GORDONIAN ENTREPRENEURS FLORENCE CHERRUAULT 11031 (2008) (The Pickle House – www.thepicklehouse.com) WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN UP TO SINCE LEAVING SCHOOL? I was at Gordon’s for Sixth Form and I absolutely loved being part of Windsor house. Coming from London, and never having boarded before, it was such a great experience. After Gordon’s I went to LCC, part of University of the Arts London to do Graphic Design. After graduating I realised quite early on that I didn’t want to become a graphic designer but also had absolutely no idea what I wanted to do! I ended up working in a few different places including a Design Agency and a Fashion Technology start-up before I started my own company. TELL US ABOUT YOUR BUSINESS? I founded a company called The Pickle House, we create award winning premium mixers; our Original Pickle Juice and Spiced Tomato Mix. We produce everything on my grandparents’ farm in Suffolk. Our pickle juice is made from a base of distilled vinegar, sliced cucumbers, turmeric and spices and infused for 12 weeks. It’s great as an addition into many different cocktails as it adds a really lovely umami flavour. Some of our favourites include Bloody Marys and Dirty Martinis. We’re currently available in a range of different places including Ocado, Selfridges, Everyman Cinemas, Brewdog, Grind Coffee and John Lewis Food Halls. HOW AND WHEN DID YOU GET THE IDEA? I’d just come back from a trip to New York where I was first introduced to the idea of drinking pickle juice. It was summer 2013 and they were serving Picklebacks at a bar; a shot of whiskey followed by a shot of pickle juice. It sounded like the weirdest combination I had ever heard of but once I’d tried it, I had to find a way to bring it back to London. WHAT ARE YOUR AIMS/GOALS FOR YOUR COMPANY? The main plan at the moment is to become the go-to Spiced Tomato Mix for bars, hotels and restaurants allowing them to create a consistently great tasting and exceptional quality Bloody Marys every time. I also spent lockdown focussing on export which has launched us into Ireland, Scandinavia, The Netherlands and just recently China & Hong Kong. TO WHAT DO YOU ATTRIBUTE YOUR SUCCESS? My family, they’ve always taught me to never give up, have supported me from the first day I said I was going to make Pickle Juice. And actually, all the people who laughed at the idea because I’ve always wanted to prove them wrong (and still do!) FINALLY, WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO YOUR 16 YEAR-OLD SELF? I always wish I had been better at school. If I could go back and tell my 16 year old self to stop messing about and work a bit harder it probably would have helped me a lot!
WHERE ARE THEY NOW? SOPHIE BENSON 11444 (2017)
BEING A GORDONIAN HELPED ME LAND MY DREAM JOB! After I completed my degree last May, I had quite an unusual and challenging entrance into the world of work. Due to COVID-19, hardly anywhere was hiring, and businesses were struggling to support their own employees let alone trying to take on graduates. From the months of May to July I applied to everything from supermarket jobs to secretary jobs, pretty much anywhere that was hiring I applied to and I was either ignored or rejected almost immediately. One evening I saw an advertisement for an entry level Marketing Role at a local company called Motive. Although I found the job advertisement via Indeed.com, I did some research into Motive and emailed them directly with my CV bypassing the recruitment agency. A few days later I received a phone call from Mr Blomfield, the Director of Motive, and after an interview was offered the job the next day. Being a Gordonian definitely gave me an advantage when job searching; I was one of 300 applicants for the Marketing role at Motive, and was contacted due to Mr Blomfield having children at Gordon’s himself. He said that being a Gordonian made my application stand out from the rest. I’m very grateful for that connection and I would advise everyone to use their relationship with Gordon’s School, as well as the skills they developed there, to their advantage going into the future. Advertising your school on LinkedIn and your CV are both great ways of highlighting that connection, and forming relationships with other Gordonians could also really help get your foot in the door. Gordon’s have had such a huge part to play in my journey to getting my job with Motive; not only did my time at Gordon’s give me the confidence I needed to go and get what I want in life, but I gained so many transferable skills which I use in my work constantly.
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