61. Life, Business & Everything In Between With Anna Corry

Love Laura Podcast

The episode features a warm introduction of Anna Corry, who has joined Love Laura as a new Brand Ambassador. The hosts and Anna discuss her

Key takeaways

• Anna Corry launched her social media presence under the name 'Blossom and Bird' during maternity leave.
• Anna and her husband Colin operate IC Connects, a business focused on helping small businesses with content creation.

Main topics

• Social Media Content Creation
• Home Renovation and Building

Notable quotes

I don't want to chase being viral... I just like I've got a really nice community.

Conclusion

A celebratory and relatable episode that explores the personal and pro

Transcript preview

Speaker 2 (0:01) Welcome to the Love Laura podcast. Join us for all things fashion, fun, girls chats and all the behind the scenes. This is what you will not see on socials. This is getting right behind the brand. Speaker 3 (0:16) Welcome back. We are so excited because it's not just Laura and I this week. We have a very special guest. Speaker 2 (0:23) Welcome Anna. Be wonderful. Thank you so much. We're Speaker 3 (0:27) so delighted to have you here actually and Anna has just joined as BA with us also so we thought perfect timing. We are going to ask you all the nitty gritty questions. Who knows what it could be. Speaker 3 (0:38) For anybody who potentially could be living under a rock and doesn't know, please tell us a little about you, Anna, and Blossoming Birds. I Speaker 2 (0:45) am a fan, Garland, because I have been there from the start. I'm very proud to say this. I'm like, I don't know if there's anybody out there that doesn't know Anna, because I feel like you're one of the OG. I feel like you do Instagram so well. Like, you have it nailed. And I've always admired you. I just love your content. It's just gorgeous. And if nothing else, Garland, it's her home. your home man I've said it before I said again I just want to move in how do we not do the podcast there I know we missed a trick we missed a trick next time we do we home tour yeah you'll be so good you're like if you ever need any help and advice I was like no no I don't need any help I just need you to come and recreate your home in mind that's all I need thank Speaker 1 (1:26) you so much I'm like sitting here going oh that is such lovely compliments and I am equally like feel so privileged to be sitting here with you and also for the interest in having me as a BA at Love Laura I am buzzing and it doesn't matter how many years I get the privilege of doing this job whenever somebody trusts in me to like showcase their items I'm just buzzing. It Speaker 2 (1:52) feels real honestly you can always I can always tell if somebody loves the brand or not when Anna first came down because I was like you need to come down it's so hard for us. met you at loads of events but you've actually haven't been to our you've been to the store I think have you maybe Speaker 1 (2:07) I've been to the store as in like a flying pass yes Speaker 2 (2:10) I Speaker 1 (2:11) ran in to get like the basic t-shirts one time Speaker 2 (2:16) but you've never been to the warehouse or anything and I was like Anna come just come down if you can just take time out and just come down because I know life is so busy but the minute you walked in through the door you were like wow wow love and I was like you are the right fit for us girly your clothes excite you you can tell you're the ultimate girly girl like you're like oh Speaker 1 (2:34) my god yes yes yes I love clothes I love and actually it's only been this year again you were mentioning the house I lost like the passion for clothes I feel like I lost even my own identity of like what I wanted to wear and it's only been the last few months really so it did feel like such a lovely fit that I was like I really enjoy this and I'm going to try and put a little bit more clothing content out the people that followed me for the house was like move over girl like what color is that in the background you're in the way Speaker 1 (3:03) What Speaker 3 (3:04) pink Speaker 1 (3:04) colour is that? Speaker 3 (3:05) So let's strip it back to a wee bit about you, family life, Speaker 1 (3:10) like tell us all. How did you get into this? We're old. Oh wow. Yes, so I'm mum of three girls. They're like, I still see them as my babies. I have to remind myself now. I've got a teenager, pre-teen and six year old. So yeah, they're three very biased, but they're incredible girls. I'm very lucky. They're like now my little mini best friends. Literally, they're gorgeous. And you can tell that all day long. And then I work alongside my husband. And we have been working together now for, goodness, I think it's about five years doing this. Well, I was going to say this together. We actually have our own business, IC Connects, which helps small businesses create their content. So actually, that's Colin's baby. He really heads that up. He worked in... aerospace engineering before this wow he's like self-trained just of being behind the camera amazing