Up With The Lark And

We ask Ben Watkinson, Creative Director of GF Smith, about the power of paper, the work of a paper merchant, resilience, innovation, company culture, longevity and what the next one hundred years might bring. When I begin work with a new client, their specific understanding of success is a vital first step. Often I find myself ushering people towards adding ‘longevity’ to the list. In an era where...

If curiosity is your north star, you will enjoy this. How does being self-taught impact the life of a creative entrepreneur? Those who live a life of creativity are often driven by something quite simple - curiosity, wonder and questioning. There is an innate desire to want to understand something, to work something out, to communicate and to explore.  For some, this takes them on a path to art sc...

How to ignite original thinking to action and how to keep that independence of thought at the heart of all you do as your businees grows.  I think that we would all liked to be described as original. I think we also like to think that our designs, branding, website, shop or investment strategy meet that threshold too. But it is a high one. There are certainly those who veer away from the herd, who...

How do we tune into clients? How can we read them quickly? How can we take feedback well? How can we be collaborative? How can we help them tell their story? I always enjoy the dedications and acknowledgements in books. Such hidden treasures. Recently, I had the pleasure of wolfing down Thomas Heatherwick’s latest book ‘Humanise – a Maker’s Guide To Building Our World’.  It is a point of view. A s...

A conversation about how the Swedes do business with textile designer, Cathy Nordstrom. A few years ago, I had a conversation with Taymoor Atigetchi, founder of Papier about the impact of his Iranian roots on the way that he does business. That train of thought stayed with me. And stayed with me. And stayed with me to the point of preoccupation. And so now, a series of interviews with entrepreneur...

Welcome to Up With the Lark And – a podcast for creative entrepreneurs hosted by me, Calandre Orton. It seems to me that there are two key factors in the running of a great business. Consistency and Change. Together. Blended. Balanced. Connected. And as we usher in a New Year, change is on our minds. What goals have you set for yourself this year? Perhaps a change of product or service, perhaps a...

Welcome to Up With the Lark And – a podcast for creative entrepreneurs hosted by me, Calandre Orton. One of the areas of creative business that intrigues me most is how creatives work together. How do great partnerships, collaborations, commissions, pairs and teams work? How do we know if an endeavour will be challenging, stretching, engaging, enriching, effective, adventurous? How can we all unde...

It seems to me that the mix of work rest and play has gone awry. Many of us find ourselves far from a good blend, mix or combinations of these three critical factors in any creative business. Work has long been worshipped. Being oh so very busy, burning the candle at both ends and the midnight oil, the 5am club, all nights have all been badges of honour. Slowly, though, rest has found its way like...

It seems to me that the mix of work rest and play has gone awry. Many of us find ourselves far from a good blend, mix or combinations of these three critical factors in any creative business. Work has long been worshipped. Being oh so very busy, burning the candle at both ends and the midnight oil, the 5am club, all nights have all been badges of honour. Slowly, though, rest has found its way like...

It seems to me that the mix of work rest and play has gone awry. Many of us find ourselves far from a good blend, mix or combinations of these three critical factors in any creative business. Work has long been worshipped. Being oh so very busy, burning the candle at both ends and the midnight oil, the 5am club, all nights have all been badges of honour. Slowly, though, rest has found its way like...

It seems to me that the mix of work rest and play has gone awry. Many of us find ourselves far from a good blend, mix or combinations of these three critical factors in any creative business. Work has long been worshipped. Being oh so very busy, burning the candle at both ends and the midnight oil, the 5am club, all nights have all been badges of honour. Slowly, though, rest has found its way like...

It seems to me that the mix of work rest and play has gone awry. Many of us find ourselves far from a good blend, mix or combinations of these three critical factors in any creative business. Work has long been worshipped. Being oh so very busy, burning the candle at both ends and the midnight oil, the 5am club, all nights have all been badges of honour. Slowly, though, rest has found its way like...

In this episode we are joined by Jess Wheeler. Jess is a designer and artist based in North Wales. She works across a variety of disciplines from set to homeware design and her cross disciplinary approach has a unified, nostalgic, nature driven narrative. I greatly admire not just the pieces that Jess creates but also her route and methods. In fact a bronze rhubarb from her collection was the firs...

