The Espresso: Edition 132
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Thursday March 15 2012

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Letter From The Editor- Edition 132

The Artist I Want To Be

Adele recently cleaned up the 2012 Brit Awards. Whilst accepting the award for best female artist the first thing she said was, thanks for my record company for allowing me to be the artist that I wanted to be. So many record companies try to impose what artists, a singer or performer should be, trying to control their image, their music, their songs, their production, their whole world. Pink is another artists that comes to mind where record companies tried to change the artist that Pink was and is. As a leader, take a moment to think about whether you are allowing your team to be the artists, creators, innovators, business people, that they want to be or are you imposing your own beliefs so they are in essence losing their own identity. If people aren't able to express themselves, be true to their own values and achieve their own dreams in line with the company values and dreams, then exit of ideas are imminent. If you don;t allow people to create, innovate, and be the artist they always wanted to be then they certainly will leave in order to find someone who will allow them to be the artist they have always wanted to be. We are not talking about every idea having to be approved. We are talking about creating and environment where they are heard, encouraged to think differently, invited to have a creative life outside of work and driven with the expectation that they, the team and the company will strive for the next great idea. You've got to hand it to Adele. She certainly is unique, has an amazing voice and is taking the world by storm.

Parenting

The Flying Nanny

Anyone who has flown long haul with a young child knows the feeling of craving for just a moments silence. No doubt you're not the only one to afford it as a new Californian service has started called Nanny in the Clouds, that matches parents travelling with young kids with registered babysitters that are already booked on the same flight. Experienced babysitters will sign up to Nanny in the Clouds where they list where they are about to fly to and their verifiable references. Anyone who signs up is willing to be of service as a baby sitter for those travelling with young children in exchange for some payment. If you find the Nanny you want, you negotiate directly with them regarding fees etc. This is certainly going to be a model that a lot of people are going to be interested in. I can imagine the well-to-do, flying in first class and dumping their kids with the Nanny in the back in economy while the parents get some nice sleep on their flat beds.

Design

The Wooden Tub

We love it when somebody takes something that we have traditionally taken for granted and spins it around to find another way of doing it. We love the natural elegance of the Elegna Wooden Bath Tubs. The company building these wooden tubs are used to building yachts and with that experience have taken the smooth lines and naturally highly water-resistant varnish to create a beautiful bath tub that's made of timber. Although they have a number of designs and wood choices, they are also happy to customise something specifically for you. Cool concept, they look great and we will see how long it is before somebody starts to copy them.

Food

Baby Steps

There's no doubt that the concept of farmer direct to your door has a lot of appeal judging by the speed at which Australian brands like Aussie Farmers Direct have grown. Here is a new concept targeting parents with a subscription based service offering organic baby food direct from the farm to you.  Based in NY City, Farm to Baby is a subscription based delivery service that targets seasonal produce grown from near your home and produced into baby food that is delivered to you. It's a membership based service where, at the bottom end you receive a 10 ounce pot of baby food per week, or you can up the ante and get 8 x 10 ounce pots per week, depending on your level of contribution. It's all served in glass pots and supposedly comes from farms around your area. Pretty cool concept and with the desire to get away from mass produced over-processed food carried by most supermarkets, this is sure to hit the mark with parents who want something better for their children.

Fashion

How Do You Like Your Coffee?

Every now and then you come across an idea that just makes you shake your head…and not in a good way. We love our coffee but this is going to far. Jimmy Choo have designed their own “moc croc’ leather coffee sleeve. If you must make your coffee fashionable then for $165 you can wrap your Starbucks Coffee in one of these sleeves. There must be a market for Jimmy Choo to do this and as P.T Barnum once said “there’s a sucker born every minute”.

Retail

The Ultimate Takeaway

Starbucks in California have introduced the first drive-through style sk-in ski-out service for brew. Starting in Squaw Valley in California, Starbucks have opened an outlet on the side of the mountain where you can ski in and ski out with your hot coffee. Essentially, skiers and snowboarders can pull up to a small drive-through style window on the side of the coffee shop, purchase a coffee and ski away without having to take off your gear. This takes having a brew on the run to a whole new level.
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The Espresso is a weekly free newspaper designed specifically for those who want to look at things differently.

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Gary scours the world to find interesting tips, tools and news to give you a new or different perspective on the world around you.