Happy Birthday Millicent!

Just a quick birthday wish for her from me today, as there are plenty of fabulous articles out there and they are better than anything I could write.  

If you'd like to read more about her and the suffragette movement, have a look through these great articles and resources:  

https://www.historytoday.com/archive/millicent-garrett-fawcett

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Millicent-Fawcett

Here books are available as ebooks here:  http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/5969

And The London School of Economics and Political Science has a fantastic Women's Libray detailed here:

http://www.lse.ac.uk/library/collection-highlights/the-womens-library

and a digital timeline with books here:

https://digital.library.lse.ac.uk/collections/thewomenslibrary

Details of her statue in Parliament Square can be read here:

https://london.ac.uk/news-and-opinion/millicent-fawcett-statue-unveiled-parliament-square

 xx

I read that 43% of managers within Unilever are women, and I just had to read up more about it as this is not the kind of percentage I normally see.  It seems that their CEO is an active feminist and a member of the He-For-She campain.  Go Alan and go Unilever!  It's not quite 50%, or even 57% to 43% men, but it's a ratio significantly higher than many other multinational profit driven companies. They have looked through the layers of the company, including to the farms and producers working for them.  It says to me that they are moving in the right direction and have tried to actively culture a business of feminist equality and safety.  I dare say they have some way to go, but they seem to be aware of the issues and are not just focusing on women within offices.  

Their official statement on women within the company goes as follows:

IMPACT Commitments

Expand opportunities and provide access to skills and training for women across the Unilever value chain.

Unilever believes that creating opportunities and providing access to skills and training is critical to expanding female participation in the economy. Unilever provides training to women in their extended supply chain and distribution channels, including agricultural, business and literacy training. Besides working with smallholder farmers (around 30% of Unilever smallholder farmers are women), Unilever also equips female small-scale retailers with business skills and access to tools and technology to develop successful businesses. In order to drive sustainable growth and transform lives, families, communities and economies, Unilever will continue to build upon existing programmes to provide a holistic approach to skills & training. By the end of 2014, around 168,000 female smallholder farmers had completed qualified skills training delivered or made possible by Unilever and another 70,000 micro-entrepreneurs were trained in India.

Improve the safety of women & girls in communities where Unilever operates.

1 in 3 women will experience violence in their lifetime. Unilever aims to improve safety for women and girls in the communities where they operate including their extended supply chain. Unilever’s approach focuses on the prevention of incidents through increased education and awareness, as well as improving the grievance and reporting procedures. One example is the programme launched in 2013, on the Kericho tea plantation in Kenya, which covers 12,000 permanent workers, and up to 5,000 seasonal workers. Since the programme launch, there have been substantial improvements in the way sexual harassment issues are addressed, as well as opportunities for girls to engage in social activities and mentoring. This programme has a big impact, reaching those who live in company villages on the estates. Unilever will scale this successful program in the next 5 years, by identifying the highest priority regions & countries.

Build a gender-balanced organisation with a focus on management.

Unilever employs more than 172,000 people around the world. As of 2014, 43% of managers at Unilever were female. Unilever believes gender-balanced teams make better business decisions and recognises that management sets the tone for the rest of their business. Some examples of the initiatives to build a gender balanced organisation are: sustained leadership accountability and clear targets continuously reviewed and monitored; inclusion leadership training for employees; programs to recruit, retain and develop women talent e.g. Balanced shortlists, Maternity & Paternity support, women’s development and mentoring programs and employee engagement communications to build organisational engagement around inclusion and diversity.

Unilever are not the kind of company I would expect to be paying an interest in feminist issues, so it's lovely to see.  I'd expect to see companies that produce sanitiary towels etc, like Kimberly Clark, to be aware of making their voice heard on the issue, so it is wonderful to see a company that makes such a wide range of products (Ben and Jerry's, Radox, Marmite and Lipton to name just a few!) being aware of the importance of balance and female importance in business, in all layers.

I hope due to their work with the He-For-She campaign, and with Alan's leadership, they have kept their momentum with their equality work.  I salute you Unilever.  

As the GDPR laws have been in effect now for 2 years, so I just wanted to give you an update as to how I handle your data now that I've settled into the routine.

  Customer List Data:

After deliberately deleting my customer email list back then, I have had a lovely response with people choosing to opt-in.  I don't email my customers unless I have something to say, so the last two were an end of 2019 email with new product news, links to my new guides etc, and then a COVID 19 email wishing you all well. 

The email address list is managed by Mail Chimp, who store your data for me.  I only keep your first name, surname and email address on their database if you have opted in. 

  Security Software:

I continue to use F-Secure to protect your data when I am editing things, for example, getting your order ready.  I have this all all of my devices.

 Downloading Your Data For My Accounts:

When I download my sales for my accounts, I download them into an excel file. The first thing I do I to delete all the columns with your name, address, phone number and email address.  I then save the file, so the only data stored on my computer is the sale itself and not any of your personal data.

 The Software I Use:

I use the same software to host my website and provide the checkout, Create.  They are fully GDPR compliant and SSL secure.  

