Wow…
I don’t think I have ever actually been speechless when trying to talk (I do love a good chit chat) but I am most definitely speechless about this week. The opportunity to do my work experience at Studio Cotton, a small business web design company, was like no other.
Firstly, I think it’s time I introduce myself. Hi, I’m Charlotte and I’m currently studying Business and IT in sixth form in Kingswood, Bristol.
At the beginning of this year, I had absolutely no idea what I wanted to do with my life. I ran through a million and one job ideas in my head but none of them felt like ME.
Until my wonderful sixth form brought in an excellent apprentice who spoke all things digital marketing to us for a whole hour and a half (yes, it’s as fun as it sounds) and I fell in love. They were part of the Government Digital Service, and the talk was part of their program to increase digital knowledge in young people.
I have been raving to my teacher for MONTHS about how much I loved digital marketing, until it came time to find work experience – something I was dreading. I was very lucky that my teacher knew the lovely Aime, so I already had the perfect company in mind – Studio Cotton!
So here I am, after the long wait, finally getting a whole week’s worth of digital marketing – a dream come true.
The beautiful, Bristolian web design company called Studio Cotton
Obviously, if you’ve read any other blog posts you may have noticed Studio Cotton has helped quite a few individuals carry out a week of work experience, so you may be wondering, why Studio Cotton?
Loving all things pink, I was automatically drawn to their website as soon as I clicked on it.
After a bit of scrolling, and not really knowing what to look for, I came across their business values – candour, kindness and pragmatism – and their ‘meet the team’ page.
Now that sold it for me.
A lovely bunch of people with beautiful morals – what more could I ask for? Not to forget the pictures plastered on their website, what a gorgeous building.
Workin’ 9 till 5 (well 9:30 till 5 but still)
Here came Monday, the dreaded day (god my tummy was turning, I was so nervous – turned out I had no reason to be).
I rocked up at 9:15 (yes I was early because on time is late in my opinion) and was instantly greeted with Studio Cotton founder Aime’s beaming smile – so bright and chirpy for so early in the morning.
Straight in the office I was, my own desk, pink touches everywhere and beautiful beautiful plants all over the place – I was in my element.
Throughout the week I had the pleasure of meeting with each member of the Studio Cotton team.
From Alex’s wiz-kid knowledge of all things technical to Aime’s admirable love for anything SEO*, there was a constant flow of knowledge throughout the entire week – not to mention the millions of spontaneous coffee trips (which always made the place smell excellent).
*There is a whole blog category on SEO (search engine optimisation) don’t hesitate to check it out on the Studio Cotton website, even adding a link to make it that much easier for you.
Enjoy joining me on a recap of my work experience with Studio Cotton.
Lyzi – Chief Vibe Officer (or ‘Content Producer’ if you wanna be professional)
After only knowing Lyzi half a day, it became apparent how much of a big effect she had on the team. Other than being Aime’s Chief Vibe Officer – essentially giving Aime constant praise and love – Lyzi just seemed constantly happy.
Her bright and chirpy ‘good morning’ when she walked through the door (don’t forget the iced coffee on hand DAILY) brightened everyone’s day, especially mine.
I had my meeting with Lyzi the second day in, and it was truly the most eye-opening meeting – the way she could take any sentence and turn it into a beautiful, lengthy prose* that was so lovingly illustrated was beyond me.
*I also found out what ‘prose’ meant this week – one to add to Charlotte’s word bank.
Lyzi’s meeting contained a whistle-stop tour of everything SEO (which you should already know about if you’ve read the rest of their blogs ;))
One thing I admire about Lyzi is her confidence in her work.
She is so passionate about writing and so full of knowledge – I only wish to have half her talent. Thank you Lyzi, I can now officially say I have more knowledge about SEO than I ever did before!
Aime – Beauty and the brains (or the founder and CEO of Studio Cotton)
I wish I could point out just one meeting I’ve had with Aime this week that has helped me learn more, but truth be told, I’ve had more meetings with her this week than I have had in my whole life.
Even with being such a busy woman, Aime never fails to find time to catch everyone up on the gossip and make everyone smile, not to mention the endless amount of time she has made to support me this week – thank you Aime!
