Well I have had a really exciting couple of weeks. I thought to myself how I would never have imagined sitting in the Ivy with Jacqueline Gold only 10 months after self publishing!
As I was voted one her best WOW businesses of 2011, I was invited to meet her in London for lunch with the two other winners- Udesignstudio and Wedge Welly. Both great companies and lovely ladies. I was pretty nervous before going in and meeting everybody but once I sat down, everyone was so down to earth it felt like meeting friends. Jacqueline was really lovely and regaled us with funny stories about her business and also some inspirational tales of how she hasn’t got to where she is without some trials and tribulations.
I learnt how you have to learn from rejections and also to value proximity in business- ie think about who you know and how you can help one another. You never know when you may need the help back.
I was able to explain more about my passion for languages and getting children to start learning them earlier and she completely agreed. She loved my business name JaJaJa and I explained how it means ha ha ha because I want to make learning languages fun. Also each story ends with my characters getting the giggles- always a winner when I am doing a story time!
Jacqueline has now kindly invited us down to HQ to seek more advice and I can’t wait to tell them about my plans. My flash cards are now being illustrated as are my French stories and I am just so excited about expanding and spreading the JaJaJa word everywhere!