I now use some software called Angel Books to help with my accounting.  This software accesses your data to import the sale.  The software itself runs on their servers rather than my computer, and uses their encryption technology

Angel Books uses HTTPS (secure HTTP) to encrypt all data from our servers to your browser. The servers are located in a secure data centre in Gloucester and have 24/7 security.

My payment providers World Pay and Paypal process your payments on their servers directly, and I do not have access to your card details at any point.

If you ever have any query about your data, just send me an email and I'll be happy to help.  

P.S. You can read my full Privacy and Cookies page info here

Choosing bras is really important when it comes to using breast enhancers.

For them to work well, and give you the support and push-up that you want, we need a supportive well fitting bra. To start with, make sure the bra you wear is the correct size, especially around the band.  You can see my everso helpful guide here.

For the shape of the bra, this really depends on the look you are going for and the shape of your breasts. There are all sorts, full cup, balconette, plunge, halterneck, bandeau etc.  The main things to look for are:

If you are wanting to go for a rounded cleavage look, and will be going for an enhancer that will sit below your breast and push you up, be careful with buying a very low-cut bra at the front.  We don't want your pushed up assets breaking free!

If you are wearing a very padded bra, it can be hard to get an enhancer to sit well, so less or no padding is better. The enhancer can do the job of the padding, and can move itself in the cup to ensure it is sitting well with the shape of your breasts for maximum effect.   

Full cup bras offer the most support as they have the bigger cup.

They can however show for some lower cut dresses and tops. Try them out with your lowest cut tops before you commit.  

If your bra is a very thin fabric, you will be best with one of my softer styles.  Bumps between the enhancer your breast can show with the firmer styles, as they push you to the heavens, which does not show with normal bras.  

I hope these little tips help when you are choosing bras to try with your enhancers and vice-versa.

I'm heading overseas today with a little bio about Dr Macnamara. An Australian doctor and medical scientist, Dame Jean Macnamara applied her tireless work ethic to better understand and treat various forms of paralysis including polio. Her work contributed to the development of a successful polio vaccine in 1955.

Annie Jean Macnamara was born in Beechworth, Victoria, Australia1899, and as a teenager during World World I felt a strengthened resolve “to be of some use in the world.” Standing just 152cm tall, the forthright Dr. Macnamara proved to be a force to be reckoned with. 

Dr. Macnamara graduated from medical school in 1925, the same year a polio epidemic struck the capital city of Melbourne. As a consultant and medical officer to the Poliomyelitis Committee of Victoria, she turned her focus to treating and researching the potentially fatal virus, a particular risk for children.

In collaboration with the future Nobel Prize winner Sir Macfarlane Burnet, she discovered in 1931 that there was more than one strain of the poliovirus, a pivotal step towards the development of an effective vaccine nearly 25 years later.

Dr. Macnamara continued to work with sufferers of the disease—especially children—for the rest of her life, developing new methods of treatment and rehabilitation.

For her invaluable commitment to children’s lives, she was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in 1935. During her lifetime, Dr. Macnamara's research also played a major role in the introduction of myxomatosis to control rabbit plagues, minimising environmental damage across Australia. 

The polio vaccine has changed millions of lives, so thank you Dr Macnamara.

I just wanted to give you an update on my situation and stance with regard to the outbreak.

• I am on immune system supressing medication, so I take things very seriously. I follow hygiene rules carefully, and those around me do too. Your parcel will be packaged with clean fresh hands etc!
• I work from home and this should hopefully keep me safe and enable me to continue to run my store without any problems, getting your lovely items to you as needed.
• There may be delay in the postal service at this time, but hopefully this won't be too bad.  
• If someone in my household goes into self-isolation, I shall shut my store from posting as I work from home where they will now be, and could therefore be at risk.    My partner works for a specialist on infectious diseases, who is advising the government at present, and I am aware we know little about the virus yet.  It should not last long enough to reach you on one of my parcels if I was infected, but in order to protect the postal service and you, I will stop posting in case.  I don't want to risk it for the sake of 2 weeks.  
• If this happens, I will pop banners over my site, notify on Facebook etc.  

I hope you all stay healthy during this.  Please please wash your hands well regularly and for longer, don't get too close to people in public if you can avoid it and stay away from super crowded places when you can.

As a side note, I suffer terribly from dry hands that crack and bleed ordinarily.  I have found bar soap to be so much better for them and to have virtually stopped it.  If you find your hands getting dry with the extra washing using liquid soap, make a swap to bar soap and you should find it much better. 

Take care everyone 

I love history.  I love reading historical novels, watching movies and TV shows like Vikings, The Tudors, The Last Kingdom and The Pianist, as well as fantasy history like Game of Thrones.  I guess I just love being taken back in time and living another person's life for a while.  As George R R Martin says:

When I read a historical book or watch a show, I am taken into a radically different life, and I love that.

Let me introduce you to a Welsh Princess called Nest (or Nesta).  She pops up in a few of the novels I've read and she's rather awesome, so I just thought I'd share a little about her.

