Once upon a time there was a woman who dreamed of creating a job that could fit into the life she wanted to live. That woman is 10 years older today, and a lot more experienced.
It all started with a dream more than 10 years ago, which was then accompanied by a notice of dismissal at the end of the financial crisis. The first thought was to find a new job as soon as possible, but the thought of what if she could actually create her own dream job? What would it look like? The thought couldn't let go of her.
So she sat down at the kitchen table in the house in the woods, and wrote down on small Post-it notes everything that made her happy, in which surroundings does she thrive and among which people? All the little Post-it notes ended up one by one on the front of the fridge.
Some of the most important words were:
- Honesty
- Outdoor living
- Good energy
- Loyalty
- Teamwork
- Creativity
- Joy
- Freedom
It was also very important to her to bring something into the world that was somehow better than what already existed.
She was very afraid to take the first steps to a life as an independent company owner back in 2013, because she had never known anything besides a fixed salary, pension and the financial security that came with it. In the analysis at the kitchen table, she had come to the conclusion that a job as a sales agent for interiors and outdoor furniture was her dream job, and she had to start from scratch in an industry she had no experience in at the time.
One day in April 2013, she received a newsletter in her mailbox. It was from a danish home magazine and contained a picture of a beautiful little girl trying to lift a giant water jug/coffee pot.
She told her husband that the water jug spoke to her. She called Xala Design in Belgium and 24 hours later she had a sales agent contract valid for all of Scandinavia. A few years later, Germany also joined her contract.
It was the month of May and all the garden centers and lifestyle stores had already purchased for the spring - and summer season, but since she had committed to a budget in the contract with Xala Design, she had to find a way getting the Lungo watering can out on the market in a hurry.
She thought, where will most people be in Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland for the next 3 months? Out by the coasts of course. In the summer towns. Someone in her network knew a shop owner in Blaavand in the danish westcoast, and there she made an appointment and drove off in her small car filled with water jugs in different colours.
The shop owner liked the Lungo watering can and wanted to buy 15 pieces. "Unfortunately, that's not possible," she replied. You have to buy 75 pieces, and then you get it all delivered freight free from the warehouse in Belgium to you in Blaavand. "Forget it, I can't sell 75 watering cans" replied the shop owner.
That day, the woman and the shopkeeper made a special deal where the shopkeeper bought 75 Lungo watering cans and if she couldn't sell them before the month of September, the woman promised to buy the rest back (both the first and last time the woman made such a deal).
2 weeks later the shop owner called the woman again, “Karina, she said, I have sold ALL the Lungo wateringcans and I would like to order one more pallet. . . . ”.
In that moment, the woman knew that her gut feeling and desire to bring top quality functional interior and furniture design to the market was absolutely right.
The rest is history and the woman who fell in love with a watering can 10 years ago and filled it up with joy still has her first Lungo watering can standing in her garden. Its still today its fully functional and in super fine condition.
