Yes. This is a Christmas Public Service Announcement - about Go La La! So, where to begin? Well, I met Laura Kavanagh on Twitter a little while back. I came across her blog The Noisy Cafe and it made me giggle. We once had a chat about the joy of eating pies, so when I found out she was going to create cool greetings cards right here in Somerset, I pretty much knew straight away I'd flipping love 'em. And I was right. I do... so I wanted to have a chat with her to find out a little bit more. A little bit more about this kind of stuff...
If you haven't sorted out your Christmas cards yet, or you've been on the cooking sherry already, or you need a card for a birthday and want something a little bit different, OR you just want to read a cool story about someone who's decided to try something completely new, then this Four Thoughts is for you you YOU! :)
Here's what Laura had to say when we asked her four questions we thought you'd love to know the answers to.
1. What made you start up Go La La cards? We also love the name. Where did that come from?
Redundancy! I’d been managing enterprise schemes across the south west for a social housing provider, when financial cuts hit the sector and I found myself thinking ‘what next?’ An afternoon in the pub brainstorming with John (my husband), conjured up the idea of designing greeting cards.
I had three aims for my business – it needed to be creative, it needed to make me laugh and it needed to make money! I also knew we'd never be able to stick to one style, so our portfolio is very eclectic and occasionally risqué! We then discovered, just a few months later, that John was also to be made redundant so the business needed to become something for the both of us. It was exactly the kick up the arse we needed to try something different!
The name Go La La came from a frequent use of the words ‘la la’ when I was at school. Sounds daft but my friend would often refer to us going ‘la la’, we often overused the phrase ‘ooh la la’ in French lessons and LA are also my initials (my middle name is Alicia).
2. If you were choosing some of your own Christmas or birthday cards to send to a) The Queen b) The Wurzels & c) us at Somerset Cool, which ones would you go for & why? :)
Ha ha - well it was the Queen’s 90th this year and we were invited to send her a card, but I really couldn’t think of an appropriate one! For Christmas though, I’d probably send her one from our Public Service Announcement range just in case she finds herself getting irritated by her extended family round the Christmas tree at Balmoral. That’s probably quite likely… I’ve always thought Edward must be a bit of a challenge :)
For The Wurzels, without doubt it'd have to be one of our ‘any occasion’ best sellers - ‘No Knickers’, because naturally mine would be flung at them while they were on stage, in the hope that Tommy gets down to his leather thong during Combine Harvester. That performance is enough to make anyone drop their drawers!
And for you totally cool cats at Somerset Cool? It'd have to be our most cool cat card! Our ‘Alf Skitten’ range is based on our own two cats and ‘Swagger Puss’ is the coolest of them all, so very fitting for you. And of course, Chris Jagger is a Somersetter.
3. Can you tell us a bit about your plans for Go La La & where people can buy the cards?
We’ve been designing like crazy over the past few months and we’ve also just recently launched our first trade brochure, which has seen stockists from London, Brighton and other parts of Sussex pick up our ranges. We’ve got a couple of retailers in Somerset (Tincknells in Wells and Dicketts in Glastonbury) but our efforts at marketing in our own area has been utterly rubbish, so we’re working on that right now!
Anyone can buy our cards online and we’re also attending some pretty big trade fairs next year (we’re always on the look out for new retail partners). We’ve recently signed a licensing agreement with a company in New York for some of our designs (very exciting) and we’re really noticing more of a buzz around our brand. It’s hard work, determination and perseverance is key like anything in life, but bring on 2017! We’ve got a few new ranges launching in January – all very different, but that’s what we like to do :)
4. Tell us a secret about you that no-one else knows!
Well, sometimes when I’m on my own, I like to practice my acceptance speech for my Academy and BAFTA nominations as ‘Best Actress’. I think it’s important to be prepared. I would just like to thank my parents for creating such a rich and fertile imagination…..
And we'll just leave this. Right here. This'll be my Christmas (minus the grim sprouts) YEAH! :)
P.S. If you want to Go La La and get in touch with Laura and John you can contact them here or here - Email: info@golala.co.uk or HERE - Tel: 01458 830913.