She lived from 1085-1136, during the time of intense fighting against the Normans who had come over, won in battle against our King Harold Godwinson, and taken over England.  That was of course near Hastings and is depicted in the Bayeux Tapestry.  Her father was a Welsh King and he resisted the Norman spread across England into Wales.  He died fighting just outside Brecon against William the Conqueror's son, named, erm, William .  Nest was still a teenager but was packed off to English court, as she was quite the beauty.  That must have been such a tough time for her as she was separated from all her remaining family, but she struggled on.  She settled in to London life, and even had Henry 1s illegitimate son (before he was King).  According to written accounts, they were very close and things could have gone differently for her here, but she was ordered by Henry to marry a Norman Constable of Pembroke.  This sounds rather harsh as he did love her, but he had become King and had to marry someone else for political reasons (he no doubt wasn't all that happy with it either).

This is a medieval manuscript in the British Library showing Nest in bed with Henry, crowns an' all! 

Nest was shipped back to Wales with her new hubbie Gerald, so I'm sure she was happy to be going home; she even managed to make the forced marriage work. It's reported that she and her hubbie had a good relationship, despite her being a Welsh Princess and he a Norman Invader who had taken over Pembroke Castle. She was a well-balanced, strong, open and honest woman from what I've read, and she learnt to love Gerald for who he was.  He learnt to respect her Welsh roots too, and was respectful of Pembroke and the Welsh people.  I'm sure making the relationship work was not easy at the start, so hats off to them both.  

They had 5 children together, and during her life with Gerald she was abducted and possibly raped by her cousin.  She came through that ordeal with real strength, only to have Gerald die (not after he avenged her though) and her to be married off by her sons to someone else.  It wasn't the best time to be a woman that's for sure.  She had another child in this new marriage, and this son went on to be famous in his own right, Robert FitzStephen. 

Despite all her trials and the constant battling between her family and the English (her brothers and nephews continued the fight), she still managed to walk the fine line in the middle with dignity.  She maintained relations with both sides, and that must have been extremely tough with times of very high tensions.  She was held in high esteem and Henry 1 reportedly remained very fond of her.  He lost a great woman and I bet he knew it.

Women have made all sorts of marks over history, largely not documented or known, and Nest is one I feel a real fondness for.  She spent her life being ordered around by men due to the time she lived and the little rights she had, but her legacy and the recording of her life shows she was held in very high regard.  This is no mean feat for a woman back then and I think she helped pave the way for the end of the Welsh and Norman/English tensions.  Go Nesta.  

If you'd like, you can read more about her by clicking here:

Jo xxx

Happy New Year!

I hope you had a lovely festive time and you still have some teeth left (mine are just hanging in there, with just some Matchmakers boxes to go). I made a 3-month planner for my life last year that I use to try and keep track, take stock, and move forward with the things I want to achieve. I just had the crazy thought that it might be a good idea if I share it for once! I have an accountability page, but I just give it to my partner, so here I am sharing it with the world this time. LET'S DO THIS JO.

So, I have 3 personal and 3 work goals for every 3 months that I chip away at. This time they are:

Work Goals

1. Get my stock software sorted. I started with a new software last year called Angel Books and I am still struggling to get it to work for me. I am going to get that really sorted one way or another, as this will help you guys with my stock levels and manufacturing of products.

2. I will sort out some advertising. I find this really hard to do, as I am so limited with time as a one-woman shop. I'm going to work on a plan for this so that I can keep the stock turning over and develop new products when needed.

3. I'm going to get my discount code scheme going. I think I have found a way to offer loyal customers codes for discounts, so I am going to find a way to integrate that to my store/newsletter. If you would like to hear about that when they come out, make sure you are signed up to my newsletter at the bottom of my home page. My goal should probably be to write 2 more newsletters, as I only managed 1 last year, but I'm sure I'll send one out when I get the codes going.

Personal Goals

1. Build new storage in my wardrobe. Quite frankly it is shocking in there, I have to shove the door shut and therefore could do with a better storage system. Power tools here I come.

2. Learn to say no. I'm a people pleaser and this first 3 months of the year I am going to start with the retraining of my brain to keep that in check.

3. Build my personal chronic disease health workbook, to help me when my health is going off-kilter and I need support/positivity/a reminder that I'm only human.

If you want to be accountable to someone with your goals, feel free to email me in complete confidence. Warning though, I will check in on you!

Jo xxxx

We hear soooo much from the big names about "Black Friday", "Cyber Monday", "Black Friday Week" and now "Extended Black Friday Week"...when will it end? I don't know about you, but I deleted all of the emails that chogged up my inbox.  I don't participate in it for that very reason, and I'd rather offer great prices all of the time, not hike them so I can supposedly bring them down for a Black Friday Sale (aparrently a lot of companies use that method according to online reports). I'd rather offer sales when they are unexpected to you.

This Saturday however, it's about something I feel much happier about talking about, Small Business Saturday. In this country we have a wealth of small businesses offering amazing products, unusual products, exceptional customer service, advice and help in a way you will never receive from the big names, and they work at that all through the year. How about this Saturday, Sunday and any other time you are shopping, you take a look at these guides. Amex do a deal if you save the offer to your card and shop at a participating small business, and the others offer guides and product/shop lists.  Happy shopping.

Love HO HO HO JO xxx