10 things you might not know about me - Jacqui Ma

There are a lot of people that know that i’m the face behind Goodordering, i’m the designer, book keeper, stationary cupboard keyholder and sales director as well! Some of you might even follow my personal instagram account - HERE @jacqui__ma I thought i’d make this blogpost inspired by this post by Stuart of aussie undies company Reerendz which lists a few trivial facts and figures that you might not know about me. (in no particular order) 😀

1) I’m phobic of snails - really phobic to the extent of which i have missed out on lots of activities because of my phobia and i go very much out of my way to avoid high snail traffic areas. I don’t like going out after the rain and i never pick up rocks. I have been known to stay inside at festivals/parties due to snails. I don’t tell anyone i don’t trust about the phobia becuase i know what people are like, they would think its funny to frighten me with snail (or slug) but that would be the least funny thing i can imagine. I have thought about getting hypnotised to rid myself the phobia but i have never considered it important enough as snails move so slowly and even if i see one i intellectually know it can’t get me.

2) I used to play the clarinet in my school orchestra and band. My technique was to lay low and not play much of the hard notes and then when i knew a song well, play really loud so that conductor thought i was really good. We went around the band competitions against other schools, and it was a lot fun. I did almost every extra curricular activity possible whilst i was at school including basketball, softball, swimming I loved school so much in fact, that the design of the Goodordering bags is inspired by school bags and uniforms.

3) I recently stopped drinking due to trying to cut back sugar as i was diagnosed with breast cancer and have recently finished by treatment. Prior to quitting in january this year, i used to be a biggish drinker, my favourite drinks were / are prosecco, gin and tonic and i could thow back many espresso martini’s. I thought id find it socially crippling to stop drinking, but as it was linked to such a serious illness its a lot easier than i thought. Since stopping, i’m saving money, i’ve lost a lot of weight and don’t get hang overs. I will probably drink at the next wedding i get invited to though, as i also believe rules are meant to be broken.

4) I hate being late, ask my family. The idea of being late for anything from a birthday party to a meeting makes me stressed, i even like to get to airports well over 3 hours in advance of a flight. I will even email or text someone if i’m going to be up to 3 minutes later than planned. I don’t mind so much when other people are late but i do try to influence them with my example.

5) I’m Australian, from Sydney and moved to the UK in 2002 where i got my first job designing accessories for an electro-textile start-up called Eleksen. Funnily you can still see their website even though i believe the company stopped trading a while ago. I had my industrial design education and early training in sydney but my whole professional career has been in London. There are lots of aussies in london, i love hearing the familiar accent. My british friend Wai once said to me, you aussies can insult people and it even sounds friendly :)

6) I used to work at a carpet backing factory after university in Sydney. Before studying design i did a university course called Manufacturing Management. I worked shiftwork which nearly killed me. I found walking through the factory very eerie at night, and being in charge of big machines and a crew of workers was really daunting but i learnt a lot.

7) I can sort of speak Swedish - My partner Mia is from Umea, Sweden and speaks only swedish with our two sons. I have managed to pick up quite a bit of the language over the years. I find the Swedish culture fascinating and infuriating at the same time. I like to re-tell famous bed time stories in Swinglish to my son and nieces and nephews in Sweden, they think its hilarious.

8) If i wasn’t a bag designer i would probably be a hairdresser. I love cutting hair, i started off when i was 16 cutting my brother’s hair in the backyard, now i cut my son’s hair into his classic bowl. I don’t think i’m particularly good at cutting hair as i’ve never studied it, but i really enjoy it. I love the feel of snipping hairs, is that strange?

 
9) I love bargains, i’m always looking for good deals and love finding everything from clothes and trinkets to household items in charity shops. My favourite charity shops are in Sweden where i make Mia drive me around to do the rounds at the best ones in town. I buy our kids almost all second hand clothes and toys. Here is a photo of Mia and I having our own car boot sale in Dalston out of our black cab. We are parked next door to my brother and sister in law.

10) When was about 10 years old i baked cookies during the school holidays and sold them to local retirement homes. I went door to door with the cookies, selling a few bags here and there. Then one retirement home loved them so much they asked if i could bake 50 per day to supply to them every day. As a true kid, i lost interest at that point and decided i couldn’t deliver on it so turned them down. That was my first experience of entrepreneurial success. I still absolutely love cooking - but again i'm not that great at it.