With our studio closed for the time being, we’re bringing you our monthly ‘At work with’ feature from the comfort of our founder, Sarah’s home. Luckily her husband is a dab hand with a camera so we’re able to show you a little snippet of their East London home in photograph form.
We catch-up with Sarah to discuss how she’s dealing with the new isolation measures, especially in regards to work, and what she’s doing to keep a sense of routine in her home office.
Can you tell us a little about your career background and how it lead you to where you are now?
I started out my career working in social media and content for fashion and beauty brands. I owe a lot to the people I worked with in my twenties; from my managers to my assistants, they definitely taught me everything I know now. I was happy in what I was doing, but I was starting to feel the pull to do my own thing. I come from a family of entrepreneurs, so I guess it must be in my blood. Evermore actually started out selling potpourri (!) and the candles came secondary to that, who knows, maybe we’ll bring it back again.
Can you tell us something you’re most proud of?
I’m going to be really boring and go with the obvious answer – Evermore. I’ve build it all from scratch (with a little help from my husband here and there); sometimes I remind myself to take a step back and look at the journey it’s been on. I’ve worked hard and never gave up hope, even when things went wrong or I was running out of money. I’d say I’m proud of myself for always persevering.
What are your work-from-home essentials?
Coffee, music or a good podcast in the background, fresh flowers and, of course, a candle burning on my desk. This is not necessarily work-themed, but I’m finding meditating is really helping me keep my mind in check whilst being stuck at home; I’m a very big fan of the Calm app.
How are you keeping your routine whilst working from home?
If I’m totally honest, I’m really struggling with working from home. It’s made me realise how important routine is for me. If I’m given free rein, I get very easily distracted. To keep me in check I have a coffee every morning and eat my breakfast outside – we’re very lucky to have a garden – before walking the dog and then heading up to our make-shift home office. We’re fortunate to have a converted loft space that we can fit two desks into. I make sure I get dressed nicely each day, I stopped making an effort for a while and it made me extremely unmotivated. My husband and I also blast NTS radio each morning to put us in a good mood for the rest of the day.
Where in the world do you most want to visit after all this is over?
Wow, so many places, I’m not sure where to begin. I feel like we need to be sensitive about how long it will take for us to be able to travel the way we did previously, it really makes you realise what a luxury it was. If I had to pick one place it would be Mexico. It’s always been very high on our list, I actually can’t believe we haven’t been yet.
What are your favourite colour combinations?
Right now I’m obsessed with all things blue, from pale to punchy. We had been planning to have our bathroom renovated prior to the lockdown and I’d picked out blue and off-white square tiles to create a chequerboard effect on the floor. I love pale blues teamed with pops of yellow or crisp whites.
The environment is important to Evermore as a brand but what are your personal sustainability values?
As a household, we make every effort to live as sustainable as we can. All the obvious ones like reusable shopping bags, KeepCups, environmentally friendly cleaning products, eco energy suppliers, not overusing water, recycling everything possible. I recently signed up to a sustainable razor company called FFS that delivers your razor heads to the door; the used ones can then be sent back to be recycled. It’s sometimes easy to become all consumed by it and worry that you’re not doing enough, but it’s so important for us all to do our bit, not matter how small.
What’s your favourite Evermore scent and why?
It changes constantly, I’d be lying if I didn’t say I love them all in equal measure. Right now, I can’t get enough of Flore, it’s so perfect for spring and instantly lifts my spirits when I light it.