Monday 26 May 2014

Working at home VS working in an office

Working from home or in the office isn’t always as it seems, if we aren't in our Hunter-Rose office (aka home), Loan and I are at our office jobs. Let me take you through some of the pros and cons of either work place:


Situation
At Home
At Office
Waking up and getting ready for work
You can wake up and start work whenever it pleases you. Usually in the late morning and in pyjamas all day. Hamish and Andy have pants of Friday, I have pants off every day. 
The alarm goes off at 6:00am and you naturally press snooze for 30 minutes. You then have to rush your make-up application and outfit deciding because you didn’t leave enough time to get cute.
Loan wears
Home
Top - General Pants and Co
Shorts - Sabo Skirt
Boots - Melbourne Markets
Necklace - Louisa
Social interaction
Unless you count fish or Facebook stalking as social interaction, you have virtually none working from home. 
Your office co-workers often become an extended family; you know of any family troubles, hot dates or disgusting ailments. Most importantly you bond over the creepy co-worker or the lady in the back with the plumbers crack.
Temperature
In theory you can adjust the temperature as you please, but in reality having the aircon or heater on is damn expensive so your either wearing 14 layers of clothing or nothing at all.
You will always fall under the one of the two catergories: your either freezing cold or boiling hot. There is never a happy temperature in the office.
Ivy wears
Home
Top - General Pants and Co
Tights - Topshop
Jumper - H&M
Boots - Steve Madden
Glasses - Mink Pink

 
Bathrooms
You have the freedom to do your business when the urge hits.
You build strategies around avoiding hearing your co-worker poo or even worse, them hearing you! Time it perfectly and have the toilets to yourself or if you're caught mid-poop you can do the old add a little toilet paper to soften the plop.
Loan wears
Office
Top - Forever 21
Skirt - Topshop
Flats - Dotti
 
 
Diet (or lack there of)
You eat all of last nights left overs, any traces of the last Easter's eggs and Nutri-Grain form the box and then you think “whats for lunch?”
It’s apparently someone’s birthday every day in the office, which means cookies, cupcakes, cakes and chocolate.
Ivy wears
Office
Dress - Zara
Shoes - Betts
Bag - Chanel
 
 
It’s the simple things that matter...
Any form of human interaction will have you in a frenzy. The delivery man is now your bestie and even the door knockers avoid your house.
You hold tightly on to casual Friday, morning stretches or even lunch because the small things make you irrationally happy.
Work hours and payday
There are no structured work hours so you can potentially work through to 3am the next morning. All without getting paid of course, because you are your own boss and your boss is a slave driver.
Your standard 9-5 day, 5 days a week and paid weekly. It’s reliable and mundane.





Sunday 18 May 2014

Hunter-Rose Interview


In the last few months we have had all types of questions about Hunter-Rose, so here are a few Q & A's to answer our frequently asked questions and give you all an update on what we've been up to.

What is Hunter-Rose?

Ivy: Hunter-Rose is business that Loan and I dreamt up and now we are slowly turning it into a reality. It's an online retailer that designs and sells pyjamas. But not just your regular two piece set, pyjamas that won't leave you embarrassed to be caught in when an unexpected guests arrive, the delivery man knocks on your door or even a run in to buy milk. Our vision is to offer women stylish pyjamas without losing the integrity of comfort.

What inspired you to start?

Ivy: Entrepreneurship has been an idea that Loan and I have been playing with for the past 2-3 years. Last year, I had a major wake up call and as I picked myself up from my darkest point I learnt a lot about myself and what I want from the rest of my life. Previously I was more than happy to sacrifice my time for money and a chance to climb the corporate ladder, but now I realise what little time we could have left and no amount of money can replace the time that could have been spent with your loved ones. Hunter-Rose was an extension if this revelation - I wanted to build a company doing something that I loved and have the flexibility to spend time with my family and friends. The fact that I am able to make money from this venture AND work with my bestie is an absolute win!

Why pjs?

Loan: I love them and could live in them. I could never really find ones which suited my style and were comfortable at the same time. Ivy and I both adore pjs and both wanted to create a pyjama line which were super comfortable but stylish too. We both saw there was a gap in the pj industry, especially in Australia, so our idea went from there.

What kind style of pjs are you doing?

Ivy: Basically stylish loungewear/sleepwear that's also super comfy. We are not girly-girls and the abundance of pink, pastel and baby animals that is out there in the pyjama world is cramping our style. If you don't want cringe in shame when your neighbor needs to borrow sugar or want to look effortlessly stylish when that special someone is around, then Hunter-Rose has your back.

How did you come up with Hunter-Rose?

Loan: We love the name Hunter-Rose and its so sweet when people tell us they like the name. Ivy and I both liked the name Hunter but is a very strong, dominant name. We wanted a name, which represented strong, independent women. The name Rose represents more of feminine side so we combined then names together.

Do you have any fashion and design experiences?

Loan: Ivy and I both have our own individual style which has allowed us to start and create our own pj line. To be honest its pjs you don’t need a full design background or degree. What Ivy and I do understand is business and working our asses off researching and amazing advice from others to get us where we are. Everyone all knows Peter Alexander, he did work in the retail industry but he did not have any design degree. This is where imagination and creativity has no limits.


Do you guys have a facebook, instagram or website?

Ivy: We don't, it's obviously something we have thought about and discussed from the very start but have decided to be strategic as to when we would start our social media pages. At the end of the day, if we didn’t have product to show we weren't going to bombard our friends with the same memes and customary bed/pyjama shots that are already out there.

I see your fashion blogs, are you guys trying to model as well?

Loan: Every time I hear this I’m always thinking “ HOLD UP” I’m trying start a company here. I find it really funny but understand if people don’t know the background of Hunter-Rose. We take million shots just to get one good one. Our Blog is a fun thing for us to do together we enjoy writing and it’s a platform for people to get to know us, our style and to share things.


Will you make your own clothes?

Ivy: Oh no, we don't trust our sewing skills enough to sell to you! We design each piece and consult with a dressmaker here in Perth to make samples for us. We then take the samples to China to mass produce. We just recently went to China to find the right manufacturers for us.

How was China?

Ivy: China was hectic! As soon as we got there we were smacked with reality. Firstly communication was really tough, because the area we went to (Guangzhou) was industrial and not tourist friendly at all, we could hardly order lunch let alone try to conduct a business meeting. When we were lucky enough to find someone we could communicate with, their minimum quantity was too high for us! There was one point we were ready to pack up and leave and try our luck in Indonesia. But we decided to soldier on and not to leave until we were 100% satisfied that we tried every avenue. By some miracle we stumbled across an absolute angel who helped us source and communicate with smaller factories. To cut a long story short, we reached an agreement with a factory owner 2 hours before we were supposed to leave the country and came home happy campers. So overall China was a success, but we learnt some hard lessons along the way.


What’s next for Hunter-Rose?

Loan: Really exciting times. We can‘t wait to show everyone what we have been working on - Our pjs J. We will continue to do our blogs, and love all the feedback we get from everyone. In the next few months we will be working with our manufacturer getting more samples made for our pj line. In June we will do our social media launch so you will see more updates about Hunter-Rose. In September plan to launch our online store and this will be such a big and proud moment for us. 

Love 

Ivy & Loan xx