A Day With… To Dry For

Hello! We are Sally and Dave and we own ToDryFor.com

Our days are generally a bit of a whirlwind of activity and eating. It’s just the two of us [to quote Bill Withers] and we currently work from home, but are on the lookout for some new business premises. Working and living in the same space has its advantages [a short commute down one flight of stairs and easy access to home comforts] and some disadvantages [we are permanently surrounded by boxes and often work until midnight, not really having a proper ‘going home’  time].

At the start of each day we eat breakfast, chain-drink a couple of cups of good, strong Yorkshire tea, and discuss what we are both going to do. I [Sally] am a bit bossy, so this generally consists of me telling Dave what he needs to do through a mouthful of cornflakes.

We then crack on with emails, potter about on the Internet ‘researching’ new designs [aka looking at facebook / twitter / blogs etc] and catch up with any admin tasks. It’s surprising how much time is taken up by really dull jobs, like filling in spreadsheets, paying invoices and keeping things ship-shape, but it’s a necessary evil.

We generally have a break at around 11ish, with another cup of tea. We then package all the orders and take them to the post office, sending tea towels out to the far corners of the earth. It’s always fun to think that we might have helped make drying up dishes that little bit cheerier for somebody on the other side of the world.

Throughout the day we take deliveries of parcels, either tea towel stock for ToDryFor or exciting products for the new websites that we are launching later in the year. And then it’s lunchtime!

Our afternoons are spent doing our own separate work. Dave is currently adding additional payment methods to ToDryFor and is also building the two new websites, whilst I’m working on our May e-newsletter and writing copy for some additional tea towels we’re adding to our existing range.

We love listening to music whilst we work, including everything from Dolly Parton and the Steve Miller Band to Au Revoir Simone, Blitzen Trapper and Miley Cyrus [we know this isn’t cool, but we do actually know and sing along to all the lyrics to Party in the USA].

Today we’re doing a photo shoot for a couple of new tea towels that are due to go live on the website in the next week. Photographing the towels always takes a long time and is thirsty work; time for another cup of tea and a slice of Battenburg!

The rest of the afternoon is spent catching up with emails again, checking stock levels and pottering on with our various individual tasks. It’s good to be able to unwind from our hectic tea towel schedule, so we’re finishing off our working day by meeting our friend Fraser for a pint in The Rusty Bike – a great pub just around the corner from us. Cheers!

Author: Rohini Wahi

Rohini is a London based freelance journalist and trend forecaster for the design industries. She has worked for Elle Decoration, Living Etc, Houzz and Design Sponge amongst others.

She loves a period drama and keeps a tidy home. Launched in 2007 The Beat That My Heart Skipped focuses on home inspirations, design trends, lifestyle and food – coupled with an insight into Rohini’s work and home life – from key picks at trade shows to styled weekend soirees. To contact Rohini for queries, work for hire or just to say hi drop her a line at mail@rohiniwahi.com

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