We've hit a milestone that's too exciting not to share: 2 million subscribers! That's a community of readers from all around the world, connected by the excitement of building a life on your own terms. Thank you for all your support and enthusiasm. And if you fancy sharing the love, please forward this to anyone else you think might also enjoy it.
OK, back to business. This week: the end of the world, a badly designed poster, a layoff and lots more unconventional inspiration for people looking to start something new.
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01. βPreparing for the apocalypseβ is how The Nunchuck Princess describes her latest project. The London-born Japanese-Ashkenazi art director β real name Mana Kimura-Anderson β is building a community of women and non-binary creatives and athletes of Asian heritage who are looking to keep themselves safe physically and grow creatively πͺ. Subverting cartoonish tropes of women in martial arts usually seen in pop culture, Mana shares her expertise with nunchucks β a traditional Japanese martial-arts weapon β as well as archery, kickboxing and bouldering.
02. Another unconventional way of starting something on your own terms, this time in food: Eva Hurtigkarl is the in-house chef for Danish fashion label GANNI β a recent menu included mushroom lasagna and Finnish fish soup. She started out in advertising and PR, before going back to culinary school, catering for fashion events and eventually cooking for GANNI's founders.
03. The world of watches used to be impenetrable to outsiders: designer showrooms, ultra-masculine designs and a big focus on bezels β whatever those are. But now the world of luxury watches looks and feels much fresher and more accessible. There are meme accounts, booming secondhand sellers, a growing demand from women and new drop models keeping interest ticking on new releases.
04. Real Housewives of Clapton is a meme page that's grown an audience of 70,000 people by making fun of a certain subset of east London's obsession with overpriced olives π«. It recently launched a pop-up menu of meme-inspired dishes β at a natural wine bar, appropriately.
05. You don't have to start a brand to follow Ashwinn Krishnaswamy β just settle in for deep dives about things like how Dyson made vacuums sexy, the βterribleβ design of the US Declaration of Independence and why βthe Grimace shake is McDonald's dream and nightmare. An insanely viral meme that is driving awareness and sales for the product.β An agency founder by day, Ashwinn takes to social media to share his often quietly savage takes on all things branding, design and strategy.
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06. If you want to go deeper into the world of #BrandTok, Oren John is another person to follow. He's got a background in consumer branding and product development and he offers big-picture trend analysis, such as why brands are all building fictional universes (hey, Rochambeau Club).
07. Since it launched in 2020, menswear podcast Throwing Fits has been downloaded nearly 7 million times and now brings in nearly $20,000 per month through Patreon. Its tagline β βTwo grown dirtbags just tryna navigate the male zeitgeistβ β sets out the podcast's always bro-y and affable tone and shows how fashion's gatekeeping problem is coming to an end.
08. Layoffs suck, but a layoff that inspires a wine shop? Seattle-based Nick Bentley co-founded Petite Wine + Bottle Shop after he was let go from a marketing job β it's a tiny wine shop tucked into a 90 square-foot corner of his business partner Gillian Palmer's boutique, September πΎ. We asked Nick and Gillian how it's going.
How did you decide to start Petite Wine?
Gillian: βIn January, the space I'd been subleasing to a coffee shop opened up. I wanted the space to continue to be a place that encouraged a social environmentβ¦ [Then] I reached out to Nick to see if he had any interest in partnering up and here we are, nearly two months later.β
What are the advantages and disadvantages of having a tiny shop?
Nick: βOh man, is it TINY. I think that's part of the allure, though, and what makes it unique. It's a very intimate space, which means it's easy to find me β I can't hide β and chat about wine and everything else. Some of the disadvantages are related to lack of seating and shelf space. I'm very intentional with the product I bring in.β
09. One extra piece of advice from Nick for anyone who wants to start something in wine: βStart the licensing process early. There's a lot of red tape around alcohol sales. Also, you're never going to feel like you know enough about wine β trust me. Wine knowledge is a journey, and there's no right or wrong level of experience to open a shop. You and your customers will grow together and you'll be surprised [by] what you learn from opening a shop that you couldn't have read in those fancy wine bibles.β
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10. Here are four other tiny storefronts making it work.
- Parkside Coffee is an actual hole in the wall, serving coffee from cheery shutters in Perth, Australia.
- Sesame Tiny Bakery serves citrusy cakes from an alleyway location in Berkeley, California.
- NICO, a micro hotel in Sayulita, Mexico, has only five rooms but has big views of the beach and the jungle.
11. OK, one more cool new shop in a small space: this Japanese cafe and mini market in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
12. Elsewhere in Japanese restaurants that we'd like to visit: this cafe just opened in PoznaΕ, Poland, inspired by Studio Ghibli film My Neighbor Totoro.
13. We've spotted a rise in shops specializing in Korean banchan β sharable side dishes eaten alongside mains or pulled together as a meal. Little Banchan Shop in NYC and OHSUN in Seattle opened last year, while LA pop-up Perilla has just opened a permanent location.
14. Rising interest in Korean culture in the US is opening doors for brands based on already popular local products outside of the country π°π·. Take YOJU, a yogurt soju cocktail.
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TRY IT.
If you want to start selling your product in another country, there's a lot to think about. Here are some of the basics.
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Start Smart: Balancing art and business with Pottery West
Pottery West is a tableware brand based in Sheffield, UK, run by Matt and Catherine West. What started as a hobby became a full-time job for the couple, and they had to learn how to stay creative while managing a small business. They used two tools to get organized: Mailchimp, to share their work with an engaged audience, and QuickBooks, to make accounting tasks and VAT returns more straightforward.
Read the full article here.
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15. Good for skincare-loving influencers, bad for those with a flat tire: modern apothecary Flamingo Estate and luxury shopping platform Mytheresa took over an old car-body shop in East Hampton, New York, and turned it into Summer Body Shop. It's probably better for photos than road-trip snacks, but it's a creative use of space.
16. LA-based clothing brand Online Ceramics makes a strong case in favor of single-page, lo-fi websites. Its website is intuitive, nostalgic of the early internet era and lets customers pick up its latest collabs β with the likes of The North Face and game Silent Hill β in a couple of clicks. Good inspiration if you want your website to stand out but don't have web-design skills π».
17. Bad design is a decent place to get inspiration: Fat Tuesdays started because Sydney-based recipe developer and food stylist Meg Yonson couldn't find any practical kitchen equipment that's also nice to look at. Turns out she wasn't the only one β her recycled-plastic cutting board drops consistently sell out in minutes.
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Elsewhere in Courier:
π€³ On TikTok: This is what it sounds like to run a noodle business.
π» Online: How this artist deals with internet trolls.
π° In print: How to start a classic car dealership, and 49 other sparks of inspiration.
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