Olivia runs her own marketing and PR agency The Bird House, working with boutique brands, so she was the perfect person to work with the indie businesses who 91 Magazine love to nurture. She’s also a mama, a keen baker, blogger and instagrammer. (she runs the #nestandflourish hashtag) so we caught up with her to find out a bit more about how she juggles, work, life and family…
Tell us about your morning routine…The day always starts before I’m ready for it, but I have get a quick fix of Instagram with sleepy eyes before the whirl begins. I tear around the house making porridge, packing lunches, checking times tables, hunting down sports kit & TALKING – my girls chat non stop, from dawn til dusk!
Other than 91 Magazine (of course!) what do you like to read? I confessed to Caroline before I joined the team that I was a big 91 fan 😉 To me, magazines are a real treat & can only be read with a clear head, time & ideally, a G&T in hand. Consequently I have a pile of titles waiting to be read. In there is FLOW, The Simple Things & Caffeine Magazine, as well as cook books galore. Slightly nerdish, but we try to snatch ‘book hour’ at home or during high days & holidays where we all sit together & read.
Image by Olivia Williams (@xxbirdhouse on Instagram)
Describe a corner of your home that you particularly love. My desk is my haven. It’s a new zone, since for years I hot desked around the house with my laptop, thinking it was the freedom to change the view that I needed. But now my freelancing has really grown & I work on lots of projects at the same time, so that means being surrounded with lists & my favourite pen to hand which gives me good karma.
If you could be whisked away for the weekend to any destination in the world, where would you chose? Gosh that’s a hard question! We are a real road trip family, we pack up our Mini & drive everywhere, so I guess if I was being whisked away it would be a real treat. I’d have to go on a jet plane to just about any European city – Stockholm, Copenhagen & Paris would be on my wish list.
What’s the best advice that you’ve ever been given? My mama told me ‘worrying never cures anything’. I’m learning that’s true.
What’s your radio tuned to? My radio gets re-tuned all the time! Radio 2 floats through our breakfast, then it’s Radio 4 – unless there’s a sporting fixture on – then it’s Five Live for the tennis, cricket & footy.
What’s your most treasured flea market find? It is a set of old school desks that my girls use everyday. It’s a hive of activity for them – littered with tiny scraps of paper, glitter & glue.
Image by Olivia Williams (@xxbirdhouse on Instagram)
What was the last thing that you made by hand? I’m a baker & cook, so for me, making time to bake, even if it’s late at night, is what makes me feel everything is ok in the world. The last thing I made was a fridge cake to say ‘I LOVE YOU’ to someone very special who is going through the mill.
What are your home styling essentials? I LOVE ‘jujjing’, but the place has to be clean & ship shape before I start. Isn’t that an awful confession?! Yes, I’m OCD… so apart from my duster & mop, my essentials are I some simple snipped flowers & little twinkly lights.
Can you share a tip for other creative freelancers? Plan, plan, plan. With a schedule I find I can handle ducking & diving between projects without fluster & on time.
Image by Olivia Williams (@xxbirdhouse on Instagram)
Some quick fire Qs…
Tea or coffee? tea to welcome in the day & then coffee for elevenses.
Early bird or night owl? a night owl who gets exhausted
Summer or Winter? summer – light, bright evenings make my heart sing.
Twitter or Instagram? (Who do you follow?) instagram …. @lewesmap @dhowelldesigns @byebyebirdie
Favourite flower? top 3… cow parsley, peonies & blossom.
And finally… Tell us a secret or something surprising about yourself. I ALWAYS work with music on.
