September, you were a whirlwind…
A month of chaotic illness, glamorous (and not-so-glamorous) trips, content overload, and some truly iconic Cora and Spink milestones. If August was all about planning and pop-ups, September was about running at full speed, sometimes with a broken toe.
The Survival Test: Bugs, Morocco, and Spa Days
We aren’t quite sure what September had against our immune systems, but seasonal changes hit Jolly Towers like a ton of bricks. Food poisoning, colds, and tonsillitis did the rounds across the team. Running a small business is hard enough on a good day, but when illness sweeps through a tiny team, the setbacks hit fast and hard. It’s a stark reminder of just how fragile small business life can be when life throws a spanner in the works – but somehow, we pushed through the chaos and kept the wheels turning.
Amidst the mayhem, Tim managed to fly out to Morocco – keep your eyes peeled because that blog post is coming soon! Meanwhile, Olivia wisely escaped the HQ health hazards for a much-needed, deeply relaxing spa day to recharge her batteries.
40 Bags, a Broken Toe, and London Calling
Speaking of Tim’s commitment to the cause: how he managed to embroider 40 individual bags for a VIP TikTok and Woo event in London all the while battling both food poisoning and a broken toe, we will never know. Heroic? Slightly unhinged? You decide. We’ve been building alongside Woo for over 12 years – back when we were one of their very first clients, through to collaborating on key marketing campaigns as a trusted partner. So when their executive team invited us to an exclusive, invite-only gathering to celebrate long-standing partners, it was a real full-circle moment. Amazing to bring everyone together, look back at a decade of shared momentum, and talk about where open-source commerce is heading next. One of the activites was to decorate some chocolate catered by one of Woo’s merchants, Melt London. Rather than putting what Chloe thought was dried raspberries on hers, she very painfully found out it was quite the opposite and she had embellished her chocolate with dried chilli flakes!
The sacrifice was worth it, though. Content production was through the roof this month, between our TikTok event prep, sending out gorgeous influencer packages, and hosting our Mini Cora Pop-Up at One Collective. We also collaborated with a lovely village pub, the Bell Inn, Ladbroke, where we were hosted in their cosy shepherd huts for a lifestyle shoot. It was an absolute success!
Precious Cargo & Proposal Magic
Our bags have carried a lot of things over the years, but September brought a brand-new milestone: one of our bags was actually used in a marriage proposal! We’re honored to know that our bags can seamlessly transition from holding your bog-standard house keys to securing life-changing, precious cargo. (Congratulations to the happy couple!)
Stock Updates & What’s Next
If you’ve been eyeing up a restock, we have great news. Our workshop is currently hard at work producing more stock in all your favourite classic colours, plus some fresh new colour combinations that we’ll be revealing on our socials very soon.
Looking ahead, October is shaping up to be just as packed. We have some super exciting shoots lined up featuring a few of our favorite local small businesses, and we can’t wait to showcase them alongside our autumn lineup.
And that’s a wrap…
September tested our resilience, our immunity, and Tim’s pain threshold, but we came out the other side with incredible content, amazing events, and brand-new memories. Thank you for following along on this wild ride – see you in October!
