates who inhale petrol (challenging) 😕 Did I have a good time? 💯%. Why? Because I also learned these life/growth/#softskills: ✅ Sales - bored with tapping beer and serving endless gin tonics, I memorised cocktail recipes on my bus rides and practised persuading customers to pay up for higher value drinks. #UpSell ✅ Cultural Sensitivity - I went to a storied school. Folks working the night zone are of a different sub-culture. Don't judge. Understand. ✅ Relationship Management - the 'Regulars', we used to call them. They will come in every evening usually about the same time. Henry drinks Guinness, Charles drinks Gordon's Gin and Fiona has a particular song she likes to sing. Others are lonely in their other lives. They congregate as their 'better' selves at Club Crescendo. At the Club, a young man named Chuck remembers their drinks, laughs at their jokes and passes written notes to attractive newcomers of the opposite sex, discreetly on their behalf. Did I learn anything? Too much. In 2003, I recall several job interviews where I was asked if I had any sales skills or knew relationship management. I only used the bartending story with one hiring manager. Just once. He didn’t geddit. Thank you for reading. Have a nice weekend. #GetReal #LifeLessons GRiT Academy Photo credit: a website that posts photos of matchboxes collected by travellers (yes this was a collector thing). One of them was of that first bar I worked at. It closed in 1998. I would go on to work in Sparks. iykyk 😉