It is too easy to throw up our hands in despair at the state of the world. And yet there are many of you acting to make a change. Not only that, you are doing it ever so stylishly. Each of you should be applauded. For quite some time, I have wanted to adjust the format of the podcast. To mix in with the one to one interviews, some more ‘round the table’ discussions. I want to hear different views...

There is an audible sigh of exhaustion, of weariness, of disturbed momentum, of deep uncertainty. So in this collection of conversations, we are going to discuss ideas, approaches and temperaments that could act as an antidote for those of us working in the arts and creative industries. If you have found yourself retreating, becoming overly cautious or risk averse, then this is the episode for you...

It is true that many enterprises begin with someone unable to find what they are looking for, so they make it themselves and Nights By Wilder is a delightful example of this. It was born out of founder Elizabeth’s stylish eye for nightwear for her children. Stylish is quite the word here, Nights By Wilder is highly memorable from its fabrics and silhouettes to its charm and its whimsy. Children’s...

Welcome to the latest episode of Up With The Lark And. In this latest collection of conversations, I hope to offer some small antidote to the pervasive sense of weariness, exhaustion and uncertainty. My guests offer attitudes, approaches and temperaments that I hope should offer ideas, energy and confidence. Our guest is Julian Parmiter, one of the founders of Create Academy. Create Academy offers...

It feels that within the creative industries there is an audible sigh of exhaustion, of weariness, of disturbed momentum, of uncertainty. So, in this collection of conversations, we are going to discuss ideas, approaches and temperaments that could act an antidote to this. I have approached those who have reimagined an industry, a material, an approach to doing things as I hope that this will brin...

In this episode we face up to a complex, emotive and sadly ubiquitous challenge: copying. To my mind this is a heady mix of principle and pragmatism, the creative life and commercial reality. The fact is that copying is an inherent part of the pursuit of creativity. Imitation is how we learn and we are all searching for inspiration hoping to excavate our way to something extraordinary and, frankly...

Welcome to Episode 62 and a rather special follow up episode. Back in November 2020, I had the pleasure of speaking with Alexandra Dauley and Sophie Ashby co-founders of United in Design. United in Design is a charitable project working to tackle the lack of diversity in the design industries. The conversation that we had was honest and moving. It was focused on practical action. It was about hope...

Welcome to Episode 61 and a topic I am delighted to be discussing - how to build on success. Too often preoccupied with what could go wrong, we rarely openly discuss “what could go right”? How does success impact us? Does it offer freedom or pressure? How do we sustain it? Far from an air of arrogance, for me building on success is the antidote to a burnout culture that celebrates one hit wonders...

In this spring-time cluster of episodes, I look to the great outdoors, to gardens, garden design, landscaping and all things green and, in particular, that great institution Chelsea Flower Show. The show is a place to luxuriate in the great garden renaissance of the 2020s and to explore current themes, preoccupations and narratives. For this episode, we are joined by garden designer and writer Tab...

In these spring-time episodes, I look to the great outdoors, to gardens, garden design, landscaping and, in particular, that great institution Chelsea Flower show. Far from its past reputation as a little ‘fuddy duddy’, Chelsea is now a place to luxuriate in the great garden renaissance of the 2020s. It is an opportunity to explore current themes, preoccupations and meanings found within the natur...

You might be forgiven for thinking that you've downloaded an episode of Elizabeth Day's How to Fail when you hear the story of this episode. I had the honour of interviewing Taymoor Atighetchi, founder of Papier, some weeks ago over Zoom. I'll be honest. I made a huge mistake. I failed to press record. It was a horrifying realisation. By some miracle Taymoor's PR team had recorded the call. Howeve...

Welcome to the latest episode in our Start Series. Today we Start with the Classics with Emily Campbell of nightwear brand If Only If. For me a classic is something timeless, of quality, of influence, an outstanding example that for reasons not always easy to articulate stands apart. A classic may come in and out of the limelight, be refreshed and reimagined, but they remain. Examples are numerous...