Hello/Namaste,
Some of you may know me, most of you may not but my name is Jenny and I have worked for Shared Earth for 8 years. I manage our Liverpool branch on Bold Street (the best street in this fair city) and have worked in it since the day it opened waaaaaay back in September 2006. My shop has changed a lot since then, it’s evolved and grown and undoubtedly gotten better. From little things to aesthetic improvements to just a renewed sense of achievement and invincibility from surviving the recession which sadly a few of our neighbouring shops did not.

If you’ve been in, you may have seen me sleepily applying lippy at 9am, busily tidying shelves at 5pm or just plain dancing down the aisle’s during all the time in between and although each day is much the same; I love working for Shared Earth! This is self evident by the smile on my face and that same smile echoes all over my employees’ faces too because I am not alone. So many people I know talk about how they hate their job, or they hate who they work with because there is always that one person (or more) who takes great pleasure in making your life hell. Not me. I’m not sure whether I have an insanely good judgement of character (although looking at the list of my ex-boyfriends, I highly doubt this is true) or whether I am just lucky, I somehow have managed to employ the most fantastic and amazing bunch of people. Except really I can’t take credit: I think Shared Earth has this ability to attract the nicest kindest people and it’s those people I have no problem in calling my best friends.

The good work Shared Earth does reflects in the great workers it attracts; not just in my shop but across the whole company. If you’ve ever been in any of our shops, old or new, you will feel the wondrous vibe that emanates out of our buildings. Yes, this might be a mixture of incense, scented candles and ‘The Rough Guide to African Disco’ CD (£11.99 – a shameful plug but I wholeheartedly recommend it) but I also think it’s because of the happy positive vibe given off by the happy positive staff who do everything they can to continuously benefit all our producers abroad who without, we wouldn’t have a shop to love working for.

What makes our job equally interesting is you guys; the general public. You guys are great.. crazy but great. I really try to get to know our loyal customers. Seeing you week in and week out means we must be doing something right. From Cassius and his impromptu poetry readings and random James Brown impersonations to Chris and his endless astrological discussions, life would be duller without it. We love getting to know our customers so feel free to strike up a conversation, tell us about your day. The bigger the Shared Earth family; the better.

Consequently, I go home at night, without stress, without a guilty conscience, having spent my day laughing and joking and meeting the most eclectic bunch of people whilst achieving that little bit of peace for someone I have never met which in turns gives me that little bit of peace I need and a job that can do that is worth holding on to.