Speaker 3 (4:04) yeah literally just putting two and two together AC and I'm calm well Speaker 1 (4:09) it was Anna Corey first but it does work really really well Speaker 1 (4:15) I like that it's not really my name just works really well it was as if it was written in the stars it was always meant to be so normally I'm like yeah yeah that's it that's it it's Anna and Colin please don't listen to Speaker 3 (4:30) this Speaker 1 (4:30) oh he's Speaker 3 (4:32) fine but um so when did Speaker 1 (4:35) you start posting on Instagram I started yeah you're right like I'm feeling stone age now. I have so much admiration for anybody new doing this because my first post was like a cup of tea and like a 15 being like, tea and 15. Did you make the 15? No. It's just like, oh. So I had two under two and I had a really busy. job I worked in retail, I was a store manager, had a very large team and whenever I went off on maternity leave I just, yeah, I enjoyed it so much and then went back to work and had Annie very quickly afterwards again. Colm was like you need to work out another way instead of having babies for time off. Speaker 1 (5:26) This is hard going. But actually the second, and I feel so bad saying this, she's a wee gem, but she cried for 18 months. Maybe just colic you're talking about. Colic gain. Yeah, she just was so unsettled. And I wasn't getting to leave the house. I was just like, oh my goodness, how do I even pack up? Get out of the house. and my phone was my little escape and i had like downloaded the instagram app whenever we worked whenever i worked in retail there was like an unwritten rule that store managers shouldn't really have facebook because all Speaker 3 (5:59) of the Speaker 1 (5:59) like teens well you shouldn't Speaker 3 (6:01) have Speaker 1 (6:01) been Speaker 3 (6:01) posting yeah Speaker 1 (6:02) so especially if like you've had difficult conversations then you're out being like you my own like having like not not that i ever really went out for it no Speaker 3 (6:11) i suppose Speaker 1 (6:11) that's not now because they Speaker 3 (6:12) can't dictate Speaker 1 (6:12) that back then maybe it was all it was probably on written it just wasn't and i was i was one i was probably one of the youngest if not the youngest uh store manager at the time so i felt like my peers if I was like posting like that like I've just been like I'm out I'm being a normal like in her 20s girl it just would have been like maybe not frowned upon so I had been out walking with Bella and we were walking through the park and it was all lovely blossom I love blossom and she was my wee bird and I had an Instagram page and I was like I'm gonna call it blossom and bird so nobody will ever know it's Anna Corey no way that's how that happened that's how it happened but it grew so quickly that on the return of my maternity leave my boss at the time was like I find your acquaintance brilliant and I was like and he was so supportive he was lovely he really was yes so um and my word and work was really supportive like I did juggle the two of them but this is back in the day of blogging this is like Speaker 3 (7:12) my favorite era yeah Speaker 1 (7:14) I loved writing I Speaker 3 (7:16) loved reading it honestly I've said how many times have I said this yeah and that's how I know a lot of people I'm like Speaker 1 (7:20) oh she was the OG blogger Speaker 3 (7:22) like I loved her blog Speaker 1 (7:23) I blogged and blogged really religiously. I don't know how I got a proper, proper job then. Like really, like I left the house, went to work, sent two kids off for childcare, put them to bed and sat all and started to write and publish. We honestly love writing though. Yeah, I love writing. Still to this day. I just don't write anymore. I feel like it would be like, how do I get started again? Nearly. I did think of Substack. Go for it. Do Speaker 3 (7:51) Substack, Anna. So I downloaded Speaker 1 (7:52) Substack Speaker 3 (7:53) and I've subscribed to a good few. Speaker 1 (7:55) And Speaker 3 (7:55) I have to say, I do really love it. But I think you need to be in that, I always say the OG head, but I think you need to be in that headspace. But I love it. Speaker 1 (8:05) I feel like I need to do it for the house because I feel like there has to be somewhere that you pull all the information from instead of like scrolling all the posts. It's just not as, yeah. I like the blog for being like, hmm, any of your sections. I know. Yeah. Organizing it a bit better, yeah. Yeah. I would recommend it though. It says organizing like I am the most type B person you'll ever meet. I'm so unorganized. Really? Your Speaker 2 (8:26) house Speaker 1 (8:26) does not suggest so, Anna. I'm Speaker 3 (8:28) really Speaker 1 (8:28) unorganized. Speaker 2 (8:28) Your Speaker 1 (8:28) house suggested you're so unorganized. I'm a wannabe type A. definitely type b even if there's like a type even more type b than b i'm a Speaker 2 (8:36) d Speaker 1 (8:36) then in that case yeah way down the back and i'm shocked i would have said that Speaker 3 (8:41) and i saw Speaker 1 (8:42) your pantry you have things in jars that's type air to Speaker 3 (8:46) me Speaker 1 (8:46) so i think i did show it one time so my pantry is like this here so you can see it so that's lovely and then it goes on down oh so that's like out of sight out of mind no i have had a september like i am gutting everything yeah I am getting into everything and clearing everything out right Speaker 2 (9:03) well your house suggested you are type a through and through all day long I think Speaker 1 (9:07) I think I need to have organized that whenever my house is really messy my house is genuine it is tidy but whenever I am stressed I'm like this house is a mess but the house isn't a mess it's just that I'm yeah your head's full I think everybody's like that I'm overwhelmed and then if someone's sitting out of place I'm like no yeah Speaker 3 (9:24) no no I agree that's me That's me. I had, if I have people over for dinner, I'm going to clean in under and around them. Like at the dinner table, I'm moving everything and Russell's like, let Speaker 1 (9:34) them finish their Speaker 3 (9:35) drink. And I'm like, I'll take that and I'll get that. Do you want another drink? And I get them fresh glasses and clean the glasses and then I'm like, I'll just take this around. I'm psycho. I Speaker 2 (9:42) am. But also, I feel like that comes from a place of, if you like, my mummy always says to me, she's like, Laura, what happens if it's not done? Did it need done today? Speaker 3 (9:52) And Speaker 2 (9:53) I'm like. Speaker 3 (9:53) Yes, Speaker 2 (9:54) mommy, but that's all right saying that, but the knock-on effect is if I don't do it today, when am I going to do it? And you've got stuff to do tomorrow. Do you know what I mean? So that's, she even said it to me the other day. She said, but did it matter if you didn't go to Marksies? Did it matter? The groceries weren't done. Sure, but I would have went tomorrow. Nobody's going to starve. And I was like, no, no, I know, I know. But in my head, I was like, good, I needed to get that done. Maybe that's a generational Speaker 1 (10:14) thing. And then I'm like, why are we like that? Because my mum would be like that. My mum, like, we always, we never went hungry. We always had clothes. And she was so much more laid back. Mine too. Even to the point that she could pull a dinner from nowhere. Still. And Speaker 2 (10:28) I'm like, you know, I don't have anything in the house that I could pull a dinner from. Speaker 3 (10:32) I Speaker 2 (10:33) think they're just much more relaxed than Speaker 3 (10:35) us. Yeah. But totally. With your social media, I, like I say, always followed it, so I flippin' love it. I'm even like, you know the old Snapchat days and all, too? There was people in it, and I was like, oh my God, I was following them from there, and I just am obsessed with every form of it. But how do you feel your content has changed over the years with social media? Do you feel like you follow the trends, or have you kind of tried to stay true to who you are? I know that's a difficult question, but... Speaker 1 (11:01) I feel, one, I don't, like, you're supposed to follow a niche. I am too sporadic and all over the place to have any niche I'm like yeah even recently I'm like yeah I'm gonna post clothing so I'll have like clothing clothing and like and then if my head's drawn towards home I'm like yep we're doing homewear now it's just I think my content has always stayed true to whatever I'm interested in at the time that's lovely I think that shines through and I think that I'm I think personally for me I know that I don't want to chase being viral if that makes sense I just like I've got a really nice really nice community and I have people that I could go back and they've been messaging me from like 2015 and I can check in on them and ask them how their build is going or how their mummy's doing or and I love that and I think that whenever the numbers go mad then you can't even at the minute so like i can't keep up i try really hard and Speaker 2 (12:04) sometimes tell me this how often do Speaker 1 (12:05) you Speaker 2 (12:05) reply to my skills it's always like i am like i'm not an influencer but i am like do i feel the pressure to reply to people i do but i'm like where do you like do you do it Speaker 1 (12:17) every day and do you try and dedicate a time a day to it how do you work it so i used to try and dedicate time to it that i went through and then i was like right if you open something you reply to it like because sometimes I would have opened things and be like I need to get that now if it's open something and somebody's asked for a measurement I'm like I'm probably not going to get back to that or I'll message and try and say like remind me because I'm out of the house or whatever but it sits real it really sits hard on me when I don't reply to people because I'm like they've took time out of their day trust me to message and I'm like I hate whenever I don't get back to people I what I normally try to say is if it's a question about something on a post because I would get a lot of