Hello there,
I’m Halle from What We Made, a small mother & daughter duo making wooden gifts and eco- conscious keepsakes created with love from our home to yours.
You make have seen me popping up on the Made Local Pop-Up Instagram, where we’ve been showing you sneak peaks of behind the scenes here as well as showcasing new products and of course lots of our lovely makers.
Since discovering Megan and the fabulous Curated Makers last Autumn through Instagram (where else do us millennials meet hey!) I saw she was searching for creatives to work at Christmas pop ups, and of course in the least creepiest of ways I slide into her DMs.
After working for the last few years as a knitwear designer for high street stores such as Monsoon and Oasis, I could see first hand how the high street was changing and needing something new to entice shoppers through the doors. After being made redundant I was feeling a little lost, if I’m completely honest, and working for a small brand such as Curated Makers that was literally changing the high street shopping experience really seemed a revolutionary and exciting opportunity, and something I was truly passionate about.
I had always worked on What We Made as a side hobby, mainly selling to friends and family slowly growing to friends of friends and eventually new customers and with 3 weeks before Christmas Megan invited me to sell my makes at the Cheadle store. With the Christmas frantic energy that so many makers know all too well, I started making and selling in John Lewis Cheadle. When customers bought my own products with me at the till I was giddy with joy and pride and couldn’t quite believe the opportunity!
Post Christmas I set out to give it my all and make ‘What We Made’ hopefully a success and with shops reopening in April committed to working as much as possible at the Trafford Centre store to fully get involved with Curated Makers. Working here whilst also having my products here has meant I could fully experience the customer journey, react quickly to occasion gifting such as Father’s Day and teacher pressies and of course get feedback from the loyal John Lewis customer.
Megan is a true champion of us small makers, she is a power house of a business woman, whilst also genuinely truly caring about each of us teeny tiny makers, the products and the people who work for Curated Makers. Side note: she also has a fabulous choice of nail art!
But my absolute favourite thing has to be of course working alongside so many inspirational makers. I’ve been on courses, read books, been to talks but nothing compares to the advice of others who want to see you succeed. The moral, friendship and advice from the other creatives working here has been incredible and I have absolutely loved every moment and genuinely have met some amazing friends!
Shop small, support your local makers and come and see us in a store near you!
Be sure to shop online at www.curatedmakers.co.uk and keep an eye out for lots of exciting new ventures where we‘ll be popping up next!
Happy Shopping!
Lots of Love, Halle at What We Made xx