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'Straight from the horses mouth' is a recently new aspect to The Girl in Green , allowing you to find out all about your favourite brands in an interview style blog with the owners/staff themselves. You can't get much more personal than that right? The brains behind the business often get lost and never get to share who they are , what their visions are or how their business was born. This blog gives them a chance in the spotlight and I can't wait to share more interviews with you!
HarryHall.comThis months brand to get involved is the amazing, hardworking Chloe Binns, from Tottie clothing at who specialise in super cool equestrian products! I have been part of team Tottie for about 2 years now and I personally couldn't recommend the products and customer service enough!
That's enough of me talking, lets get on with the questions!
1. Tell me a little bit more about yourself and your business.
My name is Chloe, I’m 23 and I have been the Digital Marketing Coordinator at HarryHall.com for 2 years. HarryHall.com is an online department store for all kinds of equestrian products. I work specifically in writing and managing the blog, writing all of the copy which you can see on the website (literally all of the words on the website!), and running all of the social media and PR for Tottie. This includes finding and managing the Tottie Select girls, Brand Ambassadors and external bloggers and representatives.
2. What made you want to start your business? Were there any influences from other brands or people in your life?
Although I don’t own HarryHall.com or Tottie I have always wanted to work in writing and social media. When I joined in 2015, Tottie had just been relaunched and so as the only person working on it, Totties voice essentially become my voice and 2 years later it still is! However, when HarryHall.com launched in March I spent a lot of time looking at other brands to see how they looked and felt. I took a lot of inspiration from Harvey Nichols and Asos as they stock their own brands as well as third party brands and modelled the social media from that. I struggled to find other equestrian brand department stores which had a really high quality social media so I worked from there and did market research to find out what customers find aesthetically pleasing.
3. What has been your favourite moment of owning a business so far?
My favourite part of my job is finding the brand ambassadors (much harder than you would think). We now get around 600 applications and I have to read through each one on my own and pick just 6. It’s super time consuming but really rewarding to give 6 young girls the opportunity to ride out in Tottie and a platform to have their voices heard.
4.Have you faced a lot of hurdles in getting to where you are today? How did you overcome them?
(Prepare yourself for major first world problems) I always struggled at school with discipline, I didn’t like to sit in a classroom all day and in hindsight going to a boarding school made me feel trapped and like I could never really ‘escape’ the school. I had friends and I was happy, but I could never adjust to being under the authority of a school 24/7 and wanted the option to do my own thing outside of school hours. At the time I assumed school just wasn’t for me but eventually it was suggested that I would board part-time and this really improved my behaviour at school. Going to a different sixth form also really helped, the freedom allowed me to separate home and school and that’s when I started to achieve really good results. I then went on to York University where I studied English Language for 3 years and did work experience at a digital marketing agency.
5.How are you different from others?
We literally stock all kinds of products. You can buy riderwear for men, women and children, you can buy horsewear, you can personalise your clothes, you can buy insurance, you can buy supplements, grooming products, products for cats and dogs the list goes on! I also think we offer a really smart and functional experience, I often find equestrian websites to be quite clunky and dated whereas I think HarryHall.com performs as well as regular online department stores.
6.What is you biggest business dream and why?
My biggest dream is for Tottie to become the market leader in young, female equestrian fashion. I literally live Tottie every single day and a huge part of my own personality and taste is portrayed through Tottie, so for that to reach it’s full potential would be a dream come true for me. I spend all day on Tottie social media, writing new blogs, planning future collections, when Tottie achieves something I feel like I have achieved something.
7.Do you have a few words for anyone who may be thinking of setting up a business?
Do your research. Know everything you can possibly know about your area of business and know it first. If instagram is getting an update I need to know about it before it has even launched so I am prepared and ready to adjust my social media plans accordingly. If you even drop off your game for a second this will affect your performance so don’t let it happen. (Facebook algorithm changes = Chloe’s next 24 hours changes).
8.What is your favourite moment of 2017 so far?
My brand new Tottie ambassador team starting and the launch of HarryHall.com!
Huge thank you Chloe for you contribution on behalf of Harry Hall and Tottie as I know how busy you are! I really appreciate your involvement in this blog and your continued support throughout my time in Team Tottie!
Please visit HarryHall.com to find some amazing deals on some gorgeous clothing from brands including Tottie Clothing, Caldene , Masta , Country pet and many more!
Thank you for reading , I hope you enjoyed finding out all about Tottie Clothing and Harry Hall and I hope you look forward to more of 'Straight from the horses mouth'.
Feel free to get in touch with any suggestions, improvements , feedback and if you would like to get involved!
Speak soon, Meg xx