Although Aime likes to call herself a ‘dumb-dumb’ every 5 minutes, she has the most lovely bank of knowledge in her head. The work-aholic herself could tell you absolutely everything there is to know about Studio Cotton without even having to look at her screen.
With every meeting I’ve had with Aime this week, I’ve noticed one common thing: we can both speak for England – whether that’s because the amount of coffee bubbling inside of her brings out my extra-talkative personality or not, there’s non-stop chatter when it’s something Aime is passionate about (cough cough small businesses).
Alex – To be honest, I’m still not sure what he does (Technical Director of Studio Cotton)
Although Alex’s main job isn’t Studio Cotton – crazy right? I thought so too – he has been one of the main people I have seen this week.
Part of Alex’s job description is to handle any technical problems the team can’t resolve (because he’s crazy smart) and probably to make sure Aime doesn’t drink too many lattes from my new favourite coffee shop 2 doors down, Full Court Press.
My meeting with Alex this week consisted of learning all about hacking and passwords, and PECR – I never knew what that was until now, thanks Alex :).
Alex went through all the ways to hack someone (I promise to use these powers for good, not evil), and all the ways to keep your passwords protected – which is ironic because he spoke a lot about eavesdropping but that’s all he seems to do when Aime speaks.
I genuinely think if everything Alex knew took up a space in his brain, his head would be all the way in space – I told you he was stupidly smart.
When looking at Alex’s computer, the amount of codey-looking stuff on his screen baffles me to a different extent – I feel like I’m really bigging Alex up at the moment but honestly he really is like a wiz-kid.
The way Alex continuously works all day and never seems to loose flow of what he’s doing amazes me!
Georgia – Airfryer Queen (Styled Product Photographer and Social Media Content Creator)
On my last day with Studio Cotton, I had the absolute pleasure of meeting with Georgia de Lotz – her photography skills are absolutely amazing.
Although Georgia isn’t a permanent member of the Studio Cotton team, they work closely together to create the perfect photographic content for the Studio Cotton website.
After working with the Studio Cotton team for nearly 5 years, it is clear to see the close bond the team have with Georgia and how much Georgia loves to take pictures of Aime – although, I think that’s partly because Georgia is obsessed with Aime’s photogenic self.
One thing that stood out to me when speaking to Georgia (apart from everything, because she is an amazingly talented photographer) was the effort it takes to shoot each photo for all the businesses that Georgia works with, especially when she has to transform her office into all sorts of scenes.
While also having a chocolate spreadsheet – which I think is absolutely amazing and definitely want to make my own – Georgia is an amazingly talented photographer and is such a business driven lady. Basically that’s my saying I want to be just like her :).
With years of experience with photography (she’s done photography at GCSE, A-Level and University – amazing I know!) Georgia loves to keep her business small, meaning she can work on what she loves most – photography.
Pick your poison (AKA if I had half the brains as the team, who’s job would I want)
That concludes the insight into my week of lovely job responsibilities that I had the absolute pleasure of doing (yes, I am extremely sad it’s over).
If I was 30 years old and was lucky enough to be hired as part of the gorgeous Studio Cotton team, who’s job would I steal, did you ask? Ah, yes, good question.
LYZI’S.
Oh wait, I should say that quietly so she doesn’t think I’m after her job. I’d snatch up Lyzi’s job in a second.
Lyzi has a way with words, and I only wish to have her job role if I was older (don’t worry, you can keep your job at Studio Cotton… for now).
Also, who wouldn’t want to be Instagram famous – I know you want to do some binge scrolling through Lyzi’s Instagram, no need to hide it.
Unfortunately, I didn’t have the pleasure of meeting Jodie this week as she has been unwell – get better soon – but from what I’ve heard she is as lovely and cool as I imagined.
My final thank you
Thank you to the amazing Studio Cotton team for allowing me to come and experience life as part of a small business team. You have all made my work experience better than I ever could have imagined.
You’re all so much more talented than you will ever know, and I feel incredibly lucky to have an amazing team supporting me this week.
A massive thanks to the happiest teacher Miss McDonagh (or Kelly as Aime calls her since they have known each other since they were 17), for hooking me up with this sweet gig. You light up our classroom.
Until I see you all again – once I’ve stolen Lyzi’s job 😉
PS. Here’s a photo of Miss McDonagh and Aime in “Casa de Aime and Kellyo” back when they met at B&Q when they were my age.
