Bloody Karen!
Good morning!
Thank you for the lovely feedback Katie received last week, we then set Karen the task of writing something for this week.
Yes we have a Karen in the shed..a proper Karen in that!
She went through exactly the same process as the others, ‘I can't do it, what am I going to write etc’ but she did it and did bloody great! So ‘Bloody Karen’ did ‘bloody good!’
Yes she often gets called bloody Karen and usually gets the blame for most things even if she is not even in. I’ll come onto that in a moment.
Karen joined us during the first lockdown when the sample sets went crazy and we needed an extra pair of hands to help pack them off. We needed help and a friend said their mum was available so in true shed fashion we asked her to come in. She walked into absolute bedlam, boxes and bottles everywhere, no interview simply hello can you start packing these boxes. It was utter carnage, unknowingly to her I watched her reaction and she simply rolled her sleeves up and got on with it. Some people would have had a meltdown at the task in hand but she fitted straight in. Worked like a trooper and helped us get the job done and has been with us ever since.
Coffee is a very important part of working in the shed, it keeps us going, after a week or so of Karen joining the routine we would have a coffee when she came in, so Karen took it on herself to come in, put the kettle on and ask who wants coffee. Gema and I were in the still room bottling and said yes please. Karen kindly made the coffee and brought it in, I looked at it and thought what on earth is that, obviously it was early days so I couldn't say anything. Turns out she was a Tea drinker so coffee making skills were questionable, I discreetly left it to go cold and got rid of it. We often laugh about this and quickly taught her how to make a good cup of coffee and now she makes a brilliant cup!
We all have great banter with Karen, and yes she can be a Karen, and everyone better watch out when she goes off on one! People might think this is a negative, far from it, it's a super power she has. She is kind, caring and has a massive heart, but if you cross that line god help you, absolutely nothing wrong with that. Yes, we do poke and prod to see the full force of a raging Karen but it always ends up with her laughing!
Karen's role is mainly packing and processing orders, internet and wholesale and she is bloody good at it. She has her own area which she keeps super tidy and organised, to the point I often can’t find something and go through it leaving a trail of destruction behind me, you can imagine how this goes down….
Here are Karen’s words
From the very first day I came along to lend a hand at the shed in the Fen, for what I thought was a week or two turned
out to be one of the best experiences ive had in my work life...
Everyday is just like I'm going to see my friends for the day and have a coffee, but I think that's because I'm often the only one who makes it!!!
No matter what happens when we're at the distillery, no two days are the same...its never dull ... every day there's banter and lots of laughter. We're a team with trust and loyalty. And you can't beat that in a work environment.
Ant mentioned in one of his blogs last week about "Being thrown under the bus" He's not kidding, no error or tiniest mistake goes unnoticed, someone will notice it and then the place erupts... no ones safe! But it's all in good humour...
Being a KAREN has had its challenges at the distillery. There's plenty of gags and of course I'm at the brunt of it... but I wouldn't have it any other way... you know you're amongst friends and we're a TEAM. And a great one at that!
Karen is right, we are a team and I am very lucky to have such a great team with me and when you have such a great team, anything is possible!
Have a great day
Ant