So, we hired a digital marketing company to help get us on the radar.
One of the reasons we hired them, aside from the fact that we want more people to know about Hedgehouse, is that when we met with them we just liked them. They were cool. There was somebody “home,” if you know what I mean. So often, Jodi and I talk with people at companies where we are pretty sure - not only are they not listening to us, they are incapable of it, and ultimately, they don’t really care. It’s not mean-spirited, it’s just the way things are a lot of the time – particularly in the world of BRANDING and LIFESTYLE. If you don’t bring some kind of obvious marketing tool to the table before you even have the product, it’s tough to get anyone interested in you. When we met with B+C, the first thing I noticed was that we connected with them, on a level that was conversational and not superficial. They were not smiling at us from behind perfect white veneers while they checked their phones. They were human, and that matters to us.
There are five people at Hedgehouse.
Five women, to be exact. We are a small company, and we have no choice but to be human with each other. We know and care about each other. However, we are also in business, and when you’re in business, there are some basic things that need to happen. First, we need to make money. Second, we need to grow. And third, we need to pay our employees. Those are just the basic facts of being in business. I believe no matter how big we might grow, we need to always remember we are people and people need looking after. We must always look after each other. We are real humans that really exist, and we do not look at Hedgehouse as a separate entity. Every one of us is emotionally and very personally invested in the health and success of Hedgehouse.
The reason why I brought up hiring B+C is that they have organized a social media calendar for us.
We had been loosely working off our own calendar, but between Jodi and I ordering zippers, or volunteering at our children's schools, and trying to make payroll along with Ellie creating look books, creating line sheets and pushing out the content, social media sometimes got overwhelming (hence all the Instagram posts of me at the hairdresser!) It’s awesome that they gave us a calendar to work from. We provide the creative content and they push it out. It helps us to organize our time so that we can think about what we are doing and saying a whole week in advance instead of just throwing up a picture of a lobster on a Friday afternoon. It adds a little method to the madness.
This Wednesday on the content calendar was the label “International Women’s Day.”
I had never heard of International Women’s Day before. I hope that does not make me a bad woman; I have enough issues – I don’t need another one this week. I did some research, and apparently, this whole month is International Women’s Month. The whole world celebrating women! Awesome, I thought, but A) Why have I never heard of this before? and B) How do I possibly write a post for Hedgehouse about my favorite women of all-time? How about a post about how amazing all women are? OR single out one great historical woman? I was so lost for words at where to start.
There are many incredible women --- before, now, and still to come.
So, that’s settled: I can’t fit them all into one weekly “blog post”. Then, it came to me. Thinking about Hedgehouse, and what we are trying to do. Hedgehouse is a woman. Not only is she a woman, she is a great woman. She has all the attributes that I look for in human beings, men and women. She is strong but vulnerable. Nurturing but tough. She is generous, empathetic, and caring. She is forgiving. She is flawed. She is soft, pretty and open. She is sometimes foolish, but she is always honest. She is dignified. She is graceful. She is supportive. She is a woman. And like all women, she works hard. So, while I don’t have anything new to add to a historical or current conversation about all the brilliant women out there and why I think they are brilliant, I can shed some light on what we look for in ourselves and others. That goes for the men in the audience, and the world, too.
Sister Parish Design
Rosie the Riveter
Sarah Orne Jewett
Kathryn Bigelow
Desiré Wilson
Spotify | Playlist
