Adulting
“Adulting” is an urban verb I’ve been jestfully throwing at my 20 year old as he juggles rent, life & realises how expensive passport renewals are, and my newly promoted 18 year old who has been greeted with his first summer of true freedom, but equally greeted with the realisation that freedom is not always, well, free.
I jest, however as I too am faced with my “adulting” realisation; not with my inability to navigate various government agencies, banking forms or tax returns… but with the responsible growth of Eclectic Boogaloo.
I’m truly honoured that our clients are championing our vision & our brand is seeping into the industry mainstream; industry word, professional & social media referrals funnelling us opportunities of growth. This growth requires a symphony conductor, gracefully balancing the component parts; of employee support & growth, process efficiency, quality management & a healthy stream of work funnelled through marketing & sales.
Oh shit, what am I doing?!?!
I’m calling it, 2024 is the year of the adult (mostly).
But I’m here for a reason & the end of year is a great time to not freak out on the coming year, but instead reflect on the one just gone.
Here are just a few of my 2023 highlights:
INSPIRING 155 Students
Our mission to Save the world, one chair at a time is quite a task, one that we always knew we’d need help with. This is why I teach, this is why I share my passion, this is why Eclectic Boogaloo exists.
I’m not sure how we’ve done it, but we’ve managed to skill-up over 150 students in 2023; and hopefully inspired each and everyone of them as much as they have inspired me.
OUR HALF CENTURY
Midcentury Revival course with Edwin Fox
As we lifted our bat to celebrate our 50th upholstery course in three years, we were thrilled to be able to do it in style with our first ever Midcentury Revival course in collaboration with the talented Edwin Fox of Edwin Fox Furniture. It was a collaboration made in Upholstery heaven, with Edwin sharing his intimate knowledge of wood restoration & yours truly getting the opportunity to introduce modern upholstery to our students.
Our first course booked out in around 24 hours, and we are excited to run another early in 2024 (also booked out, with waitlist growing).
STOP, COLLABORATE & LISTEN
This year we had set out to up our game with our collaboration courses.
Screen-printing course with Sora & Britt
Grounded in our Connectivity value, we believe the industry is better off when we can share our collective knowledge & inspire for the greater good. Our midcentury course with Edwin Fox was one of these awesome collaborations, but we were also honoured to be able to get our Cushion Sewing Courses underway by collaborating with the ever-talented Jenn at @soul_stitches, and our Screen Printing course with the textile gurus Sora & Brit at the @inkandspindle studio.
Rest on our laurels, we shall not! Looking forward to forging some great new collaborations in 2024. We are always open to ideas that you may want to share!
CHAIRAPY
One of the proudest achievements over the last two years has been building our Upholstery Club to what it is today. Although I always had a vision on what I wanted this to be, a place where we support one another to achieve our goals; I never expected to be touched so deeply with the connections we have formed. We’ve talked dreams, we’ve shared cackling laughter, we’ve had ugly tears, we’ve formed friendships & supported one another well beyond our founding vision.
The culture is so engrained, we’ve even got a word for it: Chairapy. Although not in any Urban Dictionary as of yet, perhaps one day.
chairapy
/ˈtʃɛːəpi/
noun
informal social treatment to de-stress life whilst pretending to upholster a chair.
"I’m going to get a good dose of chairapy at Upholstery Club"
GOING COMMERCIAL
Fifty Two Rows Winery
Although not our original market, Commercial work is becoming more prevalent and giving us an avenue of growth that complements our domestic work. We are not a huge factory, so are more suited to the smaller commercial, event & hospitality work & are forging some great relationships with interior designers, architects, event managers, shop-fitters & cabinet makers.
We are excited to continue to grow this side of our business & bring to it our unique personalisation and commitment to quality.
GROWING OUR TEAM
We can’t do this alone, nor do we want to.
This year we’ve been lucky to grow our team two-fold, whilst being supported by a team of talented contractors, suppliers & collaborators. We’ve been able to welcome Fraser & André, who are now well & truly part of the furniture (pun intended).
A huge shout out to the whole team in front of & behind the scenes that are buckled in on this journey with us. We couldn’t do this with-out you!
ADULTING
So as we reflect & exhale for the year gone, we look forward to a year of optimism & the opportunity to move into the next phase of Eclectic Boogaloo; one where adulting will allow us to grow responsibly & continue to innovate, whilst continuing to offer the quality & service our clients have come to expect.
We do however reserve the right to have bursts of immaturity, unprofessional dancing & singing in the warehouse, sarcasm & dubious humour.
Master Flocker extraordinaire (apron complements of Georgia)
Not Stopping There
As we take our first step forward into 2024, we hope that you continue to follow us, or even better, join us on our adventure. It is you after-all, that make us who we are. I’m truly blessed that I can say that I love my job; my ikigai.