what is it really like to work with us?

People often ask us how we met.  Lara and I met at the school gates and forged our friendship over cups of lukewarm tea in local Suffolk village halls on the U8 party circuit.  My eldest two children and Lara's youngest two children were in the same class at school.  We primarily bonded over our love of discovering new brands on Instagram, and were always sharing our latest finds.  I think it might have been the time we both turned up on the school run wearing the Selfish Mum Mother sweatshirt that we recognized each other as kindred spirits.

Lara and I are, first and foremost, friends.  We started our social media freelance careers independently but regularly met for coffee to bounce ideas off each other.  We soon decided to combine our clientele, reputation and talent to form Young & Cooper, and realised that  our  friendship was a powerful force to drive our business.  

There are so many stereotypes of women being competitive and unsupportive of each other in business but to be honest, we have always believed in collaboration over competition.  

So what makes it work for us?

We are honest and open with each other. There is a deep sense of loyalty and a lot of laughter.  It is a truly collaborative working relationship.  We share everything and discuss all the finer points of our business whether face to face, over Zoom, or Whatsapp.  We respect each other and we really know what’s going on in each other’s life and can lean in when the other needs some space and time for life going on outside Y&C. We hold each other accountable for each other's high standards  but we are also each other's biggest cheerleaders. 

I am really proud of what Y&C has achieved in the last 3 years but I am most proud of our friendship and how even under the most stressful of times (hello, home schooling during a pandemic, I am looking at you) I am motivated to keep going because I know that Lara is as passionate about what we do as I am.

Do you have a work wife?  If not, we can be your work wife!  We work with a lot of businesses where we are seen as an extension of their marketing team.  However, we also work with a lot of solopreneurs, and can bring this same working relationship to you through our Nurture Package.

Our Nurture Package is where we have monthly meetings (or more often if you need) to train and brainstorm and support you with your social media.  It is your time to bounce ideas off of someone, which we know is difficult when you are running a business on your own.  But it is not just the monthly meetings, we are also always at the end of a Whatsapp chat if you get stuck and need support or just need a chat or even a gentle prod to stop procrastinating.  We are not only friendly but we also bring a lot of fun and energy to our business relationships as well as a combined marketing and PR career that spans 30+ years, working with some of the top brands on the high street such as Breast Cancer Care, Warner Bros, Boots, Asda, Argos, Joules, Sony, House of Fraser, Topshop and River Island.  So our support and assistance extends beyond the realms of just social media.

If you are interested in working with us, here are a few things you will want to know:

We will give you our honest advice about what we see as best for your brand for the exact stage that you’re at right now.

We believe in being honest and kind through all our communications. We love innovation and are open to change.  In order to get the most from us we encourage trust (micro-management isn’t really our bag!) and sharing the passion on both sides of the relationship.

We believe that to get great results we have to really feel the brands we work with which is why we only work with companies that have the best fit.  We won’t work with gambling, tobacco, loaning, political parties or the fur trade.

We won’t make promises of seven figures in seven days but we will share our knowledge and experiences to advise you on how to grow your business online. 

We are passionate about what we do and wholeheartedly put all our effort into continuously moving forward and improving and this will be reflected in the work we do for you.

We are a location independent consultancy. Thanks to the miracles of WiFi we can have virtual coffee dates internationally and locally.

But that is enough about us.

We want to hear about you and how we can help you.  If you are interested in working with us, or would like to learn more about our Nature Package, drop us an email at lara@youngandcooper.com