Client Feature: The Quarter Club
We caught up with our clients Jo & Saskia, the ladies behind new woman’s networking group, The Quarter Club. They talk about how the people of their age are diagnosed by media with the bizarre term of having a ‘quarter-life crisis’. Even so, they felt it highlighted that a solution needed to be addressed and the need for more support for driven portfolio careerists or freelancers working in creative industries.
What’s your home-town and how did you meet?
We’re both from down South. Sas is from Brighton and Jo is from Crawley, but we first met whilst studying at Warwick University. We were in a few of the same lectures but had only coyly made eyes across the room and didn’t actually end up speaking until half way through the year when Jo stole Sas’ audition slot for a University drama play / Sas got her time wrong – the details are blurry. Anyway, thankfully we both got cast, and soon realised that we shared an unshakeable love for Shooting Stars and have been inseparable ever since.
Why did you guys decide to setup The Quarter Club?
We were both going through really transitional times and weren’t sure how to really process them or where to turn. Sas had just returned from a Summer working in France and was suddenly hit with the realisation that she’d lost her passion for the various projects she was juggling. Jo had moved into an area she loved – film – but was trying to balance work between 3 different film festivals and barely having a moment to breathe. We both had the stark realisation that there was a real lack of support for our very common predicaments.
The media were diagnosing us as suffering from a ‘Quarter Life Crisis’: however, for us, this bizarre term highlighted that our generation’s struggle was something that had not really come before and a solution needed to be addressed. Many of the people around us who could relate were fiercely driven portfolio careerists or freelancers working in creative industries with no HR department or network of support. Nor could we find a place to easily access women who could inspire us and guide us. Yet we knew we were surrounded by brilliant women doing brilliant things.
So after too many Bloody Mary’s in a place we couldn’t afford, discussing all of the above, we realised that we both shared a huge passion for trying to provide some kind of active solution. We wanted to create a space to change the so-called ‘crisis’ into an empowering place of action: a place to access a network of amazing women, to connect and collaborate professionally, but also work through the various personal issues that go hand-in-hand with transitional times. And The Quarter Club was born!
What are your backgrounds?
We both studied at Warwick University, Jo English with Theatre and Sas just straight Theatre. We both had no idea how the hell we could do what a wanted to do, so following a brief stint working in retail in an airport (dark times – but thankfully this coincided with a new series of Shooting Stars) we went off to Ecuador and Colombia for a wee while. Jo then worked in PR whilst studying for an MA, before following her love for film and working in Film Festival production and curation. Sas went off to Drama School and has been working for the most part ever since, living out of suitcases performing around the Globe, writing her own work and filming the odd part here and there.
Where do you see the Quarter Club in 5 years?
As the go to place to connect and collaborate with inspiring powerhouses of women in the UK (and hopefully wider!). We want The Quarter Club to have changed the dialogue surrounding our ‘crisis’ generation to one of courage. We’ll be running workshops and events throughout the country to expand career and life skill-sets and will have enforced the idea that you can look sideways as well as up for inspiration.
Favourite startup
Lunch Box London – we love what these girls have done. They decided they wanted to follow their passion for cooking food that was sustainable and nutritious and just went out and bloody did it. Starting from cooking in their own kitchens they’ve now got a space in Waterloo and cater for offices all around London as well as having provided the food for the big Virgin Startups events and other corporates. Plus their recipes are cracking. They’re going to be speaking at our first event because, for us, they really represent the quarter courage mentality of taking action.
Highlight
How many people have stepped up and offered to help us. We have been overwhelmed by the amount of women who have given up time in their frantic schedules to mentor us, reply to us and invest in our ideas. We are so passionate about The Quarter Club but as a start up you can sometimes feel like you’re out on your own, navigating through a very unfamiliar territory with the occasional stone wall you keep whacking your head into. However we’ve been constantly offed a helping hand when we’ve needed it and that’s a wonderful thing.
Do you have any events coming up in London
YES! We have our first quarter club salon on Monday April 20th @ Topolski Bar in London, all about COURAGE. It will be an evening of amazing speakers (from start ups to business women at the top of their game), great Topolski food, music, incredible creative women to connect with and a whole lotta Prosecco. Tickets can be found here: bit.ly/QuarterCourageSalon
Find out more?
@TheQuarterClub
Facebook- The Quarter Club
Soon to launch by Konichiwa PR – www.thequarterclub.org