Gift Focus inc Attire Accessories - Page number 139 - July/August 2021

139 UP AND COMING JORI PAPA FOOTWEAR www.joripapa.com and the way I design. We are all different beings with different creativity and we express things differently. At night, before falling asleep I sometimes visualise new shapes. If I don’t wake to sketch immediately I try to remember it and draw it first thing in the morning. How are you finding the current climate in the UK? Is it affecting business? We launched in June 2020 in the middle of the pandemic. Considering that we were ready a long time before June, we decided to launch, test the market and see how customers would react to the new silhouettes. From the other side the situation with the online retailers has not been easy. We have been lucky to sell from our website www.joripapa.com and surprisingly we have been quite pleased regarding the customer feedback and sales considering the current situation. How do you view the future of independent retail post-pandemic? I believe that everything happens for a reason. We can turn this challenging time into an opportunity to recreate our business to be even better and stronger than before. We can do this by emphasising who we are, what we offer, how we offer it, and how we differentiate from the competition. The importance is also placed on the online store, which is the connection between customers and the brand because the store is the first place they experience the brand. Are you active on social media? How is this important for the business? We consider social media a great marketing channel especially Instagram. News travels fast with social media and everything moves so quickly. I think it’s crucial for businesses to have an active social media presence, Instagram made it possible for us to grow our brand awareness at high speed. Do you have any advice for new businesses starting out? I would say be ready to work hard, accept all challenges you will encounter and find ways to move on without losing hope. Everything is a lesson. It was for us too. The most important advice I would like to say is always stay true to your vision and creativity. What can we expect in the future from the company? In the future we want to expand on bags and clothing. I think it’s right to share with the world the gift I was born with and make women feel happy by wearing my creations. That’s my life purpose.