My First Year As A Member Of The Armcandy Team

On the 1st of July 2020, Armcandy Bag Co opened its shop doors after over 3 months of closure. Even though Tamara and Joe had been busy behind the scenes keeping all the cogs turning, it was a massive step towards normality and going forward with their ever growing business!

However, with their first day back came a whole new challenge, a newbie was joining their little team and that newbie was me.

When I joined Armcandy I had a small amount of experience in retail and administration and that was about it for useful skills I had to take on this new role. I had a keen interest in fashion, both designer and high street, however I’d never truly looked into the bag side of designer. It felt like a foreign language to me and it was clear I had a lot to learn. My quiet shop job seemed to be looking a lot more interesting than I’d initially thought!

My first Armcandy Love

In my first few weeks, it felt like an overload of information. How the bags were coded, sales recorded, orders packed, website controlled, calendars updated, clients profiled, all of these pieces of information some how had to be stored in my brain with the knowledge of when and how to use them. Thankfully, Tamara’s endless patience, relaxed character and wealth of knowledge made for an incredible teacher. She cheered when I got things right and laughed when I got things wrong, before always helping me iron out the creases.

Then it came to making an Armcandy Bag Review Video, this was my biggest fear. Not one to enjoy being in front of a camera, I was unsure whether I could do the bags justice for our customers buying and clients selling. However, Tamara’s encouragement meant my comfort zone was well and truly pushed and is now comfortably extended!

 
Tamara’s sneaky picture of my first video.

As the months go on, I’m currently learning to accurately quote prices for clients who wish to sell with us and authenticate an ever growing list of brands all of which have different criteria to identify their authenticity. I’ve also found that working at Armcandy has given me a further passion for sustainable fashion and pre loved shopping. Whilst researching for blog posts, or looking at various brands ethos’ I’ve truly learnt so much about the environmental impacts fast fashion has on the world, and how incredible buying from pre loved or ethical brands really is. It’s been wonderful learning so much in a job I love dearly, working with Tamara and her husband Joe who are the nicest people in the most beautiful shop. I’m now officially a bag fanatic and love watching Armcandy’s brand go from strength to strength.

My first Armcandy purchase, to me from me!