Secret to Design Career Success at Across the Pond Exports

March 15, 2024

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Opinion Piece by Erin O’Connor

One thing that has become very apparent to me since working at the start-up ACROSS THE POND EXPORTS, is having a can-do attitude will get you further than you think.

From the very beginning of my career as an Interior Design Associate in the company, I often found myself saying the simple line “I can do that” – even for things that I have, in fact, never done before! Putting yourself in a position like this is daunting and can easily leave you vulnerable.

erin-oconnor-from-across-the-pond-exports — Erin O’Connor

In some ways it almost seems like you are setting yourself up for failure, but without attempting to learn and expand your skill set, your professional and personal growth is very quickly stunted. As someone who adores a challenge and often leans into discomfort, I have found this attitude the best way to begin and develop my career.

How it all started at Across the Pond Exports

Initially, I met the founder of ACROSS THE POND EXPORTS through my previous career in retail where we spoke regularly for months before realising, that we have a very common interest: interior design and architecture.

Since I was a little girl watching her father bring home different design boards from his job, I knew that this was the path I wanted to take – following this route through my education (which I am still in now supported by my colleagues). After finding out about my eagerness to work in the industry, seeing how I work from months of almost daily interactions and my simple sentence “I can do that”, the founder offered me the chance to begin my design career.

The First Career Challenge and Lessons Learned

Starting with a test event, working at their stall at the Royal Windsor Horse Show. Something I have never done before. Four, long yet exhilarating, days later, accompanied by many can-dos and adaptations to an environment I have never been in – I was offered a full-time role in this wonderful start-up. Knowing that the founder has three generations worth of knowledge behind her, this was the exact jump start I needed to my career. ACROSS THE POND EXPORTS’ primary focus centres around exporting vintage and antique pieces to the United States. This was exciting, as in due course after training and experience here, I look forward to the opportunity to travel with the founder to clients in the United States.

When joining the company, I knew I had to absorb as much of this prior knowledge as possible. Between many trips to the Chelsea Design Centre, visiting antique markets such as Braderie de Lille and having projects to work on such as a Chairman in the City’s country home – quickly I came up to speed with the need-to-knows to survive in this business. Almost a year later, keeping the original attitude I began with, one thing I can’t do is number the number of lessons I have been taught; from learning how to build a website, product acquisition, technical skills, dealing with trade, the legalities of running a business and many more. Working intimately in a small group with a vast array of skills, allowing each other to flourish in our areas of expertise; we all continually learn from one another, encouraging personal development. This promotes more growth than I could find in any established company as the founder works with us every step of the way and teaches us every aspect of the business.

The latest Design Project and Achievements – Yes, I did that!

Evidence of this is in this new collection, British Candle. With vegan-friendly soy wax, oils created in the UK and 100% recyclable packaging, British Candle has been designed with inspiration from our clients looking for candles to match their interiors, with classically British-inspired scents. Each candle is adorned with a hand-drawn label I designed carefully, curating our first set ‘The Country Collection’.

the-british-candle-the-country-collection-from-across-the-pond-exports — The British Candle – The Country Collection

Our desire for these luxury candles is that they will expand brand awareness in the United States, following our Great British Telephone Box and Taxi Trail that we launched in 2023. Something incredibly important to the ACROSS THE POND EXPORTS branding is that it truly represents us – making sure the labels give an impression of who we are at the core.

We are especially proud that the candles stay true to our ethos of all things British, in both design and production.

the-british-candle-collection-from-across-the-pond-exports — The British Candle Collection

After many meetings and group decisions, following our gut instinct and what felt right to us, the labels were finalised. With immense joy and many hours of behind-the-scenes work, we have created this collection which is now available to the public. Although on the surface it’s just a candle with a unique label, as a company we see how many times collectively we stated “Sure, I can do that” even though it was a first for us all. Single-handedly this attitude is what has gotten me to this point in my career and will be the attitude I continue to adopt as I go forward and constantly think, “I can do that!”