Here’s our Sunday roundup of the week’s most read articles. These introductions to our readers’ favourites are perfect for reading in bed with a cup of tea. And if something gets you hooked, you can go and read the full article…
Whatever you’re doing on the week days – going out to work, parenting – life can be both exhilarating and downright tiring. So the weekends are for recuperating and preparing for the following week. Less easy when there are babies to tend to or toddlers throwing wild tantrums over nothing but hopefully you had some time to chill.
And now, if you have a spare 20 minutes and fancy catching up on The Early Hour’s most read articles, here’s a little introduction to the top four. Starting with Matt Farquarson, or Papa Pukka, who told us all about #parentingtheshitoutoflife with a toddler in tow…
1. Papa Pukka on Fatherhood and Freelance Writing
If you’re on Instagram, you may be familiar with Anna Whitehouse – or Mother Pukka – whose excellent #parentingtheshitoutoflife hashtag has seriously caught on. Well, now her husband is in on the blogging/ vlogging/ Instagramming action. And he’s hilariously candid.
We asked Matt about being a dad to Mae, his workspace (“At our dining table, surrounded by coffee mugs and toast crumbs”), how evenly the childcare is divided between him and Anna (he takes on 40%), working as a freelance copywriter and what he thinks about the new paternity leave legislation.
Have a read about Papa Pukka here.
Here’s an inspiring Sunday read…
2. PATTERNITY: Seeing Pattern in the Everyday
PATTERNITY, originally set up by artists Anna Murray and Grace Winteringham as a pattern archive, is now a globally influential style brand. Their work is varied; from Clarks Originals collaborations to leading a Mindful Marbling kids’ workshop. But they said that they don’t lose focus because whether it’s a photo shoot, a product collaboration or a new event partnership they always come back to the same working process and lead question: how can pattern help us to connect better to our environment, each other and ourselves?
We caught up with Anna and Grace to talk branding, partnerships and seeing beauty in the mundane… Have a read – they’re an inspiring twosome…
3. Graveyard Shift: What’s it Like Working Nights?
For the first in an eye-opening series of interviews with night workers, Cordelia Fellowes spoke to Juliette – a 43-year-old journalist and broadcaster from London – about her seven-year stint on the so-called graveyard stint.
Juliette talked about being bullied by management, being both mentally and physically affected by being up all night and trying – but failing – to sleep in the day. The breaking point, she said, was when her “skin was almost grey… I had a perpetual low mood and my hair would often fall out.”
Hear the dark truth about how damaging night shifts can be when working as a journalist for an international broadcasting company…
One for the entrepreneurs…
4. Award-winning Entrepreneur Who Made Millions From Shea Butter
The award-winning entrepreneur and founder of Shea Radiance, Funlayo Alabi, was born in Nigeria but moved to the US with her sister when it was time for university. After studying international business, she found herself in an unrelated corporate job that didn’t feel right for her.
She’d discovered the healing properties of shea butter – grown close to where she grew up in, in West Africa – when it cured her son’s eczema, so she began mixing up shea butter products and selling them at her local farmer’s market. It soon became Shea Radiance; now a global, multi-million dollar business.
We loved hearing about the social responsibility Funlayo feels towards the women who pick the nuts, as they are at risk of snake bites and sexual abuse from men in the fields. She ensures that they not only have a ‘fair trade’ arrangement, but that the women are given as much of the profit as possible. You can read about this inspiring woman here.
As ever, we love hearing from you – whether you’ve got a story to tell (and who hasn’t) or have some feedback: good or bad. So get in touch: info@theearlyour.com. Or leave a comment below and we’ll be sure to reply… Have a smashing Sunday.